by Lisa Childs
“You’re mad at me,” she said. “I’m sorry. I was such an idiot.”
“You committed a serious crime,” he said. “You could have killed…” He lost his voice for another minute as it cracked with fear over what could have happened. “You could have killed Officer Meyers.”
“You love her?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, then released it in a wistful sigh. “She doesn’t think you do.”
“That’s because I’ve been an idiot, and I haven’t told her.” He hadn’t even wanted to admit it to himself—that he’d fallen so deeply in love with her that he’d never get over her, even if she didn’t return his feelings.
“You should tell her,” Skylar suggested.
After he’d acted like such a fool, he doubted Robbie would be interested in his love. “I think it might be too late.”
“Like it’s too late for me,” the teenager said with resignation. “So what’s going to happen to me now?”
“Officer Meyers has to arrest you.”
“I know. I mean, what do I do?”
He opened his mouth, ready to offer her a lawyer and bail money. But then she asked, “Should I call my mom, like Officer Meyers said?”
“Officer Meyers suggested that?”
“Yeah, she thinks maybe my mom got smart and ditched the loser boyfriend.” Hope flickered in her eyes. “Maybe Mom wants me to come home.”
And maybe Skylar wanted to go home—now that she accepted the fact that Holden wasn’t in love with her. Why hadn’t he noticed her feelings for him? He’d been so intent on trying to protect her that he hadn’t realized he might have sent the wrong message. He didn’t want to do that again. “Skylar, you’re in a lot of trouble. You may not be able to go home.”
“Officer Meyers said she’d talk to the district attorney and get the charges reduced,” the girl said. “She thinks she can probably get me probation.”
“She’s going to do that after you shot at her?” he asked, awed again by the woman he loved.
“She’s not what I thought she was.” Skylar had been one of the teenagers who had called the vice cop names when Roberta had walked into the shelter with him. “She’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, she is.” If she could forgive a girl who’d shot at her, maybe she could forgive him, too, for being such a jerk.
Chapter Sixteen
Robbie blinked, trying to clear the grit from her eyes so that she could see to put her key in the lock of her apartment door. She had been awake for so many hours that her muscles trembled with exhaustion. But she wasn’t just physically tired. She was emotionally worn-out, too.
When she came off a tough shift like this she longed to see her daughter’s face, to hold the girl close and remind herself that it was all worth it. Kayla made all her hard work worth the effort. She needed to hold her daughter so badly right now that she even considered dropping by her school. Yet was it really that she needed to hold someone, or was it that she needed to be held?
Finally the key turned, and then she rotated the knob and opened the door by leaning against the wood. Yawning, she stumbled across the threshold. And into a pair of strong arms that caught her and held her close to a chest in which a heart pounded fast and hard.
Trembling fingers combed back her hair from her face. “Robbie…”
Her breath shuddered out with relief. “You’re here.” She tipped up her chin and met his gaze, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “How are you here?”
“Joelly let me in.”
She didn’t even care that her friend had broken her promise to quit matchmaking. She closed her arms around his waist and held on tight. “Did you see Kayla?”
His chin brushed over her hair as he shook his head. “I just missed her. But Joelly said she seemed fine when she got her ready for school this morning. She said that Kayla understands that sometimes you have to work past your shift. Why did you have to work past your shift?”
“Paperwork,” she said.
“Or were you talking to the district attorney on Skylar’s behalf?”
“That, too,” she admitted with a weary sigh. “I honestly don’t think she meant to hurt me. She’s just a screwed-up kid.”
“I should have seen that she was getting too attached to me,” he said, his voice thick with guilt and regret. “I’m the counselor. But I was too close. You were right, I lost my objectivity. I was trying so hard to save…”
“Lorielle.”
“Yeah, but she’s gone.”
At the resignation in his voice, she tipped back her head and met his gaze. “That’s not your fault,” she said.
“I’m going to try to accept that now.” His arms tightened around her. “And I’m going to try to be more objective.”
“You’ll lose your objectivity again because you care so much,” she said with respect. “You were right about me, that I don’t get involved enough.”
“It’s not because you don’t care, though,” he replied. “I was wrong to ever think that. You showed me, with the way you handled Skylar, that you care. I overheard some of your conversation with her and then I talked to her myself. You got through to her. You’re good with teenagers.”
