Make Me Yours (Top Shelf Romance Book 4)

by Devney Perry

  “Hold up.” I raised my hands. “Dad, we talked about this. I don’t want to be the next chief of police.”

  “Right. I know you’re still considering things.” He nodded but he wasn’t hearing me. “We’ve got time, but what’s the harm in learning more about what I do? Just in case.”

  Just in case.

  Three words I was really fucking sick of hearing.

  “Look, Dad—” My phone rang in my pocket before I could put my foot down. “Sorry,” I muttered, digging it out.

  “You go ahead. I’ve got another meeting coming in.”

  “Okay. We’ll talk later?”

  “You got it.”

  I waved good-bye as I pressed the phone to my ear, walking down the hallway toward the staircase. “Hello.”

  “Hey, Cole, it’s Finn.”

  “Hey. What’s going on? Up for a beer tonight?”

  I’d met Poppy’s brother for beers twice since the fair. He was a stand-up guy and easy to hang out with, but what I liked best about Finn was how he adored his little sister. The first time we’d met up, he’d told me point-blank that if I ever hurt her, he’d gladly serve life in prison for my murder.

  “That’s not exactly the reason for my call.”

  My feet froze as my heart rate spiked. “Is it Poppy?”

  “Yeah. She’s fine, but she’s in some trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?” What the fuck was going on that she couldn’t call me herself?

  “She just called me to bail her and Jimmy out of jail.”

  “Motherfucker.” The word came out of my clenched teeth. “It was that fucking fire alarm, wasn’t it?”

  “Yep.” He popped the p just like Poppy did. “I guess she decided not to listen to either of us on that one.”

  “Goddamn it.” I jogged toward the stairs. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Finn chuckled. “I figured you would. She’s going to be pissed at me when she finds out I called you on the sly instead of coming down to bail her out.”

  I huffed. “She’s got bigger problems to worry about right now.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks for calling.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket and hustled downstairs to the bull pen. “I need to head out,” I told Matt. He was standing by his desk, talking to a couple of the other guys. “Something personal came up.”

  “Personal, as in your girlfriend and some old guy getting hauled in for pulling a fire alarm at an old warehouse?”

  “Fuck.” I swiped my keys off my desk. “Does everybody know?”

  The huddle immediately started laughing.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Fucking gossips. This place was worse than a high school locker room. I ignored my coworkers and turned to leave, but one of the guys stopped me.

  “Hey, Cole.”

  “Yeah?” I looked over my shoulder just in time to catch the handcuffs he threw my way.

  “You might need these.” He snickered along with the other assholes laughing at me.

  I glared at him, about to toss them back, but stopped myself. Maybe a night spent naked in handcuffs would teach Poppy to listen. So without a word, I shoved them into my back pocket and stormed out of the bull pen.

  Short-term lockup was on the other side of the law enforcement complex, so when I exploded through the door, I turned in the opposite direction of the parking lot. The short walk down the long sidewalk did nothing to cool my temper, and by the time I reached lockup, I was fuming.

  How could she be this stupid? Didn’t she know that this was a serious crime? It was a misdemeanor at least, but if she’d caused any property damage or an injury, she could be facing a felony. Something I’d told her more than once.

  For the first time, I wanted to take a match to that goddamn birthday list.

  “Hi, Detective Goodman.” The officer sitting behind the plexiglass window smiled but it fell as he read my angry face.

  “I’m here to cover the bail for Poppy Maysen and Jimmy Maysen.”

  His eyes widened. “Oh, um . . . okay.” He shuffled some papers on his desk. “It’s set at five hundred each.”

  My nostrils flared. A thousand dollars. I grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket and dug out a credit card.

  “There’s an extra fee for cred—”

  I held up a hand to shut him up. “I know. Just put it all on there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I pointed to the door in the corner. “Can I go back?”

  “You’ll just need to sign some paperwork before they can be released.”

