Totally, Sweetly, Irrevocably

by Kira Archer

  Rick deposited her backpack on the ground next to her and looked around. “No chair for me?”

  She shrugged and dug a piece of baklava out of the bag. “Sorry, big guy. I brought this one up last night. Wasn’t really expecting company.”

  He frowned at her and wandered off. She didn’t know what he thought he’d find up here, but since he was out of her hair for the moment, she was going to enjoy her treat. She bit into the pastry, savoring the slightly bitter chocolate and honey flavor as the flaky layers melted on her tongue. It never ceased to amaze her that Eric, who had once burned water (well, he’d forgotten about it and the pot it was boiling in got scorched once the water had evaporated), could make something so delicious. Granted, it was the only thing he made well, but since he had Nat to bake the rest of Street Treats’ delicacies, they were good to go.

  She jumped when Rick dropped a camp chair next to her, scraping the metal legs on the ground as he set it up. He’d somehow managed to scrounge up one of those really nice chairs that hard-core soccer moms set up camp with at games.

  “Where did you find that?” she asked.

  He gestured with his thumb to some vague spot over his shoulder. “It was over on the other side.”

  “Are there any more?” Because it looked a whole lot comfier than the hard threaded plastic one she was sitting in.

  “Nope. Only one,” he said, not bothering to hide his smug smile.

  “I’m surprised at you, Officer. That’s stealing, you know,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

  “According to you, it’s borrowing. I’m not going to remove it from the roof. The owner will never even know it’s gone.”

  “Wow. Officer Boyd. I think I’m impressed. Didn’t know a guy like you could bend the rules like that.”

  He gave her a slight frown. “I’m not bending any rules. It’s not hurting anyone. I only moved it a few feet.”

  Gina laughed. “Relax, I’m only yanking your chain.”

  “Uh-huh.” He reached out and snagged the bakery bag from her. “Just for that…” He dug his hand inside, pulled out the last piece of baklava, and sank his teeth into it before she could stop him.

  “Hey!” she said, swiping the bag back.

  “Shh.” He held his finger up to his chocolate-and-honey-smeared lips. “You’ll blow our cover.”

  She glared at him and his smile stretched wide enough to show his perfectly straight, white teeth. Someone had had braces as a kid.

  “Want the last half?” he asked, holding it out to her.

  She did, actually. Especially since the impression from his mouth was still on it. Ugh! That seemed all kinds of twisted. She turned her nose up at it. “No, thanks. It’s covered in cop cooties now.”

  Rick chuckled again and popped the remaining piece into his mouth. “Your loss. That stuff is incredible.”

  “Yes. I know.”

  “Ah, cheer up, buttercup. Maybe we’ll catch your truck vandal and you’ll be rid of me.”

  She bestowed a brilliant grin on him. “Now, that would cheer me up.”

  “Here,” he said, pulling the night-vision binoculars she’d swiped from his backpack. “I brought you a peace offering.”

  “Oooh. For these, I might even forgive you.” She raised them to her eyes and took a look around.

  “They are on loan only. And I get them back at the end of the night.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Hush up before you blow our cover.”

  He quietly chuckled and leaned over the edge of the building, glancing up and down the street.

  “Hey,” he loudly whispered, leaning over to get closer to her ear. “You know with those nifty streetlamps they have down there, you don’t really need those things.”

  “I know. But they’re cool.” She smirked at him and went back to her surveillance.

  Every time someone walked past the truck, her heart would stop for a second. No one so much as slowed down near it, though.

  She let out a long sigh and Rick turned to her, eyebrows raised. “You’re really attached to that truck, aren’t you?”

  “Are you attached to your gun? Your badge? Your nifty cop-mobile?”

  The eyebrow raised another notch. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that, but I get your point.”

  Gina raised the binoculars to her eyes again and looked around at nothing. Looking at him while she spoke made her anxious, jumpy. She both hated the feeling and was exhilarated by it. Which was irritating in the extreme. Focusing on anything else was a good idea.

