Captivated: Emerson Falls, Book 3 (Emerson Falls Series)

by Harlow James

  I hand her back her items and then nod before removing my sunglasses so we can see each other eye to eye, rattling off a few turns for her to take. “That should get you to the hospital with a few minutes to spare.”

  Retreating back in her seat, she replies. “Uh, thank you, Deputy,” she says, lacking some of the confidence that she had before.

  The purr of her voice makes the steel rod in my pants strain against my zipper. Fuck. I think I need sex again, and soon.

  “No problem. Have a good day, Ms. Davis.” Placing my sunglasses back on my face, I take two steps back from the car, my hands on my hips as I mentally prepare myself to return to my cruiser, but my feet are frozen in place.

  She withdraws from the window and swallows hard. “You too.”

  Settling back in my car, I watch her take off, headed in the direction she said she was going, all the while reeling from my interaction with one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes on.

  “Shake it off, Cash. She’s just a chick,” I mutter to myself while cranking my key in the ignition.

  I wonder what she looks like naked?

  Yeah, that’s what I need to focus on—just what she could offer me for a little fun, not the millions of questions popping up in my brain—like where she’s from, why she moved here, and whether I’ll ever see her again.

  The next few hours pass by slowly, which should make me happy since I don’t encounter another person who doesn’t know how to read a street sign. But the unsettled feeling I have in my gut as Piper’s face flashes through my subconscious numerous times tells me that after my routine errand after work, I might need to make another stop at Tony’s for a wet and willing woman to take off the edge I’m feeling.

  I finish out my shift for the day and then head home to shower, change, and make the journey across town to see the only woman in my life that truly matters.

  Dressed in jeans and a black Henley with a box of Cheez Its in hand, I stride up to the Sagewood Retirement Center located in the northern part of Emerson Falls. As the sliding glass doors glide open, the stark white walls and dark grey floors glisten from the soft lighting overhead. Potted plants flank a long grey receptionist counter stationed directly in front of me that offers a line of defense to unwanted visitors. Luckily, I’m always wanted here.

  The dark-haired beauty sitting behind the counter pops her head up as soon as she hears the smack of my boots on the tile, her smile lighting up instantly with my presence.

  “Cash! So good to see you!”

  “Likewise, Sarah,” I grin as I lean against the counter, resting an elbow along the flat surface.

  “Here to see Birdie, I presume,” she looks towards her computer screen while tapping away on her keyboard.

  “You got it. Is she in the game room waiting on me?”

  “Sure is. What flavor did you bring today?” She peers over the counter, searching for the box of crackers.

  Lifting the box up to meet her eyes, I answer. “White Cheddar as always, the best flavor in my opinion.”

  She shakes her head. “Nope. I’m a classic girl, myself. Claudia likes white cheddar though, so we always have to buy two boxes at the store.”

  “Seems to me Claudia has good taste and you know how to keep your woman happy. I’ll see you later, Sarah,” I flash her my signature smile and wave her off as I saunter down the hall to the game room I could find blindfolded.

  “That’s ludicrous!” A voice I’m all too familiar with shouts as I make my way inside the room filled with card tables and cushioned chairs.

  “Nope. Look it up! Phpht is a word, it’s an interjection,” Samuel replies as I take in the scene of Birdie and him duking it out over the Scrabble board.

  “What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is an interjection?” She asks, waving her hands in the air.

  “It’s a part of speech that means an exclamation, like the phrase Ah! Or My God!” I interrupt, pulling both of their eyes to me as I take my seat on the side of the table between them.

  “You would defend Samuel, wouldn’t you, Cash?” Birdie shoots a glare my way as Samuel pats me on the shoulder.

  “Damn right! Us men have to stick together,” Samuel teases.

  “Yup. Dicks before chicks. Bros before hoes. Penis before… Clits?”

  Birdie smacks me upside the head, the sting of the connection making me wince.

  “Hey! If you had put down that word, I would have defended you too,” I argue while rubbing the side of my head as her face focuses back down on the letters in front of her.

  “You’d better,” she winks at me as I reach for the bag of tiles and place the box of Cheez Its on the table. “And watch your language, young man. I taught you better than that.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Can you formally accept my apology with these delicious crackers?”

  “Ah, my cracker dealer to the rescue,” Birdie moans as she grabs the box and rips the bag open, shoving a handful of the powdery morsels in her mouth. “You are partially forgiven. So, how was the Labor Day event?” She asks through a mouthful of carbs.

  I shrug my indifference off while I scour the board and my letters in front of me. “It was nice. Cooper killed his proposal, the booths seemed to be raking in the money we need to fix up the library… and while on patrol, I actually had to pull someone over because they were driving the wrong way down a one-way street.”

  “What idiot can’t read a street sign?” Samuel interjects, taking his own handful of crackers from the box.

  “That’s what I said. Turns out it was a woman…”

  Birdie lifts an eyebrow my way. “What’s that supposed to mean? And if I hear you say some chauvinistic comment about how women are lousy drivers, I’ll smack you upside the head again.”

  I chuckle. “No need for that. She actually said she was new to town and got lost with all the road closures.”

