by Lisa Ladew
He broke into her thoughts. “What do you wear, half-suit or full-suit?”
Jen smiled, happy to be over the hard stuff and back talking about surfing. There was always time for the hard stuff. She hadn’t formed any solid opinions yet, but she was halfway to believing that Coleton did not work with his father. And he was nothing more than a harmless app creator. No dangerous criminal here.
Ten minutes later, he walked her back to the pawn shop. She said thank you quickly and ran in the door, not wanting to deal with lengthy, awkward goodbyes.
Ryker sat in the middle of the store, arms crossed. He nodded at her and gave her a half-smile, then his eyes went back to the one customer at the counter with Ivy.
As Jen crossed into the employee area, Ivy asked her customer to excuse her a second, grabbed Jen’s arm, and pulled her into the back. “You have to see this,” she hissed into Jen’s ear, pulling her to their surveillance screens that showed the parking lot outside.
“What, Ivy?”
“Just look,” Ivy said, flipping on the monitor. Jen saw Coleton getting into a car. At first Jen didn’t know what she was looking at, but then she realized. The car. It was a sleek, in-your-face red, low-to-the-ground sports car, and it looked expensive.
“It’s called a Viper. I looked it up. They cost $85,000 brand new.”
Jen gave a low whistle. And thought back to her half-decision that he couldn’t possibly be a criminal. Where else would a car like that come from? Jen bit her lip and reminded herself not to trust her intuition. Because she knew where that had gotten her in the past. Nowhere good.
Chapter 14
Jen pulled in Jerry’s driveway and killed the engine. She sat in her car for a few moments, mental and emotional weight pressing down on her. She’d never felt this drained in her life before. All she wanted was a shower, some food, and to drop into bed. And then she would do it all over again tomorrow. At least she had the weekend off. And maybe a date on Saturday? She shoved that thought aside. She couldn’t deal with thoughts of Coleton right now. His face popped in her mind anyway. He was a mystery all right. She wondered what Sgt. Foley thought of him. Sgt. Foley’s face replaced Coleton's in her mind. The memory of his strong features, calming smile, and broad shoulders soothed her. She pushed open her car door and plodded towards the house.
As she entered the house, she turned to lock the door and saw a truck pull in behind her car in the driveway. It wasn’t Jerry. He was picking up Sara from the airport and wouldn’t be back for hours if the traffic was bad. She locked the door anyway and waited to see who exited the truck.
Confusion spread across her face as Sgt. Foley got out. Anxiety spread ticklish wings in her chest. Had she done something wrong? Was something wrong with Ivy or Ryker? Why would he come to her home? He caught her eye through the glass and gave her a smile and a wave. She pulled in a deep breath and decided it must not be that bad. He didn’t seem angry or upset. The anxiety was replaced by a queer sort of pleasure that made her smile involuntarily. She opened the door and looked at him expectantly.
“Hi Jen, sorry to come to your home, but I have something to tell you, do you mind if I come in?”
Jen shook her head and held the door open for him, catching his scent as he walked by. He smelled good, like wood chips and soap, and maybe a bit of leather? She shook her head and laughed at herself. Why was she trying to identify what he smelled like? She steered him towards the table and had him sit down.
“Would you like some tea or coffee?”
He looked at her hard, like it was an important decision, and then sighed. “Coffee would be great.” Jen started a pot and then sat down across from him, noticing for the first time that his eyes were a gorgeous and unusual shade of gray-green.
He got right down to business. “First let me say that I’m not supposed to be telling you this, and if anyone in the department finds out I did, I could lose my job.” Jen’s eyebrows went up. She clenched her fingers into her palms tightly, the thought of him losing his job creating real fear inside her.
He took a deep breath and told her everything the retiring Sgt. Poole had told him. And then he sat back and waited for her reaction.
She got up and walked to the coffee pot, pouring them both a cup of decaf while what he had just said bounced around in her brain. Slowly, she took both cups back to the table and sank bonelessly into her seat.
