by Sadie King
Jacob
Alpha Cops - Book 2
Sadie King
Want a FREE Book?
Sign up to the mailing list for all the latest news, and you’ll get a FREE book!
Fox in the Garden is a bonus book in the Filthy Rich Love series, exclusive to email subscribers.
William
When I escape for some air before the most important business call of my life, I don’t expect to find a woman dancing barefoot in my Zen Garden.
The last two years of my life have been spent working toward this business deal. But now, all I can think about is her.
Ariel
Dad’s drinking is getting worse, and it’s starting to lose him clients. So I step in and take over the gardening business. But who knew our most profitable client was such a silver fox?
He’s older than me, confident and handsome. The kind of man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to take it. And I think what he wants is me…
Click here for your free copy
Check out Sadie King’s other titles at Amazon
Copyright © 2020 by Sadie King.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover designed by Designrans.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, companies, locales or persons living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
www.authorsadieking.com
Jacob
Alpha Cops Book 2
Lexi
I’ve worked hard to build up my jewelry shop and studio. Then it gets broken into and Officer Davies is assigned to watch over me. I’m furious. The last thing I need is some thug cop hanging around and scaring away the customers.
But the more I get to know him, the more I’m drawn to him. Not only does he want to protect me, he wants to help me make the shop a success.
But I’m not used to having help, and I want to do it all on my own. Will my stubbornness and independence push him away?
Carver
When a jewelry shop gets broken into, I know it’s the work of a notorious criminal on the run. And I know he’ll be back.
When I meet the sassy shop owner, I’m drawn to her. I’m assigned to watch the shop, but I end up watching her. She’s smart, independent and with a curvy body I’m aching to hold.
She’s being used as bait to catch a criminal. But will she let me protect her or will she push me away?
Jacob is a short, sweet, and steamy romance featuring an alpha male cop and a curvy younger woman.
Book one in the Alpha Cops series. If you love insta love, high heat, and a Happily Ever After, then this series is for you!
Each book in the series is a standalone. No cliff-hangers.
Contents
1. Lexi
2. Jacob
3. Jacob
4. Lexi
5. Jacob
6. Lexi
7. Jacob
Epilogue
Get your insta-love fix!
1
Lexi
I squint at the numbers on the control panel, trying to remember the combination to turn off the alarm. My head is throbbing with the noise, making it hard to concentrate. I punch in the numbers, but the siren blares out relentlessly into the still night.
After three failed attempts, I give up. My feet crunch broken glass as I step through the broken door onto the pavement.
I sit on the curb with my head in my hands and wait for the police. For the umpteenth time this week, I wonder what the hell I’m doing opening a boutique jewelry shop at the ass end of town.
I’m still wallowing in self-pity when a patrol car pulls up next to me. The door opens and a set of polished black boots steps onto the pavement.
My gaze travels up the boots to a well-pressed pair of pants that look a little snug on the thighs, showing off the muscles beneath. I tilt my head all the way up and find myself looking into the pale blue eyes of the hottest police officer I’ve ever seen. His muscular arms are pushing out of his uniform, and his short-cropped hair is as severe as his no-nonsense look.
He looks like he just stepped out of one of those policemen calendars. I realize my mouth is hanging open and shut it with a snap. Mr. January crouches in front of me and fixes me with a concerned look.
“Are you hurt, ma’am?”
I blink at him stupidly, and he asks the question again.
“No, I’m fine,” I stammer.
“What happened?” he asks.
“Someone smashed through the door.” I realize my hands are shaking and sit on them to keep them still.
“Did you see who it was?”
“No, I was out in the back. When I came out, they ran off.”
“Was anything taken?”
The thought hits me like a brick. In the hurry to try to turn the alarm off, I didn’t check the stock. I scramble to my feet.
“I don’t know. I need to check.”
He puts a hand on my arm. “I can’t let you go in there until I know it’s safe.”
“But I need to make sure nothing has been stolen.”
He puts his other hand on my other arm in a gesture that’s both soothing and firm.
“I need to check that there’s no one hanging around in there first.”
I nod my consent, and he drops his hold on my arms.
He takes a flashlight out of the car and goes into the shop while I wait, nervously biting my nails.
He comes out a few minutes later. “The coast is clear.”
I try to get past him to get into the shop, and again he puts a restraining hand on my arm.
“You need to get this siren off before it damages your ears.”
I can’t hide my frustration. “I tried, but I keep putting the code in wrong.”
“What’s the code?”