  “A new lady in town, huh? Was she smokin’ hot?” Samuel wiggles his eyebrows at me, accentuating the wrinkles in his forehead even more, and all I can do is shake my head. I mean, I appreciate hot women as much as the next man, but Samuel takes the term ‘dirty old man’ to new levels. Good thing he locked down Birdie to keep him out of trouble.

  “She was… attractive,” I answer, avoiding their eyes, unsure of how much I want to share about how meeting Piper today has continued to rattle my brain since I saw her.

  “You hesitated,” Birdie declares.

  “I was thinking,” I lie as I decide on my word and place it on the board. Since I came into the game late, I needed to make a big move, so I lay down squeeze and earn a respectable seventy-five points to get my score started. Anytime you get that Z tile, you never know how long you’ll be stuck with it, and I just so happened to pull the Q as well. Lucky for me, I made both of them work in record time.

  “What the hell? Why do we let this kid play with us, Birdie? He lays down one word and is already tied with me!” Samuel says with a jut of his thumb in my direction.

  “Because he’s my son and even though he’s too smart for his own good, I’ll never tire of him kicking both of our butts in Scrabble,” she gazes over at me, pride apparent in her smile as her ebony hand finds my tan one.

  On the surface, people could clearly see that this woman is not my biological mother. She’s black and I’m white. But when I was growing up, Birdie was the closest thing I had to a mom. She was the one who guided me. She was the one I was afraid of disappointing. She was the one who taught me how to be a respectable man and believed in me when I told my parents that I wanted to go into law enforcement and they proceeded to inform me that I was stupid for that choice, but in much more colorful words.

  Birdie encouraged me to follow my dreams, and so when she moved to Emerson Falls to retire, I quickly followed her after college and before I enrolled in the academy—because she is my family. The people who biologically created me have never loved me the way she has. And even though she was the housekeeper and my non-official nanny, the love this
woman showed me is something I will never take for granted.

  “That’s right. Don’t fuck with my mom, Samuel, or we’re gonna have some words,” I purse my lips and draw my face closer to his.

  “I would kick your ass, son, if I was back at your age. But seeing as how I’m older than dirt, I guess I’ll just have to settle on kicking your ass in Scrabble instead,” he glares back at me. We hold each other’s gazes for as long as possible before Samuel blinks and I bark out a laugh.

  “You can’t even beat me at a staring contest, old man! But I appreciate you wanting to defend your woman’s honor. Now, sit back and watch how the professionals do it,” I boast.

  “So did you write her a ticket?” Birdie pulls the conversation back to the mystery woman I know nothing about besides her name. I mean, I guess I could run her through the system, but I’ve done that before and realized no good could come from it. I used to do that with the handful of women I tried to date right after the academy and all it turned me into was this paranoid man who would find red flags before I ever had a conversation with the woman, convincing me that sex was the only reason to make the date in the first place. It was actually Birdie who convinced me not to use my benefits as a deputy anymore until I felt there was a reason, but seeing as how most of my interactions with the female population end in sex and not much else, no one has intrigued me that much to be concerned about the skeletons in their closet for a while.

  Until Piper Davis.

  “Nah, I let her off with a warning.”

  It’s Birdie’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “That was nice of you. Did you let her off because you thought she was beautiful?”

  I narrow my eyes at her, knowing she’s trying to rile me up. “No. I let her off because I remember what it’s like to be in a new town. She was on her way to a job interview too, so I didn’t want her to be late.”

  Birdie smirks. “How gentlemanly of you.”

  I tilt my head in her direction. “You taught me to be that way, Birdie. But somehow I feel like you’re giving me shit because I did a nice thing for Piper…”

  “Not at all, but nice to know you caught her name. I just know you, Cash. Did you ask for her number?”

  That question startles me. “What? No. I was on duty. I don’t ask for numbers while on the job. Now… if the woman offers me her number while I’m in uniform, that’s a totally different story,” I wink over at Samuel, who’s grinning from ear to ear.

  “Men,” Birdie mumbles before placing her tiles on the board. I peer over and see that she’s placed the word serendipity on the board using letters already present, racking up more points than I bother to count right now, as she smiles and then finds my face.

  “Is that word supposed to mean something?” I counter her knowing look.

  “Nope, just seemed fitting,” she sing-songs while re-filling her letter rack.

  I huff, knowing that this is what Birdie does. She’s trying to tell me something without coming right out and saying it, a tactic I’ve realized most women use. And I’ve learned over the years to just let her do her thing because asking from irritation never gives me the answer without a lecture attached to it.

  She may be trying to tell me that running into Piper was an act of fate or coincidence, or whatever the hell she means by that—but all I am certain about is that I need sex tonight or I might die from walking around with a hard dick every time my mind ventures to the image of Piper rolling down her window and revealing herself to me.

  Focus on sex, Cash. That’s all you need a woman for—sex and a release. Those two things are never uncertain for me.

  Chapter 2

  Piper

  “Okay. I’ll go.” My voice is low as I utter my decision—and then I break, lunging for the two of them as arms and hands tangle in a mess of desperation and love.

