Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

he’d been busted twice for selling marijuana in the janitor’s closet during lunch.
    Sometimes teaching made me feel like I was really making a difference in kids’ lives, but mostly it was depressing as hell. They were all bigger than me, meaner than me, and every one of them probably had a weapon of some sort in their baggy pants.
    I put a movie in and punched play, but didn’t dare turn the lights off because I didn’t want to contribute to the teen pregnancy rate.
    I was seriously considering getting down on the floor to stretch out my aching muscles, but I knew I’d never be able to get back up again. My knee was swollen to the size of a grapefruit and my ribs were bruised from my fall from the tree. The good news was that the bump on my head had faded to a dull purple. To top it off, the treble choir next door had just started singing a Grease medley for the end of the year production. I could hear Rose Marie’s warbling voice over the choir, and it was everything I could do to stifle a laugh and protect my battered ribs.
    I’ d pretty much seen everything in the eight years I’d been teaching. I’d seen students cheat their way through my class, dealt with parents who thought their children should be given a free pass in life, found used condoms in the teacher parking lot and caught students smoking weed in the bathroom. If I could find one student who would loan me a shot of whiskey to help me get through the rest of the day, I’m pretty sure my life would be complete.

    I’d barely stretched my aching body out on the couch when I heard three hard knocks on my door.
    “Come in,” I croaked. I wasn’t about to move from my spot on the couch.
    “Are you nuts? You can’t just leave your door wide open for anyone to come in and murder you. There are people in this world that are crazier than you are.”
    The sight of Nick walking though my front door was enough to make me forget about my injuries. He was wearing worn jeans with holes in them, a white t-shirt, and a navy blue windbreaker that said HOMICIDE in bright yellow on the front pocket. His gun was strapped to his hip and he looked good enough to eat.
    Lord, that was one fine man. He made my tongue swell up and my limbs weak, but I was made from sturdier stuff than to let a man like Nick Dempsey cloud my brain with lust. My brain had never been clouded with lust when I’d been with Greg, but he’d seduced me with his outgoing personality and intelligence. I should have realized he was trying to get me to buy insurance instead of getting me in the sack, but it was a mistake any woman could make.
    “Damn, it’s you. I was hoping it was Jack the Ripper coming to put me out of my misery. You don’t happen to have your gun on you, do you?”
    “Of course I have my gun,” Nick said, giving me a look that said, why wouldn’t I have it, I’m a cop.
    This guy was way too literal. I needed someone with a sense of humor. Nick was a great advertisement for Levi’s, but that was not enough to base a relationship on.
    “Never mind,” I said. “Why do you keep popping into my life? And stop calling me crazy. I’m a perfectly normal human being. I’ve just had a rough couple of days.”
    “Uh-huh. Every time I look at you the first word that comes to mind is normal. You look worse than you did last night. And that’s saying something. What happened to you?”
    I shot him a look I reserved for students who were misbehaving and winced as he sat down at the end of the couch and put my feet in his lap.
    “I fell out of a tree.”
    I ignored his burst of laughter and closed my eyes. I really hated it when he laughed. It changed his entire personality. It made him almost likeable.
    “That would explain why you weren’t wearing pants and why there was grass in your hair when you got in your car last night.”
    “I was wearing pants. There was just a big hole in them. You know what? Your words don’t even matter to me anymore. I am bliss. I am calm. I am—”
    “You’re nuts.”
    I shot him a look meant to shrivel a lesser man, but he just kept smiling at me.
    “I hate you.”
    “Well, that’s good to know because the two of us are going to be spending a lot of time together. I need your help.”
    “What?” I sat up too quickly and a muscle cramp seized my thigh in a vicious hold. “Shit, crap, I hate you. Nothing ever goes right when you’re around.”
    “I didn’t think you’d take the news this well,” Nick said, massaging