by Emma Roman
"I persuaded them we should do this. I'm the one at fault."
"Yet, you don't want to marry?" he asked, shaking his head. "Seems kind of crazy."
"We did it for fun. Meghan wants to get married, but I barely escaped the noose once. I'm not looking for another chance," she said.
All he could think was, too bad. He'd been drawn to her in high school and now a mature woman, she was even better.
Hurrying to her door, she dug in her handbag for her key, the blanket sliding down, exposing her shoulder. Once the portal opened, a red dachshund greeted them, barking and yelping his happiness at her being home, the dog’s nails sticking in the blanket and edging it down.
"Zeus, down," she commanded.
Ryan followed behind her, carrying in the stack of clothes and boots. Boxes sat on the floor. The townhome had a homey atmosphere, but clearly she'd just moved back into town.
Turning to face him with the cloth tucked carefully around her hiding all her girly parts, she gazed at him. "Why don't you come by the restaurant one day and I'll fix something special for you. Not one of the regular items, but a specialty I'm working on not on the menu yet."
Now was not the time to ask her out; he knew dinner would be the perfect moment to ask.
"I'll come by tomorrow," he said.
"I'll have chicken picante waiting for you."
"Looking forward to it."
"Goodnight, Officer Ryan," she said and walked him to the door, shutting it behind him.
Stepping out onto the porch, he glanced up at the stars shining brightly. In Afghanistan, the nighttime stars had been brilliant, almost like he could reach out and touch them. A trickle of unease scurried down his spine and he pushed the memories away.
Maybe coming back to Cupid had been a good idea after all. Taylor Braxton had become a hot looking woman. All he had to do was convince her to go out with him. And he would, tomorrow.
2
The next morning at her family restaurant, the girls sat at a table, holding their heads in their hands. The morning crowd had slowed and Taylor sat with them nursing her own pounding head. "What were we thinking? By the way, I have your clothes and purses.”
“Thank God,” Kelsey said.
“I thought I would spend today on the phone cancelling credit cards. What a relief.” Meghan glanced up, her blue eyes flashing with irritation. “We’re lucky. Last night could have ended so badly. I could have lost my job. And now I'm beholding to the one jerk I never wanted to see again."
Grinning, Kelsey bent over and whispered, "Max really picked you up?"
"He saved my naked ass," she said, her voice a growl. "At first, I refused to climb into his car, but oh no, he insisted. Reminded me, if anyone else found me, I could kiss my career goodbye. What about you? Did you walk naked back to your place?"
Shaking her head, Kelsey glanced at her friends. "My brother’s best friend Cody happened to be driving down the road. When his headlights flashed on me, I hid behind a skinny tree that didn't hide much."
"Oh dear. If your family finds out, your brothers will lock you up," Taylor responded.
"Cody promised me this would remain our secret, but I don't trust him. Men can't keep secrets," she said. "At any time, my phone will ring and my oldest brother will remind me of my obligations as a member of the Lawrence family."
Laughing, Meghan leaned back in the chair. "I can hear your brother reprimanding you so clearly. Does he always keep his nose in the stratosphere? He's a bigger snob than any woman."
"It's that whole family obligation. Keeping the name clear of any kind of scandal or disgrace. The very reason I stayed away from Cupid. The first time I act a little naughty, I get caught."
"Well, at least you made it home safely," Taylor said. She'd worried all night about her friends. "I was afraid to go searching for you and I couldn't call you as I had your cell phones."
"Yes, no thanks to you." Tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder, Meghan glared at Taylor.
"I'm sorry, Meghan. Until the sheriff arrived, we were having a good time."
"Yes, we were," Meghan said. "I just didn't expect it to end with us streaking down the street. I saw you in the back of his car going down the street. What happened?”
Taylor squirmed in her chair. "He gave me a break. Your clothes, your purses, everything is in my car. I never want to ride handcuffed in a police car again."
"Oh no. He cuffed you?” Meghan shook her head. "You had it worse than we did."
