by Ranae Rose
He reached out to take the note. “Thanks. Sorry to make you climb the stairs.”
She shrugged, then flashed him a conspiratorial smile. “Elevator. Just don’t tell Macey – we’re gym buddies, and we’re supposed to be getting fit together. I’m not climbing anything in these shoes, though.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” Macey was another receptionist.
Ruby winked. “Good.”
Alone again, Elijah examined the note and began to interpret Ruby’s handwriting. It was surprisingly awful, given her job – the government could’ve used her penmanship as a template for a top-secret communications code. During his first year on the job, he hadn’t been able to make heads or tails of it.
Whenever he deciphered the first word – a name – he started trying a lot harder.
Peyton. She’d called.
She’d asked for him.
His heart rate picked up, giving him a thrill the arrest hadn’t. What had she wanted?
Ruby’s note offered nothing in the way of clues. All it included was Peyton’s first and last name, plus a phone number.
Elijah took out his personal cell phone and punched the number in before he had time to dwell on the embarrassment his last encounter with her had generated.
“Hello?” Her voice came across the connection, sweet and clear.
“Hi, Miss Argent? This is Officer Bennett.”
“You got my message?”
“Yes.”
There was the briefest of pauses, and he thought he caught the delicate sound of her breath.
“Thank you for calling me back. A neighboring business owner was out of town last week and…”
She told him about the burglary being captured on security footage.
“It’s pretty grainy, but it’s something – I figured you’d want to know.”
“It’s good that you called. We’ll certainly have someone review the footage. A detective will probably be assigned to the case.”
“Oh.” Did she sound disappointed, or was that just wishful thinking on his part?
“I’m a patrol officer,” he added, “so after a certain point, the investigation is out of my hands.”
“Right. Well, should I contact someone else about the security footage?”
“No, I can take it from here. What did you say the name of the other business owner is?”
He pulled a notepad from a pocket and wrote down the name and contact info she gave him in neat print. After that, he found himself stalling before ending the call.
“Miss Argent?” His stomach knotted.
“Yes?”
“I just want to apologize for the other day. Again. I’m truly sorry for giving you the wrong impression.”
Another pause. Had she hung up on him?
“It’s okay. I may have been a little too quick to jump to conclusions, and I apologize too if that was the case.”
The weight of the world slithered slowly off his shoulders. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
The next pause lacked the tension the last one had been filled with.
“You haven’t had any more trouble at Charmed, have you?”
“No. And I got that security system set up too, by the way.”
“Good for you. All right, Miss Argent – I’ll make sure that footage is seen by the right person. You can be sure someone will contact you.”
“Thank you, Officer Bennett.”
“No problem at all.”
He sat there for a while after the call ended, staring at the computer screen while his mind blanked on words, filling with visions of Peyton instead.
* * * * *
Peyton tossed a carton of praline ice cream into her cart. Madison’s newfound energy had her feeling optimistic, and she dared to indulge in a vision of sitting down with her and Jace that evening to catch an episode of something while enjoying the frozen treat.
Compared to her pessimism of just a week ago, the plan felt downright decadent. She hummed a little as she pushed her cart past the frozen foods, rounding a corner into the bread aisle.
The end of her cart collided with someone else’s with a deafening clang.
Scrambling backward, she pulled her cart with her, but it was too late. Heat flooded her cheeks as she looked up at the person she’d nearly steamrolled, already apologizing.
“Excuse me. I’m so sor—”
Her words died on the tip of her tongue as a fresh wave of shock washed over her, temporarily suspending her embarrassment.
“Officer Bennet?”
The man behind the other cart wore faded jeans and a soft grey henley tee, but there was no denying it was him. You just didn’t forget eyes like those, or cheekbones, or lips, or muscles… Muscles that the tee clung to, showing them off with a degree of definition his uniform shirt and Kevlar vest could never hope to achieve.
“Miss Argent.” His voice was steady, but a definite look of surprise flickered in his eyes.
She swallowed, doing her best to ignore the butterflies gliding aimlessly inside her belly. Talking to him on the phone earlier that day had been one thing, but coming face to face with him now was another.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I didn’t push your cart onto your toes, did I?”
“No, not at all. I’m fine. Just embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. I don’t think anyone else noticed. And it was my fault – I was in your lane.”
She smiled despite herself, unable to stop staring at the way his t-shirt clung to his body. He looked so different out of his uniform. So … normal.
If normal men looked like models on break from a cover shoot, anyway.
“Well,” she said, “I believe Food Lion qualifies as private property, so I don’t think either of us has to worry about walking away from this with a ticket.”
The joke just slipped out, and she immediately started second guessing herself. So, now she made lame traffic jokes with cops? Apparently.
Then he laughed.
The butterflies in her stomach kicked up a riotous fuss as his straight, white teeth gleamed in the bread aisle’s fluorescent lighting.
God, she was sex deprived…
Then again, what woman wouldn’t feel this way around him? It was easy to forget that he was a cop when he was out of uniform.
