And he was twenty minutes away.
Crap.
He hightailed it to his truck and pointed it toward Hampden.
If he didn’t catch Petula during her delivery this afternoon, he’d have to wait another couple days before he could schedule his next order to come in, and that would just be damned sad.
He stepped on the gas and was five minutes out when his phone rang. He answered using his truck’s Bluetooth.
“Julian here.”
“Jules, it’s Tabbi.” The whispered words were barely audible.
“Tab, what’s up?” Biting back a curse, he figured he already knew.
“Petula’s here. Jett’s doing her best to stall her, but our “Paul” is looking a little nervous. What’s your ETA?”
“Four minutes now,” Julian replied, glancing at his GPS.
He wanted to step on it, but he couldn’t. The last thing he needed was a ticket that his cop brothers would surely get wind of. If he got written up, he’d never hear the end of their shit.
“It’s okay if you can’t keep her,” he sighed. “I can wait a few more days.”
Dammit. He didn’t want to miss her, but sometimes life threw you curveballs, and you simply had to roll with them. He’d learned that the hard way while heading up his Guardian Angel Team.
“Okay. But hurry, just in case.”
Tabbi hung up, and Julian pushed his speed to just 5 miles per hour over the speed limit. Surely, he wouldn’t get stopped for that.
When he finally turned onto the main street where the shop was located, his pulse, which had been racing, returned to normal.
The brown van he’d come to anticipate was still parked out front.
He pulled in behind it and dropped his truck into park, quickly turning off the engine. He was just about to get out as nonchalantly as possible when Petula emerged through the glass doors walking with purpose toward her ride.
“Shit.” Julian wasted no time.
“Petula! Paul!” He amended his tone as his boots hit the pavement.
She startled but turned, and seeing who it was, gave him a lopsided smile as she stopped instead of continuing her rush toward the van.
That was a good sign.
Petula waited for him to approach, then started speaking when he got within a few feet of her.
“I, umm, actually wondered if you were working today.”
Julian’s heart gave an extra thud. Petula had been thinking about him?
“I am. I was running around doing some errands,” he answered lamely.
Geeze.Why couldn’t he come up with some clever quip like his brothers would? He felt like he was fourteen again, trying to converse with Ginny Paisley, a cheerleader he’d been crushing on.
He cleared his throat.
“I, uh, bought a boat. For work.”
Nope.That wasn’t smooth, either.
