by Reina Torres
She really liked it when he did that. She felt like she could see his feelings in his eyes and she liked what she saw. She liked it a lot.
As he started to walk again, she fell right into step beside him.
“There’s an antique store up ahead mixed in with a bunch of other kinds of stores, a couple of cafes, and a restaurant with seating that overlooks the lake. If you’re hungry now, we can eat, but if you’d rather look for a few things for your apartment first that works too.”
She was sure she wasn’t going to buy much of anything in an antique store. While the pieces would probably fit the architecture of her building, it would probably be out of her immediate price range. Still, she wasn’t going to tell that to Roan. Talk about embarrassing.
“Let’s go look at the store first,” she told him, genuinely interested, “I think I’ll be hungry after that. I did my fair share of physical exercise this morning.”
As they walked up the short flight of steps to the main activity area, she felt his curious gaze on her.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of physical activity were you up to before I picked you up?”
Laughing, she gave their joined arms a little swing for fun. “Pacing. I kept trying to talk myself into changing my outfit to some jeans and a blouse, but something inside me said that Lia would probably show up here and make me change my clothes in the bathroom.”
He steered her along the railing toward a building that almost looked like a white-washed barn. “Is that why my sister wanted the picture? You think she’s going to turn you in like an informant?”
That got a big laugh out of her. Shaking her head at him she had to admit it was possible.
“How does my sister know her again?”
Pilar smiled and slowed her steps to look into the big windowpanes along the front wall of Vincenti Vintage Gifts and Furniture. “From what Vitalia told me, her mother Gloria is on the board of a local women’s shelter with Kate. I’m going to be volunteering at some of the events that are coming up.”
“I’m glad Kate’s involved in that. I bet she really enjoys some of the activities.”
“It really is a good thing she’s doing. My sister-in-law Sloane is one of the heads of the Helping Hearts organization in San Antonio. That’s how she met my brother.”
“I bet that’s an interesting story.”
She stopped walking for a moment, her gaze drifting to one of the many items that the store had squished into just one display window. “I’ll tell it to you later if you want to hear it. It’s a long story, and I’ll admit to being shamelessly in favor of my brother falling for her. They just had their first baby and from what I hear from both of them they can’t wait to have another.”
It was at that moment that she realized what she was staring at in the display. It was a little stroller that was meant for baby dolls. The wood was stained in a beautiful dark oak color and it looked like there was an articulated bonnet cover that a little child could put up and down to match the weather.
“They’re going to be the most amazing parents.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized that they’d been accompanied by a wistful tone that she usually kept to herself. “Can we go inside? I’d like to see what the price tag on that says. I’m pretty sure I’m going to faint at the sight of it, but it looks like it’s built to last, right?”
He might have said something, but her heart was pounding fast enough to make it hard to hear past the rush of sound in her ears. How crazy was she to even look at something for a baby standing next to a guy on their first date?
Was she trying to ruin things?
When she got home, she was going to have to find a way to kick her own ass. Maybe she’d get Vitalia to come over and do it for her.
When they entered the store, Pilar let go of Roan’s hand. She wasn’t going to have a repeat of the oddly intimate moment outside. He’d suffered through enough of that.
The tag hanging from the stroller bar was written in perfect block letters.
ANTIQUE BABY DOLL PRAM $200
Not as bad as she’d been expecting. Still, Lora wasn’t quite old enough to play with something like this. Maybe for her second birthday? When do babies start walking? She’d have plenty of time to think about that.
Besides, by the time Lora would be ready for that kind of a toy the stroller might not even be there at the store.
Turning away from the display, she took a few steps back toward the front of the store, looking for Roan.
It didn’t take long to find him. He was taller than most of the items on display in the middle of the store which made it easy to see him amongst the piles and piles of amazing things they had for sale.
She started walking and stopped a little short. He was speaking with a woman who looked like she knew him fairly well. She was probably closer to their parents’ ages, but they were in a very friendly conversation and Pilar didn’t want to interrupt.
“Yoo hoo! Are you Pilar?”
One half of her mouth curled up in a smile as the woman waved at her.
“Don’t be shy, dear. Come on over. Besides, your young man here was about to tell me what you’re looking for. But as much as I think he’s a doll and a half, I don’t trust men when it comes to decorating. Come over here and tell me what you like!”
Pilar was grateful that the shop was nearly empty. She really didn’t like random people looking at her when she was shopping. Which was probably why she didn’t do it much to begin with.
Walking over toward Roan she saw that he wasn’t at all embarrassed by her words.
“I don’t know really what I have room for,” she hedged.