And even if she’d been with anyone lately – which she hadn’t – she’d never been with anyone with looks like his.
“Praline, huh?” He glanced down at her cart’s contents.
“Are you a fan?”
He nodded. “What sane person isn’t?”
“My sister and I – it’s been our favorite flavor since we were kids.”
He nodded in approval.
A wave of self-consciousness swept over her. Had she really thought this man had been preying on her?
She was beginning to think she’d been wrong – a suspicion that made the embarrassment she’d felt over their cart crash seem petty.
Thinking back to how he’d helped her and how he’d reacted to her accusation, she felt like a jerk.
A jerk who’d missed out on a good thing.
Was it really so crazy to wish she’d said yes to a date with a cop? He seemed like a nice guy, and he even liked praline ice cream. If he was what he appeared to be, he was nothing like the cops she’d known in the past.
And it wasn’t right to judge so many people based on the actions of a few, was it?
“I got in touch with that business owner, James Hart, and got the security footage,” he said. “It’s in the hands of a Detective Clark.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Another pang of guilt arrowed through her. Here he was, still willing to help, even after what she’d accused him of. He seemed to be a consummate professional.
Well, except for the fact that he’d asked her on a date while on duty. The fact that he’d done so – that that had been the one single crack in his professional demeanor – made her heart beat faster, now
that her suspicion had ebbed.
“Just doing my job,” he said.
But he wasn’t. He’d gone above and beyond, just to help her out. Whether or not he was a cop, the fact remained that no one else had ever done anything quite like that for her.
Her mouth watered as she eyed the way his t-shirt strained over his muscles, and then it went dry as her heartbeat pulsed in her fingertips. When she let herself think of it that way, he was every bit as tempting as the praline ice cream in her cart.
“Hey,” she said, “I was wondering: does that invitation for dinner this weekend still stand?”
“Yes, it does. Are you interested?”
“Yes.” A thrill raced through her, and she didn’t have to fake a smile.
When he smiled back, her heart skipped a beat.
She had a date. It was with a cop, but there was more to him than just his badge. She’d had a taste of who he really was, and she couldn’t help wanting more.
* * * * *
Peyton had asked Elijah to meet her at Charmed Saturday evening. When he got there, there was a ‘closed’ sign hanging in the door.
His heart dropped – for a second, he thought she’d changed her mind about going out with him.
Then he caught a flash of movement through the window, and saw her emerging from behind the counter.
He breathed a sigh of relief as his heart picked up pace. He’d only caught a glimpse of her, but the silhouette he’d seen during that glimpse was burnt into his mind’s eye.
She was wearing a dress. When she unlocked and opened the front door, he saw that it was a vibrant shade of lilac, form-fitting and sleeveless. Classy, and so sexy it almost hurt to look at.
The unmistakable rush of blood heading south made his skin tingle.
“Hey,” she said. “We close at six on Saturdays. I was just sorting some inventory.”
“Not too early, am I?” It was only six-thirty, and Moreno’s was less than a fifteen minute drive away.
“No, I’m just one of those people who always has to be doing something. Let me grab my purse.” She turned, granting him an incredible view of her ass.
She had an hourglass figure, no doubt about it. It was hard, but he tried not to picture her lifting boxes and sorting through satin stacks of panties in that outfit. The last thing he needed was to pop a full-blown hard-on and rekindle her initial suspicions that he was some kind of opportunist hell-bent on getting into her pants.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She returned with a leather handbag slung over one shoulder, dangling from a narrow strap.
She pulled the door shut behind herself and locked it while he looked up at her new security camera.
“How’s the new equipment working out for you?”
“What?” She looked up, too. “Oh, the security stuff. Good, so far. Of course, no one’s tried to break in lately, but I’m not complaining.”
“Maybe your new set-up will serve as a deterrent.”
“Here’s hoping.” The little heels on her strappy sandals clicked against the sidewalk as they approached the curb where he’d parked his car.
“So this is what you drive when you’re not in your cruiser,” she said.
She seemed pleased with his dark blue Dodge sedan, although it was a few years old and wasn’t exactly a high-dollar vehicle.
“Uh-huh. No lights and sirens on this thing. The engine doesn’t have quite as much pick-up, either, but I’m not sure what I’d do with it if it did.”
He opened the passenger side door for her, his gaze gravitating to her hips as she bent at the waist and climbed in.
God, she looked good in that dress. Asking her to be his plus-one to the engagement party had seemed innocent enough, but it was obvious now that it wasn’t going to be easy to make it through the evening without making an ass out of himself.
He could smell her perfume – light and sweetly floral – when he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You look lovely,” he said as he turned the key in the ignition.
It was really the only word to describe her appearance. The only appropriate one, anyway.
“Thank you.” She smiled, looking not at all creeped out. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”
He wore chinos and an earthy green button-up shirt – nothing special, although he’d ironed the hell out of the shirt, not wanting to look like a slob.
