First Up

by Ella Jackson

  I stood there and smiled to myself. “Well, it’s done now. I don't think he's going to be chasing after me from now on, do you?”

  Sam finally smiled. “Fine. Be that way. Is work okay?"

  “Yeah, sure.” I sounded more confident than I felt.

  She smiled. ”Okay, get back to it, officer. When this is all done, you can move back to Iowa and go back to normal if you want. But right now we have to first be happy with ourselves, and I don’t see that happening with you right now."

  “Sounds like you're going to tell me what to do again.”

  "Damn right I am." She disappeared into her office and came back with a garment bag. “The two of us are similar sizes, right? You can borrow this.”

  “For going out? I’ve got more dresses than I know what to do with.”

  “Don't worry. I think you're gonna need this one soon.”

  I thought about refusing it, but decided to take the path of least resistance. "Okay, okay, you win." I tried to hide my smile. "You seem to be a lot more positive about my love life than I do."

  She nodded. "Damn straight. That dress never fails to land a man."

  “What, so it's your lucky dress?"

  Her smile grew. “Welcome to Cheyenne, officer.”

  With a loose one-armed hug, she left me standing there alone for the first time since I’d walked into the room.

  I could handle this. It was good that I had enough to do today, plenty to keep my mind off Will, because I knew if I’d been at home I would have fumed about this all day.

  I was used to conflict. Telling guys where to get off? Now, that I could do. Making amends? Not so much my style.

  It would be easy. As long as I’m here, just keep it civil, and try not to get in trouble, that's all. The last few weeks had been a blur, and after this shift was done, I needed some time for myself. I looked over to where the duty sergeant was working, and tried to catch his eye, but he didn't look up.

  It was going to be a really long morning.

  I grabbed my folder off my desk, and sat down, busying myself in paperwork. Definitely not thinking about Will.

  * * *

  That evening, the sky had turned a dark ominous blue. The station had filled up in the hour since I'd finished my paperwork, and was getting ready to leave. The backlog of inquiries had been processed, phone calls up to date, and my bottom drawer was empty of all the candy bars I was sure I’d left in there.

  I pulled my jacket on, waved goodbye to the duty sergeant, and ducked outside, into the rain, and walked down the street to my car.

  The air was cool. It had been a nice break. Checking the dash clock, I saw that it was half past seven. I could make something for dinner, but it was easier to just pick up takeout on the way home.

  I slid my key in the ignition, turned it.

  Click. Nothing.

  I did it again. No lights. No radio. Dead battery.

  I tried it again, cursing. And again. Nope, not a thing. Dammit.

  What happened? Had I left my lights on? Looking through the window, there was only one person walking down the street, and I thought it was someone from the station, but I wasn't sure. I tried to ring Amy, but she didn't pick up.

  I hung up and tried again and again.

  No more noises. Lights off. Nothing. This car wasn’t going anywhere.

  I dimly remembered a nasty-sounding crunch when I had pulled up to my apartment last night, and sat there in the driveway briefly.

  This was insane! How did I not see it before?

  There was nothing else I could do, though. I’d have to call a towing company when I got home, and maybe get in contact with Amy. But before that I was facing a lengthy walk in the dark, and the rain. I wanted to smack the steering wheel.

  This was exactly what I didn't right now.

  A loud knock sounded on my car door, and I nearly dropped my phone.

  Someone waved a finger at me through the glass. "Hey, need a hand?"

  Who was that? A mugger? A hooker?

  Great look, Officer; getting mugged just off the job.

  I opened the door and looked out. “I’m fine.”

  This was it. I was going to die.

  “Tanya?”

  Will? Had I heard that voice right? Goddamnit. Maybe he was the stalker type. Tell me it's not Will.

  It was Will.

  Good luck with the rest of the season, buddy.

  I took a deep breath. “It’s you.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s me.” His smile widened and he dipped his head down just a bit.

  One thing I would admit, he didn't look like he was here to gloat. He looked genuinely worried.

  “Sorry I scared you.”

  "It's fine. What can I do for you?" Even though I know I'm not great with people, and that I can make a decent life for myself anyway, for the first time I’m feeling nervous. I forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

  His eyes crinkled. “It looks like you've got a flat battery. Can I help?"

  I froze. “Um …”

  I didn’t care how or where, but I knew the last thing I wanted was for him to see me making an idiot of myself. "Flat? Nope. Just sitting here, making some notes. Thanks though."

  He had a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “Nice try, officer. Look, it could happen to anyone. Why don't you walk up to my place and borrow my jumper cables? I live just up the road so I can walk you there. Come inside with me and then leave. It’ll give us a chance to talk, and then you don’t have to take the bus."

  I waved him off. “I’ll keep calling Amy right now.”

  This time he laughed. “Come on, loosen up. No one is going to know except you and I. You can call your friend from my place, while you warm up. You look like you could use some more friends."

  ”I have plenty more of them on the way, thanks. Nope."

  His smile only grew. “I feel like a hot chocolate. Want one?”

  I narrowed my eyes. Who did he think he was messing with? “I honestly have no idea what you want, and I don't care."

  ”Alright. You almost had me worrying about you there."