I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should give the code to a stranger. But he’s looking at me intensely with those piercing eyes, and he is a cop. I tell him the code, and he punches it into the keypad.
The alarm stops, and we’re thrown into silence.
“It didn’t work when I tried it,” I say, pushing past him.
“It can happen when you’re under stress, getting the code wrong.”
I move around the shop, scanning the shelves and cases. “I wasn’t under stress.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “I see it all the time. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” I say, realizing I sound like a petulant teenager.
He smiles at me and changes the subject.
“What do you sell here anyway?” He squints into one of the display cases. “Jewelry?”
“Yup, boutique jewelry by local makers mostly.”
“You’ve got a jewelry store between a betting shop and a pawn shop. Don’t you think that’s asking for trouble?”
I stop my inspection to look at him. It’s the same argument my parents had, and I don’t appreciate it coming from a stranger.
“I don’t see why that matters.” I don’t tell him it’s the only part of town I can afford.
“Hmm, wedged between two shops where people who are desperate for money go. They see a nice piece of jewelry in the window and come back to steal it.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s an extreme scenario. This is a nice town.”
“Every nice town has it’s bad elements. Trust
me, I’ve seen them.”
There’s something about the way he says it that sends a thrill through me. I wonder what dark things this man has seen, and I want to know them. I want to know him.
“I’m going to have to take a statement,” he says, getting out his notebook. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Lexi Stewart.”
He writes it down. “I’m officer Davies.” He looks up from the pad, looking serious. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was working out in the back...”
“When you say working, what were you doing?”
“I have a studio out back. I make jewelry there.”
“No kidding?” He stops writing and looks at me, the serious cop face now softened into a smile. “You made some of these pieces?”
I nod. “These ones are mine.” I point to the cabinet by the window, and he wanders over to examine the bracelets. They’ve got tiny roses and hearts on them, part of a collection I’ve been working on.
“They’re lovely,” he says, and it feels genuine. “I’m impressed.”
I feel annoyingly happy that this man likes my work. Then my mood drops as I realize he’s probably eyeing up a piece for his girlfriend.
“So I was working out back,” I continue, and he snaps back into cop mode, pen poised at the ready. “I always set the alarm for the shop when I’m working late.”
“Sounds sensible.”
“I heard a smash and the alarm going off. I raced through, and when I came into the shop there was a figure standing over that case.” I indicate the display case by the door. “I don’t think they had time to get anything out of it. I called out and they took off.”
“Did you see what they looked like?”
I shake my head. “They had a hoodie pulled over their head. When I shouted, they half turned around. All I saw was that it was a white man.”
“Did you see his face?”
“It was in shadow.” I shut my eyes and try to visualize the man I saw, but mostly it’s a blank. Then I remember something. “He had a scar on his cheek.”
I open my eyes and Officer Davies’ pen is poised, and he’s looking at me intensely.
“How big was the scar?”
I try to visualize it again. “It stated near his chin and ran all the way up under the hoodie.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “Yeah, there was definitely a scar.”
His brows are creased with worry, and he makes a note in his pad.
He asks me more details about the man and the break–in, and by the end of his questions, I realize I’m shaking.
“Do you have anyone who can come and pick you up?” he asks.
“No, I’m fine. I’ll get myself home.”
He puts his notebook in his pocket. “I’ll give you a lift.”
I’m not used to getting help from anyone, and I’m not about to start now. I paint on a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine, honestly.”
“You don’t look fine, and this place needs cleaning up. I’ll give you a hand.”
I nod, but suddenly my legs feel shaky. I throw an arm out to steady myself, and suddenly his arms are around me.
“You’ve had a big shock.” His voice has a softer edge to it. No longer the focused cop, he sounds generally concerned. “You need to sit down.”
“Thank you, but I’m fine.” I struggle to my feet, but my head feels woozy.
“You’re going to sit right here until I say you’re fine,” he says, leading me to a chair at the back of the shop.
I let him guide me to a seat and sink into it thankfully.
He sits with me, and just his presence makes me feel calmer. He chats to me about himself until my heart rate returns to normal and the shaking stops.
I watch him sweep up the glass because he insists that I remain resting, and by the time he’s finished I feel stronger.
He gives me a lift home, and we chat easily in the car. By the time he drops me off, I’ve realized that Officer Davies is not only incredibly hot but funny too.
It may have been a bad start to the evening, but getting to spend rest of it chatting with a sexy policeman makes it all worthwhile.