“I’ll blend into the background next to you, but thanks.”
“I doubt that. You’re the kind of guy people can’t help noticing.”
He cast his gaze in her direction.
“I mean, you’re so tall. A lot taller than me, and I’m not exactly short.” She bit her lip, like she thought she’d said too much.
He just grinned. “I’m assuming most of the party guests will be from the department, and most of them see more of me than they care to.”
She gripped her purse, which she held in her lap. “So, the party’s being thrown for an officer you work with, right?”
“Rogers. We’re in the same platoon. We haven’t always gotten along all that well, but things have been better lately and she gave me an invite.”
“Why haven’t you always gotten along?” She sounded curious.
“Well, we went through the academy together, and I accidentally hit her in the calf with a Taser.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah… I felt like an ass at the time. Tried to apologize about a hundred times, but she wasn’t having it.”
“That must’ve been years ago. And she’s just now forgiven you?”
“I wouldn’t say she’s forgiven me. I’m pretty sure she could hold a grudge ‘till kingdom come, but I helped her grandmother out on a call one day, and she seems to appreciate it, in her own way.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“Unless this is all some sort of elaborate ruse,” he added.
“You mean like a trap?”
“Yeah. Like, maybe there is no party. Maybe we’ll show up and she’ll be waiting alone in the dark on the second floor of Moreno’s with a Taser, ready to finally exact revenge.”
Peyton’s eyes widened, and she smirked. “No one can hold a grudge like that.”
“You don’t know Rogers.”
She made a sound that was half-sigh, half-laughter.
“Everything should be all right, though,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that was just a nightmare I had the other day. No one shells out the cash to rent an entire restaurant floor just to get revenge on one person, right?”
She really laughed this time.
When they reached the restaurant, the packed parking lot suggested that there really was a party, after all.
When they reached the second floor after checking in with the hostess, bright light and the noise of dozens of voices caused Peyton to shoot him a teasing look.
“Looks like you’re in the clear,” she said as they entered a large, open room hung with shimmery gold bunting and infested with flickering candles.
“Thank God.”
Peyton grinned.
“Still, if you see a short little blonde sneaking up on me at any point, give me a heads-up, okay?”
She nodded solemnly. “I’ve got your six.”
Elijah arched a brow.
“I heard it on TV. Some drama with cops at a crime scene.”
As it turned out, when Rogers approached him, she did it from the front. A slender, thirty-ish woman with pale skin and a long, dark braid hanging down her back walked at her side. Logic told him she was probably Gail, Rogers’ fiancée, but she looked far too pleasant to be attached to a killjoy like Rogers.
While Rogers wore her usual unimpressed-with-the-world expression, the brunette at her side smiled.
“You must be Elijah.”
“Gail?” He took a gamble.
“That’s me.” She held out a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That doesn’t bode well for me.”
Gail’s smile broadened. “Oh, I
don’t know – I hear you’re quite the hero, at least as far as Danielle’s grandmother is concerned.”
Danielle? Elijah had never considered that Rogers might have a first name. It was weird to think of her as Danielle, or as having a first name at all.
“I felt more like an exterminator than a hero at the time, but if that’s how you want to call it, I won’t stop you.”
He dared a glance at Rogers and caught her rolling her eyes.
“Anyway, the Delaneys keep a cat around the shop now, so my days of heroism are over.”
“Still.” Gail tipped her head to the side. “Have you spoken to Mrs. Delaney yet?”
“We just got here. Is she around?”
“Yes. I’m sure she—”
“Wait, we?” Rogers interrupted, raising her pale brows. “You mean to tell me that this woman is with you?”
Elijah shifted his gaze to Peyton. He couldn’t help marveling at her sexiness, even as he replied to Rogers.
“That’d be why she’s standing less than two feet from me, yeah.”
“Surprises never cease.” Rogers smirked at him, but flashed Peyton something that almost resembled a smile. “Since you’re stuck with this guy for the evening, it might interest you to know that there’s an open bar set up in the corner.”
Peyton laughed, like she thought Rogers was just joking.
Elijah knew better.
“Gail and Danielle, this is Peyton, my date,” he said instead. “Peyton, this is my co-worker Danielle and her fiancée Gail.”
Rogers scowled at his use of her first name.
“Nice to meet you both.” Peyton shook hands with both women.
“Have you and Elijah been dating long?” Gail asked.
“No, actually, this is our first date.”
Elijah winced on the inside, wishing she hadn’t said that within earshot of Rogers, who suddenly seemed more interested in the conversation.
“Well, we’re flattered.” Gail seemed oblivious to the wheels turning in her fiancée’s head. “I hope you both enjoy the party.”
“I’m sure we will. The decorations look lovely, and the view from up here is gorgeous.”
“Excuse me,” Rogers said, sidestepping toward the buffet tables lining the wall. “I see someone I need to speak to.”
It occurred to Elijah that Rogers might’ve left in order to avoid the temptation to embarrass him in front of Peyton.