"I've never been more frightened in my life. Sitting in the back of a patrol car, naked, handcuffed."
Meghan shuddered. "That would be bad."
"Instead of taking me to jail, he took me home. Since I wasn't driving, he let me go. If I'd been behind the wheel of a car, he would have arrested me."
Last night after he left, she'd thanked her lucky stars. If not for the sheriff's leniency, it could have ended so much worse.
“Who is the sheriff?" Meghan asked. She turned to Kelsey. “You said before but I forgot.”
”My old boyfriend, Ryan Jones,” Kelsey said with a laugh.
“And now he's seen me naked,” Taylor said shaking her pounding head, remembering the embarrassment of being nude.
Kelsey sighed. ”In high school, I went with him for six months. After we got into a public argument in the front yard, my family refused to let me date him. Of course, it was quite a street fight with my brothers right in the middle of it. When the sheriff arrived, my dad convinced him not to arrest anyone. But he told Ryan not to come around anymore. We were done.”
"Was that what got you a summer in Europe?" Meghan asked.
Kelsey laughed. "Yes. Later, I heard he went into the military. Never saw him again." Shaking her head, she glanced at Taylor. "How's the big jerk doing?"
"Don't know. We didn't talk too much about him, only me. He gave me quite the lecture." Taylor snorted. "Since high school, I've wanted to dance naked around the statue, but been afraid. Maybe there was a reason to fear the Cupid superstition."
"Dancing around naked in the town square was a little too risqué for me. Until last night when the alcohol subdued my fear," Meghan admitted.
"All I needed was a little liquid courage for me to shed my clothes," Kelsey said with a grin.
"It was kind of fun until the sheriff arrived," Taylor admitted with a giggle.
"Now we test the superstition. Who will find love first?"
Taylor waived her hand and gave a disgusted sound. "I'm not looking for love."
Since the breakup with Kevin, she'd given up finding someone to spend the rest of her life with. At this moment, she needed to focus on the diner. Anything besides finding love and marriage.
"Yeah, well you have a funny way of showing you're not searching for a man," Meghan replied.
"Hey, I can cross off dancing naked in the town square from my bucket list," Taylor said.
"You're a little young for a bucket list."
"Never hurts to start early," Taylor retorted, wishing her head would stop pounding.
The bell tinkled above the diner's door and Taylor glanced up to welcome the new customer. Shock froze her feet to the ground as the handsome, hunky sheriff strolled through the door. The memory of how he'd last seen her caused her cheeks to heat and her chest to squeeze.
Oh no, what did he want now.
Ryan opened the door of the restaurant. He'd thought about Taylor all night long as he tossed and turned. The image of her naked body dancing inside his brain tormenting him. The curves on her were enough to make any man make a wrong turn. As he walked in, he saw all three of the she-cats, their heads together whispering at a table. A trickle of fear scurried along his spine making him reconsider why he'd come here.
Just because he'd seen her nude, just because he'd given her a break last night, didn't mean she would go out with him. This morning he'd come here with the sole intent of asking her on a date. Maybe his timing sucked.
Focused on his career for the
last three - four years, the time had come to start thinking about dating again. And last night had proven to him a woman in his life would be nice.
Stepping into the diner, he realized he didn't want to confront that table of she-devils. One he'd dated and the other two were her besties. With her partners in crime here, maybe he should wait before he asked for a date.
Like a soldier on duty, he marched up to their table. "Good morning, ladies. Looks like you all survived last night’s escapade."
"What are you talking about, Sheriff?" Meghan lied flashing her blue eyes at him. "The cat and I were cuddled up at home, watching reruns."
"Well, I found your clothes, your purse, and your cell phone on a bench in the park."
Meghan clammed up, a mutinous expression on her beautiful face as she flicked back her tawny hair.
"I don't see any bullet holes in your head. You toughed out the military," Kelsey said, a sarcastic tone to her voice.
"Made sergeant and earned several medals," he responded. "And you're looking well. Your brothers still looking out for their little princess."