  “This is the best thing for now, Pfeiffer,” my mother finally speaks after a few minutes, wiping furiously beneath her eyes.

  “I know. If I had another idea, I would offer it—but I still can’t even wrap my head around the fact that Mason was living this double life. But it’s got to work out, right? This will all blow over?”

  My dad declares with the most confidence I’ve heard from him since this conversation started, “I will make sure of it.”

  “So, when do I leave?”

  My parents share a look and then my mother starts crying once more. “Tonight.”

  “This is Alice. She’s the charge nurse tonight, so she’ll tell you what to do.” The head of Human Relations speaks to me again, pulling me from memory lane and the night my future changed in the blink of an eye.

  “Thank you,” I reply as Bianca spins on her heels and leaves me there in front of an older woman who reminds me a lot of my mother. Hard-earned wrinkles flanking the corners of her eyes, dark blonde hair streaked with grey, and glasses perched on the end of her nose as she stares at the computer screen in front of her all tell me that she’s the lady in charge. She’s also got an aura about her that suggests I shouldn’t argue with anything she says, not that I would. I’m not one to start problems in my place of employment, especially for a job I fought tooth and nail to earn and that was almost taken away from me.

  “You must be Piper,” she says without looking up from the computer. I watch her eyes bounce back and forth across the screen, the white light glaring back at her displaying the dark chocolate hue.

  “Yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you.” I stick my hand over the counter to shake hers, which finally gets her to flick her eyes up to meet mine. Suddenly, the too-busy-to-care attitude she was giving me before is quickly replaced with a beaming smile as she stands.

  “Likewise. Welcome to Emerson Memorial. Sorry about before,” she gestures down to the computer. “When I’m reading patient files I get sucked in… not wanting to miss anything, you know?”

  Her kindness helps my shoulders relax. “Absolutely. Details are crucial.”

  “So this is your first day, huh? Where have you worked before?” Alice steps around the counter she was sitting at and makes her way to a main desk behind the receptionist counter for the emergency room.

  “Actually, this is my first full-time position,” I reply.

  “No way. Now that I think about, you do look kinda young,” her eyes survey my body from head to toe. “Enjoy those looks now, Piper. Soon you’ll have grey hair and wrinkles like the rest of us, and every free moment you had will be filled with driving kids to and from practices and school, or arguing with your husband,” she laughs as she keeps up her pace, grabbing a few items along her way as I trek behind her.

  I don’t answer because I don’t want anyone to know that a life like that is exactly what I thought I had planned before everything changed in an instant.

  “So, you’ll be working these two bays tonight,” she points to the curtains shielding two separate beds from each other. “Our hospital isn’t the busiest, but needless to say, I’m sure you know that the medical profession can be full of surprises.”

  “So I’ve heard. I can handle it, I assure you.”

  “Perfect. Jess!” Alice calls out as a long, raven-haired nurse who looks just tall enough to go on all the kiddie rides at a carnival strides up to us.

  “What’s up, Alice?” She arrives, writing something down in a chart.

  “This is Piper. She’s the new nurse they hired. Show her the ropes while I go handle a few things.”

  She mock salutes her and then grins as Alice turns to walk away and we face each other. “Sure thing, boss. So, Piper? Nice to meet you,” she sticks her hand out and I reciprocate her shake. “Where are you from?”

  “Oh, just back east,” I offer.

  “Emerson Falls, Oregon sure is a long way from back east. What brought you all the way out here?” Jess presses as we take two seats behind a computer while a voice comes over the speakers asking for a patient to return to the front desk.

  “Just ready to spread my wings and make something of myself.” I
figure that’s a safe answer, not one that invites too many questions.

  “I can agree with that. Hell, my parents weren’t happy when I moved down here from Portland, but the money was good and I was ready to work. Once you pass that NCLEX, it’s like hearing the bullet signaling the start of the race for employment, am I right?” She chuckles, turning to me so I can see the playfulness in her green eyes.

  “Absolutely. I was ready, and this place just seemed like the perfect town to settle down in.” I remember seeing Emerson Falls on the map when I was researching jobs back in Denver, clicking on the job posting and wondering where the hell a place named Emerson Falls would exist. And when I did some research and noticed how quaint, quiet, and homey the town looked from the pictures and articles from newspapers I read, I knew it was the perfect place for me to go—it was also about as far away from home as possible, and that’s what I needed—distance.

  Jess shows me the ropes of the hospital—where supplies are located, how to log-in to the computer and access files and where to input information, and I shadow her for the next few patients while I get the hang of everything. I’m a fast learner though—and after following her movements for two cases, she lets me fly solo on the third. Before I know it, we’re closing in on the end of my first twelve-hour shift.

  “You impressed me today, Piper,” Jess says, pulling my attention from the computer in front of me.

  “Thanks. Today was pretty easy, though. Ear infection on the little boy, heartburn for the guy that thought he was having a heart attack… not too bad for a first day,” I wink at her.

  “I think you’ll fit in great here. We need strong nurses. It’s hard to find stable employees in a small town like ours that are worth their weight in gold. Frankly, there aren’t many people to choose from. You know what it takes to become a nurse and the hiring pool is slim in a small town.”