THE FAMILY FOR THIS PARTY came over an hour earlier than expected. I’m not only rushing to get everything set up as I normally would, but I’m now doing it with nervous and excited people flitting around and getting in my way even though they think they’re helping.
Too many cooks in the kitchen.
I ran out of tape, so I go into my office and dig through my supply closet to get a new roll. Washi tape, duct tape, electrical tape—all kinds I don’t need. I just want some regular old Scotch tape, but I can’t find it. I reach way in the back of the shelf to see if I can feel some that may have fallen. Yes! A roll of it brushes against my finger as arms wrap around from behind me. I screech just as a penny is held up in front of my face.
The tape falls to the floor, and I reach up to grab the coin. “Thank you, honey.”
“Found it when I was talking to you.” Jay kisses me right behind my ear. “What are the chances?”
His solid frame holds my weight when I lean into him, my back to his front. His arms hold me a bit tighter as my head rests against his chest, and all the crazy outside of our embrace vanishes for a moment. It dissipates as our love surrounds us instead, and we take a moment to be only us. The only us we’ll get to be until at least tomorrow.
I jump from the vibration of his phone, but he ignores it. His lips ghost over my cheek and down to my jaw then back up to my ear. “I talked to Mel.”
That makes me turn. “What?”
“Not tonight, but tomorrow, want you packin’ a bag. Plan to stay the whole weekend. I’ll come here with you Saturday, but you’ll come back with me when you’re done working.”
The smile that I try to hide is impossible to conceal. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. She was totally cool with it.”
“Really?”
He reaches up and rubs his thumbs along my cheekbones. “Yeah. Really, baby.”
“Yay.”
His phone vibrates again, and he groans. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ve gotta go.”
“It’s okay.”
He nods at the penny still in my hand. “Wanted to give you that.”
“Thank you.”
With no warning, he pulls me to him and slants his mouth over mine. His fingers flex against my butt and in my hair. It’s insane how he touches me, and I practically melt. I wrap my arms around his neck and open my mouth when his tongue slides along my lips.
It’s hot and so, so good. Everywhere tingles and because we’ve done it in here a time or two, I know how easy it would be for me to bend over and grab onto a shelf while he took me there. I express this by pressing myself closer and moaning into his mouth when I feel him, hard and ready against me. He rocks into my belly, and I involuntarily arch my back as his phone buzzes again.
“Fuck,” he mutters, resting his forehead on mine. “Wish I had the time.”
I don’t want to tell him that he does since it would only take about forty-six more seconds. “It’s okay,” I whisper.
“Tomorrow,” he promises.
“Yeah.”
“Love you.”
I smile. “I know.”
Right before he walks out, he kisses my forehead, and unlike every other time, his lips don’t linger. He’s so stressed with this case, yet he takes the time to visit me and make me feel special. I have to remember to do more stuff like that for him. I lean against the wall as I catch my breath and thank the Lord for whoever dropped a penny on the ground two years ago.
I’m not proud of the fact that I’m pouting, but I totally am. This stupid parking ticket is bogus anyway. The meter was broken. What was I supposed to do? I even left a note on the windshield saying it was broken because it was the only spot in a four-block radius. Whatever. Lesson learned.
I yank the door open to the police station and walk directly to the corner of the room and stand in line with the rest of the law breakers. There’s only one worker, and about seven people in front of me, each one of us not exactly happy to be here.
Once my turn is up, I slide the ticket under the window along with the check I’d written out before I came. The woman, who should probably get the award for best customer service this month, stamps the back of the check then clicks a few buttons on the computer before a piece of paper shoots out of the printer.
She hands me my receipt without managing to even look at me during the entire transaction. That’s some real talent.
“Thank you,” I chirp. “You’ve been so helpful. Have a lovely day.”
“Next.” She looks beyond me, waving for the next person in line.
I can’t help but laugh. Life’s too short to be so miserable. She’s alive. Breathing. That’s something to be happy about. It must be really sad to live a life where you’re so unhappy you can’t even crack a smile.
Even on bad days, on my dark days as a teenager, I still managed to fake it in front of others. Just because I was miserable didn’t mean I should make everyone else miserable, too.
I head back outside, and as I’m looking at the invoice, a glint on the ground catches my eye. Bright and shiny. I have a thing for collecting lucky pennies, so I walk over a few feet to the corner of the building. Just as I’m leaning down to pick it up, a boot fills my vision.
I screech, my paper falls from my fingers, and I snap up, barely missing clonking heads with the guy. “Shit. Sorry.” I back up and luckily don’t trip over my own two feet.
“It’s okay. I didn’t see you around the corner.” He bends down and picks up the receipt and the sparkling copper circle. “Here.” He holds the penny out to me.
I take advantage of the moment to admire him. He’s ridiculously good looking. And it’s not just the way he fills out his uniform. His jaw is sharp under a five o’clock shadow, and his intense dark blue eyes bore into me. A flutter of butterflies tickles my belly, and I swallow to slow the pulse throbbing in my throat. A shiver coasts up my spine, and I lick my lips. “Oh no, it’s fine. You can have it.”
He glances at the receipt and then back at me. “Olive.”
“Yes.”
“That’s an unusual name. I like it.”
I glance at his name tag that reads Jamison, but instead of asking for his first name, I launch into a story. “My parents. They’re weird. My sisters all have O names. Nobody calls me Olive, though. Dad calls me Ollie while everyone else calls me Liv.” I realize I’m rambling and shake my head. “So. Yeah. Thank you.” I reach for the receipt, and as the paper settles between my fingers, I pull.