Kelsey stiffened. "Of course."
"Good to know," he said. "Ladies, I will tell you like I told Taylor. You got a pass last night. But if I ever catch any of you strutting around the fountain, naked again, you'll need a lawyer."
"Thanks for that bit of cheery news," Meghan smarted off.
"Hey, you aren't combing the yellow pages this morning looking for someone to bail you out of jail. The day could be worse."
"I talked them into it," Taylor confessed. "The Cupid statue was my idea."
Lifting her chin defiantly, Kelsey gazed at him. "We're testing the superstition. A scientific study will tell us if Cupid will find us true love. I'll let you know the results."
"It doesn't," he replied. "Remember before you go streaking again."
"Streaking?" Meghan said, her voice echoing in the room. "That fad died in the seventies with my mother's generation."
Facing the auburn haired librarian, he smiled his best strict you don't want to mess with me law enforcement expression. "Would you rather I call what you did last night indecent exposure?"
The table grew quiet. Dismissing them, he turned to Taylor. "Are you still cooking me dinner tonight? Do you feel like it?"
Reaching up to her temple, she rubbed the spot. "I'm fine. A small headache. But I'll be all right."
His mind pictured her full breasts, tiny waist, and long legs beneath her white apron and the memory had his heart beating a little faster.
"Be here at seven. I'm going to fix you chicken picante," she said. "It's a new dish I'm trying out."
A grin spread across his face. "So I'm the guinea pig?"
"You'll enjoy the chicken picante. See you later."
Turning, he walked toward the door, feeling like three sets of eyes trained on his back with laser precision. He wished he had one of those new fangled cameras on his vest so he could witness their expressions.
Especially wanting to see Taylor's face.
Taylor's heart gave a little flutter as she watched him walk out the door, wishing he hadn't said anything in front of her friends. An obligatory thank you dinner for not taking her to jail. Nothing more. Yet, an undercurrent of something more ran between them.
He was in law enforcement. The same career choice of the man she'd found frisking a female officer in their bed. Ryan was everything she didn't want and yet he was exactly the kind of man who made her heart beat like a conga drum, her breathing go haywire, and her imagination run rampant with sexual scenarios.
Therefore, he was a big fat no.
Turning, she noticed Meghan and Kelsey staring at her. "What?"
"You're fixing him dinner," Kelsey asked, a stunned expression on her face. "The man that broke my heart and left me for the military."
"My naked butt is not looking out between bars. What would you have me do? Write a thank you note? Cooking him supper seemed the least I could do."
Shaking her head, Kelsey warned, "He's bad news."
"Hey, I'm the only one last night who said out loud, I'm not searching for love. The rest of you are looking for a man."
"You don't owe him anything," Meghan said while Kelsey just raised her brows.
"After he didn't take me to the pokey, I merely offered to cook for him since he doesn't get many home meals. You guys should appreciate the fact I put my naked butt on the line with the law while the two of you ran off."
Meghan's brows rose. "And who suggested we do the Cupid dance?" Holding up her hand, she said, "But I will say it was good of you to take one for the team. Make sure it's only dinner. Remember your last love interest."
Flipping her straight dark hair away from her face, Kelsey smiled. "A lawman, a cheater, who is on his honeymoon at this moment, celebrating with his cheating spouse."
Taylor sighed. "You're right. Don't worry. I'm not taking Kelsey's seconds. I'm returning a favor and this will be the end of it.”
But would it be the end? Attractive in all the right ways, her heart had done a little extra thump when he walked in the door. And that badge on his chest meant risk. It was a well known fact that law enforcement officers who put their lives in peril often enjoyed the thrill of infidelity.
Kelsey shrugged. "Ryan was my first love and I thought I would die when we ended. He's a risk for women's hearts. He'd break yours as quickly as he shattered mine. Be wary, very wary."
The bell above the door rang and she stood. "The lunch crowd will be coming in soon and I've got work to do. You guys?"