  I shook my head. "Fine. Thanks."

  He hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Fine. Since we ran into each other, I just wanted to give you this.”

  He handed me an envelope, and looked back toward the station house. "I found it just outside the station. Had your name on it, so I figured it was yours."

  Great. I would have been put on report for losing evidence if it hadn't been for him, the guy I'd arrested the day before.

  I bit down on my lip.

  I just didn’t want to make an idiot of myself. I needed to speak up. I blew out a breath.

  “Hey, Will?”

  He spun around to face me.

  “I'm fine.” I wasn’t afraid, but I was getting colder by the minute. “I guess I could use a hot chocolate, sure." With a sigh and a promise to myself that he wasn’t going to give me some kind of pro athlete attitude, I opened the door.

  Did he want me to go with him because he thought that he had a sure thing?

  That didn't really seem like his style. Then he opened the rear passenger door and got my case out. So yeah, he might have been a little more thoughtful than I'd credited him for.

  "This way." He led me down the street a few hundred meters. "That's mine, there."

  Huh. When I first saw him in town, I figured him for a sports car kind of guy. Or maybe an enormous pickup like most other athletes, but it turns out he drives a pretty modest Japanese car that looks like any other four-door sedan.

  Will's behind me, and I bump into him. He's warm and smells faintly of- some kind of pine, I think.

  Huh. He was so close. No wonder he makes me think of my grandfather.

  "Whoops." He chuckled under his breath. "Sorry. You want a hand with that?"

  "I-uh, I got it." I took a deep breath as he stepped away.

  “How’s your car?” I asked.

  He scrunched his ey
ebrows at me. “It's...fine. Thanks.” He shrugged. “I didn't have time to buy a huge truck. When I leave the training facility, I like to be inconspicuous for the moment."

  Inconspicuous? Who was this guy? Really? “It’s not that big a deal.”

  And I know I’m going to pay for it, but I can't help wanting to find out more about him. He seemed to think that if people knew who he was more, he'd be mobbed.

  He would do better if he didn’t spend his time worrying about a woman who didn’t like him.

  “So, do people hassle you, where you come from?.”

  “They do sometimes, yeah.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to talk to anyone, after training sometimes, you know?" I nodded and gave him a wink as I turned and headed toward the door of his apartment building.

  He stopped in the entrance hall and looked back at me. "You sure you're OK coming in?"

  I nodded, and he flicked the lights on in his apartment. It was pretty grand. A lot nicer than anything I could afford on a cop's salary, that was for sure.

  "Drop your stuff, Tanya. I'll get us something to eat."

  But by the time I realized what I’d done, he was already in the kitchen. It was a penthouse apartment, and it had a large open space leading out to the balcony.

  “This is nice.” I called to him through the kitchen door.

  “It’s what I want.” He stuck his head out. "Chocolate, huh?"

  I nodded gratefully and sat down in front of the fire. With how things were going with Amy and Ricky, I felt like there was something to kind of traitorous about hanging out with a guy in his apartment like this. Even a...dammit, a hot guy.

  He came into the room, carrying a couple of mugs. “Was I bothering you?”

  I shook my head. “Oh no. I’m fine. Just thinking."

  When I looked over at him again, because I couldn’t help myself, he smiled and held out the mug. "As requested. Time for you to warm up."

  I took it gratefully. "Thanks. And, uh, thanks for the jumper cables." I didn’t want to seem like I was impressed by him, but it was hard not to be. His shoulders and chest, evidenced by how tight his shirt stretched, were the kind of thing most girls would have called the perfect package, if there ever was one. Like something out of a gladiator movie.

  I nearly choked as I took a deep swallow of the chocolate. "Man, this is..this is spicy."

  "A little dash of chili. Adds some depth of flavour, and just a bit of a kick to wake you up."

  "I can tell. I'm awake, believe me."

  "Hope it's not too hot for you."

  I shook my head. "It's great. Thanks again." I plopped down on the couch next to him, and weirdly it didn't feel uncomfortable. The air felt and smelled different here in Cheyenne, crisp and sharp, even inside on cold nights. I ran my hands over the smooth leather of the sofa admiringly. "Pretty nice. How did you get all this stuff if you've only been here a month?"

  He looked a little sheepish. "My agent set it up. I pretty much just arrived with a couple of suitcases."

  I was in Will's apartment.

  Never would I ever have thought I’d be doing this with him, not in a million years…

  This was so weird. This made me nervous. I knew it was a bad idea from the start and I let it happen anyway.

  That was the strange part. It was obvious from his accent that the guy was from somewhere in England, and he thought I was some kind of asshole cop who was going to bust him again.

  Was that why he was being nice to me?

  He nodded, sensing my uneasiness. "It's OK. I'll get you the jumper cables, and you can get going."

  Five

  I looked over my shoulder at Tanya. She was leaning back on the couch, looking like a cat with her fur standing on end. She seemed...lonely, but I couldn't tell if it was me, or something inside her.

  Maybe it was because she hadn’t settled here, just like me. And because of me.

  I wasn’t sure why I invited her back here in the first place. When I took off from training this afternoon, I thought about the shit I had to deal with as captain, and how being distracted was a bad idea for me, but I couldn't get her out of my head.

