Chapter Twelve

Ben

I stroll into the station a little later than usual, and of course, I’ll get shit about it from James. He doesn’t look up at me.

“Good morning,” I say, my tone cheerful.

When he looks up, I can tell he’s pissed. I seem to annoy him pretty regularly, so I can’t even guess what it is that I did this time. It’s not like there was an emergency. If there had been, I would have been called. I walk up to his desk, and he slams a piece of paper down in front of me.

“Twenty-nine concerned citizens, called back and checked out, sir.”

Ah, that’s what it is. I bite back a chuckle. That assignment probably sucked pretty hard, but to be fair, he was being annoying about Naomi.

Nothing wrong with building a little character through grunt work, right?

“Anything suspicious?” I ask, unperturbed by his attitude.

If he keeps it up, I’ll give him another shitty task. I can play this game all day until he learns to respect me.

My uncle was the sheriff in this town for his entire adult life. When he died, James probably would have been the better choice, but the people chose me.

James has yet to forgive me for that decision.

“No,” he says.

He has nothing else to say to me, and he turns back to his computer. I feel a pang of guilt now, and I wonder if I should apologize. I didn’t mean to get his panties in a bunch. After all, the work had to get done by someone, so I didn’t do anything wrong.

Secure in this knowledge, I walk to my office without another word from him, and the glowing red light beckons to me, as it always does. When I check the voicemails, it’s another round of concerned boat owners looking for answers, and I take the information down diligently before deleting each one. When I reach the end, I sit back in my seat and look out the door.

James might have an aneurism if I give him another round of boats to check. It’s a quiet morning, and I have nothing else to work on, so I decide to take it on instead. I slide into my jacket and head right back out the door. When I do, James looks up.

“Where are you going?”

His tone irks me, but I don’t give in to my annoyance. I’ve got my eye on James, and I want him to trust me, at least on some level. Just until I figure him out. My instincts tingle when I’m around him, and I trust those.

“Another bunch of boats to be checked. I’ll take this round.”

His expression lightens, and his eyebrows lift from their scowl. “All right.”

“Great, thanks.”

It’s clearly not a day for words around here, and that’s fine with me. I inhale cold, crisp oceanic air, then I slide into my cold cruiser and drive to the docks. I spend the morning checking off boats on my list, pulling out my cell phone and calling the owners personally. I get a little flack for the lack of safety, but generally this list is filled with people who are simply excited that their boat hasn’t disappeared.

“I’m looking at her right now, sir. The boat looks to be in pristine condition.”

“Then you must be looking at the wrong boat,” the owner jokes, and I chuckle.

“I don’t think so. All is well.”

“Well, thank you for checking. I appreciate it.”

“Not at all. We’re happy to provide peace of mind.”

“Of course. Have a great day,” the owner says.

“You, too.”

I end my last call, and my stomach grumbles. I haven’t had much to eat this morning. I scarfed down a banana on my way to the station, since I slept in. Not a single nightmare last night, which is saying something. I wonder if Naomi has something to do with that, and an instant need to see her springs up in my chest.

I glance down at my watch and realize that the lunch rush should be nearing its end. I start walking in that direction, and it doesn’t take long for her little restaurant to come into view. Several groups of people are leaving, and I can’t help but grin as I walk through the door. Looks like that social media post I made worked.

Katie is a blur as she bustles from table to table, cleaning up piles of dirty dishes and carting them back to the kitchen. When the bells on the door ring, she looks up. Her hair is in disarray and her eyes are hyper-focused, like she’s been juggling fifteen balls at once for hours.

“Busy lunch?” I ask.

“Busiest I’ve ever had. You looking for Naomi?”

“I wouldn’t mind a visit, if she has time.”

“I’ll let her know you’re here.”

“Thanks, and Katie?”

She looks up from a table, her hands laden with dirty plates and cups.

I maintain my grin. “No rush.”

“Ha,” she breathes. She sweeps out of the room then, and I’m left standing with two couples sitting on either side of me. Otherwise every other table is still a little bit dirty. I shift from one foot to the other as I wait, and finally Naomi steps from the kitchen.

She is a vision, truly. Her hair is slung back in a messy bun again, her apron is covered with bits of fish and other random mystery foods. Beneath it, her dress is a nice blue today, and of course, I recognize those boots. I’m thinking about buying her another pair, in case anything happens to them during another fuck session.