“Oh, I know, dear. Victorians are known for those high, high ceilings but some of those room are really tiny. I think it’s because the people back then were just smaller than they are now. So, here’s what I recommend. You just leave me behind and go and look around. If you see something that catches your fancy that’ll be lovely. Reaching into the pocket of her cardigan, she removed a massive coil of tape. “This is a quilt tape measure. It’ll give you an idea of whether or not a piece will fit. And don’t be scared off by the price tags,” she gave Pilar a big wink and a smile. “We get a lot of stuffy folks who come in here and want to impress someone with their knowledge about the pieces. They don’t like chintzy prices. The bigger the sticker the happier they are. Lord knows I don’t understand it. And then there are the times when people come in and they just... fit with a piece, you know what I mean? Like folks and their cars. Some make that connection and I like for my beauties to go home with people who deserve them. So, go on,” she set the tape measure into Roan’s hand and made a little shooing gesture at them,
“look around. You’ll never find what you want if you don’t look.”
As soon as the older woman stepped out of sight, Roan pulled Pilar to him and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. “She takes your breath away, doesn’t she?”
Pilar nodded and leaned into his embrace. Letting her cheek rest against his chest. “She certainly likes you a lot.”
He shrugged and she leaned back to look up at him. “Come on, there’s a story here.”
Roan gave her another smile. “You’re reading me now, right? My sister does that too. I bet you’re going to move up to detective in a few years if you keep that up.”
She crooked an eyebrow at him. “Enough deflection. Spill.”
“See? You’re doing it again.” He laughed and gently rubbed his hands up and down her bare arms. “I was up here with my parents two summers ago and Sarah,” he looked in the direction that the woman had taken, “and her husband were working in the shop. I stopped in to look for an anniversary gift for my parents, and her husband was helping me look through the stacks of books. He looked a little winded and when he grabbed his left arm and staggered, I took care of him, called an ambulance, and gave the medics instructions and his vitals before they arrived. Stan needed a stent and some medication, but he’s grea
t now, taking it easier. So is Sarah. I bet Stan’s at home with the grandkids right now, and I bet Sarah’s on the phone telling him I brought a woman in with me.”
Pilar gave him a curious look. “So, this isn’t your modus operandi?”
“See?” He gave her a quick kiss. “You can put the officer in a gorgeous black dress, but you can’t take the officer out of the equation. And no, I’ve never brought anyone here. Now, let’s go look at the furniture.”
As they walked around the store, Pilar realized very quickly that the store seemed smaller than it actually was. The quaint look of it on the outside didn’t begin to hint at the vast amounts of items available on the inside. Roan seemed to know the lay of the land pretty well. He moved them through the aisles and sections with a practiced ease. When she asked him about it, he explained, “I got Kate an apartment warming gift here.”
He moved them past the dining sets and cupboards and she was glad. She already had the small table and two chairs that Gibson rented with the apartment and she wasn’t planning on entertaining for twelve, let alone eight. When he took a turn through a small doorway, they only took a handful of steps before they found themselves in a room that had more than enough couches and chairs to seat a full symphonic orchestra and then some.
“This is kind of an overload on velvet and chintz.”
He wrapped an arm around her and set his hand on her hip. “You can always have it reupholstered.”
She grimaced before she could stop herself.
“What?”
“That sounds like I’d need a specialist.” He opened his mouth to speak and she stopped him. “Heaven help you if you ask me if I know how to sew, because the answer would be a definite no. My mom will attest to that. She tried to get me to learn the basics and gave up, almost in tears after I ran my finger through the machine.”
When his complexion turned a distinct shade of green, she laughed at him. “That’s right, you’re a surgeon. You need your hands to be perfect.” Looking around his shoulder she spotted something in the corner, half covered with an array of fabric. “What’s that?” She walked past him and weaved her way through the other pieces of furniture. “Oh, look at this.” Lifting the sample yardage, she set it aside and trailed her fingers over the carved wooden back of the chaise. “We used to go to a steakhouse with my family when we’d visit some of our cousins in Tucson. They had all of these old antique furniture pieces in the lobby and my parents would always take us there at peak dinner times because that gave me a chance to go around the room and try out every couch there. The year before I graduated, when we stopped going as a family, I spent the whole time sitting on the chaise in the barroom. It looked like this, but the fabric was leather and had these chocolate brown velvet cushions. I sat on it and felt like a princess.”
Roan moved a little closer and tilted his head as he looked at the back. “It looks lopsided.”
Laughing, she agreed with him. “It’s like those fainting couches for the women in corsets,” she explained. Then in a dramatic moment that she knew she’d never repeat again, she lifted the back of her hand to her forehead and swooned as gracefully as she could, laying her head back on the curved arm. She was carefully to leave her sandals off of the seat which made it a little difficult to pose, but she thought she’d done a fairly good job of it.
“Fainting couch, hmm?” Roan leaned over and slipped an arm under her calves, lifting both as he sat down on the chaise with her. “It’s a good thing you have a doctor here with you.”
Her breath caught in her chest as he leaned over her. His closest hand grasped the back of the chaise as he used his other hand to smooth down the hem of her skirt and then down over her leg. “Well, every Victorian girl should have her own doctor if she’s going to faint, right?”
He tilted his head to look at her. “Have you? Fainted?”
Laughing at her own silliness, she shook her head. “No. I think I came close once, but my mother said I had a strong constitution. My father said it was because I had a heart as strong as a bull. And Vicente, my brother, said it was because I was bull-headed.”
