She turned. “He was here?” He’d delivered the flowers himself? Damn it. She’d missed him.
“Yeah...in his uniform—hot. You know how to pick them, I’ll give you that.”
“Yeah...” It’s too bad she knew how to lose them just as quick. Picking up her phone a second later, she called her friend for advice.
“Okay, read the card again,” Terri-Lynn said on the other end of the line.
“‘Happy birthday to the best fake fiancée a guy could ever dream of. Love, Chase,’” she whispered, staring at the card that she hadn’t put down since opening it. The flowers now sat on the desk in front of her and she leaned forward to smell them again, hoping for a trace of Chase’s cologne. God, she missed that smell.
“Well...the love, Chase is good. I love you, from Chase would have been better. Hmm.” Terri-Lynn paused. “But you said he hand-delivered them?”
“Yes. So, do I call him? Text him?” She couldn’t do nothing. That would be rude. A brief thank-you call, that’s all. No more or less. Unless he wanted more. Oh, God, what if he wanted less? What if the roses were just a nice way of saying “it was fun, have a nice life”? After all, he didn’t ask to see her.
“I’d say definitely call. Just say you’re sorry you missed him and thank him for the flowers.”
“Sorry I missed you and thank you for the flowers...” she repeated. Sounded practical and easy enough. With any luck, she’d get his voice mail and then the ball would be back in his court.
“Now the key is in your tone—keep it light, casual, as if you get roses from men you’re in love with every day. Like this, ‘Oh, Chase, old friend, remember that time we spent a week together having wild and crazy sex? That was a gas... Anyhoo...thank you for remembering my birthday... So sorry, gotta run, super busy...”
“What’s with the accent?”
“I don’t know, the British always sound so nonchalant. But do you get what I was doing there?”
“Okay. I better go do this before I lose my nerve,” she said, biting her lip. God, she hoped she didn’t accidentally add the accent.
13
“OUT OF THE CAR. Hands where I can see them,” Chase said, standing away from the black Mustang GT that he’d pulled over in connection with a 7-Eleven robbery three blocks away. Ten minutes into his shift, he’d taken the first sip of coffee and had barely tasted the chocolate–cream cheese frosting on the birthday cake they’d had for him at the station when the call came in. Happy birthday indeed.
“I want to see your badge.” The young punk, who fit the robber’s description perfectly, spat through the tinted window that he’d barely rolled down.
Chase saw movement inside the vehicle, toward the backseat. The perpetrator wasn’t alone. Reaching for his badge with one hand, he removed his gun from the holster at his waist with the other. “Badge... Gun... Now get out...slowly,” he said again, noticing the blood coursing through his steady right hand as he tucked the badge back on his belt. The station had yet to assign him a new partner but he’d called for backup before getting out of his vehicle, and he knew the other officer was nearby.
The driver’s-side door opened and the twentysomething male got out.
“Hands up, turn and face the car. Is there anyone else inside the vehicle?” Give the kid a chance to lie to him. He tucked his gun away.
“Yeah—my buddy.”
“Just one?”
“Yeah.”
“Stay inside the vehicle,” Chase called to the other male. Turning his attention back to the first suspect, he began his pat down. “Do you have any weapons...anything sharp I should be concerned about?”
“No.”
He continued his pat down. “Any drugs on yourself or in the vehicle?”
“No, man. Stop touching me.” The kid wiggled away.
Chase held him in place and, reaching into his coat pocket, he sighed as he retrieved a bag of marijuana. Lie number one. “So, what’s this?” He tossed it onto the hood of the vehicle in front of the boy.
“It’s medicinal.”
How many times did he hear that in a week? “Okay, smart-ass. This your car?”
“It’s my buddy’s.” He nodded toward the inside of the vehicle.
Chase turned him around, keeping an eye on the back door of the car. Where was the backup he’d requested? A quick glance at his watch revealed it was four minutes since he’d placed the call. Everything was under control, but he knew all too well how quickly that could change and the last thing he wanted on his birthday was to have his ass chewed out by the chief because he hadn’t followed protocol. “Let’s see your license.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Of course not,” Chase mumbled. Taking his cuffs from his belt, he cuffed the kid.
“What the hell?”
“I’ve already got you on possession and driving without a license. Sit and stay put while I talk to your friend,” he said, helping the kid to the curb. If he ran he couldn’t get far with the cuffs on. He scanned the road. Where was backup?
He tapped on the window to the backseat.
The door swung open and he jumped back. “Easy,” he told the kid getting out as he reached for his gun once more.
The wide-eyed teen looked terrified and completely strung out as he glanced in either direction down the street. A runner. Moving in quickly, he grabbed the boy’s arms and twisted them back behind him, wishing he had another set of cuffs. The boy struggled and Chase pinned him against the car with his body. “Relax,” he ordered.
“Get off me,” the boy screamed, pushing against him with the strength Chase would expect from someone three times his size. PCP would be his guess. Turning to the other boy, he said, “What did he take?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, man.” The kid spit on the ground in front of him.
“I think you do.”
“I think you need to read us our rights,” the boy said.
