Rookie Mistake (California Dreamers #4)

by Dakota Madison

  Hadley frowns. “I don’t think she has anything to worry about, Dad.”

  “Your father was quite a catch in his day,” my mom says. “He had the eye of a few women.”

  Hadley rolls her eyes. “They must have needed glasses.”

  “Let’s eat,” Ed suggests. “Hadley can set the table for us.”

  She glares at her father, but does as she’s told. As she heads for the dining room Ed exits the kitchen to give her a hand.

  As soon as they’re both out of our earshot my mom asks, “So why were you so late?”

  I let out a huge sigh. I’ve never been dishonest with my mom, but I really don’t want to admit I had a casual hookup. I know she’ll be disappointed in me.

  “I was really upset about Noah dumping me, so Zoe took me to a country bar and I met someone.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Met someone?”

  Biting the bullet I blurt, “We spent the night together.”

  There it is: the look of disappointment. It’s covering her face. She had the same look on her face when I told her I got accepted to the police academy. I’m not sure why she was surprised that I wanted to become a cop. It’s all I ever talked about since I was little. Maybe she thought after my dad was shot in the line of duty that I’d change my mind. If anything it made my desire to become a police officer even stronger.

  Oddly I don’t feel bad about my decision to sleep with CJ. I thought I’d feel guilt or shame, but I don’t. The only thing I feel is a twinge of sadness about the look on his face when I told him I didn’t want to see him again.

  “I’m not going to pretend to know what you’re going through,” my mom tells me. “I was married to your father before I turned twenty. I got married to Ed six months after your father was killed. My entire adult life I’ve been a married woman. I’m sure you had your reasons for doing what you did.”

  She makes it sound like I committed a crime.

  “Are you going to see this man again?” she asks.

  I shake my head.

  She places her hand on my arm. “I’m sure you’ll find someone who will make you happy.”

  I’m glad she thinks so. As I inch closer to thirty I’m not that convinced.

  ***

  “So?” Zoe asks as she brushes the long haired Chihuahua in her lap. “How did it go?”

  “Brunch with my family? It was the same as it is every Sunday.”

  She eyes me. “You know what I mean. Was the cowboy any good at tickling your tunnel?”

  “He’s not a cowboy. He actually lives in my neighborhood and listens to jazz. My tunnel was sufficiently tickled.”

  “I’m glad you had fun.”

  “Now it’s back to reality and the single life.”

  “You could take one of our new puppies to keep you warm on those lonely nights.”

  I shake my head. “Apparently I’m not home enough to take care of a man. At least according to Noah. I’m definitely not home enough to take care of a puppy.”

  “So I have this friend, who has a friend, who is single…”

  I put up a hand to stop her. “I’m not interested in being set up. I let you talk me into the one night stand and that was enough. I’m drawing the line right here.”

  I pantomime drawing a line in front of me to make my point.

  “I think I’m going to try some alone time for a while,” I add.

  “If the alone time turns to lonely time I can always set you up.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  I don’t want to admit to Zoe that I’ve been thinking about CJ a lot more than I should. On my way back from my family’s house I took the long way home just so I could drive by his apartment. His motorcycle was parked right out front.

  Zoe puts the dog brush down and crosses her arms in front of her. “What is it you’re not telling me?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I feign innocence.

  “I can see it in your eyes. There’s a twinkle that wasn’t there yesterday. Do you like the cowboy?”

  I roll my eyes at her. “He isn’t a cowboy, okay. He’s just a regular guy.” I have to admit that I really don’t know what he does, other than he was previously in the military. I guess technically he could be a cowboy, but I doubt it.

  She looks me up and down. “You know you’re glowing.”

  I frown. “I am not.”

  “He must have been a fantastic fuck.”

  My face heats. “He was much better than average.”

  “He was so good he gave you a bang-over.”

  “A what?”

  “A bang-over,” she repeats. “The aftereffects of a night of mind-blowing sex.”

  My body tingles just thinking about being with CJ. He was pretty incredible in the sack.

  I give a dismissive wave of my hand. “It doesn’t matter because I’m never going to see him again.”

  “Sure.” She nods, but the skeptical look in her eyes says she doesn’t believe me.

  I’m not sure I believe me either. CJ’s final words were, “I will see you again, Sweet Cheeks.”

  Three

  It’s too early for the alarm to ring. It’s always too early. But today is my first day as a Field Training Officer and I want everything to be perfect.

  It has to be perfect.

  I’ve worked really hard for this promotion. I want to prove to my sergeant that he made the right choice when he selected me for the position. And I want to prove to my fellow officers that I deserve the job.

  I pull my hair back into a tight ponytail and check myself in the mirror one last time to make sure it’s flawless.

  Cody Jackson is the rookie I’ll be supervising. I wasn’t given any information about him other than the fact that he was a top student at the academy. I guess I’ll find out more when I meet him.

  I grab a banana that I can eat on the road and take a quick sip of juice right out of the container before I head downtown.

  “Officer Navarro. How are you doing today?” One of our civilian employees greets me as I walk down the hallway.

  “Fine,” I tell her. For the first time in a long time it’s not a white lie. I actually feel better than fine.