  No shit.

  He cowered under my glare and reached for the buzzer to let me through to the cellblock.

  The first cell I passed was occupied by a drunk who had puked all over himself and the floor. The next had a guy covered in tattoos, most of which were gang symbols.

  I didn’t want Poppy in this place. She didn’t belong in this hellhole. And she wouldn’t be here if she had just fucking listened.

  My hands were fisted as I walked down the hall to her cell, where she was talking to Jimmy.

  “I don’t like this idea.”

  “Too bad,” he hissed. “I’m taking the blame. Like I told the cop, you were just trying to stop me.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. This is how it’s going to be. Let me do this.”

  I cleared my throat as I came up to the bars.

  Poppy’s wide eyes were waiting.

  Jimmy’s darted to the floor.

  I stepped up to the door, planting my hands on my hips, and glared down at them both sitting on the metal cot. “How about you both stop talking where anyone can overhear your conversation?”

  “That’s what I tried to tell her.” Jimmy stood from the cot. “But she’s a bit on edge.”

  “On edge!” Poppy shot up. “We’re in jail, Jimmy.” Her eyes came to me. “Cole, I can explain.”

  “Not now.” I looked down the hallway to see the cop from the front desk coming down with a fistful of keys. “Both of you stay quiet until we get out of here. Then you’ll have your chance to explain.”

  Poppy and Jimmy stayed quiet as the officer and I escorted them out of the cellblock. They didn’t mutter a word as I signed their bail papers and the credit card receipt. And they nodded in silence as the officer told them that they had to appear at the arraignment or I’d lose my bail money and they’d have warrants issued for their arrest.

  “Where’s your car?” I asked Poppy as we stepped outside.

  “At the warehouse.”

  “Let’s go.”

  I marched back across the complex with Jimmy and Poppy following behind me like children after being scolded by an angry parent.

  We went straight to my truck and got inside, with Jimmy riding shotgun and Poppy in the back. When the doors were closed, I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. But not even the white-knuckle grip I had on the steering wheel eased the anger flowing through my veins, and the hold I’d kept on my temper fell to pieces.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” I roared, twisting toward Poppy in the back. “Is checking some goddamn check box really worth a criminal record? Jesus Christ, Poppy. We’ve talked about this. You could get charged with a felony. A felony! That stays with you forever.”

  “I know.” As Poppy’s frame crumpled, my anger fizzled.

  “This is my fault.” Jimmy came to her rescue. “But we’ve got a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  Did Jimmy actually think he could beat the system? If we were lucky, these two would only end up with misdemeanors.

  “I’m taking the blame for this whole thing,” Jimmy declared.

  “Jimmy, no!” Poppy protested. “I pulled the alarm. It’s my responsibility. I won’t let—”

  I held up a finger, silencing her rant, and kept my eyes on Jimmy. “Keep going.”

  “I pulled the alarm. Poppy and I were at the warehouse. We went to coffee at the place next door, I’ve got the receipt
to prove it, and then I told her I wanted to check out the warehouse. I wanted to see how it had changed over the years since I knew who used to own it. We snuck inside and I pulled the alarm. On accident.”

  “An accident.” I deadpanned. “That’s your plan?”

  He nodded. “Yep. I tripped, grabbed the wall and yanked the alarm.”

  I sighed and looked back at Poppy. It killed me to see her beautiful cornflower blues filled with worry. “How about the truth this time?”

  She nodded. “Jimmy found out that the sprinkler system had been turned off in the warehouse because they’re getting ready to do a renovation. We went for coffee—that part is true—and then walked across the street to the warehouse. We snuck in and I pulled the alarm.”

  “The sprinklers were all shut off, but the alarms were still active.” Jimmy shook his head. “Bad intel on my part.”

  Intel. Jimmy was acting like this was some fucking covert operation and he was a secret spy, not something that could ruin my girlfriend’s reputation as an upstanding citizen.

