Once a Cop

by Lisa Childs

  “Hi, Mom.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Her perfectly manicured fingers grasped the sleeves of his tux.

  “It’s wonderful you’re here,” she said, blinking back a hint of moisture. “And with Meredith.” She released him to embrace Merry.

  She looked beautiful tonight, gorgeous, in fact, as Ethan Brewer had said. Her reddish-orange gown complemented her willowy body and sleek brown hair. Holden should have been proud she’d agreed to be his date. But he thought of Holly, instead, his heart heavy with regret. His niece had been so disappointed that he was taking someone other than Kayla’s mom to the ball. Since she was always such an optimistic child, her tears had struck him especially hard. She hadn’t cried like that since her mother died. If only she could understand that he was doing this for her…

  His father, his arm around his wife’s waist, extended a hand to Holden. “Everyone’s been talking about you, son, praising the work you’re doing at the shelter.”

  Shock staggered Holden. His father had called him an idealistic fool for throwing away his life for a hopeless cause. Years earlier the man had referred to his daughter the same way—hopeless. Remembering this had anger and resentment pressing on Holden’s lungs. He had to fight for breath. “Excuse me,” he said. “I—I need some air.”

  Moisture filled his mother’s eyes again. “It’s crowded in here,” she said, despite the fact that the mayor’s mansion could have held more than the two hundred or so guests who attended the ball. “You get some air. We’ll wait here for you.”

  He nodded and crossed the room, with its gleaming marble floors, to step through one of the open, sliding glass doors overlooking the lake. He walked out onto the deck and breathed deeply.

  Maybe he had just needed air and hadn’t needed to escape his father’s hypocrisy. But he doubted it.

  The deck was as crowded as the house; people were lined up at the bar on one end. He walked toward the other end, where only a few people stood near the railing, watching the water reflect the orange glow of the setting sun.

  He released a soft sigh at the beauty of the view. And not just of the water. A woman wearing a silvery blue dress that molded itself to the full curves of her petite body stood at the railing. Her hair, a riot of dark curls, spilled down her back. Tonight Roberta Meyers was yet another woman, a stunning beauty.

  A bald, older man in a white tuxedo broke away from a group of people and approached her. She turned from the railing and threw her arms around his neck. And Holden gasped, as if someone had slugged him hard in the stomach.

  ROBBIE INHALED the sweet scent of Joel Standish’s spicy cologne before loosening her arms from around his neck and stepping back. “Do you greet all your party crashers with a hug?” she teased.

  He chuckled. “This is your home, honey. You can’t crash a party at your own home.”

  She smiled, wishing she could accept that this was really her home, but she had never felt as if she belonged here. Regrettably the mayor’s daughter had always felt the same way. “So you don’t mind my showing up uninvited?”

  “You know you never need an invitation. You don’t come around nearly enough as it is,” he admonished her, tapping his fingertip on the tip of her nose. “I’m delighted you’re here.”

  “You might regret that,” she warned.

  He groaned. “Oh, Joelly’s already been giving me the business about the police department. Et tu?” He laughed. “Of course, you two have always been like peas in a pod.” The grin slid from his face. “She told me you got hurt because I won’t approve Archer’s hiring more officers.” He touched the silk scarf that matched her borrowed dress. “Is that the truth?”

  Maybe he knew his daughter better than Robbie realized. “It’s the truth that the Lakewood PD is understaffed and that puts every officer in the department in danger.” She touched the scarf, too. “But this was my own fault. I chased down a suspect on my own without calling for backup first.”

  “Roberta Meyers!” he exclaimed, causing several guests to turn toward them and stare. His bellow, despite his smaller stature, was no less formidable than the chief’s. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Her lips twitched into a smile.

  “You think that’s funny? To put your life at risk like that?”

  “No.” She thought it was funny how similar Joel Standish was to his archenemy, Frank Archer. “Of course not.” Even though it would kill her to let a suspect get away, she would definitely be more careful in the future.