“Do you think I am in danger?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. Coleton Savoy is not Fiore Savoy.”
She shook her head. “Today when I was with him, I got the impression he’s no more dangerous than a puppy dog. At one point I remember myself thinking there was no way he was a criminal.” Jen dropped her eyes to her lap, thinking. “But I’m not that great of a judge of character so…” She trailed off.
“Don’t sell yourself short. I was watching. I thought the exact same thing today. Yesterday I was scared for you. Today I’m not so sure.”
Jen looked up at him. His eyes were kind and truthful and his gaze held hers with quiet strength. She felt a flutter in her belly and tried to dismiss it. He’s your boss.
“Do you think I should call the whole thing off? Like just say I don’t want to do it anymore?”
Hunter’s face changed from contemplative to hard. “I don’t know that either. If I didn’t think there were any chance you could be in danger I would say no. It would be nice to finally know where Coleton Savoy stands. And who knows what kind of information just hanging out with him could dredge up.” His face changed again, illuminated like he had thought of some great secret. “Who knows. If he doesn’t get along with his dad, maybe he’d be willing to give up information, kind of like an informant. You could have your first informant.”
“My first informant?”
“Yeah, you, Ryker, and Ivy will all be way ahead of the other officers when you graduate recruit class. You’ll have informants almost immediately. Once our pawn shop operation is revealed as the sting it is, anyone who doesn’t end up in jail and is willing to pass information in exchange for money will be all over you guys when they see you on the street. You’ll be their pet cops. They’ll feel like they know you.”
“I never thought about that. I didn’t realize patrol officers had informants.”
“The good ones do. And I know you’ll be a good one.”
Jen felt her body go warm at his compliment. “Thanks, Sgt. Foley.” Jen saw his eyes flash, although with what she wasn’t sure.
“Look Jen, you might as well call me Hunter. This is going to be a long road with a lot of hard work in front of us. We don’t need to be quite so formal, at least not until you are in recruit class.”
“OK.” Jen smiled shyly. “Hunter.”
***
Hunter felt his groin tighten when she said his first name. He’d been doing so good not thinking of her in that way and then one not-even-intimate word from that adorable mouth and scenes of lust went flashing through his mind. Disgusted with himself, he hurled silent insults across his mind’s path. He noticed Jen sit up straighter and pull back from him a bit, like he’d said something scary.
Relax, relax. Berate yourself later.
He stood up and paced the kitchen, so as not to be so close to her. “Look Jen, I think at this point I just want you to be aware that this happened, and that it may have been Savoy Sr. who was behind it. That way you’ll be extra careful, especially if Coleton ever runs across his dad while you are with him, or if he ever wants to take you to see his dad.”
Jen nodded. “Do you think this will go on that long? I just thought it would be a few dates, I’d ask him some questions, and that would be it.”
“That certainly could be all it is, but I think Sadler was imagining you becoming his long-term girlfriend. A permanent fixture on his arm. You going to holiday dinners at daddy’s mansion.”
Jen pulled back, her eyes wide. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “Really?”
Hunter smiled. She was
sweet. And impulsive. She had jumped in without really knowing what she was getting into. And now it was his job to make sure that didn’t bite her in the ass. Again he damned Sadler for pushing her into it so eagerly. And while he was at it, he damned Chief Carval too. Neither of them gave a shit about this woman sitting in front of him. All they cared about was numbers, busts, arrests, convictions.
Well he cared. He cared about all three of them. And he would make sure nothing happened to them.
“I have to go. Ivy wants me to come look at some prototype she’s created to track the cash that’s moving in and out of the pawn shop,” Hunter said.
“Wow, she’s amazing.”
“She is amazing. I’m glad she’s on our side.”