Robbie closed her eyes on a wave of weariness. “I’m not strong enough to fight with you right now.”
“I don’t want to fight.”
“And I don’t want to quit my job,” she said.
He cupped her face in his palms, his hands trembling slightly. “I don’t want you to quit your job.”
His admission stunned her. “I thought after last night, after the shooting, that you’d be even more adamant that I quit.”
“Skylar’s shooting at you had nothing to do with your job and everything to do with me,” he said, his voice filled with emotion and his eyes dark with guilt and regret. “That was my fault. I put you in danger.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You had no idea how she felt,” she told him. And she had a feeling he had no idea how she felt, how much she loved him.
“You told me,” he reminded her, “and I acted like an ass about it.”
“You didn’t see it yourself.”
“I should have,” he said. “I’m going to hire more people.”
“You have enough security now.”
“I’m going to hire more counselors and an administrator.”
“I hope you still intend to let volunteers work at the shelter,” she said, “because I’d like to help out there.” She studied his face, trying to gauge his reaction, but he revealed nothing of his thoughts.
“I’d love to have you help out.”
“It won’t be too awkward?” she asked.
“The kids will accept you. You’ll get through to them like you got through to Skylar last night.”
He was the one she wanted to get through to. He’d said he didn’t want her to quit her job. Was that because he’d completely given up on a future for them?
“What about you?” she asked. “Will you ever accept me?” She had to know.
“Robbie—”
“I’m not asking you to break your promise to Lorielle.”
“I wouldn’t.”
She flinched, knowing now that he didn’t feel the same way about her that she felt about him. She had made a horrible mistake, so she stepped back until his hands fell from her shoulders. “Oh…”
“I’m not breaking my promise to her,” he said.
Her heart clutched, and she bit her lip so that she would not beg him to give her a chance. “We’re back where we were, then. Stalemate.”
Tears of hopelessness and exhaustion threatened. Too tired to fight them, Roberta simply closed her eyes to hold them in.
“Look at me,” he said.
When she opened her eyes, she discovered that he had dropped to his knees in front of her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m proposing,” he said, his pulse racing with adrenaline. “If you’ll have me as your husband
, I’d be honored if you became my bride, Roberta Meyers.”
She pressed her hand to her heart, trying to slow its mad pounding. “I don’t understand…”
“I love you,” he vowed. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Kayla and Holly.”
“But your promise…”
“Will be kept.” He nodded his head. “Whether you stay in vice or transfer to the SRT or join the bomb unit, we’ll still provide the security of a loving family that I promised my sister I would give her daughter.”
“Are you serious?” she asked in a whisper.
“Very serious,” he assured her. “I love you.” He would keep saying it until she believed him and because, if something had happened to her, he never would have forgiven himself for not telling her. “I want to marry you so we can take care of each other and our kids. What’s your answer, Robbie?”
“Yes, yes!” She threw her arms around his neck.
Clasping her in his arms, he rose from his knees. Then he carried her down the hall to the bedroom. Sunlight streamed through the blinds and bathed her face as he laid her on the bed.
She tugged him down and kissed him. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Holden Thomas. I can’t wait to become your bride.”
“We’ll marry right away,” he promised. “As soon as we can get a marriage license.”
Her fingers fumbled with buttons as she opened his shirt. “Get undressed,” she ordered him.
“Robbie, you’re so tired you could barely get the key in the lock,” he reminded her, his heart aching with concern and love for her. “Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll just hold you.”
“I’m not tired anymore.” Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation. “I’ll never be too tired to make love with you.”
“Can we make that part of our wedding vows?” he teased.
Her breath audibly caught. “You really asked me to marry you?”
“Yes, I really did. And you said yes.” He smiled. “So don’t change your mind now.”
She shook her head. “Never.”
“I was so scared tonight,” he admitted as he cupped her face in his palms. “When I heard you on the radio, I was terrified I would lose you. And I hadn’t told you I loved you. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something had happened to you.”
“Nothing happened,” she spoke gently, reassuringly. “I’m fine.”
“You’re perfect,” he said and kissed her.
Her lips clung to his while she skimmed her hands up his chest. “You’re the perfect one,” she murmured into his mouth.
He grinned. “How about we’re both perfect—for each other?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Now make love to your fiancée.”
“I’d love to.”
