by Hadley Quinn
“Sure, glad I can help on my day off. So…where you going? Or is that classified,” he smirked.
“Just basic job related stuff. I can’t take her with me for that, it just doesn’t work to have someone along. I roll solo.”
“Yeah, we know,” Cody scoffed.
Cole ignored the comment and gave a few brief instructions before he was about to head out. He thought it best to just leave, but he traveled down the hall and knocked on the bedroom door.
“I’m leaving, okay?”
Silence.
He knocked on the door again. “Leah?”
“Yeah, fine, okay, bye,” came her heated response.
She was apparently mad at him.
“Text me if you need to,” he added. “I’ll check in, okay?”
Another pause. “Sure,” she finally answered.
To be facetious he said, “Don’t I get a hug goodbye? A kiss for good luck? You’re not going to send me with a lunch for the road?”
Nothing.
Cole shrugged and walked away. He grabbed his bag from the kitchen, told Cody goodbye, and headed out.
***
“Don’t worry about it. You know I got things covered here, Cole. Do what you need to do.”
Sam had been trying to reassure him for the past five minutes while Cole sat in his truck, debating his next move. The only thing worse than not solving a case was being faced with a puzzle that was so damn tempting to take on, but not knowing how to justify his involvement.
He’d been offered two other jobs in the past few days. He was going to turn them both down but decided against it and accepted one of them, giving the other to Sam. It was pretty easy, and from what Cole had learned through experience, sometimes he could solve one case while being paid to solve another. Every now and then a light bulb moment would hit him and he’d figure something out when he least expected it. Today had been one of those days. He’d left Leah eight hours ago and he’d completed his assignment effortlessly.
Right now he was parked across from Lindy’s diner, hungry but mostly curious. The curiosity was what bothered him the most because it was causing him to lose focus on work more often. So many things seemed to have shifted in just a matter of days and it was becoming uncomfortable. When it was business, Cole could always decide on the next step. Anything personal?
That was a different story.
Normally he never thought twice about spying on someone, but right now—where he sat in his truck from across the street watching for Julia—he totally felt like a creeper.
Until he saw her walking down the sidewalk, headed for the diner. Then he didn’t exactly care about his creeper status. He was actually happy to see her as he got out of his truck to say hello.
She saw him cross the street just as she approached the front entrance and paused with a cautious smile on her face. “Hi there,” she said as he stepped onto the sidewalk in front of her. “You know, if you hadn’t thrown away my phone number you wouldn’t have to spend so much time stalking me.”
It was her smile, he decided. It truly drew him in. Because when her mouth smiled, something happened in her eyes as well. And right now she was looking at him in such a way that made him feel she was just as happy to see him as he was to see her.
“It’s my punishment for being an asshole,” he answered. “And besides, I’m not a conventional kind of a guy.”
She lightly laughed, and just hearing that sound lifted a shit ton of weight off his chest. Was his life really that depleted of basic enchantments?
He seriously believed so.
“Well that sounds intriguing,” she told him. Then she peered closely at his face. “Uh, what happened to you?”
He followed her gaze with his hand and touched the spot above his eye. “Oh nothing, really. Just...hazard of the, eh, job.”
She raised her eyebrows and paused like she was considering a response. But she motioned her head toward the diner and said, “I’m just filling in for a couple of hours until Bree gets here.”
He already knew that. He’d called the diner to see which waitresses were scheduled today.
“It’s actually my day off,” she continued. “Was going to study for a while but…duty calls. You should come in for a bit. I promise I won’t serve you leftovers,” she winked.
He followed her inside, amused by her humor. College students weren’t exactly Cole’s fancy. He was twenty-eight years old—eighteen and twenty-year olds weren’t interesting to him—but he was drawn to Julia for some reason. And she seemed a bit more mature than most girls her age. The bottom line was that he’d specifically come here to see her and he wanted to figure out why.
“What are you studying?” he asked as he sat down at his usual booth.
“Well,” she sighed. “I started for an architecture degree about six years ago and then had to quit after only a year. Life happens, you know? But…just decided to go for it again last fall. It’s tough trying to balance it with working here and another part time job, but it’ll all work out. I’m determined. I’m finishing up an associates degree and hoping to transfer to a university.”
He let her words register for a moment. College six years ago? Well she was obviously older than he thought. And architecture? Wow that was…fucking impressive. He would have never guessed that.
“I’ll be right back,” she tapped the table with a smile.
He watched her disappear into the back room and that’s when he realized he’d been inside the diner for almost two minutes, not even knowing who else was in there. He glanced around the restaurant for a head count, wondering why he’d been slacking so much. When Julia returned tying a plain black apron against her body, he immediately knew why.
She’d become a rare distraction in his life.
“So what’ll it be?” she asked him.
Cole was a bit torn at that moment. A distraction. Did he really see her that way? And if he did, wasn’t she a distraction that he wanted?
Why else would he be here?