  “So what happened?”

  “I was visiting the shelter and recognized someone…” Feeling a familiar gaze on her, she glanced up and scanned the guests gathered on the deck. Many of them stared back, but then everyone watched the mayor. He had that kind of magnetic personality, the kind that had kept getting him elected term after term after term. Only one person was watching her. Her pulse tripped, then raced at the sight of him in a black tuxedo with a pleated white shirt setting off his tan and the breeze ruffling his hair. “Holden…”

  The mayor followed her gaze to the youth minister. “Joelly had me add him to the guest list.”

  “Of course she did,” Robbie said. “Your daughter is more like you than you think.”

  He chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders as Holden approached them. He stuck out his free hand. “Reverend Thomas, I’m glad you could make it tonight.”

  “It was an honor to be invited, sir,” Holden smoothly responded. “I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your donations to the shelter. You’ve really helped a lot of runaways.”

  “Yes, he has,” Robbie agreed.

  The mayor squeezed her shoulders. “Not as many as the reverend has. Your shelter is quite impressive.”

  “It’s getting there.” Holden’s gaze slid to Robbie. “It was recently brought to my attention that it needed some improvements.”

  The mayor glanced down at her, then over at Holden and back. “I take it this girl here made the suggestions. Be careful, Reverend, she and my daughter are forces of nature.”

  “Thank you for the warning, sir,” Holden said, smiling. “And again for the donations.”

  “I’ll leave you two young people to visit,” the mayor said. “I have to make the rounds of my constituents. Shake hands, kiss…cheeks.”

  Holden chuckled. But Robbie found no amusement in having her former guardian leave them alone. Although she clutched at Joel’s tuxedo jacket, he pulled away and walked off.

  “I wondered if you’d be here,” Holden said, “since you and Joelly are friends. But I didn’t realize how well you knew the mayor.”

  “I used to live here,” she admitted, turning back to lean over the railing and stare out at the sparkling surface of the lake.

  “It’s quite a view,” he said as he propped his elbows on the railing next to her. He stared at her, though, instead of the water.

  “Yes, it’s nice, but I’m leaving now,” she said. “Just want to walk on the beach first.” She’d done her part to influence the mayor. Hell, she’d done more than Joelly had. She wasn’t even sure her friend had shown up, since at the last minute, they’d decided to drive separately. She headed toward the stairs leading down to the beach. One quick walk in the sand, and she’d drive herself home.

  Heavy footsteps sounded behind her. “It’s cold,” Holden said, “and your shoes…”

  She stopped on the last stair before the sand and reached down for her borrowed heels. How the hell did Joelly wear these things so often? She hooked the straps around her finger and stepped onto the beach. Cool sand filtered between her toes. “You don’t have to join me,” she said. “I’d actually prefer if you didn’t. It kind of flies in the face of that whole staying-away-from-each-other pact we got going.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not the only thing we’ve got going,” Holden said. He caught her hand and linked their fingers. “I want to stay away from you. I really want—” he stopped moving and tugged Robbie to an abrupt halt “—you.”r />
  “No, you don’t. You couldn’t handle dating me,” she reminded him. “All that uncertainty, the danger.” Yet she was in more danger here on a moonlit beach with Holden than she’d ever been on the job. She was in danger of falling in love.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He stared down at her, his eyes wide with wonder. “So damn beautiful.” He lowered his head until his lips brushed hers.

  Although the kiss was brief, Robbie shivered in reaction. Holden stepped back and shrugged out of his jacket. Then he draped it around her shoulders. His warmth and masculine scent enveloped her.

  “You are cold,” he said.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m confused. You keep pushing me away, then pulling me back.”

  “I know, I know. I’m confused, too. I know you’re not right for me, for Holly, but—” he leaned down and kissed her again “—I want you.”

