She looked at him as more tears streaked her face. “Do you understand? It could have been so… bad. Those kids were scared. Ada was crying! What if I hadn’t been able to stop the fighting and the kids were hurt? They were in my care.”
He took her chin and tipped her face until their gazes met. “But they weren’t. You can’t play the what-if game.”
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“I’m a cop. I am telling you, you can’t play the what-if game. If I’d arrived five-minutes sooner, the guy wouldn’t have been shot. Or, I could have helped get that lady from the car. Superheroes help everyone. Everyone else helps those we can. We thank the powers that be for letting us get there on time. It’s not easy, but the rest is out of our control.” He leaned forward and took out Kleenex so she could wipe her eyes. “Be careful. There could still be pepper spray on your face.”
He got off the couch and wandered into the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and removed a large bowl and then filled it with warm water. He put in a few drops of dishwashing detergent then got Kara from the living room.
He held her hair back. “Dip your face in the water it will help clean off any spray we might have missed.”
She looked over her shoulder. “You seem to know a lot about pepper spray.”
“I’ve gotten it in my eyes a few times too. It’s no fun.”
“You had a rampant co-worker?”
“Nothing that dramatic.” He lifted her hair out of the way while she dipped her face. He lifted a dish towel and patted the water off her face. Most of the redness in her eyes was gone leaving them a warm chocolate brown with long, dark lashes. He swallowed. Kara was more than pretty, she was beautiful. “I’m going to flip on the football game. Go take a shower and I’ll wait to make sure you’re doing okay before I leave.”
She took the towel from him and folded it. “Do you do this for all your crime victims?”
“Nope. None.” He smiled when she did. “Have any chips?”
“Will tortilla chips and salsa do?”
“I’d love it, thanks.”
He turned on the game and waited until he heard the shower turn off. In another minute Kara emerged from the bedroom in yoga pants and a zip-up hoodie.
“Feel better?” he asked.
She sat next to him. “Any other tricks you know for pepper spray? Now, I have a headache.”
“I bet you do. Adrenalin wearing off will do that. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you a glass of water. Aspirin?”
“Already took two. I have to warn you. I’m not a much of a football fan.”
“That’s okay. Not much of game. I’ll shut it off.” He pushed the button on the remote and the screen went dark.
They sat in the quiet room until Kara said, “Thanks for staying. I’m a big baby.”
“You had a really rotten day. Everyone needs someone. Ten years came off my life today when I ran towards your store knowing Ada was inside. Theresa’s had some hard times since her divorce. She won’t take money, but family’s family and I need to be there for her. She’s been through a lot. You know. Rotten ex-husband who doesn’t want any involvement in Ada’s life. I take Ada as often as I can when she’s at work. Theresa trusts me with her daughter… and….” He drew in a deep breath.
Kara took his hand. “This guy I know said not to play the what-if game. You seem to be a person who always makes sure others are safe, that’s why you left Ada at Make-Me-a-Bear. It’s usually safe. I think it’s more than your profession, it’s who you are or you wouldn’t be here and I would still be standing waiting for the bus.”
He nodded, not sure what to say. Kara said what he needed to hear, and hopefully earlier he’d done the same for her. It had been a long time since there was a woman he felt he could open up to.
They sat and listened to the rain patter on the windows. In a few minutes Kara’s head slumped down to rest on her arm. She’d fallen asleep. Jack drew her onto his shoulder. He didn’t want her to be cold.
As she slept, Jack tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She mumbled something and frowned. He wanted to wipe the frown from her face. It was a good thing he hadn’t been at the store earlier. He would have broken those numb-nuts’ heads for scaring her and the kidsThis woman had no police training to handle situations like she’d been thrown into, but Kara did everything he would have. She put the kid’s safety before hers.
Kara was someone he didn’t see every day. Brave. Different. Special.
He’d just stay awhile longer until she woke up, he didn’t want to disturb her sleep.
Chapter 4
Kara looked forward to the evening with her girlfriends and telling them what happened over a pitcher of chocolate raspberry martinis at Shillings.
“That is a crazy story! Who would think Make-Me-A-Bear was a dangerous place to work? I think we should drink to that,” her best friend, Zoe, exclaimed as she raised a toast her direction.
“I don’t want to think about bears or fights or… anything.” That wasn’t true, because she didn’t want to stop thinking about the tall, handsome detective who came to her rescue. “Let’s talk about a more pressing issue. Our Valentine pact.”
The four women nodded solemnly.
Kara fished in her purse, pulled out a headband, and pushed it over her hair. The band was red with a feather in the middle and a metal wire with a dangling piece of greenery. “Mobile mistletoe. I was the first one to make the pact.” She crossed herself and brought her hands together.
They all laughed and took another drink from their martini glasses.
“But now it’s close to Valentine’s Day, not Christmas!” Jess exclaimed.
“I know. But, because of our pact, I am forced to wear this damn thing until someone kisses me.” Kara spread out her arms and tipped her head in a bow.
“All year?” Jane asked as she raised an eyebrow in question. “You’re telling me if you don’t find a man to kiss you, you’re going to wear that thing ALL year?”
