She slowly turned, and there he was, his stance primed for action, every muscle and sinew taut. Again in his uniform. Again looking breathtakingly gorgeous. Only this time, instead of his easy smile, he was looking far from impressed.

Surprised, certainly. Shocked, definitely. Frowning. Angry.

At least he wasn’t holding a gun to her head, which, judging by the way her day was going, was an actual possibility given his colleagues had them.

They had guns.

This was the kind of thing he did every day, put himself on the line trying to save others. Trying to catch the bad guys, to make a better world for people like her and her daughter. Any different scenario and he could have been killed running in here like that.

Killed. The thought of that loss whipped her off balance and added something to her voice that was half fear, half anger. ‘Nick? What the heck are you doing here?’

‘I could ask you the same thing. We had a report of someone being attacked. Something about a murder.’ His eyebrows rose as he looked around, first at her, then at the crumpled, bleeding woman next to her, at the tablecloth half on, half off the table and the broken glass on the carpet. She could see his brain trying to compute what the hell had happened.

Meanwhile hers was reverberating with the pain under her ribcage at the stupidity of him putting himself into dangerous situations when there were people who would miss him so badly if the worse thing happened.

‘I think it was probably Tammy who called you. We were on the phone when I heard Annabel scream.’ Jenna tried to shrug nonchalantly, only she didn’t feel nonchalant; she felt suddenly immeasurably tired. Why hadn’t she just stayed at her lovely shop instead of trying to inflate her own ego? That was what it had been, after all; she’d been wanting to bask in the glory of her flower arranging skills. Big mistake. ‘It was just a misunderstanding. A completely false alarm. Mrs Delacourte shouted I’ll kill you, then I heard a crash and another scream—you can imagine how that sounded from outside.’

‘God, Jenna.’ Nick’s eyes flicked to his two companions and then back to her. She could see something flash behind his eyelids, and then he closed his eyes for the briefest of moments. Regaining control? Why? Had he been as surprised to see her here as much as she was surprised to be here like this?

He bent to speak to Annabel. Jenna couldn’t hear what he said, but the old lady looked up at her and rubbed her hand across the bleeding wound on her cheek. ‘The flower girl? No. Not at all. It was that bloody stray.’

Whoa. He’d actually asked Annabel if Jenna had hurt her? Really? He was a master of mixed messages today. She wanted to scream her innocence—actually, she wanted to shout at him for doubting her, for being here—but bit her lip.

Did he think she was capable of doing something so depraved? Didn’t he trust her?

No. Actually, he didn’t. She knew that well enough. Knew that even though they’d written many emotional words to each other over the years, the task of really getting to know someone enough to trust them was beyond hard.

But even so, even with his history, how could he think her capable of hurting someone?

With a sigh, he told the other two officers to stand down and they fussed around Annabel, sitting her in a chair, clearing up the broken glass and making them all a cup of tea. A black cat appeared and wove itself between everyone’s legs, and they all agreed how lovely it was and possibly lucky—or unlucky—depending on your outlook, to have it walk across your path. To be honest, Jenna felt she was definitely on the unlucky side today.

Between them, they managed to unstick the window and close it completely. Mrs Delacourte seemed happy enough, especially when Jenna found another vase to display the flowers, and after she’d finished arranging them, they really did look lovely.

Once Annabel had been sorted out, Nick and Jenna went outside. The rest of his team edged away towards the two patrol cars, seemingly sensing… something… between them. Not so much the old nudging knowing tease, more a raised eyebrow and some not-so-subtle sidestepping.

Jenna vehemently wished they hadn’t. She didn’t want to be left alone with him, and yet she did. She was rattled that he’d caught her here wrapped up in something so inane, rattled that he’d asked Annabel whether she’d been hurt by Jenna, rattled that she’d seen him in action and putting himself in danger. Rattled, mostly, by all the other emotions she had when she was around him too. ‘I should get going. Chloe’s going to be worried.’

‘Hey, Jenna, hang on a minute. Are you okay? You look very pale. D’you want to sit down? Catch your breath? You want me to take you home?’ His hand was on her arm. Gentle, but there, and she couldn’t ignore it and the way it made her feel; cared for, safe. And still bloody angry.

‘I don’t think I need to arrive back at the shop in a cop car, thanks all the same. The Cassidy’s have enough form in that area, and I’m trying to keep a clean sheet.’ She shook his hand away as an emotion she didn’t want to acknowledge welled up inside and she realised that yes, she was pretty shocked, but not for the reason he thought she was. More about the strength of those emotions he instilled in her, not all of them good. He didn’t trust her. ‘Did you really think I was attacking that woman?’

