I had been so dead set on getting as far away from my problems as possible, I hadn’t thought about anything else—or realized that I was doing close to ninety on the highway. Still, there was something about this guy that was impossible not to notice. He had a presence, a quiet intensity that I supposed most cops were trained to have, but those steely blue eyes had me fumbling my words, a problem I’d never had before.
“Listen, Officer…” I peered up at him, squinting at the badge pinned to his wide chest as I handed him my paperwork. “Oh sorry, Sergeant. I promise I have respect for the law. I’m…having a really bad day,” I said, flicking my eyes up to his icy ones. He was built but not in a meathead way, a man who could lift and throw but didn’t seem like the type to spend hours in a gym. Maybe fighting bad guys gave him that body?
“Davis.” He shifted his torso toward me, the muscles in his shoulders working under his shirt. “If you want to take down my badge number, you can, but the chief is going to side with me.”
I lifted my head to his raised brow, embarrassment bleeding into my heated cheeks. I wasn’t this person, the one who speed-raced down an open highway and got snippy with police officers.
“No, it’s fine. I deserve a ticket,” I said as I blew out a long breath and let my head fall back. “Uncle Keith would totally side with you.” I turned, expecting Sergeant Davis to be scribbling on the pad in his hand. Instead, I met his narrowed eyes as he searched my gaze.
“A bad day isn’t an excuse to be reckless. Maybe there aren’t a lot of cars out here, but something could jump out in front of you, and at that speed, you wouldn’t be able to steer around it.”
All I could do was nod. I’d had my share of minor fender benders, but I’d never earned even one speeding ticket. He was right. A bad day was no excuse to put myself and anyone I came across on the road in danger. The rage I’d headed here with had now dissipated into shame and regret.
“I lost my job today, Sergeant Davis. It’s no excuse, but I’ve been there for thirteen years and worked my ass off every single day. And this morning, they gave my job to a little asshole who isn’t half as good as me just because his uncle is the boss and he has a penis…”
I cringed when his brows popped up.
“No offense. I’m not trying to talk myself out of a ticket…anymore.”
I smiled and swore I spotted a tiny curve of his lips for a split second.
“You’re right. And I shouldn’t have mouthed off to you just now. That’s not who I am—or, not who I usually am. It’s just…a bad day.” I peered up at Sergeant Davis, expecting an eye roll or a blank expression for the city chick speeding down a country road. Instead, I found a softer expression when I caught his gaze, almost as if his eyes were holding mine and not glaring at me as I would have expected.
“Tell Uncle Keith I’m sorry. Or maybe don’t tell him at all. I’ll pay the ticket quickly and quietly, and he doesn’t have to know that I endangered his roads. I love Kelly Lakes and would hate not to be allowed back.”
I sputtered out a sad chuckle as I propped my elbow onto my car door and raked my hand through my hair. I’d come here to calm down, but I didn’t want anyone other than Peyton to see me in the middle of a breakdown.
My gaze drifted to the still-empty road ahead when I caught Sergeant Davis start to hand back my license and registration in my periphery.
“If I hand this back and forget I ran into you, can I trust you to go the speed limit for the rest of your trip into town?”
I nodded and straightened in my seat.
“Yes, absolutely,” I said, taking my license and registration from him. I was happy, relieved, and a little unnerved at the spark from where our fingers brushed. The man really was beautiful and not only in a broody, hot cop sort of way. If I’d run into the good sergeant at a bar, I would have annoyed him until I could make him crack a smile, but now was not the time for flirting—regardless of how difficult it was not to focus on the flex of his biceps as he shoved the pad back into his pocket.
“Thank you. And I mean that.”
His gaze slid to mine, his expression softening for another millisecond before he nodded, blinking his long lashes as he took a half step back as if he were flinching at something. I searched his face, his very handsome face, as he shook his head. Everything about him screamed no-nonsense authority—other than deciding to let me go—but something in his tiny, quick expressions drew me in. As if he had so much to say behind those soulful eyes.
Or I was that tired and he was a pretty mirage that I’d latched on to in the midst of my shitty day.
“Be careful, Ms. Ng.”
“Oh, you can call me Claudia.” I waved a hand, my fingers quivering at the dip of adrenaline mixed with relief. “And I can call you…” I lifted a brow. There was no harm in flirting alittle, right? I might have been depressed and despondent, but I wasn’t dead inside. As he leaned forward, I spotted a thin gold chain hidden under his collar, right above where his broad chest pulled at his uniform shirt buttons. I took my awareness of the sexy and surprisingly benevolent cop who had pulled me over for reckless driving as a good sign that my current life crisis hadn’t dulled all my senses.
“Sergeant,” he said as he backed away from my open window, his eyes still fixed on me but his gorgeous features now flat and unreadable. “Drive safely, Ms. Ng.”
“Right,” I said on a sigh, giving him a two-finger salute. “No more trouble from me. I promise.” I cut my losses instead of pushing my luck and started the engine, allowing myself to enjoy Sergeant Davis’s walk back to his car in my rearview mirror, his uniform pants hugging the globes of his ass the same way his shirt sang the praises of his broad chest, before I pulled my car back onto the highway.
Sergeant Davis disappeared into his cruiser, but he stayed parked behind me until I couldn’t find him in the distance.
At least one man hadn’t screwed me over today. I’d get to Peyton’s house, pass out on her basement futon, and start to figure out what the hell to do with my life.
2
CLAUDIA
“Hey, Claud,”Peyton whispered, a sad smile pulling on her lips as she held her front door open for me to step through.