The one he was holding spat at him and he crushed him between his body and the squad car. Why did they always spit? So disgusting. He wiped his cheek on his shoulder as sweat gathered beneath his bulletproof vest and shirt. Eighty-two degrees without even the slightest breeze and not a cloud in the sky, and these two decide to rob a convenience store high on PCP. Whatever happened to lying on the beach and trying to pick up hot girls?
The sound of sirens approaching was a relief as keeping the boy pinned became harder as he continued to struggle. “Stupid pig... Get off me.”
“Shut up and relax,” Chase ordered as the other unit came into view.
The boy on the sidewalk stood as the car approached the curb. Jay—good. He couldn’t ask for better backup than the veteran cop.
“Hey, sit back down,” Chase ordered, momentarily losing his focus on the boy he held. The kid’s arm broke free and he turned with a staggering punch. Damn it. Chase blinked at the sudden explosive pain over his left eye. The strength these assholes possessed while using the drug was unbelievable. In the morning the kid’s body would feel as though he’d torn every muscle, but right now he felt no pain, which made him dangerous.
“These the guys from the 7-Eleven call?” Jay asked, jumping out of the backup car and coming to his aid.
“They fit the description. No identification on the older one and this one won’t quit squirming,” he said as Jay placed a firm hand on the kid’s neck, pushing his face lower toward the car as he slid the cuffs on him.
“Get him in the back and I’ll grab the other one,” Chase said, letting go of the younger boy and approaching the calmer, worried-looking one on the sidewalk. He’d seen this scenario a hundred times. The stoned mastermind behind the robbery and the poor sucker, pot-smoking friend who somehow got roped in to be the getaway driver. Unfortunately, he also knew the ending too w
ell... The younger kid—too young to convict as an adult—would do a few months in a rehab center, some community service, while this guy got hit with a drug possession charge and accessory to theft. He’d do a year in jail or less if the defending attorney was good.
His cell phone rang as he reached the kid. Glancing at the caller ID, his heart beat faster than it had holding the crazy perpetrator moments before. Hayley. She must have received the flowers. His mouth went dry and his palms sweat. The night before, he hadn’t slept, tossing the idea back and forth about whether to send them. That morning he hadn’t been able to resist. Though the simple act had him feeling completely vulnerable and he didn’t like the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.
He watched the ringing phone in his hand. Her beautiful picture lighting up the screen. He never answered his phone in the middle of a bust... “Hello?” he said quickly, turning slightly away from the kid.
“Hi, Chase, it’s Hayley.”
Be cool. “Hey, birthday girl.”
“Happy birthday to you,” she said, sounding a little breathless. He remembered that sound. Loved that sound. Longed to hear it up close and personal. “I just wanted to thank you for the roses—they were beautiful...”
“You’re welcome... I’m sorry I couldn’t stay.” He’d been almost relieved that she was in a meeting. Seeing her, without a clue about where they stood, would have been torture.
“Seriously, man, talk to your girlfriend later, these cuffs are killing me,” the perpetrator said.
“Shut it,” Chase ordered.
“Huh?” Hayley said.
“Sorry, not you. Some kid I busted for robbery,” he said.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt... Go back to work...”
“Can I call you later?” he asked quickly. “I’d like to talk.” What he wanted to say, he had no idea...
“Yes, please. Oh, no—my birthday dinner is tonight. You’re welcome to come, if you’re not working or busy... It’s your birthday, too, so I’m sure you must have plans.”
“Come on. Seriously,” the kid yelled from the curb.
Chase shot him a look before saying, “I’ll be there.”
“You will? Okay...great. Around eight at Dell’s Seafood Diner.”
He could hear her beautiful smile through the phone. “See you then,” he said, disconnecting the call. Despite the scene around him, he smiled. She’d called. He refused to drive himself crazy wondering if she would have, had he not sent the flowers. It didn’t matter—she’d called. And he would see her that evening. Though what that meant and where it would lead he had no idea. All around him was the exact reason he hesitated to get involved with her.
A gunshot pierced his ears a second after the bullet made contact with his shoulder, an inch to the right of his vest. The street around him was blurry as he swayed. What the hell? He struggled to stay conscious as his body hit the ground next to the Mustang. He was shot...but who shot him?
Jay’s voice on his radio, calling for backup as he approached was the only sound he heard. “Third perpetrator, pulled up in a white van, escaping on foot... Officer shot, emergency services required.” He placed a hand on Chase’s arm. “Stay awake, okay?”
He grinned up at his coworker. “She called,” he mumbled.
Jay shook his head. “Your chick just got you shot.”
* * *
HAYLEY GLANCED AT her phone for the millionth time. Still no sign of Chase. No call, no message, either. Relax, it was only eight fifteen. He was running late. She took a deep breath and smoothed the fabric of her white strapless sundress.
At her side, Terri-Lynn nudged her. “Still nothing from him?”
“No...” She forced a smile. “It doesn’t matter. He’ll get here when he gets here...and if he doesn’t show... Oh, well.” She looped her arm through her friend’s as they entered the private dining room at Dell’s Seafood Diner.