When it doesn’t budge, I risk looking up at him again. “Are visits to the police station a regular occurrence for you, Ms. Winters?”
God, that voice. “What? No. The stupid meter was broken. I put money in it and everything. This is the first ticket I’ve ever gotten.”
“Never been in trouble with the law before?”
“I’m in trouble with the law?”
“You weren’t until now.” His lips tilt up on one side, and I realize he’s… flirting with me.
“Trouble,” I whisper, agreeing. I am most definitely in trouble, and it has nothing to do with the ticket.
“I’m not trouble, babe. I’m Jay.” Of course, his name is sexy.
He finally releases the paper enough for me to pull, but his body follows as I tug it to me. He’s now inches away, the warmth radiating from him palpable. Even if I wanted to look away, I wouldn’t be able to as I’m mesmerized by him. Drawn into the sex appeal and confidence he exudes.
Between us, he raises his arm and holds the penny at my eye level, but I can’t take my eyes off his. “Don’t forget to take this.”
“You can have it.” My voice is breathy.
He slowly shakes his head, and he slides his fingers down my arm at my side, making goose bumps follow in their wake. When he reaches my hand, he settles the penny in my palm and then curls my fingers around it. Keeping his hand wrapped around my fist, he inches even closer. “Don’t need luck anymore, Livvie.”
With that, he gently squeezes my hand and walks around me. I’m left a bundle of nerves and excitement and confusion. On some kind of cloud, I manage to get to my car and drive to work without incident.
Thankfully, I only have a small event in the banquet hall tonight. Halfway through, I grab the empty pitchers of water and head over to the bar to fill them back up. Flashes of Jay, God… flashes of his sexy smile and soulful eyes pop in and out of my vision. Water sloshes all over my hand, and I snap out of my daydream about the sexy cop as I realize the pitchers are overflowing.
My boss puts a hand on my shoulder. “You okay, Liv?”
“What? Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you not feeling well? You seem out of it.” He is genuinely concerned, and I’m so glad I have him for a boss. He hired me when I didn’t have much experience and was patient with me while I learned. It’s really hard to find a good person to work for, so I jumped at the opportunity he offered.
Faking a smile, I lift the pitchers. “I’m good.”
He nods, heading to the other side of the bar while I go back to the opposite side of the building. The next couple of hours go by at a snail’s pace, and then my event wraps up. As I’m wiping tables down and folding chairs, a loud commotion sounds from the front of the building. For me to hear it all the way down here, it has to be something bad.
I slowly walk down the hallway, and when I arrive in the main bar, I see two bouncers holding down a man and another guy leaning on the bar with a rag to his face and blood dripping down his arm. Clay calls to me, and I scurry over to him behind the bar. “What happened?”
“Alcohol and testosterone.” He shakes his head. “Cops are on their way.”
My heart jumps.
My stomach flips.
My palms sweat.
And I wait. A few minutes pass and a cop walks in. Then another. Followed by a third. None of them the man whose face is burned into the cerebral cortex of my brain. I try to shake the thought of the hot cop away, but my mind refuses to comply, and my hormones go directly against the order.
I step out of the way as Clay exits the bar to talk to them, and I turn to head back to the hall, but then it happens. In slow motion, the front door opens, and he walks in. Commanding. Dominating the space he consumes.
Something, a rope—a line—tethers us because just as I take a step back, the invisible string tightens and gives his body a small jolt in my direction. The tension in the line holds me; it prevents me from falling, knowing he’s got the other end of it. He whips his head up, and our eyes lock. The line snaps, and I stumble, my back slamming into the cash register.
Without taking his concentration off me, he strides in my direction. The intensity of his attention is suffocating. I sharply draw in a gulp of air because he’s going to be in front of me in a second. Close enough to touch. To smell again.
He ignores another officer calling him and comes at me, stopping even closer than earlier. His arms raise, and the rough callouses on his fingers abrade my cheeks when he holds my face in his hands. “Are you okay?”
My lips part. Words form on my tongue but won’t roll off.
“Livvie.” He leans down so he’s eye level with me. “You okay?”
My heart hammers.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
“Yes.” I practically moan, and we sway closer together. His thighs rub against mine, and he’s close enough that if I took a deep breath, my hardened nipples could seek relief from brushing against his chest.
A moment is all it takes. Time suspends and the air around us is without gravity as I float from a single touch. I don’t know exactly what it is, but something is happening between us. Something big.
“Ah! Motherfucker!”
A man yells, and I jump as Jay reacts before I can blink. He turns around, blocking me from seeing anything except his tense and muscular back. Grabbing me with one hand behind his back, he reaches for his gun with the other.
Shielding me.
A moment of panic surges through me, but when his shoulders relax and he lowers his hand from the gun on his belt, my head falls forward to land on the center of his back. His fingers flex on my hip, assuring me everything is okay—or at least he’ll make sure of it—and a state of lust immediately replaces my fear. So powerful it makes me whimper.
He turns around but remains close and lifts my chin, causing my head to tilt up so I lock eyes with his. “I need to see you later.”
“Okay.” I need him to see me. I want to see him, too.
“I’m off in two hours. Will you be home then?”
One hundred and twenty minutes. “Yes,” I whisper.
“Jesus.” He steps back and takes no shame in devouring me with his eyes. “Christ. Be ready for me, Livvie.”
A knock on my office door startles me out of my daydream. I tuck the penny in my pocket and grab the tape then go on out to finish setting up the party.