Chapter Eighteen: Max
A few years back I tried the whole dating scene, but I was never good at it. It wasn’t that I was not interested or couldn’t be faithful, but more that work was time consuming and no one understood I wasn’t intentionally cancelling plans all the time.
Needless to say, hanging out with Rose with the premise of watching her kind of eased me into the whole thing. Even when I was just outside her building and not inside her apartment, I felt like I was spending time with her, and having her around was just nice. I enjoyed her personality, even though the whole case had put a little bit of a damper on things.
We kept on with our usual watch shifts, keeping a closer eye on not only her but her surroundings. Everyone in that building turned into a suspect to me, and I didn’t like seeing everyone that way, but it was just the way things went.
It had been a few days since the gunshot victim gave us his full statement. The guy was a massive prick, but that was beside the point. He was loaded, some kind of investment manager with his own firm. Actually, five across the continental US. I didn’t know what he could have done to be attacked in a parking garage, and apparently, he didn’t know either. Or he wasn’t being honest. My gut told me he was doing something on the down low that got him in trouble. We all thought that, but we had to be careful because he screamed lawsuit against the city if we rubbed him the wrong way. We left him with a blanket statement and hadn’t talked about it since.
There had been no other updates since then. Only the increasing worry that someone was coming after Rose. I wished it could be otherwise, but it was the truth.
I always watched her after her work shift, since I sleep most of the day away for my night patrol. I loved and hated it the most because it was so damned frustrating. I would sit in the living room while she showered, and I pictured her naked and on that day, I highly considered getting rid of my hard-on while I imagined her wet, sexy body in the shower. Not even the close football game could distract me.
“I can make you something to eat.” I jumped up from the couch, taken by surprise, to find Rose wide eyed and shocked from my outburst.
“You uh, startled me.” I tugged on my sweatshirt. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I would love some food.” I grinned.
She let out the cutest little giggle and shuffled over to the kitchen, looking like a fucking strawberry drop. She was wearing bright red leggings and a matching, fluffy sweatshirt that still didn’t even hide her delicious curves. I followed her into the kitchen and sat on her bench. She had a bright kitchen that reminded me exactly of her. Blue cabinets, white countertops; it was all so innocent, like her.
“How was your day today?” I asked her.
“The same as always. What about yours?” she asked over her shoulder. I wasn’t sure what she had thrown in to the pan already, but it smelled amazing.
Maybe it was over said, but a woman in the kitchen was a beautiful thing.
“Uh, pretty annoying. The Lieutenant has been up my ass about some old cases.”
“Why?” She stopped and handed me a glass of orange juice, which she squeezed freshly herself. It tasted like sunshine.
“I don’t know. He has pretty strict rules with paperwork. It can bring units down if it isn’t done right, and the seventy-eighth makes everyone else our bitch. So, we have to keep up that image.” I chuckle.
She smiled at me and shook her head in mock disappointment.
“Hmm. Well, ER nurses are known for how badass we are, I guess,” she laughed.
“I think you are pretty bad ass, Rose.” I bit my lip and winked at her when she looked at me. I noticed her cheeks flushed before she turned away.
I wanted her so bad, and I knew she wanted me too. Shit just got complicated, and it continued to get even worse. But I couldn’t hold out anymore. I needed her. Once we ate, she had to take Parker for a walk so I went with her. She had started taking a different route since that crime happened, and I was glad for it.
About halfway in, I held her hand and started teasing her a bit. She was just so distracting, with her scent blowing in my direction.
“You seem in better spirits today.” Rose swung her arm a little bit to get my attention, tightening her hand in mine.
“Am I usually a damper to be around?” I smiled a bit. She glanced up at me and flashed her sexy smirk.
“No, just…I don’t know. I just don’t know much about you.” She shrugged. Parker tried to pull off in another direction after a squirrel.
“Well, I’m pretty boring. All I really have is work and the guys.”
“What about your parents?”
“Distant. But we’re on okay terms, just one of those things…” I ticked my jaw and felt her looking at me. I pulled her in closer.
“One of those things?” she pried softly.
“They wanted me to take over the family business. I don’t give a shit about penny stocks. So, they chill in upstate New York while I’m down here. But I’m really not mad about it.”
We stopped walking while she let Parker forage in some bush. She glanced up at me and then buried her face in my chest as she hugged me. It took me by surprise but I gladly reciprocated, wrapping my arms around her lithe waist. Her scent swirled around me and her body molded into mine. I knew she was communicating with me silently; she was more bothered about the case than she let on. But it was okay, because I was there for her.
“Ready to go?” I asked her softly.
She nodded, “Yeah.”