“So, should I get the waitstaff to start bringing out dinner or did you want to wait a little longer?” Terri-Lynn asked, leading her to the long table that provided a magnificent, unobstructed view of the harbor.
She checked her phone again as she sat in the chair decorated with lavender and white balloons. Eight eighteen. Should she text him? See if he was on the way? No. If he was coming, he’d come. She had other guests here to entertain. Glancing around at the few friends and family that were gathered, her shoulders fell. “No, we shouldn’t wait any longer. I’m starving,” she said, forcing enthusiasm into her voice.
* * *
CHASE OPENED HIS eyes in the glaring light of his hospital room to see Kate, Eric and Jay gathered around his bed. His body ached and his head throbbed. An IV extended from his right arm and a blood pressure monitor was latched to his biceps. “Hey, guys.”
Kate came toward him, a furious look on her tiny features.
He’d been asleep all day. What could he possibly have done to piss her off?
“You answered your phone in the middle of a bust?”
Her tone made him cringe, but remembering the call from Hayley made him smile as he nodded.
“Chase, I swear, if you weren’t in this hospital bed right now, I’d slap that goofy grin right off your face.”
“Kate, settle down, he’s fine,” Eric said, moving their sister farther away. “He’s an idiot,” Eric added, “but he’s fine.”
He didn’t feel fine. He shifted in the bed and searing pain shot through his right shoulder. He had been wearing his vest, so why did it feel like the bullet had hit him everywhere on that side of his body? He winced as he readjusted his arm on the pillow.
Seeing him in pain, Kate immediately softened. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just need my phone and for all of you to get out.” He needed to call Hayley. He didn’t know what time it was, but he knew for certain it was after eight o’clock. The sky outside his window was dark. He was late for her birthday celebration and he needed to call to apologize and explain why he probably wouldn’t make it there. He also suspected hearing her voice would work better at numbing his pain than any of the intense painkillers they were injecting into his IV.
“This phone?” Eric said, holding up the broken cell.
“You got to be kidding me. Does it turn on at least?” His contact list was the only way to call Hayley.
Eric tried. “Nope. It’s toast.”
“Here’s my phone—who do you need to call? The station?” Kate asked, retrieving her phone from her purse.
“Hayley,” he said and sighed. “But I don’t even know her number.”
Kate arched an eyebrow. “The woman responsible for getting you shot?”
“No, the woman I’m in love with...” In his semiconscious state as he’d hit the ground earlier that day, one thought had rung so clear—if her voice had been the last thing he’d ever heard, he would be a lucky man... And despite any other uncertainty about what a future together might mean for them, he knew he loved her. And he needed to tell her that. He glanced at the disbelieving faces of his siblings. “For real this time.”
14
HAYLEY HAD TEN minutes to make it to the office. She answered an incoming phone call on her Bluetooth headset then gripped the wheel of her red BMW convertible. “Hey, Terri-Lynn. I can’t talk. I’m late for work,” she said above the noise of the street traffic and the wind blowing through the car as she sped down the busy highway. She’d been up a little too late and had consumed a little too much wine the night before, and her disappointment over not hearing from Chase had made sleep impossible.
“If you’re driving, you should pull over. I have something to tell you.”
“No can do, I’m on the interstate—what’s wrong?” She hit the accelerator as she switched lanes to take the next exit.
> “I just spoke to Kate, and I know why Chase didn’t show up last night.”
Her heart stopped and her foot slid from the gas pedal, lurching her forward. Oh, no, this wasn’t good news. She could feel the nervous energy from her friend through the phone. “Tell me he’s okay,” she begged, barely more than a whisper, feeling her mouth go dry.
“He is,” Terri-Lynn said quickly, “but he was shot yesterday.”
Taking the exit, she pulled over to the curb a few blocks from the office. Her vision blurred and her breathing became labored.
“Kate said he’s at Los Angeles General Hospital...and he’s desperate to see the woman he loves. You, in case you didn’t get that.”
Air wasn’t getting into her lungs. Resting her head against the seat, she tried to calm her frantic mind and thundering heart. He was okay. He loved her. All good news. All fantastic news.
“Hayley, are you okay?”
“Yes. I gotta go. I’ll call you later.” Pulling away from the curb, she turned the car around and headed back toward the interstate. The job could wait...or if not, she’d find another one. She had to see him. Tell him she loved him, too. The way she should have that night on the beach. She’d certainly known it then. Only fear had kept her from admitting it. Not anymore.
The sound of a police siren made her jump as red and blue lights flashed in her rearview. Damn it! Before, she’d wanted to get pulled over in the hopes of seeing him, but now, this cop was going to delay her from getting to the hospital.
Head down, she fought to control her shaky hand as she retrieved her driver’s license and registration. From the corner of her eye, she saw the dark blue uniform with the yellow stripe down the side of the pant leg appear next to the open window. “Hello, ma’am,” the officer said.
Hayley forced an impatient smile as she glanced at the short, muscular police officer. “Hi.” Then her eyes widened as recognition dawned for them both at the same moment. “Cooper?”
Her Holiday Fling Page 16