  “At first, I got into it to help Nat out,” she said, dropping the binoculars but keeping her gaze on the truck. “She was baking out of her kitchen, doing parties for friends, that kind of thing. She started picking up business and couldn’t keep up by herself. I was working for a temp agency, having fun doing odd jobs.”

  “It didn’t bother you not having something steady?”

  She shook her head. “That was one of the great things about it. I didn’t have to go to the same job every day, do the same thing. I enjoyed it.”

  “But isn’t driving the cupcake truck doing the same thing every day?” He reached into the bag and pulled out a cupcake. “Though it’s got other perks, for sure.”

  He ate the cupcake in two bites. Gina’s jaw dropped. “You might want to chew that,” she said.

  He winked at her and licked a bit of frosting off his lip. She flushed, fighting the urge to tighten her legs against the jolt of electricity that had shot straight to her core.

  His smug smile was enough to get her head back on track. No way was she going to let him see how much he affected her. She turned her attention back to the truck and answered his question.

  “I thought I’d hate it. But it’s really not monotonous at all. I mean, yes, there are certain things I do every day. But there’s a lot of variety to it, too. We experiment with flavors and decorating. If I get sick of one spot I can move to another one. And I enjoy chatting with my regulars and meeting new people every day. There’s always someone who makes an impression.”

  She laughed and leaned her head back against her chair. “I once had a guy run up wearing nothing but a hot-pink fuzzy bathrobe and some furry slippers. It was his girlfriend’s birthday and he’d totally forgotten. He’d seen the truck and ran down to grab a few while she was in the shower. Only she saw him and came down screaming at him. Ended up chucking the cupcakes at his head.”

  Rick laughed and took the binoculars from her. She watched him while he looked around. Even relaxed as he was, there was an edge to him, an alertness that probably never went away. She could easily believe he’d always be ready at a moment’s notice, no matter what the danger.

  “What about you?” she asked. “You always want to be a cop?”

  He put the binoculars down with a nostalgic smile. “Oh yeah, since I was little. Did you ever see that movie Kindergarten Cop?”

  Gina frowned. “With Arnold Schwarzenegger? Sure.”

  “My dad took me to see it when it came out. I was obsessed with that movie. I wanted to be Arnold bringing in the bad guys. So for my birthday, my dad got me one of those policeman sets. You know, the ones that come with fake handcuffs and a badge and plastic gun. I wore my gear everywhere. My sisters got really sick of me arresting them.”

  Gina laughed. “I bet.”

  “The thing that really got me in trouble, though, was the hall monitor job.”

  “Ohhh no,” she groaned. “You weren’t one of those obnoxious kids that roamed the hallways tattling on kids who were out of class without a hall pass, were you?”

  “Oh yeah. In fifth grade. I had a badge and everything.” He shook his head with a self-deprecating grin. “I got beat up a lot that year.”

  Gina frowned; the thought of a young Rick getting picked on at school broke her heart a bit. “That’s sad.”

  He shrugged. “It was okay. Over that summer I had a major growth spurt. And spent my days learning how to box. Came back in sixth grade a head taller than
everyone else and a lot more ready to defend myself. It only took once. Didn’t even have to touch the kid. Just stood there and stared him down. Still wore the hall monitor badge, but no one touched me after that. And one day, I got to help someone else. Rescued him from a group ass-kicking. It felt good, you know?”

  “Yeah, I bet it did,” she said.

  “So I stuck with it. Became a cop for real. Though I still have my original badge.”

  “Really?” she asked with a laugh. How cute is that?

  “Yeah. It’s in a box on my bookshelf with a few other things. I’ll always keep it. To remind me of that first time I helped someone.”

  Damn it. A soft spot with Rick’s name on it was forming in her heart. She needed to quash it quick.

  “So,” she said, “you went from a hall monitor who got bullied to a grown-up cop who does the bullying.”

  “I did not bully you,” he said, immediately grasping her meaning.