His eyes looked bruised as they narrowed. ‘Whoa, Jenna. How well do you know me?’

‘In reality, not very. Not really. Not if you even had the slightest thought I might hurt someone.’

‘Of course I didn’t think you were attacking her. I couldn’t imagine you doing anything of the sort.’ He drew her to a low brick wall edging Mrs Delacourte’s house boundary, and they both perched on it. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I’m not being ridiculous. I’m being annoyed. This is what my annoyed looks like. What did you ask her?’

His shoulders slumped. ‘Jenna, this is my job. I asked her if she was okay and how she’d got that gash on her cheek. The fact you were there spooked me, and I may not have handled it very well.’

‘You can say that again.’

‘In my defence, I don’t usually expect to see my friends in my line of work, and especially not you.’ His forehead tipped towards hers, and she could see him struggling with whatever was going on inside his head. ‘I don’t ever want to see you at a crime scene, okay?’

‘Trust me on this, I don’t ever want to be at one. Do you usually just barge into dangerous situations like that? What if I really had been attacking her? What if I’d had a knife, or worse, a gun? What if it wasn’t me and was some big burly guy or group of men instead?’

He gave her a small smile, as if she was really sweating minor details. ‘Don’t worry. We’re trained to deal with high-tension scenarios, Jen. We had backup round the corner only two minutes away. There were enough of us to deal with anything that came our way.’

‘You didn’t have to burst through the door. You could have knocked instead of all that macho Police! nonsense.’

‘That’s not necessarily how we do things.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I say, good morning, old chap, do let me in. I’ve had wind of a dark felony occurring. Oh, yes, of course I’ll wait while you make away with the family silver out the back door.’

‘And now you’re laughing at me.’ But she couldn’t help the smile at his terrible accent and the slight tease in his voice.

‘God no, Jenna.’ His hand was back on her arm and he tugged it, getting her to look up into his eyes. ‘Never.’

‘Good. I like to be taken seriously.’

‘Aha. Understood.’

‘Except for when I don’t.’

‘I’m having a very hard time trying to keep up. But I’m a fast learner.’ He wanted to keep up, wanted to learn more about her, she could tell. She didn’t know what to say as a pulse of heat started low in her belly and crept through her muscles, her bones, her limbs. It was a heat she hadn’t felt for a very long time, which transformed into a sudden and unbidden ache to touch him. To kiss him.

And she had a feeling he felt the same too as the gold in his eyes was burning bright like a flame, a hundred flames. There was a moment where neither of them spoke, where the urge to touch him propelled her towards him, tilting her head, and suddenly his hand was on her cheek.

Somewhere, a car horn tooted, and he pulled his hand away as if he’d been stung. His voice was darker, deeper. Thick and rich. ‘Right then. Okay. As long as we’re clear.’

‘Totally.’

What had just happened? She felt as if she’d been possessed by a strange, overwhelming desire and had obviously projected it on him. Because surely he hadn’t felt the same thing?

It was the shock, that was all. And the fear of being in a dangerous situation. That did funny things to a person. She’d be fine once she’d found her equilibrium again.

But the toot hadn’t come from one of the cars close by. In fact, she couldn’t be sure which direction the sound had come from. Her heart began to beat rapidly. Was this Ollie playing with her? One close moment with a guy after three years of grieving and this is how her dead husband reacted?

Don’t be stupid.

‘Well, it’s definitely all action with you around, isn’t it?’ Nick smiled, the heat now muted to just his friendly warmth, and she wondered whether the whole thing had just been a figment of her imagination.

Be normal. ‘I was just delivering flowers and got caught up in something very innocent. That’s all. My life is generally pretty dull. Anyway, it’s been an interesting morning, but I really need to get back. Chloe’s looking after the shop, and I said I’d only be gone for a few minutes.’ She glanced at her phone and grimaced. ‘An hour and a half later and she’ll be panicking. All I need is a missing persons alert put out on me and my day will be just perfect.’

His gaze softened. ‘Bad, huh?’

She dug deep to find the shiny happy person she’d once been and found a little bit of her. ‘Ah, no. I was just so excited to witness the reaction of one of my clients, and it didn’t exactly turn out quite how I expected. Serves me right for being endlessly nosy and looking for an ego boost.’

‘Don’t ever doubt yourself, Jenna.’ His hand brushed against hers as he straightened up, pointing to the car. The tingles started again—actually, they hadn’t gone anywhere. ‘Okay. Got to go too. You know how it is. Villains to chase. Crimes to solve. No rest for the wicked.’

