Another restless night went by. I woke up to a text from my friend, Karen.

Hey, bitch! whats up i found a date 4 u

I yawned and replied.

What are you talking about?

By the time I emerged from the shower, I had my answer.

Hot guy in my chem class was asking about u. saw u with me at that party at Devins house. i just gave him your digits. Laters

Hmm. Not a lot of information in that text, but that was typical for Karen. I tossed my phone aside and got ready for class. I didn't check it again until I had grabbed my backpack and was about to head out the door.

I had a text from an unknown number.

Hey, my name is Charlie, and I got your number from Karen. Want to meet up for coffee this afternoon?

Well, at least he was better at texting than Karen. And coffee was a safe meet up, especially since the only decent place in town to get coffee was where I worked, Witches' Brew.

I walked out of the door, texting as I went.

Sure. How about Witches' Brew at 4?

Charlie replied before I made it to my first class.

Great. See you then!

***

I ONLY HAD TWO CLASSES on Tuesdays, and then I went to work. My shift ended at four, which is why I picked that time to meet Charlie. I sat down in a chair in front of a big window overlooking Main Street and waited for my blind date. My feet were tired from working, so I was glad to sit for a while. But after the fiasco with Colton, I was having a hard time working up any enthusiasm for this meeting.

Grayson sent me a quick text asking if I wanted to ride along that night. I replied with a simple yes, and I wondered when I would catch up on the sleep I was missing by doing this project.

I passed the time by reviewing my homework assignments, and at four on the dot, someone sat down across from me. Glancing up, I saw a tall, well-built man about my age smiling, showing off perfect white teeth.

He held out his hand to me, and I shook it, returning his pretty smile.

"I'm Charlie." He had a polite, pleasant air about him. I liked him at once.

"Hey, Charlie. I'm Lucy." I gave him a warm smile, praying he wouldn’t notice that I was kind of distracted.

Awkward pause. Charlie sat down across from me, and then he took in my staff t-shirt with the Witches' Brew logo featured on the front.

"You work here?" His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I guess suggesting a coffee date wasn't such a great idea on my part. Not very original."

I laughed in response. "No, this is great. I love the coffee here, and it was certainly convenient to finish my work shift, and then meet you."

"Oh, great. I don't want to screw up right off the bat. What can I get you to drink?" He stood up, and I asked for a regular cup of coffee. It would help with the ride along since I wasn't sure I would have time for a nap.

While Charlie went to the counter to order, I looked out into the street and watched people passing by. To my surprise, Grayson came out of the bank right across from the coffee shop. Our eyes met through the big glass window.

Charlie came over to the table carrying two tall mugs of coffee and sat down across from me. I saw Grayson rock back on his heels, thumbs hitched in his jean's pockets as he observed us from afar. Even from here, I could see his gorgeous eyes narrow.

Too late, I realized Charlie was talking about his job and was waiting for me to comment. I hadn't been paying attention at all.

Embarrassed, I turned my full attention back to my date. "I'm sorry, I missed that last part." All of it. I missed all of it because I was too busy staring at the hot guy across the street.

And I was irritated at Charlie for interrupting my gawking, even though he had no idea what I was doing. My gosh, I was a terrible date.

Charlie had an easy smile for me. "No problem. You must be exhausted. You had class this morning, right? And then worked a few hours on top of that."

"Yeah, and last night I stayed up all night doing a ride along with the Peacock Police Department." I added a little creamer to my coffee and stirred it while I focused on not looking out of the window to see what Grayson was doing now.

"A ride along?" Charlie took a sip of his coffee and leaned forward on his elbows.

"I'm doing my thesis project on police and community interactions. So I need to do lots of ride alongs to document as much as I can." I sipped my own coffee and burned my tongue a little on the hot liquid.

Despite my best efforts, I looked back out of the window. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Grayson. But he was gone.

Saddened, I turned my attention back to my date.

I heard the faint tinkle of the bell over the door and glanced up. Grayson strode across the small space, headed straight for my table. Uh oh.

"Good afternoon, Lucy." Grayson's words were directed to me, but his gaze was fixed on my date.

"Hi, Officer Jackson." I tapped my fingers against the ceramic mug and breathed him in. He smelled delicious, and even in casual clothes, he was the epitome of the alpha male. His gun was strapped to his shoulder, and his worn cowboy boots scraped against the floor as he towered over Charlie.

Holy Officer Hotness.

To give Charlie credit, he didn't seem intimidated at all. He stood up and offered a hand for Grayson to shake, and for a moment the two of them engaged in a little wrestling match for male dominance.

"Lucy told me she's doing ride alongs as part of her school work. You must be one of the officers assigned to her." Charlie winced a bit as Grayson continued shaking his hand in his firm grip.

"Sure am. In fact, I'm the only one taking Lucy for a ride." Grayson's voice was deep and even.

I blushed as I absorbed his choice of wording.

"What Officer Jackson means is, I rode along with him last night, and I will ride again tonight. After that, who knows?" I eyed Grayson over the rim of my coffee mug.

At my words, Grayson dropped Charlie's hand. He used the tip of his boot to snag a nearby chair and tugged it over to our table. He sat down in it backward, resting his arms on the back of it.

I guess this date just became a threesome.

***

THIRTY MINUTES LATER I escaped Witches' Brew with a sigh of relief. Grayson had stayed the entire time, making my interactions with Charlie more than awkward. Charlie had promised to call me later, and we left it at that.

Now Charlie was gone, and Grayson was still trailing after me. His earlier tension had dissipated now that it was just the two of us, and his cocky smirk was back in full force.

Irritated, I spun around. "What was the point of all that?" I waved a hand at the coffee shop and rested my other hand on my hip.

"The point of all what, baby?" Grayson smiled down at me and led the way back to my truck.

"Don't ‘baby' me, Grayson." I was just getting started. "You know what I mean. You crashed my date. I was trying to get to know Charlie."

"You mean you were about to whip out the Manlist and interview him." Grayson grinned at me as we crossed the street.

"Whatever. It's none of your business. But yes, I need answers to my questions." Frustrated, I kicked a discarded water bottle out of my way and watched it dance down the sidewalk.

Grayson moved ahead of me and picked up the bottle. He shot it basketball-style into the nearest trashcan. Nothing but net.

"That guy isn't right for you." Grayson spied my truck parked close by and headed straight for it.

"He seemed like a nice guy! How do you know if he's right for me or not?" My voice rose, and I saw a couple of heads turn in our direction.

Grayson opened my door and held it while I climbed in.

"Because he's not me." With those words, he slammed my door closed and walked away.