Undressing her slowly, he kissed every inch of silky skin he exposed. He lavished extra attention on her beautiful breasts, teasing her nipples into tight points with his tongue. Then he slid lower and made love to her with his mouth until she arched away from the bed and cried out.
“Holden!”
He tore off his shirt and scrambled out of his shoes, jeans and boxers. In seconds he buried himself deep inside her wet heat. She locked her legs around his waist, meeting each of his thrusts in perfect harmony. And in perfect harmony, they came.
Pleasure tore through him, shattering his control. Panting for breath, he collapsed in her arms, then rolled to his side with her locked against him. He was filled with a peace he’d never known. He closed his eyes and murmured, “Robbie…”
She gently slapped his cheek with her palm. “Don’t fall asleep,” she ordered him.
Holden groaned. “You’re not going to kick me out of bed again, are you?”
“Yes,” she said with a girlish giggle of pure happiness.
His heart swelled with joy that he had made her that happy, as happy as she made him.
“I’m going to kick us both out,” she said. “We need to go someplace.”
“But we were both awake all night. Can’t we just close our eyes for a while?” he negotiated.
“What we have to do is more important than sleeping,” she promised.
A grin spread across his lips as he realized where she wanted to go. “Of course. It is much more important.”
“MY MOM NEVER came home last night,” Kayla whispered to Holly.
Holly leaned her fair head against Kayla’s temple. “Do you think she was with my uncle?” she asked.
“Did you see her at your house?”
“No,” Holly replied. “But he wasn’t home, either. I just figured he had to go to the shelter. But maybe they were together.”
“Aunt JoJo said Mom had to work late.”
“Did she say why?” Holly asked. Her voice got all high, as if she was scared, too.
“No.”
“Does she do that much?”
“She’s usually not this late.” Kayla wrapped an arm around her stomach. It had begun to hurt. “She usually gets me ready for school in the morning—no matter how late she works.”
“That’s cool,” Holly said, blinking like she was trying not to cry.
“You must miss your mom a lot,” Kayla said, and under the table where they sat together in class, she slid her hand into Holly’s.
Holly squeezed her fingers. “It’s not that. She wasn’t that kind of mom. She was gone a lot, but she’d leave me with Uncle Holden. So I was okay with it. I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t come back the last time.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I was actually happy she didn’t come back. Does that make me horrible?”
“No,” Kayla told her friend. “Your uncle is great. You wanted to stay with him. Your mom…She wasn’t a good mom.”
“Not like your mom,” Holly said. “I hope she comes home.”
Kayla blinked. “I’m sure she will. She always comes home. She’s a lot tougher than the bad guys.”
“Hey, look!” Holly whispered, pointing to the door where her uncle’s head was visible through the window.
Kayla closed her eyes, scared he’d come down to give her bad news about her mom. She heard the door open and squeezed Holly’s hand tighter.
“Look!” Holly urged her, her voice shaking with excitement.
Kayla sucked in a deep breath and opened her eyes. Then she blinked because she didn’t believe what she saw. Mom and Uncle Holden walked in the door, hand in hand, like her and Holly. “What’s going on?” she asked her friend.
“I don’t know, but your mom’s okay.”
“Yeah, she is.” And she had the biggest smile on her face Kayla had ever seen.
“We have something to tell you two,” Mom said. “Let’s go out in the hall.”
“Oh!” Holly shouted as she did when she got the answer to a question before everyone else. “I know—you two are getting married!”
Her uncle Holden laughed. “There’s no fooling you, honey.”
“Really?” Kayla asked, staring up at her mom. “You’re getting married?”
“How do you feel about that?”
Kayla turned to Holly, and they both jumped up and screamed, “We’re sisters!”
“We’re really sisters,” Holly said.
“We’re a family,” Uncle Holden said.
Tears poured from Kayla’s eyes as she realized it was true. They were a family. She now had a mom, a dad and a sister. Her mom pulled her into her arms.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked as she wiped the tears from Kayla’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing,” she said. Everything was so right.
“Then why are you crying so hard?”
“Because I’ve never been so happy.”
“Me, neither,” her mom said as she glanced up at Holden and then over at Holly and smiled. “I have never been so happy.”
And then the four of them huddled together in what Kayla knew would be the first of many, many group hugs. Her life was now perfect.
IS
BN: 978-1-4268-3954-2
ONCE A COP
Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Childs-Theeuwes.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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