‘Okay. Please, be very careful.’ Wise words, indeed. But even as she said them out loud to him, she felt them resonate deep inside herself too.

---

‘So, you know her?’ Sergeant Tony—aka Nick’s new boss—nodded towards Jenna, who was now walking slowly back up the hill. The gentle sway of her backside was mesmerising. Nick didn’t want to take his eyes off her, but he had to. He was at work, for God’s sake.

He presumed Tony was talking about Jenna but maybe he meant the fractious old lady. ‘Know who?’

‘The chubby girl with the flowers.’ Tony opened the patrol car door and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Nick inhaled slowly, controlling his reaction. Man, it was hard being the newbie. In his old job, he’d have decked someone the minute they’d said something like that. This time he opened and closed his fists, relaxing them best he could and climbed into the passenger seat. ‘Yes, she’s a friend of mine. Known her since high school, so quit with the stupid comments.’

‘Hey, pal, I’m only saying what I see.’ Tony held his hands up in submission. ‘More than a handful is wasted, mate. Not my type.’

You’re not worthy to walk in her shadow. Pal. Nick couldn’t stomach the thought of someone like Tony putting his hands on her. Any man, in fact. And where the hell this possessive streak had come from he didn’t know. Because he’d vowed he was done with all that when his ex confessed to her lies. No way was he going all gooey over a woman again.

But he was going to stick up for a friend.

‘What I see is a woman who had a fright and needed some help. A woman who deserves a lot more damned respect than you’re giving her.’ A woman who was trying hard to be everything to everyone and doing it with a smile, a lot of grace and just a little goofy.

He’d never really more than glanced at her at school, even in the photos she’d emailed he’d just seen the sunny smile and sparkling eyes.

But the day she’d turned up at his apartment with jeans that hugged that curvy body and a fifties-style, spotted collared shirt that fastened—only just—across her chest, he’d been hit with a sudden bad case of lust.

Chubby? Did people really reduce women to the way they looked? But he got it, it happened all the time and was so damned unfair. Because Jenna wasn’t stick thin, she was…. He searched for a word to describe her and came up with luscious.

Lame. There wasn’t a word that did justice to her. She was a gorgeous woman with a kind heart, a hot body and a beautiful, sensual mouth.

A mouth he’d wanted to kiss not five minutes ago.

On duty.

What the hell had he been thinking?

‘That explains the heart to heart there at the end, then. For a minute, I thought you were going to slap one on her.’ Tony laughed at his little joke. ‘But a word from the wise, Nick, don’t get up close and personal with every witness you meet. It’ll do your head in and get you a reputation. Plus, it’s a sackable offence.’

As if he’d do anything like that. ‘Like I said, she’s just a friend.’

‘Yeah. Obviously a good one.’ Tony coughed. ‘What was her name again?’

‘Jenna Cassidy-Pearce.’

‘Cassidy?’ Tony drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then eased the car into the busy lunchtime traffic and moved into the turning left lane. ‘Cassidy. Rings a bell. Not sure why.’

‘It’s a pretty common name. Irish, I think. There must be hundreds in London.’

‘Oh. Yes.’ Tony hit the steering wheel. ‘She’s the one with the bouquet who hit the best man, right? Rugby tackled him? Broke his nose or something? Now I remember.’

So much for the safety of anonymous London with its eight and a half million inhabitants. Portobello was little more than a small town village where people knew each other, relied on each other, helped each other, not the hideaway he’d been searching for. ‘I think that was her sister.’

‘Some crazy women in that family then.’ Tony shook his head, his smile growing.

Nick smiled to himself too, thinking about the shock of amazing red hair, the purple icing, the mouthy Irish mother, and the vomit on his shoes, which had taken hours of polishing to get off. Yes, they were all crazy, but in a good way. Then he reminded himself he was all about keeping away from crazy and keeping hold of calm. Or whatever zen bullshit he’d read in the dark hours when he was trying hard to hold on to something.

A voice crackled through the radio, interrupting their conversation. ‘…a BIP. 12 Elgin Crescent…’

Tony beamed even more, a man clearly in love with his job. ‘A burglary in progress. That’s the second one along there today. Let’s go get him.’

Adrenalin hit and Nick wrestled it under control. A burglary. Work. Just what he needed to take his mind off Jenna and his urgent need to kiss her.

Although, for too many reasons he didn’t want to admit, he doubted it would work.