“Yep.” Kara let go of a sigh. “That’s what I said, and I’m good to my word… unless of course I find a man, then… who gets it next?”
“Me!” Zoe shouted. “I’m all in on this man-or-bust game!” She waved down the waiter, but he walked by.
“Good. But I think I’ll have it awhile longer, so you’re safe.” Kara thought of Jack. Could he be the deal breaker for her? What kind of kisser was he? Tender? Or would he be strong and demanding? He seemed like a man who took what he wanted, but she would never know because there was no call.
She gave him her number so he obviously hadn’t wanted to see her again. She checked her answering machine a dozen times from work making herself a little crazy. It was only a day since she’s seen him, but he should have called by now. “What’s wrong with me anyway? Even when you think you’ve found a potential Mr. Right, he never calls.”
“Wait a minute, back up. Did I miss something? You found Mr. Right?” Jess asked.
“Did I say that?” Kara tried to back step as heat flushed her cheeks. “No, I meant I was looking for Mr. Right, and with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it looks like all the good ones are taken.”
Kara’s gaze drifted over the dance floor when the beat from the D.J.’s music stopped. The tall man next to the stage turned. Jack? Why was he here? That giddy feeling of seeing him again shot through her. “That’s him,” she whispered loudly to her girlfriends.
They all swiveled in their seats to stare.
“Don’t look!”
“What do you mean don’t look. That’s him is always followed with us looking,” Jane said cocking a perfectly shaped black brow.
“You mean the Mr. Right that you denied having a minute ago?” Jess stated. “There are two guys over there, but I’m guessing you are referring to the
tall, drop-dead gorgeous one and not the one who looks like a bowling pin and old enough to be your father,”
Kara licked her teeth to make sure there was no lipstick or chocolate streaked on them. She ticked back to remember if she’d combed her hair before she left work, and then straightened her sweater.
Jack and the man he was with turned and headed toward them.
She pasted on her best smile and attempted a nonchalant girly wave with the tips of her fingers.
Something flicked over Jack’s face, but nothing else changed. His face was a sheet of stone.
No recognition. No smile. No dimple.
“Do you know that woman?” the man asked Jack.
“Nope,” Jack said. “She must be waving at the guy behind us.” Without breaking stride, he and the man walked by her table and out the door.
Her smile slid from her face like hot fudge off cold ice cream.
“Oh-oh…” she heard Zoe mutter and felt her friend’s arm around her shoulder.
Kara realized that’s what girlfriends are for. They try to force you to make lemonade out of life’s lemons. Which reminded her, lemonade was not what she needed. She stuck fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Hey! Buddy! Can we have another pitcher of drinks here?” Her shoulders slumped forward. “What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing. There is nothing wrong with you or any of us.” Jane shook her head making her sleek dark hair wave. “We’re all in the same boat, so no pity parties from you.”
“It’s hopeless.” Kara waited for her glass to be refilled, and then pointed to the headband. “Here’s to mobile mistletoe and being single. Cheers!” She downed half of her drink.
****
Jack’s concentration broke when he saw Kara at the bar. He had to get Kildergard out of there as fast as possible. He’d been in the field the last two days under deep cover. Kildergard was the ex-manager of the bar and talked the current manager into letting him use the adjacent storage facility to sell ‘Bath Salts’. Last week, a local girl showed up at the hospital and had to have her arm amputated after injecting the crap. The use of Methylone was on the rise. After finding where the girl got the stuff, Jack knew Kildergard’s operation needed to be shut down. Now.
He’d worked with the DEA on this case for months, trying to get into the inner circle and convince Kildergard he was a legitiment buyer for a major operation. Now, he was close enough to be shown where the main supply was stashed.
Jack ran a thousand scenarios through his head to how this night would go down. Not one of them involved seeing Kara with her friends.
He glanced at his watch to verify the set up would be in place. Just as Kildergard pulled out the case and opened the lid, Jack said the code word, “ice.”
His words through the wired mic he wore signaled the DEA unit. The door crashed open and heavily armored men streamed in with guns leveled.
“What the…” Kildergard shouted, as he stumbled to run.
Jack grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him back.
The DEA officer slammed him to the floor and pushed his knee in the middle of Kildergard’s back. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out cuffs. “Thanks, Hartman. Good work. We got it from here.”
The sooner the DEA took this loser off his hands, the sooner he could go over to Kara’s and TRY to explain his actions.
Should he buy her flowers… or candy… no flowers.
Hell, he doubted she’d even talk to him.
Chapter 5
Jack called a few times on Kara’s cell phone, but she didn’t answer. It was eleven when there was a knock on her door. She glanced around her apartment thinking Zoe forgot something when she brought her back.
Kara sighed, flipped off the T.V. and made her way to the door. “What did you forget, Zo.”
“It’s Jack. I know it’s late, but can I talk to you for a minute?”
Kara slid the chain on, and opened the door a few inches. It was raining again, and his dark hair was wet.