  Poppy touched my arm. “We thought doing it this way would be no big deal. That I’d be able to pull a pointless alarm and finish the item for the list without actually committing a crime. Neither of us had any idea the alarm was still active. I swear, this was all an innocent mistake. We didn’t even run after the alarm went off. We just waited until the fire department arrived so we could tell them we’d pulled the alarm. They called the cops and . . . you know the rest.”

  “Okay.” I closed my eyes and took a breath, then turned the truck key and backed us out of the parking lot. I used the drive to The Rainbow to think of how we were going to deal with this before the arraignment next week.

  Parked in front of the retirement home, I looked at both Jimmy and Poppy, telling them with my scowl that I was in charge. “Here’s what we’re going to do. First, you’re going to tell the judge the truth. All of it. Starting with the list and why you pulled the alarm in the first place. Then you’re going to promise to never, ever break the law again and hope that the judge is a bit sentimental and gives you a fine instead of jail time.” My eyes snapped to Jimmy. “But we’re sticking with the truth here. Not some crazy story.”

  Jimmy surprised me when he didn’t argue. He nodded at me and reached back to pat Poppy’s knee. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon.”

  As he disappeared inside, Poppy climbed over the console and took his place in the passenger seat. “I’m sorry, Cole. I know you’re mad. I know you told me not to do it, but we honestly thought it would just be pulling a switch that didn’t work anymore.”

  I took her hand. “I didn’t realize pulling a disabled alarm was an option. I thought you’d want it to be real. If you had just asked me, I could have talked to the fire department and gotten you a whole list of buildings where the alarms didn’t work.”

  She hung her head. “I just . . . you’ve been doing so much for me. I can’t keep taking from you.”

  Huh? “What are you talking about? And where is this coming from?”

  She shrugged. “You’ve been so busy lately and it’s my fault. I can’t keep piling it on. With the truck and the hike and now you’ve got Nazboo all the time. I don’t want you to resent me by the time we get this all done. I’d rather have you than your help on this list.”

  “Poppy, look at me.” When she did, I let her hand go to run my thumb up her cheek. “You have both. Me and my help. I want to fix up that truck. I want to be with Nazboo. I want to do whatever you need me to do. Okay?”

  “I don’t want the list to come between us,” she whispered.

  God, I love this woman. I loved her heart. Her dedication to see things through. I loved that she was trying to put me first. And even though it had backfired, I loved that she’d done this today because she was trying to lighten my load.

  Those three little words almost slipped out of my mouth, but I swallowed them back. Maybe I’d muster the courage to say them when the list was over—when all of this was behind us. She wasn’t ready for them yet.

  And I needed to know that when I said I love you, I’d hear it back.

  Today wasn’t that day. We needed more time.

  “I love that you’re dedicated to the list and I’m so damn proud that you’d do that for Jamie. But that list will never come between us.”

  She relaxed, leaning further into my hand. She’d needed to hear those words just as much as I’d needed to say them.

  Jamie’s list wasn’t going to come between us. I just had to make sure his memory—and my own insecurities—didn’t either.

  33rd Birthday: Throw a drink in someone’s face

  Poppy

  “Are you ready?” I asked Finn.

  He rolled his eyes. “Is anyone ever ready to have water thrown in their face?”

  “Okay. Here goes.”

  With a flick of my wrist, I threw the water in my glass into my brother’s face. He frowned, blinking it out of his eyes before grabbing the towel off the kitchen table.

  Behind me, Molly silently slid me another glass of water. The moment the towel dropped from Finn’s face, I threw the second glass.

  “Hey!” he shouted, sputtering the water out of his mouth. “What was that for?”

  I grinned, glad my secret attack had worked. “That was for calling Cole to come bail me out of jail.”

  Finn shook his head and went back to the towel.