  Desire for him warmed her more than his jacket. “Holden…” Maybe it was the moonlight or how handsome he looked in a tux or just him, but she let down that wall the chief had talked about. She dropped her shoes on the sand and looped her arms around his neck and rose on tiptoe to kiss him back. Parting her lips, she took the kiss deeper.

  His fingers tangled in her hair as his tongue slid in and out from between her lips. He stepped closer, so that not an inch separated their bodies.

  She clutched his back and arched against him, pushing her breasts and hips against his tautly muscled body.

  He groaned and pulled away, panting for breath. “Robbie…”

  The desire in his rough voice echoed the desire building inside her. “What are we doing?” she asked, tipping her head back to stare up at the sky as if there were answers there. And she glimpsed someone standing at the deck railing, watching them. “Oh, God.”

  Holden followed her gaze to the deck. Not only was Meredith standing at the railing but his parents were, too, all staring down at them.

  Robbie’s hands shoved against his chest, which still labored for breath, and she broke away. “What the hell am I doing?” she whispered before turning and heading down the beach, away from the house.

  He looked after her, tempted to follow. But footsteps on the stairs drew his attention back to the deck. Meredith descended to the beach. He crossed the sand to meet her. “I’m sorry,” he murmured with guilt and regret.

  Meredith laughed. “I knew there was something going on between you and Robbie.”

  “I wasn’t hiding anything—”

  “You were fighting it,” she said. “And it looks like you’re losing the battle.”

  He shook his head in denial. “I can’t…I can’t be with Robbie. We’re not right for each other.”

  Meredith leaned close and pressed her lips to his cheek. “Neither are we, my friend.” She stepped back and walked past him, heading off down the beach.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to talk to Robbie.”

  “Merry—”

  She pointed up at the deck. “Tell your parents good-night for me. They’re ready to leave, but they wanted to talk to you first.” Her smile flashed in the moonlight. “Good luck.”

  His legs heavy with reluctance, he climbed the stairs to the deck, where only his father waited for him. “Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s using the powder room. She’s not feeling well. That’s why we decided to leave early,” his father explained, tugging at the knot of his bow tie as if he’d suddenly gotten uncomfortable.

  “Well, I should go find her,” Holden said, “and tell her goodbye.”

  But Harold Thomas’s hand grasped his arm, stopping him from rushing off. “We need to talk first.”

  He’d dropped the “son.” Because of what he, and who knew how many other guests, had witnessed on the beach? “You shouldn’t keep Mom waiting,” Holden reminded him, “since she’s not feeling well.”

  “This’ll only take a moment, if you’ll listen to me this time.”

  Holden clenched his jaw, knowing he was about to be subjected to another lecture. “Dad, this isn’t the place—”

  His father’s grasp on his arm tightened. “Meredith’s a good girl, from a good family.”

  “I know.”

  “She didn’t deserve to be embarrassed like that,” Harold Thomas reprimanded him. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t,” he admitted.

  His father uttered a heavy sigh. “I’ve done that myself, son. Acted without thinking, and people wound up getting hurt.”

  “I know.” In the beginning he’d been one of them. In the end Lorielle had been hurt the worst.

  “So don’t make the mistake I made.”

  “You don’t even know her—”

  “Roberta Meyers,” his father said.

  His mouth dropped open in surprise. “How do you know a vice cop?”

  “Is that what she is now?” Harold asked with a faint hint of disdain.

  “Yes. What do you know about her?”

  “It was kept pretty quiet, so only a few people know. She’s the dirty stray Standish’s daughter dragged home from the streets, the pregnant runaway.” His father’s grasp tightened on his arm. “Stick with Meredith, son.”

  A gasp drew his attention to the stairs behind him, where Robbie stood, Meredith right behind her. She shoved his jacket into his hands and hurried off.

  He started forward in pursuit, but his father, still gripping his arm, held him back. “Let her go,” Harold advised. “She’s a mistake you don’t want to make.”