2
Jacob
It’s 2:00 a.m. by the time I get home. I take a hot shower, but I can’t get the thoughts of the hot jewelry shop owner out of my mind. From the moment I saw her, sitting on the pavement holding her head in her hands, a shock of cropped blonde hair peeking through her fingertips, she got under my skin.
And it’s not just her curvy body I’m thinking about. Opening up a shop on her own is a ballsy move. She’s got an attitude about her I like, an independent streak that makes me want to look after her all the more.
I finish my shower and get into bed. But thoughts of her cloud my mind, and when my alarm goes off in the morning it feels like I’ve barely slept.
It’s later that day when I push open the doors to the station. I stop at the coffee machine to grab a watery brew and head to my desk. I’ve barely sat down when the Sergeant calls me into his office.
As usual, he doesn’t waste any time with small talk.
“I read your report about the shop break in last night.”
“I thought you’d find it interesting.”
His eyes bore into mine. “Are we sure it’s him?”
“How many other thieves you know with a scar like that?”
He taps his desk with his fingers. “If it’s Travis, he doesn’t like not getting what he wants. He’ll be back.”
My gut clenches at the thought of Lexi in her shop unprotected. Travis is a serial burglar. He’s been on the run since skipping bail three months ago. He vanished without a trace. The last place he burgled, he was disturbed by the owner and bashed her over the head. She’s still in a coma. He’s a dangerous man.
“We should warn her,” I find myself saying. “If he’s coming back to the shop, she needs protection.”
“If he’s coming back to the shop, it’s our best chance to catch him,” says the Searge leaning forward on his desk. “I want plainclothes surveillance 24/7 on the whole street. He might try one of the other shops.”
“How about Lexi?”
He frowns at me.
“The owner of the shop,” I clarify.
“Let her know we’re watching to keep her safe. Don’t let her know who we’re trying to catch.”
“I’ll do the night shifts myself,” I say.
He looks at me with his penetrating gaze, but I keep my expression neutral.
“Good.” He picks up some papers from his desk which is the cue that I’m being dismissed.
I head out of his office to get my surveillance team together.
It’s later that afternoon, and I’m sitting in an unmarked car watching a customer go into Lexi’s shop. I made a call to a buddy of mine who came out to fix her door up, and she was able to open for business again a few hours ago.
She was less than thrilled with the idea of being under surveillance.
I watch a male customer go into the shop. I can see Lexi through the front window greeting him with a wide smile. He says something that makes her laugh, and I feel a pang of jealousy.
He points to something in the cabinet, and she opens it for him. I drum my fingers on the steering wheel and watch them chat. He moves around to look at something else in the cabinet, so he’s positioned right next to her. She laughs again, and he reaches out a hand to clasp her arm in an overly friendly fashion.
I’m out of the car and storming across the street before I realize what I’m doing. As I jerk open the shop door, their laughter falters as they both turn to me. Lexi’s look of surprise turns thunderous as I stand huffing in the doorway.
The man must be in his forties and is dressed all in form-fitting black. He looks me up and down and turns raised eyebrows to Lexi.
“Interesting clientele you get this side of town.”
“What do you want, Jacob?” Lexi puts her hands on her hips.
>
“I was just checking that you were all right.”
I push past the man so I’m standing between them, my neck pulsing with the thought of another man standing so close to her.
“This is Allan. He’s one of my jewelry designers. I was just showing him some new cuff-links we have in that his husband might like.”
She emphasizes the word husband, and I suddenly feel foolish for being jealous.
“Nice to meet you, Allan,” I say sheepishly.
“Likewise,” he says. He looks between me and Lexi. “Is there anything you want to look at today, aside from Lexi here?”
Lexi looks mortified, and I cringe with embarrassment. Is it that obvious I’m into her?
“Ah, just browsing,” I say.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it then.” He raises his eyebrows at Lexi as he leaves. “I’ll call you later.”
As soon as Allan’s out the door, Lexi turns on me.
“I can’t have you barging in here like that scaring the customers.”
“I had to make sure you were okay. He seemed to be getting too close.”
“That because we’ve known each other for years. Allan is one of the designers who exhibits here. One of the only ones. How am I meant to attract new designers if you’re scaring them off?”
“I thought this was a shop, not a gallery.”
“It’s both. I stage exhibitions to attract people to the shop.”
“So these aren’t all your pieces?”
“No, other designers exhibit here. But if they get wind of what happened last night, I’m worried they’ll get scared off.”
