“Barrettes, headbands, bow hair-clips, elastics,” I mumbled to myself, rifling through my big shopping tote to make sure I wasn’t missing anything for the class I was going to teach...which was set to start in about five minutes. I hated running late. It made me anxious, and now I was wasting even more time because I couldn’t get it out of my head that I’d forgotten something important. Not that it’d do me any good if I figured out what it was because I couldn’t just run out and grab more supplies. I was barely going to make it inside before the class started as it was, without any time to set my stuff up since odds were good there were already people waiting inside for me. Which meant I needed to get my butt moving before they got antsy waiting for me and thought I wasn’t going to show.

“I guess this is going to have to do.” I yanked the bag off the front seat of my car, swiveled on my heel as I slammed the door closed, and promptly crashed into the guy who must have parked his truck and gotten out while I’d been distracted by my search through my tote.

How I’d missed him or his truck was beyond me. Even being laser focused on counting frilly hair accessories while freaking out about running late didn’t account for me missing a big, black, extended-cab truck as it pulled up right behind me. And it certainly didn’t explain how I didn’t spot the brick wall of a guy I’d just practically bounced off. He towered over me, at least eight or nine inches taller than my perfectly respectable five foot five inches. And then there was the extra hundred and sixty pounds he had on me. Add in his cropped dark hair, tightly trimmed beard, and intense blue eyes and you had a man no woman would miss. Nor would she want to because he was the kind of guy you usually only saw on television or in magazines.

When I took a quick step backwards, I started to trip over my own feet. His big hands wrapped around my arms to steady me, and I felt the warmth of them through the double layers of my long-sleeved shirt and light jacket. “Careful, darlin’. You don’t need to hurt yourself trying to get away from me. I’m one of the good guys. A cop.”

Of course his deep voice matched the rest of him, and he was a cop. Because a guy like him wouldn’t have a girly voice or a lame job. It’d be a crime against womankind if he did.

I took a deep breath to help settle my racing heart, but it didn’t do me a lick of good because his masculine scent filled my nose and made my panties feel like they were about to combust more than they already had. “I’m good, thanks.”

His blue eyes darkened a shade as he scanned my face. “You sure? You look a little shaky.”

Only because he made my legs weak, but I wasn’t about to blurt that out loud. “Yup, I’m A-okay.”

Gah! Had I really just said that? Out loud? To a totally hot guy? I’d thought I’d grown out of my dork phase from high school and college, but apparently I was wrong. Or maybe it was just that being touched, even innocently, by an incredibly hot cop brought it out in me. One whose mouth twitched up at the edges in apparent appreciation of my dorkiness.

“Sorry. I’m just in a rush to get inside.” I hitched my tote higher up on my shoulder, struggling a little with its weight since it wasn’t all bows and ribbon. There were also some blow dryers, curling wands, and straightening irons in there adding extra weight in an awkward jumble.

“I’m heading that way, too.” He let go of my arms, and then one strong hand tugged on the bag. I let go, and almost groaned in relief at the loss of the weight on my shoulder. But then I got distracted by the way his bulging bicep stretched the material of his sleeve—until his deep chuckle registered in my brain and I dragged my gaze away to look up at him. “I’ll carry this in for you.”

I probably should have told him I could do it myself, but I found myself nodding and offering him a shy smile instead. The uptick in his lips turned into a full-fledged smile, and I had the sneaking suspicion he was trying not to laugh at me. Not that I blamed him since I was being completely ridiculous.

I talked to men all day long at my job, and I never had a problem acting like a normal person around them. Then again, none of them were crazy hot like this guy. And thank goodness for that, or else I probably wouldn’t ever get anything done. Like now, since I was standing here gawking at him when I needed to get my butt inside.

“Sure. Please. But I have to hurry because I’m late.”

His low chuckle sent shivers down my spine, but I worked hard to ignore them while we walked across the parking lot towards the front doors of the school. “You going to the daddy and daughter hair class?”

“Yup, I’d better be since I’m the one teaching it.”

“You know how I mentioned I was a cop?” I nodded, and he jiggled the bag with my supplies. “I kinda already figured out you were at least helping with the class.”

“Oh. Right. Obviously.” He grinned at me again, and I hurried to explain. “I’m pretty good at hair and love kids, so I figured offering these mini-classes would be a good way to give back. Little girls like to look their best, too, and sometimes they need a little help.”

Those deep blue eyes flicked upwards to take in the long, dark curls cascading down my back.

“Are you new to Nashville?” he asked as he opened the door and gestured me ahead of him.

“Yeah.” I swiveled my head to squint up at him. “How’d you guess?”

He smiled down at me, those blue eyes of his sparking with humor, and my heart felt like it skipped a beat since it made him even more attractive—if that was even possible. “’Cause you aren’t moving on Southern time yet. Five minutes late is considered early around here.”

“I can see how that’d give me away, then,” I laughed. “Although I’m not sure I’ll ever adjust to the idea of any minutes late being early.”

“I bet if you give it enough time, you’ll find yourself loosening up like the locals who’ve grown up around here.”

“You sure about that?” I pointed towards the group of men standing near the doors to the gym. The school’s after-care program ended right before I was supposed to start my class, and I was using the same space as them. If those guys were there to pick up their kids they would’ve been on their way out, not hanging around. And there was only one reason I could think of for why they’d be doing that—they were waiting for me to arrive.

“Lining up in droves before they even got a look at you. I can only imagine how much worse it’s gonna get now that they’ve seen you,” the hot cop muttered, closing the distance between us so we were walking almost hip to hip.

“Pardon?” I had no idea what he was talking about. But judging by the firm set of his jaw and the glare he was sending towards the guys at the door, it wasn’t anything good.

“Nothing. I just realized how lucky I was to have lost a bet with my partner so I was stuck doing double the paperwork before I left for the day.”

We were only about fifteen feet away from the group of guys at the doors, so I lowered my voice as I asked, “How is losing a bet and doing extra work lucky?”

“’Cause it meant I was the one who you almost bumped into in the parking lot.”

Whoa! Even after I was a complete dork, the hot cop was flirting with me. He didn’t give me the chance to react before he led me into the gym with his hand at the small of my back. I heard someone cry out, and then he set my bag on the floor as he stepped away from me. I felt the loss of the heat from his hand, but I understood why he’d moved it when a little girl came running across the room towards us.

Those panties that’d just about melted out in the parking lot? They were joined by my ovaries that went boom at the sight of those muscular arms lifting up a dainty girl with long, dark hair and blue eyes that were a perfect match for the hot cop’s.