  I feel hopeful.

  As I march towards Sergeant Wilmore’s office my heartbeat quickens. He’s a tough supervisor, extremely demanding and inflexible. Everything is by the book. I’ve seen him reduce more than a few of my male colleagues to tears with his harsh words.

  Even though he’s never reprimanded me I’m still on my toes whenever I meet with him.

  Another officer is already standing in the sergeant’s office when I arrive. It takes me a moment to realize the man in the uniform standing next to Sergeant Wilmore is CJ.

  Panic quickly consumes me. I’m immobilized with fear. What is CJ doing here?

  “Officer Navarro.” Sergeant Wilmore greets me with a slight nod. “This is our new recruit, Officer Cody Jackson.”

  New recruit? CJ is Cody Jackson? The officer I’m supposed to be supervising. How is this possible?

  My heart is pounding so hard and fast I’m afraid it might explode.

  When I’m finally able to compose myself long enough I glance at CJ, or Cody, or whatever the hell his name is. He looks like he’s in shock. His face is completely pale and his eyes are frozen with fear.

  “Officer Jackson,” Sergeant Wilmore turns his attention to Cody. “Officer Navarro is one of the finest members of our team. I know you’ll learn a lot from her during your training.”

  As the reality of the situation starts to sink in I feel sick to my stomach. I have to supervise the man with whom I just had a wild one-night fling.

  I can’t supervise him. It’s completely unethical.

  But how can I not?

  This is my first assignment as a Field Training Officer. I can’t screw it up because I screwed Cody.

  Even though recusing myself would be the right thing to do, there’s no way I can do it. What would I say to
Sergeant Wilmore? I picked Cody up at a bar, had sex with him all night, but never actually got his full name.

  He’d never view me in the same way again, and neither would my colleagues. I’ve worked too hard to gain their respect. I’d completely lose if I admitted the truth.

  The only solution is to pretend I don’t know Cody and make him swear on his magic dick that he’ll never tell a soul the truth.

  We’ve just got to make it through his field training as two professionals with no prior history with each other.

  I extend a hand. “Very nice to meet you, Officer Jackson.”

  Cody frowns and looks down at my hand like he’ll die if he shakes it.

  I clear my throat and eye him. Maybe I can psychically will him to take my hand.

  Fucker-doodle-do! I hope he isn’t planning on coming clean.

  When Cody’s eyes meet mine I feel a jolt of electricity go through me. How can this be happening? I’m still attracted to him.

  Very attracted to him.

  As his hand reaches for mine I feel the heat radiating from his body even before his touch.

  And his touch makes me tingle all over.

  I’m screwed. Completely and royally.

  We’ll be spending our entire work day for the next ten weeks in very close proximity to each other. I can’t spend all that time feeling like a horny teenager.

  “Nice to meet you,” Cody mutters.

  He seems about as happy about this situation as a bear caught with his leg in a steel trap.

  “That will be all,” Sergeant Wilmore says dismissing us.

  We both sprint so quickly out of his office you’d think we were being chased.

  “Don’t say one word until we’re outside,” I warn as we march down the hallway side-by-side.

  Cody doesn’t acknowledge my threat and he doesn’t look at me. His eyes are planted firmly on the ground.

  Once we’re outside of the station and heading towards the patrol car we’ll be sharing I lay into him. “I thought your name was CJ.”

  “It’s a nickname,” he fires back. “The guys I played baseball with in high school all called me CJ because there were two other guys named Cody on the team.”

  “This whole situation is fucked,” I hiss.

  “Well we fucked. I’m not sure about the situation.”

  I point a finger in his face. “Don’t ever say that again. You don’t know me. We just met today. And I’m your Field Training supervisor. Got it?”

  “Whatever you say, Sweet Cheeks. Or should I call you Officer Sweet Cheeks?”

  “Get in the car.”

  I’m so angry and humiliated my entire body is starting to shake. How can this be happening? I keep hoping I’ll wake up and it will all be a really bad dream.

  Of course I’ve never been that lucky.

  Once we’re both in the car Cody turns to me. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a police officer?”

  “It’s not something I like to talk about with guys I date.”

  “Are we dating?” he asks hopefully.

  “No. What happened between us was a one-time thing…”

  “Three times,” he corrects.

  I glare at him. “You know what I mean. And now we have to forget that anything ever happened. Got it?”

  “So why don’t you tell guys you’re a cop?” He actually sounds sincere and that kills me inside.

  I may want Cody more than a starving man wants a steak dinner, but I can’t have him. Not now and not ever again.

  From this moment forward things between us have to remain one hundred percent professional.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I tell him. “The only thing you need to know is that I’m overseeing your field training. Got it?”

  Even though he nods I’m not convinced that he’s completely convinced. He’d better get on board fast. My job is my life. I have no intention of sacrificing it for him, or anyone else.

  ***

  On an average day on patrol I’m likely to get three to five calls.

  Cody’s first day has been anything but average.

  We’ve already responded to three calls and it’s not even lunchtime yet.