"There is a high school Valentine's dance. I'm one of the chaperones. Ugh."
"Painting is in store for me today. There is still a lot of construction to do before the grand opening. Ya'll will be at the opening? Right?"
"Wouldn't miss it. When is it?" Meghan asked.
"Hell if I know. Whenever my brothers are through with the changes I'm making."
Standing, Taylor glanced at her friends. "Ladies, I had a great time last night, even if it didn't end the way we'd envisioned."
Meghan laughed. "It was fun. Though tonight, the coach and I are the school chaperones. Yuck."
"I'm waiting for the phone call from my brother where his head explodes in my ear."
"Mom and Dad are in South Padre until warm weather reappears or they would have learned about our shenanigan. At twenty-five, I can hear the lecture now."
Tonight, Ryan would come to the restaurant to experience one of her meals. A tiny spark of excitement trickled down her spine. Dinner would include a gorgeous hunk of a man who appeared kind. But lawmen cheated.
Taylor walked through the restaurant filling coffee cups, talking to the customers, and making certain the waitstaff had exceeded her expectations. Before her parents left for Padre Island, her mother had given her tips on the clients who frequented the diner. She'd told Taylor that Jack came in everyday between breakfast and lunch, alone.
In his sixties, his wife passed away suddenly a year ago and his children all lived hours away.
"Afternoon, Jack," she said, stopping at his table. "How's the food?"
"What do you think?" he said, looking down at his empty plate. "I think you're a better cook than your mother and she's not bad."
"Thank you," she said and wondered how the patrons would accept the gradual changes she had planned for the business in the coming year. If her father let her.
"So what did your boyfriend get you for Valentine's Day?" Glancing down at her hand, he looked back up at her. "No big rock sitting on your finger."
"Yesterday, he married someone else," she said and watched Jack's eyes grow large. "And before you start feeling all bad for me, let me say save that sympathy for her. She's the one getting the loser."
A sympathetic smile crossed his face. "Caught them, did you?"
"Yes, I did, in the act, in our bed," she replied.
"Sit down for a minute," he said and she sank into the chair across from him.
"I
told my kids when they were dating, if it doesn't come easy, don't continue. Because once you marry them, it gets harder. So good riddance to your fiancé."
Nodding, she asked, "What about your wife. Did it come easy with her?"
He closed his eyes and she questioned if she should have asked. Then he smiled at her. "Oh, my Margaret was the best. Sure, we experienced good times and bad, but that woman knew the right words to end a fight. I miss her."
"I'm sorry," Taylor said not wanting to make Jack feel worse. "I should never have asked about her."
"No," he said, smiling. "I'm glad you did. No one ever asks me about Margaret anymore. It's like she died and now we can't discuss her. I spent thirty-five years with her and now I can't talk about her?"
"That's sad." Her heart clenched, seeing a smile light up his face, his eyes glowing, his facial muscles relaxing.
"Even our own kids don't mention their mother. Oh, they call once a week to check on me to find out how I'm doing and if I'm still kicking."
Taylor's heart ached for Jack. "She was the love of your life?"
His eyes darkened and she knew he was remembering. "Oh, yes. Margaret made me a better man."
Curious, she leaned in closer wondering how they got together. "Tell me how you met her."
Tilting his head, he stared at Taylor. "You want to hear this or are you just being polite?"
"No, I'm not being polite. I enjoy hearing how people came together."
After her broken engagement and the fiasco of last night, she had doubts about walking down the aisle. Even after dancing naked around the Cupid statue. Not that she believed that nonsense. The time had come to put her childhood fantasies and dreams behind her and concentrate on the family business.
A chuckle rumbled from him as he glanced at her. "We met taking disco lessons."
Taylor couldn't stop herself. She started laughing. "No way. I don't know anyone who could disco dance."
"Yes. We were single, in college, and I didn't want to meet someone at a bar. My buddies convinced me to take a disco class. There was Margaret."
"Can you dance?"