  “Oh, really? Pretty sure blackmailing me into being my stakeout partner qualifies.”

  “Only in your head.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Completely. You’re like the kid that’s about to get shoved in her locker and has no clue. You should feel lucky that the hall monitor is around to make sure nothing happens to you.”

  She pursed her lips. “Not sure ‘lucky’ is the word I’d use.”

  “Hmm, not yet maybe.” He leaned in closer, close enough she could smell the faint hint of cupcake that lingered around him. “But I might grow on you.”

  She swallowed, thinking of several inappropriate meanings for that turn of phrase. Every one of them taunted her, despite her best efforts to get her mind off Rick and getting lucky.

  By one in the morning, Gina was ready to call it quits. Surprisingly, the night hadn’t been a total suckfest. All in all, it hadn’t been so bad hanging out with him. Not that she had any intention of telling him that.

  Finally, she sighed and started packing things back into her bag. “All right. Let’s call it a night. I don’t think he’s going to hit the truck tonight.”

  “You sure?” he asked. “I’m happy to hang out a few more hours if you want.”

  “I don’t think…” She stopped, distracted by a rustling sound. “Did you hear that?”

  Rick froze and listened, then nodded. He inched closer to her.

  “Don’t. Move.”

  Chapter Five

  Rick moved closer to the rustling bag while Gina stood stock-still, her eyes wide and anxious.

  “What is it?” she whispered.

  “I think a mouse has decided to help himself to the rest of our cupcakes.”

  “What?” she shrieked.

  Before he could say another word, she’d jumped up on her chair. Not designed for trampoline practice, the thin plastic promptly shredded. Rick reached out to catch her as one leg went through the plastic and the rest of her went sideways. He caught her before she hit the ground. But apparently their movements landed them a little too close to the occupied bag for her comfort because she took one look down, gasped, and climbed him like a tree.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, both laughing and grunting as she twisted around him.

  “Get rid of it!”

  “What, the bag?” He grabbed her around the waist to keep her from falling ass-first onto the hard roof.

  “No! The damn mouse, or rat, or whatever the hell it is!”

  The bag rustled again, and she squeezed her legs around his waist and gripped his neck so tight she was dangerously close to strangling him.

  “I can’t do anything if you don’t loosen your grip.”

  She tore her gaze from the bag o’ death at their feet and looked at him. “Oh. Sorry,” she said, letting up a little.

  He took a nice deep breath. “Thank you.”

  His eyes met hers, and she seemed to realize the position she’d gotten them into. Her legs and arms wrapped about him. His hands beneath her butt and thighs, holding her up. Their faces only inches apart. All their delicate bits pressed as close as they could get with their clothing still on.

  Her cheeks flashed fifty shades of red in the faint light coming from the streetlight below.

  “Sorry,” she murmured again. “You, um, can put me down now.”

  He tightened his hold on her. “You sure?” he asked, not wanting to let her go. He liked the way she felt molded to his body. The vanilla scent of her hung in the air between them, whetting his appetite for something a little sweeter than the cupcakes in the rat bag. All he had to do was close the distance between them…

  Her breathing sped up, her lips parting with a little sigh. Her gaze zeroed in on his lips and there was no hiding from her how he felt about her wrapped around him. For a split second, her legs tightened their hold on his waist, pressing even closer. Her eyes fluttered closed. But then she shook her head and loosened her grip.

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” she said, pushing away from him. “But…put me on the chair until you get rid of that thing.”

  He chuckled and reluctantly deposited her on top of the chair he’d been sitting in. Then he bent and swiftly scooped up the bag, rolling the top down so whatever was inside couldn’t get out.

  “What are you going to do with it?” she asked.

  He frowned. That was a good question. He finally walked over to the side of the building nearest the alley and looked down. A dumpster sat against the wall and luckily, some lazy person had left the top open. He hung the bag over the side, aimed, and dropped it, smiling when it landed squarely inside the bin.

  “Bull’s-eye.”