“Well, let’s try this again,” he answered with a smile. “Surprise me. Because you’re good at doing so.”
She laughed and nodded her head. “I assumed you were going with that again. And lucky for you, it’s five in the evening and the kitchen is still open.”
“No microwaved leftovers?”
“Nope, not this time,” she winked at him as she walked away.
He smiled to himself as realization set in. Something was obviously getting started between the two of them. He was interested in her, she was interested in him, and for once in his life…he really didn’t want to question it. And damn, she was so intriguing; he wanted to find out more.
Cole subtly watched Julia perform her job for the next hour while he slowly consumed a generous helping of prime rib. There was one other waitress working too, an older woman, but the two didn’t seem to talk very often. But when the girl that Julia was filling in for came in—Bree—Cole felt there was a much better friendship between the two. And he recognized her as another waitress that had been working the first time he’d come into the diner. He also didn’t miss the obvious glances cast his way when both of them were talking about him.
At ten past six, Julia slid into the booth across from him. She wasn’t wearing the apron anymore, but she had her purse and set it next to her. Cole’s table had been cleared thirty minutes ago, but he’d stuck around until she was done. He’d tried to focus his thoughts on cases but found himself unable to care too much. Nothing else seemed very important at the moment.
“You sure you don’t want dessert?” she asked him again. It’d been offered about three times now but Cole had declined.
“No, I’m fine, thank you.”
“And no coffee?”
He smiled and shook his head. “No thank you. And to be honest…I don’t really care for coffee.”
She raised her brows in surprise. “You don’t? Then how come you took some the other day?”
“Because
you offered.”
She placed her forearms on the table as she continued to study him carefully. Then she slowly smiled. “Is that so, huh?”
“Yes, that is so,” he nodded, matching her eye contact. They just stared at each other for a long moment until Julia looked away first.
“How do you do that?” she scoffed lightly, glancing down at her hands for a diversion. A pink blush was appearing over her cheeks at the same time.
“Do what?”
She looked up at him again. “That,” she said, shaking her head with a smile. “The eye contact. I can’t do it. You’re just… It’s…”
He tilted his head while waiting for a response. “It’s what?”
“Intimidating,” she stated. “It’s—it makes me feel…”
He relaxed a little more to seem less focused on her. He knew she was going to say it makes her feel uncomfortable, insecure. He could tell, and he didn’t mean to make her feel that way, but he settled his eyes on her hands instead.
“I’m sorry,” he told her sincerely. “I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. You have beautiful eyes. I guess it’s hard to look away.”
He glanced up and found she was watching him now. And he realized he’d been completely honest about what he’d said. Her eyes were truly fascinating—full of…everything—and it was easy to get lost in them.
“What do you do for a living?” she asked, narrowing those pretty green eyes. “Lawyer? Salesman? Professional sweet talker?”
She was smiling, but it was obvious she was suspicious of him for some reason.
“I’m not feeding you lines. I’m not allowed to compliment you?”
“Well…of course you are. As long as it’s sincere.”
“And why is what I said not sincere?”
“Was it?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that.”
“But you’d lie about other things?”
“What? Where exactly is this going?”
She shook her head but slid out of the booth quickly. Cole watched her walk to the counter, poor herself a glass of water, and sit down across from him again.
Now she seemed uneasy for other reasons and he wasn’t sure how the mood had shifted so quickly.
What the hell happened?
Chapter Twenty
After almost a minute of silence, Julia sighed. Cole had been patient, giving her time to carefully set up whatever conversation she was trying to initiate at the moment.
Finally she said, “My father is a police sergeant. I gave him your plate number and he ran your name.”
Cole paused to asses his thoughts but asked, “And?”
“And your truck is registered to a John Nicholson. You told me your name is Cole. So you see why I’m a little wary here? To be honest, I’m not jumping to conclusions. But I figured I would just ask. I’m a very understanding person if you just tell me the truth.”
He could respect that. And he respected the fact that she was a smart girl. Made him like her even more.
Cole pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and slid his driver’s license out. Handing it over he said, “John Colby Nicholson is my full name. I go by Cole because of my middle name.”
She studied his card, obviously looking over whatever else she could on it. Nodding, she handed it over seeming relieved. “Okay.”
They were both silent for a moment until Cole asked, “What’s going on, Julia? Something’s on your mind. Anything else on there that worries you?”
She glanced up and gave him a shy smile. “No, the specs looked pretty good.”
“Well what else? What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing.”
But something still felt off. “Julia, who’s your father?” he felt inclined to ask.
Her hesitation was expected, but when she answered, “Doug Buchanan,” it made sense.
“Doug’s your father?” he asked her, somewhat surprised.
She nodded.
Cole chose his words wisely. “And he didn’t have anything good to say about me, is that it?”
He knew that was the case. Doug was friends with Mickey Tate, and he’d known Van a long time too. Sergeant Buchanan had helped Van out a little bit over the years—as a favor to Mickey—but Cole could only imagine how much he probably wanted to keep his daughter away from anything similar in the future.