“I know…” Jack said and held up a hand. He looked miserable. “I have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Go on.”
“Can I come in for five minutes so I can explain? If you still think I should go, I will without an argument.”
What am I doing? Kara slid off the chain and stepped to the side to let him in.
“I was going to bring flowers or Valentine candy, but decided, instead, on the truth.” He hooked thumbs in the front pockets of his Levi’s and rocked forward.
“Valentine’s Day isn’t until tomorrow.” She crossed her arms. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“Oh, yeah, I do. Because back at the bar, you cannot believe how sorry I am for putting that look on your face.”
“We spent a couple hours together after I was pepper-sprayed.” Kara shrugged a shoulder. “It wasn’t a lifetime commitment and it wasn’t even a ‘date’.
“When I left, you gave me your number, and then I didn’t call. I can only imagine what a creep you think I am, and then the bar…” He blew out a breath. “I was working undercover and couldn’t call. Nothing in my life ever seems to be timed right. It’s crayons or meth dealers… as I said, my life’s not easy. I wanted to ask you out the first night, but you’d just been traumatized. It wasn’t right.”
“You wanted to ask me out… on a date?” Kara asked.
“I like you. You’re down to earth and have a level head. I like that in a woman. You made me feel something I haven’t felt in awhile… and you’re beautiful.”
If he wanted to, he could stop there. “Go on.”
He continued, “Half the time, I don’t even think it would be fair to ask someone out on a date. I can’t keep track of my own life, it changes so suddenly.”
“I can imagine between your job and helping with Ada, it must be a little crazy.”
“I ask a girl out, and then I need to cancel to go pick up Ada. It’s a real deal breaker when you have a precocious three year old tagging along. In the last six months I haven’t gone out with anyone.”
“I like Ada. And, I like that you’re willing to postpone a date to help your sister.”
“Really?” He looked surprised.
“You also take your job seriously. That was why you blew by me at the bar. You were working. I understand.” Kara couldn’t help but smile. “Did you catch him?”
“Yeah, we caught him. What I really wanted to do was bounce his head a few times off the cement for showing up the same time you did. What are the odds?”
“That wasn’t his fault.”
“Everything’s tonight was his fault. Air is his fault,” Jack grumbled.
“I forgive you. Though, I think my ego may take a few days of heavy recovery.”
“Could any of this recovery time include dinner with me tomorrow night?” He smiled. The dimples were back too.
“You’re asking me out? Tomorrow? On Valentine’s Day?” Kara’s heart stuttered. Jack’s smile combined with the shadow of a beard, made him look rakish.
“Tomorrow it’s just the two of us. No misunderstandings, undercover jobs in the way, or Ada… hopefully.”
“I’d like that,” she admitted.
“I’m past my five-minutes, but I have one more question. Why were you wearing that funny looking headband back at the bar? Did you lose a bet with your girlfriends?”
Kara felt her cheeks flush with heat. “No actually, I made a bet with them.”
“You can’t leave it at that. Now you have to tell me.”
“I made the bet a few months ago. This couldn’t be any more embarrassing if I tried.” She paused and bit her lip. “It’s mistletoe. It was for Christmas, but since I didn’t get a guy to kiss me, I swore I would wear it the rest of the year until I did.”
“You haven’t kissed a guy since Christmas?”
“No.”
“Good to know. Is it still in your purse?” Jack asked.
Kara looked around, spotted where she dumped her purse and pulled out the headband.
“Put it on.” The twinkle in his eyes was mixed with male assurance. He strode to her and stopped, then tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I’m thinking it’s time for you to ditch this headband. What do you think?”
He leaned in and kissed her.
The simple press of his mouth to hers quickly turned into something amazing. Bracing his hands against the wall, he pressed his body against hers and deepened the kiss. Whatever she was forgiving him for; she was ready to forgive him again.
Jack wrapped one arm around her waist from behind and pulled her even closer. With the other hand, he reached up and slipped the headband off. “Does this get passed on to the next friend who made the pact?”
“Zoe. She’ll get it,” Kara whispered. His mouth was inches from hers.
He kissed her again as he tossed the headband off on a side table. He drew her hair back on her neck and nuzzled his nose to her ear. “I like passing things on. It’s repurposing at its best.”
Kara sighed, relishing the feel of his lips against the oh-so-sensitive neck. Every bone in her body melted. If he didn’t have her by the waist she would have slid down the wall. Jack was tall and strong making her feel delicate and desired.
When he finally broke the kiss, he stepped back. “I have to warn you again, I have a crazy life and a crazy schedule. Not everyone can handle it.”
“I’m willing to try. How about, instead of going out to dinner, I make something here. Then if you get called to work, I can throw it in the crock-pot. And, if you have Ada, I’ll stock up on chicken nuggets.”
“You’d do that?”
Kara grinned. “I’d do it for another kiss.”
Jack’s gaze dropped to linger on her mouth. Dinner-in may be the best idea she’d had in months. She kind of hoped Ada wouldn’t be with him this time.
Valentine Romance- The Best Short Valentine Romances of 2014 Page 6