Laughing silently, Roan’s hand left the back of the chaise and smoothed her hair back away from her temple. “Still, you never know. Someday, you might pass one of these things somewhere and fall into a faint. You should keep me around in case that happens.”
“What if,” she swept her tongue over her bottom lip and saw his eyes follow the movement, “I just want to keep you around?”
His smile made his face maddeningly handsome, but the dark and hungry look in his eyes made her shiver. “Then keep me, Pilar. I won’t even try to get away.”
8
As soon as he walked into the bullpen at Precinct Four, Roan knew he’d made a mistake. What it was, he didn’t exactly know. The noise level dropped enough that he could tell the desk in the back corner needed some WD-40 and that someone was in the hallway restroom.
Nearly everyone in the room was staring at him. Sure, it could be the startling resemblance he had to his brother Walker, who was a detective in the same Precinct, but there was something else going on.
Maybe stopping in for a quick visit hadn’t been the best idea, but he was going to need to talk to Kate anyway. Whatever was going on at the precinct would have to be explained to him later.
Pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket, Roan swept his thumb over the screen to start a message to Kate. He’d gotten only as far as bringing up the app when someone stepped up at his side.
“Excuse me? Are you Doctor Ashley?”
He could hear the hesitation in her voice, but also something like worry. Lowering his phone, he looked at the officer. Blonde, with her hair in a similar style to Pilar’s, he read the last name on her nametag – Swan. Nodding, he gestured to the room. “Did I come at a bad time?”
She grimaced and leaned in a little closer. “If you’re looking for your sister or Pilar, they’re in the Captain’s office.”
That didn’t sound good.
He wanted to wait and ask Pilar or Kate what was going on, but Officer Swan looked like she was barely holding it in. He would have asked the officer right then and there if the bullpen door didn’t just slam shut, bounce off of the frame and then the wall again.
“Oh man,” Officer Swan shook her head, “this can’t be good.”
A man he recognized from the playground when he met Pilar, stalked to the center of the room. Another officer, his partner if Roan had to guess, followed after him, taking a hold of his jacket and trying to keep him moving. That wasn’t going to happen.
Especially when the door closed quietly, turning Roan’s gaze in that direction. Kate was standing there, her expression guarded. If Roan didn’t know her as well as he did, she seemed calm or at least her expression was tepid. But he saw her pulse throbbing in her neck. And he could tell she was standing as tall as her svelte frame let her. That tension in her spine was telltale. Kate was on the verge of ripping someone a new asshole.
Reading the temperature of the room, Kate managed a hint of smile. “Okay, folks. If you’ve got work to do, do it.”
The two male officers were almost to the far side of the room, close to the locker room doors, when one man’s anger spilled over. Turning back to Kate, he sneered at her. “This isn’t over, Turner. You keep that girl muzzled, or I’ll take it up with that b-”
“If you need a reminder, Officer Pelton. You're riding my last nerve.”
The collective silence of the room was deafening.
Roan heard the man’s partner, murmur something, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He wasn’t in law enforcement, but he knew what it was like for women in the field. There were a lot of men who had issues with women in what they considered atypical roles. It happened in medicine too.
Officer Pelton wasn’t a particularly tall man, but he was strong. People would call the man stocky perhaps, but he carried himself in an aggressive manner and seeing the dark scowl on his otherwise pale com
plexion, his distaste was easy to see.
“You think you’re going to fix her attitude problem with a few days off? You think that’s going to do any good? She won’t listen! She won’t back down! And if you think she’s going to make it here in the ‘big city’ you’re blind. Backwater bumpkins like her don’t get it. They don’t understand that you can’t just smile at people and get them to do what you want. You have to make them! You have to-”
Kate held up a hand that stopped him in his tracks. Her eyes were blazing with anger, but she kept her tone and her expression even. His sister could have won an Academy Award with the way she was acting. She didn’t suffer fools gladly, but when it came to sexist men? They were lucky she remembered that she was their superior officer.
“That’s it, Officer Pelton. Not one more word.”
“You’re going to take her side, aren’t you?”
“You’ve both been disciplined for what you’ve done. Leave it there. Move on.”
“What are you going to do, Turner? Paint her nails and have a good laugh? I’m going out tonight and celebrating a few days free of your sanctimonious sh-”
His partner almost lifted Pelton off the ground with the hold he had on the other officer’s jacket. They disappeared into the locker room, leaving the room in stunned silence.
Standing beside him, Officer Swan swore under her breath. “Holy sh-”
“I wasn’t joking, people. Get back to work.”
The room started to move in slow motion as if it needed to gain its momentum first before getting back into gear.
Kate didn’t see him until he took a step in her direction.
The mixed emotions on her face told him that he’d stepped in something big. Still, she slapped a smile on her face by the time she reached him. “Hey, big brother.”
“Twisted sense of humor, big sis.”
Swan looked confused, but she wasn’t going to interfere and walked off with a subtle nod at Kate.
“Oh good, you brought me a drink. Caffeine, right? Lots and lots of it?”