Jen laughed and followed him to the door. He turned back. “Oh, and Jen, you are on for Saturday if you want to go surfing with Coleton Savoy. Sadler and I have already cleared the overtime with the Chief.”
Jen nodded, eyes wide and vulnerable. Hunter thought she’d never looked so beautiful. He gazed at her a moment too long, desire burning his brain, and felt a kind of electricity pass between them. He thought Jen felt it too. She gasped a little and pulled back, like she’d been shocked. What was that?! He turned quickly to hide his confusion and mumbled a goodbye, practically running to his truck.
Chapter 15
Jen looked at her face in the mirror. No makeup, she decided. And she wouldn’t even brush her hair. She pulled it back into a ponytail and tucked the tail of it roughly under the elastic. If she looked messy, maybe Coleton Savoy would lose his attraction for her.
Since it was Saturday, she’d gotten to sleep in. But now she was headed out to meet Coleton at Bowls for some surfing. She checked her phone. 11:43. Low tide was in one hour and fifteen minutes. She was to meet him exactly at noon. She waggled her eyebrows at her phone and puckered out her lips a few times. Then she laughed and said, “Are you guys watching yet?”
A text came in almost immediately. The name it showed was Hunter. A small thrill went through her when she saw it. She’d changed the name from Sgt. Foley to Hunter in her phone as soon as he’d left her house the night before last. She loved his name and thought it was incredibly masculine. She tapped the message notification and read it. We’re here. All business.
Here we go, she thought, and headed to her car, blinking in the strong late-morning sun. Fifteen minutes later she pulled into a stall at the address Coleton had given her. He was waiting for her, leaning on a beat-up, Dodge pickup truck. His expensive car from the other day was nowhere in sight.
He hadn’t crammed himself into his wetsuit yet and she was surprised to see how defined his chest and abs were. His build was much smaller than say, Sgt. Fo— Hunter’s was, but it was well-developed and attractive. She realized she was staring at his chest and whipped her eyes up to his face.
He smiled lightly at her. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“The waves look perfect. They are building now. We should get out there.”
“Sounds great.” Jen felt excitement growing in her chest. She hadn’t been surfing since the morning she discovered Adam in her bed with Miss Attitude. And that was far too long ago. However this turned out, she’d always be grateful to Coleton for getting her back in the water.
She took her phone off the center console and shoved it beneath her seat. As she pulled on her wetsuit she looked behind them towards the restaurants and shops lining the other side of the street. Hunter and Sgt. Sadler were back there somewhere, she knew.
She grabbed her board and yelled, “race you!” as she ran to the beach and towards the water. She didn’t have to look back to know he was following already. She could hear him behind her, his feet thudding into the thick sand.
She sliced her board onto the water and flung herself onto it, laughing happily. Only then did she look back. He had caught her, but wasn’t quite as graceful as she was on the entry. She laughed again and he looked up at her, grinning. The force of his good looks struck her full in the face and she looked forward again, shaking her head. If only she’d met him under different circumstances. Maybe they would have had a chance.
They paddled out to where the waves were breaking and turned neatly around to face shore, their boards parallel to each other.
“It feels so great to be back in the water!” she told him.
“My head is bursting with the joy of the unknown,” he said back without hesitation.
She looked at him strangely.
“Oh, sorry. I told you I did that a lot.”
“What poet is that?”
“It’s Rumi again, he’s always been my favorite.”
Jen looked behind her at the waves coming in, replaying the sentence over again in her head. She decided it was lovely, but it couldn’t compare with waves, water, and motion. She started paddling as she saw her first good wave coming in.
***
2 hours later, exhausted and sore, Jen followed Coleton back onto the beach. She would have stayed out all day, but the waves had degraded and there wasn’t much point anymore.
They walked to their cars. Jen felt relaxed, wrung out of all her worries, happy just to be alive, which was what surfing usually did for her. She touched Coleton on the arm. “Thank you so much for inviting me out. I haven’t had this much fun in months.”