  Our first call was a woman who died sitting on the toilet. Not a pretty picture. That was followed by a case of a disappearing garden gnome. The middle-age woman insisted her neighbor stole it because she was jealous. Our third call was a senile older gentleman who claimed his attic had been taken over by aliens.

  Dealing with Cody has proven to be much more difficult than dealing with the general public.

  According to our Field Training Manual a training officer is supposed to: direct and guide the work of one’s subordinate.

  Cody has been making it extremely difficult for me to do much directing or guiding of his work. He keeps gaping at me like a lovesick schoolboy.

  On our way inside Which Sandwich, a lunch stop I like to frequent, I turn to him and say, “You need to stop looking at me the way you’re looking at me.”

  He glances at me innocently, his eyebrows raised. “How am I looking at you?”

  I point a finger at him. “You know exactly how.”

  “Whatever you say, Officer Sweet Cheeks.”

  “And you need to stop that too. My cheeks are not that sweet.”

  He moves so close to me that I can smell his cologne. “Your cheeks are exceptionally sweet.”

  I gulp. I’m almost swept right back under his spell. Then just as quickly I snap out of it. “Nothing is going to happen between us ever again. Got it?”

  “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”

  Before I have a chance to say anything else he turns and marches into the sandwich place.

  Tom Delforio, a guy I went to high school with, manages the shop. As soon as he spots me he hurries over to the front counter.

  “Great to see you, Officer Navarro.” He gives me a warm smile. It’s always strange when people I’ve known since before I joined the force, address me as Officer.

  “And how are you, Mr. Delforio?” I tease.

  “It’s a good day when I’m still standing.”

  Tom had a brush with testicular cancer a few years ago, but doctors were able to treat it. He’s always been thin. Now he’s finally starting to gain some of the weight back that he lost when he was diagnosed.

  For the first time in a long time he looks healthy and happy.

  “The usual?” he asks.

  I nod. I know I’m a creature of habit. I get the same thing for lunch nearly every day: egg salad with tomato and lettuce on a whole wheat bun and a dill pickle. Lemonade to drink.

  Tom glances in Cody’s direction. “Did they assign you a partner?” He doesn’t seem too impressed.

  “I’m a Field Training Officer now. Officer Jackson is a rookie I’m training.”

  “What can I get for you?”

  Cody inspects the large menu hanging over Tom’s head.

  “Do you have any recommendations?” Cody asks.

  Tom taps on the counter impatiently. “What do you like?”

  Cody shrugs. “Anything. Everything.”

  I hope he’s pickier about women than he appears to be about food. I’d hate to think that I was just one of anything and everything.

  “The toasted ham and cheese is a big seller,” Tom suggests.

  “Sure. Why not?” Cody replies.

  “Do you want a pickle with that?” Tom has never been the most patient person in the world, but he seems to be particularly exasperated by Cody’s nonchalant attitude towards his food.

  Cody gives him another half shrug. “I guess.”

  Tom and I are a lot alike when it comes to our jobs. Our work is everything to us. I don’t get the same impression about Cody. He seems to be pretty laidback about almost everything.

  Except maybe being with me that is. About that he seems quite intense.

  “Anything to drink?” Tom offers.

  “Whatever she’s having is fine.”

&nbs
p; When Tom disappears into the back to prepare our sandwiches I motion to Cody to follow me and I grab my favorite table. It’s along the window that faces a small park. The view is my second favorite thing about the sandwich shop.

  My first favorite thing is the pickles.

  The egg salad is pretty good too.

  “Don’t we need to pay for our food?” Cody asks as we take our seats.

  “Lunch is on me,” I tell him. “I come here so often that Tom set up an account for me. He bills me once a month.”

  “You don’t have to buy me lunch.” He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a ten-dollar bill and places it on the table between us.

  “I don’t want your money,” I tell him.

  “Take it.” He actually sounds insistent, which surprises me.

  “You were so nonchalant about what to order, but you’re demanding that I take your money.”

  “Are you going to take it?” He indicates the cash.

  “No, I’m not.”

  His lips tighten. “Then I’m buying you lunch tomorrow.”

  “Fine. Do what you need to.”

  He glares at me as he removes the money from the table and puts it back into his pocket.

  “Why is that so important to you? Hasn’t anyone ever bought lunch for you before?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Never?”

  His head is still shaking. “I take care of myself.”

  We’re both lost in our own thoughts until Tom brings our food to us.

  “Egg salad for my favorite police officer.” Tom serves my food with a smile.

  When he places Cody’s food on the table his face turns to a scowl.

  “Thanks so much, Tom,” I tell him. “Everything looks great.”

  “It’s always nice to be appreciated.”

  Tom glares in Cody’s direction, but Cody doesn’t say a word. He just picks up the sandwich and takes a huge bite.

  “Is there a reason you’re not being nice to Tom?” I ask Cody as soon as Tom is out of earshot.

  “He isn’t exactly being warm and fuzzy to me,” he fires back.

  He has a point. I’ve never seen Tom act the way he’s acting with Cody. He’s usually overly friendly and charming to all of his customers.

  “Do you like the sandwich?” I ask.

  Cody nods. I guess he’s back to being Mr. Strong and Silent. Not great for lunchtime conversation.