“Actually he didn’t say much about you,” Julia said. “And that’s what bugs me. He told me not to get involved with you. Why is that, Cole? How does my father know you? He’s a cop, for God’s sake. I look at your eye and the cuts on your hand and it makes me assume the worst, you know? But I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here.”
“Why?” he challenged her. “What makes you want to give a complete stranger the benefit of the doubt?”
She paused, her eyes searching his sincerely, and quietly answered, “Because I so badly want you to become someone I can trust.”
That moment with Julia—the moment where a shit ton of noise was happening in the diner but all Cole could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his ears—felt monumental. She was placing her trust in him; she was handing over her faith in him and telling him to use it wisely. He’d been in that position a thousand times in his life, but always of a professional nature.
This was not one of those times. This was different. This was personal. Hearts were involved, not case facts.
“Can we go somewhere else to talk?” he finally asked. “My truck or—”
She stood abruptly from the table and motioned him to follow. He flipped open his wallet to pay the tab but she told him to forget it. When they stepped outside he was automatically going to cross the street for his truck, but Julia pulled on his arm for him to follow her down the sidewalk. They walked in silence for a couple of seconds until Cole took the lead.
“I’m a private investigator,” he informed her.
Julia was surprised. She slowed her pace but they continued to walk.
“And yeah, I’ve come across your dad a few times. But I only know him through mutual friends.”
“Who?”
“Mickey Tate?”
Julia barely nodded. “Yeah I know who Mickey is. He owns that MMA gym in town, right? He’s been friends with my dad for years. And who else?”
“Who else what?”
“You said mutual friends, plural. Do you and my dad both know someone else?”
“Van and Dani Kemp. Do you know them?”
She looked at him and said, “Ah, that’s why my dad doesn’t like you. You’re an MMA fighter too, aren’t you.”
She’d basically stated it rather than asked, but Cole nodded his head. “Yeah, I dapple in it a bit. Your dad has an issue with that?”
“Yeah, he hates the sport. Him and Mickey have argued MMA versus baseball for years upon years. I know a little bit about Van because of the case against him last year. My dad is still a bit disgruntled about it all.”
“Disgruntled about what? Van was innocent. He didn’t do anything illegal.”
“Yeah, but the whole case involved all those guys from the gym… He kind of got a bitter taste in his mouth from it all.”
Cole could understand the association. But now he was worried about Julia’s take on all of it. How much was her father’s influence going to matter?
“And what about you?” he asked. “How do you feel about it?”
“The sport? I actually like it,” she shrugged as they approached her apartment complex. She pressed the code to the door and it buzzed, so Cole opened it for her and she entered. “I can’t follow it too much because I’m so busy but…” She trailed off when she realized she was to the stairs and Cole was still at the door. “Aren’t you coming up?”
“Am I invited?”
She laughed and said, “I’m sorry, yeah you are. Come on up.”
He followed her up the stairs, finding it impossible not to give her beautiful ass a nice long stare. It was right t
here. What was he supposed to do?
After one flight up, she stopped at an apartment on the second floor. “I like to do a little kickboxing,” she told him as she unlocked the door.
She held it open and Cole stepped inside. He immediately smiled when he saw what was in the middle of the front room.
There was full-sized bag hanging from a stand and a punching dummy across from it. She also had a rack of free weights and a bench.
“Nice,” he nodded his approval. He even loved the fact that the bag was all taped up with various applications of duct tape. It had definitely gotten some use.
“Yeah,” she tossed her purse on the couch. “I barely leave the house between that and my laptop for school work. Just to the diner, really.”
“And what’s your other job? Didn’t you say you had another job too?”
“I actually have two other jobs. I have an elderly neighbor on the first floor that I do some basic cooking and cleaning for three times a week, and I watch another neighbor’s kid now and then. Nothing really official, just when my schedule allows it.”
He’d noticed a picture of a little boy next to her television amongst a few other photographs. He didn’t figure the kid belonged to her neighbor because his eyes were strikingly similar to Julia’s.
She caught him looking at it. “That’s Matthew,” she smiled. “My son. He passed away about a month after that photo was taken. He was only two.”
“I’m so sorry.” It seemed like such an empty condolence for something so devastating. Cole couldn’t even imagine.
“Thank you.” She took a seat on the couch and motioned for him to follow.
“How long has it been?” he asked as he sat.
“Almost three years.” She smiled reminiscently as she studied the framed photo. “Life has a way of throwing curveballs, you know? I mean I learned to adjust, but looking back it seems so…confusing.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighed. “Well, I was just starting college, had the next few years of my life planned out, and never expected much to change. A week into it all, I met Brady. It got serious, I got pregnant, we got married, I quit school, had Matthew, became a stay-at-home-mom, absolutely loved it… And then life changed again.”