He leaned forward, and before she knew it, his lips were on hers, light and warm. She pulled back, her eyes wide, her lips tingling. Her hand fluttered to her throat and she stared at him.
He grinned, an appealing, boyish grin that would have charmed her down to her toes if she weren’t so shocked. And if she weren’t there on police business.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve wanted to do that forever.”
Jen didn’t know what to say. That’s OK? That’s not OK? Don’t do it again or I’ll arrest you? Do it again because I really kind of liked it but God I don’t want to like it? She stuttered and then gave up. She walked to the back of her car, hiding her face from him, her eyebrows stretching up towards her hairline. She wondered if Hunter had seen it. Of course he had. And what did he think of it?
Get hold of yourself, girl. No cracking up.
She peeled her wetsuit off and threw it in the back of her car. Coleton was watching her, concern on his face. She smiled, and he smiled back, relieved.
“I brought us some snacks. I was hoping you didn’t have to leave right away.”
Hunter had told her earlier that there was no set time when the date had to end because Coleton had already hinted he’d like to see her for longer than just a surfing date. “I can stay,” she said as she retrieved her phone from under her seat.
He pulled an actual picnic basket out of his car and led her to a shady spot on the grass. He produced a light blanket and spread it on the ground. “Milady.”
She pulled out pretend skirts in a stilted curtsy and said, “Milord,” then sat cross-legged, giggling. He sat across from her and began taking sandwiches, chips, drinks, cut up watermelon, and thick cuts of cheese out of the basket.
“What’s your favorite? Peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and m&m, ham and cheese, tuna salad, or turkey and mayonnaise?”
She giggled again. “There’s so many.”
He smiled softly. “I wanted to be sure you’d have something you liked.”
“What’s peanut butter and m&m?”
“Only the best sandwich on the planet. Here, try it.” He handed her half of the sandwich and chose half of something that looked like ham and cheese for him.
She bit into it and looked across the endless water. Surfing and a picnic lunch. This guy knew how to plan his dates. And she’d been impressed with him on his board. He knew what he was doing.
“This is great. The peanut butter and chocolate go together perfectly. Did your mom invent this?” She snuck a glance at him.
He was gazing over the deep blue like she had been. “Nah, this is true bachelor food.”
“Hey! You promised if I we
nt out with you again you’d tell me what app you created.”
He shaded his eyes and looked at her intently. “I did. OK, you ever heard of My Monkey Minds?”
Jen gasped and grabbed her phone. She flipped the page to the right and showed it to him; the icons for the games My Monkey Minds 1, 2, and 3 were the only ones on the screen. “You didn’t.”
“I did. Those are my apps.”
Jen’s jaw dropped. “These are huge! As big as Angry Birds! You must have made millions!”
He tilted his head towards her and didn’t say a word.
Jen could see her reflection in the phone, the ambient sunlight making it look more like a mirror now that the screen had gone dim again. She pulsed her head slightly a few times, her eyes still wide. Are you hearing this? her reflection said.
When her surprise had worn down a bit she said, “Your parents must be very proud of you.”
Coleton looked at her again, his eyes narrowed a little. In suspicion? “You would think so, wouldn’t you?”
“They aren’t?”
“Oh, I suppose my mom is. But I don’t think she really understands it. My dad’s not. He thinks it’s silly what I’m doing. That there’s no purpose to it. No honor.”
Jen gaped. No honor? Did he really just say no honor? She restrained herself from looking into her phone again.
“What does your dad do?”
This time when he looked at her, his eyes were definitely suspicious. “He’s retired,” he said brusquely.
I better lay off the family questions for a bit, Jen thought. “My dad’s dead,” She blurted out, trying to take the focus off her questions.
Coleton’s eyes softened immediately. “Oh Jen, I’m sorry.”
She dropped her eyes, not needing to pretend. “Yeah, thanks. I didn’t really know him very well, but it still hurts.”