Couldn’t hurt.

My groin tingles at the sight of her, but then I notice that she’s frowning at me. Perhaps now is not the time for amorous thoughts.

“Hey,” I say. I step forward, but she crosses her arms around her midsection and doesn’t move. Her eyes dart around the room, never landing on mine for more than a second.

“What are you doing here, Ben?”

She’s defensive. Something’s wrong. I wrack my brain for something I might have missed from the night before, but nothing comes up. We ended things on a perfect note. I wonder what changed, and I take a cautious step forward.

“I’m a person. That means I have to eat at some point. This is a restaurant, where food is. If you put two and two together, it’s not too hard to figure out.”

Plus, I wanted to see you.

Naomi looks around the room again. She’s acting like a trapped animal backed into a corner. Something has spooked her, but I have no idea what it could be.

“Maybe you should go somewhere else. I hear the place down the street is run by someone you didn’t arrest against their will, even when they said they were innocent.”

I lift an eyebrow at her and take another slow step forward. She’s like a live electrical wire, and I tread carefully.

“Yes, that did happen. And then we got evidence to the contrary, and I’ve behaved pretty well toward you since then.”

“You think detaining someone for no reason is no big deal? Of course you would, because that’s what cops do, isn’t it? They arrest first and ask questions later, if ever.”

She swipes at her eyes, and I move the last bit forward so I can place a gentle hand on her elbow. She doesn’t pull away, and I take that as a good sign.

“Can we talk out back?” I ask.

Her gaze finally reaches mine, and when it does, there’s fear and hurt there. She may be lashing out at me, but it’s not me she’s upset with. I want to know what happened. I want to make it better.

She nods, and together we walk back to her office. Instant memories of Naomi bent over that desk shoot through my mind, but I pack them away. I close the door and turn her to face me. I force her to look into my eyes.

“What’s wrong here? What’s happened?”

She searches my gaze then looks down with a sigh. “I don’t think I should talk about it with you.”

“Why?”

“Because, Ben. Because you’re a cop, and I’ve had a bad experience with police in the past. It’s difficult for me to trust you, especially because of how we met.”

She still won’t look at me, and I absorb her words. She thinks all cops are corrupt, and then I come along and bring her in because she tried fleeing the scene of a crime.

“I can understand that,” I say. “But, Naomi, you can’t blame every single person for the acts of another. My uncle died on an operating table. That doesn’t mean I’m never going to go to or trust another doctor again. Bad things happen, but if you put everyone in a box, you’re going to end up living a lonely life.”

Her eyes search mine, and I watch as her shoulders slump and release their tension. The fight has drained from her.

“You’re right, of course. I’m projecting. My brother, Alex… he was wrongfully accused and arrested. He was jailed for something he didn’t do. We tried everything to work with the police to get a fair trial, to get him justice, but they refused to listen. They had a man to take the fall, and that’s all they cared about.”

I listen, my blood boiling as she reveals this sad story. As a cop, I live in a charged world where trust is hard to come by for members of my profession. Assholes like the ones Naomi is talking about are what give us a bad name. So many of us want to serve and protect.

“I’m sorry, Naomi. If you’d like, I can look into it.”

She waves a dismissive hand, then runs it along my arm. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, it’s done and in the past. I shouldn’t be judging you by that, but now you know there’s a reason I don’t trust cops.”

“Well, you can trust this one,” I say, folding her into the circle of my arms.

She relaxes a little, but she’s still not completely herself.

“Come out with me tonight.”

“What? No, I have to cook.”

“Get Paul to cook. You clearly need a night out, and I clearly need to show you that not all cops are bad.”

“Ben…”

“Paul can handle it. Let him know now so he can prepare, and I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“Ben, I…”

I don’t let her finish. Instead, I press my lips to hers then step back and open the door. “Eight o’clock sharp. I’ll be here.”

Her eyes narrow, but when she gifts me with a rueful smile, there’s a little of the girl I know in there.

“Fine, but if Paul quits, you’re my next sous chef.”

I laugh and stroll back out. Somehow, I have forgotten that I was hungry when I came in. Now I have planning to do for later.

“You bet,” I say, then walk back out into the cold.

Tonight, I’m going to give Naomi an evening she will never forget.