  It had been a week since my time behind bars—something I didn’t care to ever repeat. I’d been a nervous wreck the entire time, wondering what the judge would do to punish Jimmy and me, and by the time I’d arrived at the courthouse this morning, not even Cole’s touch could settle my anxiety.

  “You should be glad I called Cole.” Finn tossed down the towel. “If he hadn’t convinced you and Jimmy not to commit perjury, things would have turned out a lot worse.”

  I scoffed. “I never would have let Jimmy take the blame.”

  No matter what Jimmy had wanted, I’d always planned to tell the truth and plead guilty—something else I didn’t care to ever repeat.

  Never in my life had I been more humiliated than this morning as I’d stood in front of a judge and admitted to pulling a fire alarm, all because I was trying to honor my late husband’s birthday list.

  “It’s over now.” Molly patted my shoulder. “You’ve paid the fine and marked the item off the list. Fire alarm,” she made a checkmark in the air, “check.”

  After the hearing, Cole had gone back to the station while Jimmy and I had waited to pay our fines. I’d handed over a two-thousand-dollar check to the courthouse clerk, then taken Jimmy back to The Rainbow. The minute I’d gotten back to the restaurant, I’d pulled out the journal and crossed that item off the list. No tears. No twinge of sadness or longing. Just a grimace followed by pure joy that I’d never plot a crime again.

  “No more misdemeanors, okay?” Finn asked.

  “Promise.” I crossed my heart. “Thanks for letting me throw water in your face. I’m glad to know my brother is here to support me when my friends let me down.”

  I shot an exaggerated glare at Molly but she laughed it off. “Some of us require makeup to get through the day.”

  I’d begged Molly to let me do it, but she’d refused, claiming her mascara and foundation would not be victims of Jamie’s birthday list. So when Finn had come in with a clean face and a hungry belly, I’d given him a free lunch in exchange for his assistance.

  “Okay. I’d better get back to work.” Finn came around the table and gave me a hug. Then he smiled at Molly. “See you tonight?”

  Tonight? What was happening tonight?

  She nodded. “Come over whenever. The kids are really excited.”

  “I’m excited too.” He waved to us both before leaving the kitchen.

  The second the door swung closed behind him, I spun on Molly. “Tonight?”

  “He’s coming over for dinner.”

  “What? That’s great!” My arms shot in
the air. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  She shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Yes, it is. You two seem to be getting along great lately and now dinner. What if he wants to get back together?” My spirits nearly shot through the roof at the possibility of a Finn-and-Molly reconciliation.

  “Poppy,” she sighed, “this is just a dinner for the kids. We’re not getting back together.”

  “But you might.”

  She shook her head. “No. We won’t. Finn is coming over for dinner tonight so we can show the kids that we can all get along, even if we don’t all live in the same house anymore.”

  “Oh.” My spirits came crashing down. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. We had a long talk a while ago and decided that we need to do a better job of putting the past behind us. We’re divorced but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

  “Friends?”

  “Friends,” she declared with a nod.

  I didn’t buy Molly’s confidence. This friendship idea was Finn’s—I’d bet the restaurant on it. “Is that really what you want?”

  “I’ll take anything he’ll give me just to get us past these awful last few months. He’s looking at me again. He’s starting to talk to me. And at the end of the day, if it makes it easier on the kids, then I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

  Molly would put her heart through a meat grinder if that meant making Kali and Max smile. “Those kids are lucky to have such a wonderful mom.”

  She smiled. “Finn and I love them so much, and they deserve better than we’ve given them lately.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing your best.”

  “We can do better.” She stepped away from my side to take a seat on one of the stools. “I actually have you to thank for Finn’s change lately.”

  “Me? What did I do?”

  “A lot, really. The night of the paint fight last month was the night he came over to talk about us being friends again. The kids had so much fun that day, laughing and playing. Maybe it was because we were there for you or for Jamie—I don’t know—but that was the first day in a long time that he acted like himself. No anger or resentment. Just the Finn I remembered.”