  Gina climbed off the chair and straightened the clothing that had become a bit disheveled in her flight from the furry monster.

  He walked back to her, his brows raised in question. She grimaced at him and then sighed. “I don’t like rodents, okay? Spiders, snakes, cockroaches, any of that stuff I couldn’t give a—”

  “Rat’s ass about?” Rick interrupted, his smile stretching wider when she glared at him.

  “Very funny. I’m not usually such a chick about that stuff, but rodents…” She shivered.

  “Well, I guess everyone has their weaknesses,” he said, looking through their things and making sure nothing had been damaged in her mad scramble to escape Mickey Mouse.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t have to like it. Sorry again for…you know…”

  “Ah, no worries. You can climb me anytime,” he said with a wink.

  Her mouth opened in a small O of surprise, but she quickly snapped it shut and spun around to gather her things. “I think we’re done for the night.”

  “You don’t think he’ll make a try for the truck?”

  She sighed and slung her backpack onto her back. “At this exact moment in time, I honestly don’t care. He can screw the entire Dallas cheerleading squad in there. I’ve been traumatized. I’m going home.”

  His laughter rang out. “Well, if you’re sure.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. There’s always next weekend.”

  His amusement faded. “Really?”

  She held up her hands. “Hey, no one is saying you have to come. In fact, I’d be much happier if you didn’t.”

  “Oh, really? And what would you have done tonight if I hadn’t been here?”

  She shrugged. “Probably run screaming down the fire escape.”

  That startled a laugh out of him. “Well, at least you’re honest.”

  “Brutally, I’m often told.”

  “Well, with my line of work, it’s refreshing. I don’t get many people lining up to tell me the truth.”

  “Ha! I bet,” she said, laughing.

  He liked the sound. Boisterous and loud with a slight wheezing sound, like a rusty car engine that was trying to get going. Her forehead creased when she noticed him watching her.

  “What?”

  “You have a great laugh,” he said. “You should do it more.”

  “Well, maybe if I wasn’t being hassled by certain
officers of the law, I would.”

  He grinned. “Well, maybe if you weren’t set on harassing the citizens of my city, you wouldn’t be getting hassled.”

  “I’m sure there are a lot of people harassing the citizens of your city more than I ever have.” Her eyes narrowed, though her lips twitched. “I was harassing Mrs. Bogetti’s plant more than I was her.”

  “True. But as the plant couldn’t file a complaint for itself, we’ll have to lump it in with Mrs. Bogetti for now.”

  “You do that, Mr. Cop Man. I’m going home.” She gave him a mock salute and headed for the fire escape.

  “Friday night? Nine o’clock?”

  She sighed. “If you insist.”

  He chuckled. “I insist.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and disappeared over the side of the building.

  Rick laughed again. The woman was an aneurysm waiting to happen. So he really shouldn’t be enjoying himself so much. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t know what the next day would bring. The thought made him distinctly uncomfortable. He liked his life ordered and organized. But at the same time, it was kind of refreshing.

  Terrifying. But refreshing.

  …

  Rick tried to keep his focus on the road, but Joe’s constant questions about Gina were wearing on his nerves.

  “Okay, so explain it to me one more time,” Joe said.

  Rick groaned and Joe laughed. “Come on, you had to know I wasn’t letting this go.”

  Yeah. He’d known. That didn’t mean he liked it. “There’s nothing to let go. She needed help, so I’m helping her.”

  Joe’s eyes widened, his amusement clear. “Yeah. She seemed real eager for your help. If looks could kill, I’d have been scraping you off the pavement.”

  Rick shrugged. “She’s not so bad.”

  “Bark is worse than her bite, huh?” Joe said with a distinct leer in his voice.

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Ha! Not yet, maybe. I saw you two watching each other.”

  Rick frowned. “You see what you want to see.”

  “Occasionally,” Joe admitted. He looked out the window. “Right now, though, I’m seeing a chick on her cell phone who just cut another car off,” switching from teasing partner to all-business cop.