  By the time I'd come back in with the jumper cables, she had made it halfway through her hot chocolate, and she looked more relaxed, legs tucked up under her on the sofa.

  "Here you go."

  She nodded and turned to look at me. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do this for me.”

  “Well, you didn't bust me when you could have, and I was pretty sure you would. So you do deserve something."

  ”Now come on." She smiled. "I'm not that bad. Did you think I was going to leave you in jail overnight?"

  I grinned. “It crossed my mind.”

  I didn’t make a move toward her, but a slight quirk of her lips made me carry on. “Can I tell you something?"

  "Sure. Keep drinking that hot chocolate while you're doing it, though."

  "Promise you won't judge me?”

  “I promise.”

  "I've never met a professional soccer player before. You're less of an arrogant a-hole than I'd expected."

  I put on a hurt expression. "It's just a job. Anyway, what makes you think we're all arrogant a-holes, as you put it?"

  "All the money and fame must go to your head, right? Constant attention from girls, as well."

  "There's less of it than you'd think, honestly. Moving clubs every few years makes it hard to settle down, though."

  She was getting to me, and I could only hope I was doing the same to her.

  “Tell me about yourself, Tanya.” She looked momentarily defensive, but then shrugged.

  “I'm an Army brat.” She smiled. “Grew up on base, so we moved a lot, but I got to spend a lot of time with my dad.”

  I nodded. What the hell was so wrong with me that I kept wanting to kiss her?

  "You didn't want to join the forces yourself?"

  “No, I had a Marine boyfriend for three years, but he never liked the idea of me following in Dad's footsteps.”

  “What about your parents?” My smile dimmed a bit, and she blanched.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don't want to.”

  I didn't want to; but...never mind. "No, it's fine, honestly."

  "Are you sure? I'm not great at being open with people I've only just met either."

  I got that.

  I cleared my throat. “My Mom threw my Dad out when I was very small. The man she ended up living with turned out to be a whole different person than she'd thought he was. I don’t think he remembers me at all."

  She put down her fork. "I'm sorry."

  "When I was fifteen she was killed in a car accident. Soccer was about all I had to occupy myself, and even then I was captain of my team, so I had to keep it together. I've been doing so ever since."

  “That’s when you took her to the hospital, right?"

  "Yeah, that's right. I was there when she died. I can still remember the noise, the lights..." I shuddered. "It's better than it used to be."

  "Do you-do you have brothers or sisters?"

  "Yeah, a brother, Pete. He's two years younger than me. He's doing okay too; just signed on the Arsenal development squad. His life is...more settled than mine."

  “So, what happened after your Mom died?”

  “For the first three months of that school year, I did nothing except practice soccer.” I looked down at my uneaten stir-fry. "Finally, my teacher took me aside and said I'd...what's your word? Flunk? Said I'd flunk if I didn't start studying again."

  "Oh, Will." Her face was creased with worry. "I can't imagine what you would have gone through."

  “Were you close with Pete?” I nodded my head. “He was my brother. We did everything together.”

  It wasn’t good for her to think I was trying to make her feel sympathy.

  “That must have been tough.” She smiled.

  But she sure as hell didn’t try hard to stop me either, especially with that smile. I was just happy to be here
, in my apartment with her.

  "What about you? Any family?"

  "Nope." She shook her head. "Only child, lucky for my parents."

  “Extended family? Like nephews or cousins or something like that?" I’d decided that the less time I spent with her, the easier it was to forget how much I wanted her, but that strategy really wasn't working right now.

  ”No, just my friend Amy, who's almost like a surrogate sister, I guess."

  “I’m sorry you had to go through all this." I let myself just look at her, head to toe.

  Her blue eyes met mine and she smiled. “I know, it was hard, but it did get easier.”

  It told me everything I needed to know. I had a couple of weeks off during the year to spend with Pete and his family, but then I was away a whole week, doing media work. I nodded.

  Then her smile wavered. “It was nice seeing you again, but I have to go.”

  "Sure. I’ll walk you back to your car." I appreciated her confidence and forthrightness.

  There was so much more I wanted to say to her. I knew it was a bad idea to keep thinking about her, but I couldn't help myself. She enthralled me. She was everything I’d imagined, but more, different, better.

  As we got our coats, she looked at me quizzically. "Okay, Mr Big Shot, I don't know much about soccer. How many players on each team, then?”

  "Eleven, with substitutions. And it looks like we have a lot of new fans here in Cheyenne, which is really gratifying." I paused. "Hey, would you like to take some of the hot chocolate home with you? I get given it free from sponsors."

  She thought for a moment, and nodded. "Sure, why not? It's pretty damn good."

  Leave it to me to be attracted to someone I had nothing in common with.

  “Now those pod things are pretty confusing for me. Do you have a preference?" I opened the cupboard and eyeballed them suspiciously.

  “What are you in the mood for? Dark Ghana? Papua New Guinea Intense?”

  “Anything. Except some of them sound, well, not very legal.”

  I tried to look innocent. "Hey, it's just coffee."

  She laughed. “So you say. I might have to arrest you yet."