  “Let me go,” Holden said. He didn’t want the hypocrite touching him any longer. Maybe it was good he’d never finished at the seminary, because there were some lessons he was unable to preach—like forgive and forget.

  Finally his father released him. “I’m going to go find your mother. She’d like to see you more. You need to come by the house more often.”

  Holden shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t, because I won’t come alone.”

  His father glanced behind him at Meredith, then glared at him. “You’re not considering bringing that girl…”

  “Your granddaughter? Yeah, I would bring her.”

  “Your mother…”

  “Needs to accept that Holly is family. Your granddaughter. My niece. Actually my daughter now, since the adoption became official,” Holden informed him. “If Mother wants me to come to brunch or dinner, she needs to invite Holly, too.”

  His father shook his head, his mouth twisted into a grimace of disappointment. “You always were so damn stubborn.”

  Holden bit his tongue, holding back his anger until after his father walked off. Then he turned back to the railing and cursed.

  “Shh,” Meredith cautioned him. “You don’t want the shelter’s potential donors hearing you cuss.”

  He bent over and buried his face in his hands. His frustration wasn’t only with his father. His body ached for Robbie’s. “Why are you still here?” he asked.

  “You’re my ride, remember?” She smiled.

  He turned his head to her. “You really are great.”

  “Yes, that’s what everyone says.”

  So why couldn’t he feel this attraction, this passion for her? He was a fool. “I don’t deserve even your friendship.”

  “Funny, that’s exactly what Robbie said. You two are so much alike.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. “Don’t listen to your father. Follow your heart. It’s led you to the right places—to your sister, to Holly, to the shelter…”

  He shook his head. It wasn’t his heart that was leading him to Robbie, but he wouldn’t make that crude admission to Meredith even though they were only friends. “I can’t—”

  “Don’t make a liar out of me,” Merry warned him.

  “What?”

  “I told her you’re a great guy.”

  He would have liked to ask her to repeat their conversation word for word, but he’d already put his friend in a horrible position. “I don’t deserve that, eith
er.”

  She laughed. “It’s uncanny really…”

  “She said that, too?” Robbie must have been furious with him, especially if she’d overheard any of his father’s lecture. And the sick churning in his stomach convinced him that she had.

  “Here.” She passed him the strap of the sandals Robbie had left on the beach. “Change her mind. Play Prince Charming to her Cinderella.”

  “Roberta Meyers is no Cinderella.” Nor was she a dirty stray. “And I’m no Prince Charming.”

  Chapter Eleven

  From the officers’ table Robbie stared over the heads of the citizens and watched the door of the conference room. “Where is he?”

  “The reverend’s here already,” Paddy O’Donnell said as he settled onto the chair next to her.

  “Not him.” She’d known the minute he’d entered the room—her skin tingled and her blood heated from just the touch of his glance. Ever since then, however, he’d avoided eye contact. “Billy. He’s supposed to give the presentation about the vice unit. I’m just here—”

  “—because I figured he’d try to bail on me, since I let his mom into the CPA,” Paddy said.

  So Holden hadn’t complained about her in the statement he’d given to the watch commander. Maybe he wasn’t a jerk, after all, if she believed what Meredith had told her on the beach, that she and Holden had only ever been friends.

  “I didn’t know why you wanted me to participate,” she told the lieutenant. “I thought I might’ve done something wrong.”

  “Actually, you’ve done everything right,” Paddy said. “You’re a good cop.”

  “Thanks,” she murmured with surprise. Asking her to participate had been more reward than punishment, she now realized, which made sense since the officers the watch commander usually recruited as CPA instructors had more experience on the job and in teaching than she did.

  “Your phone’s ringing,” Paddy said.

  She pulled the cell from her belt. It was just one of many accessories at her waist, like the nightstick, flashlight, pepper spray, Taser, gun, extra clip of ammo and cuffs. She didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID screen. Had something happened to Kayla? “Hello?”