Spence howled with laughter. “Leave it to you, Jake,” he sputtered out. “I would have paid good money to see that.”
Ben walked in. “See what?” he asked, which stared the whole thing over.
After they’d rehashed the story and everyone had gotten a good laugh, Jake stood. “All right. Ha, ha. Are we gettin’ coffee or what?”
Ben and Spence stood. “Yeah. Grinder’s?” They all nodded.
“You coming, Kris?” Jake asked.
“No. I’m meeting Trisha for coffee later. Maybe we’ll try Grinder’s one of these days. Coffee must be good if you guys like it so much.”
“Oh, we don’t go just for the coffee,” said Spence, slapping Jake on the back. “Our boy Jake here has got it bad for a barista there.”
“Really? Well, that’s exciting. Good luck then, Jake.” She smiled. Kris was pretty and smart and had a smokin’ hot body. If she hadn’t been a fellow trooper, Jake probably would have tried to hit on her, but he made it a policy to not date coworkers. The fact that she was a lesbian and wouldn’t have gone out with him anyway also played a role in his decision to just be friends.
“Geez, Spence. You gotta blab my business to everyone?”
“I’m sure Kris won’t tell anyone,” said Spence as they turned to go. The song “American Woman” blared from his pocket, which they all knew meant his wife was calling. “Meet you there,” he said, turning away to answer his phone.
While driving to the coffee shop, Spence contacted Jake on the car-to-car radio to let him know he had to run an errand for his wife and wouldn’t be able to make coffee. Something about his son having an earache and having to go pick up medicine. A minute later, dispatch put out a call for a pedestrian on the freeway, and Ben reluctantly signed on to go, telling Jake on car-to-car that he owed him. Big. That left Jake flying solo, which was fine with him.
After spending the morning dealing with collisions and clearing disabled vehicles off the freeway, he was famished. He was also excited to see Hannah.
He’d recently been involved in a shooting at his brother Sam’s place and had been put on administrative leave for the duration of the two-month investigation. Between that and his last month of night shifts, he hadn’t seen her in over three months.
Hannah was one of the few female friends he had. Theonlyone who wasn’t a trooper. They’d gone out once about a year ago, but when he’d made his move, she’d said no.
She didn’t like the fact that he slept around and had refused to be another notch in his belt. He respected that but also considered her the one that got away. Not as in I-really-wanted-to nail-her, but more like dang, I-really-liked-her. She’d parked him squarely in the friend zone, but Jake still harbored a crush.
He backed his patrol car into a spot close to the door of The Grinder’s Café and headed in.
CHAPTER FOUR
Hannah lit up when she saw him, which eased his mind. He wasn’t sure if she’d care much that he hadn’t been around for so long.
“Jake!” She came out from behind the counter and skipped over to hug him. Her smile brightened the room. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Hey, Hannah. Long story. How’s it going?” He hugged her the best he could, but between his bulletproof vest and all the tools on his belt, he couldn’t even feel her.
“Why don’t you welcome all the customers like that?” mumbled a guy standing nearby. Jake’s stern look shut him up in a hurry.
“Come on, let’s grab a table, and then I’ll get us some coffee,” she said, leading the way to a table in the back. As always, he sat with his back to the wall. While she rushed off to grab their coffees, he called dispatch to advise them he was on break. She knew what he liked because he always ordered the same thing—plain black coffee.
Returning with two large cups and a couple of breakfast sandwiches, she sat across from him. “This is perfect timing. I was just about to take a break,” she said.
“Thank God, you read my mind on the sandwich. I’m starving.” He opened it and took a bite right away.
“You all alone today?” she asked. “Are your friends coming?”
“Ben might show up, but Spence had to run an errand for his wife and won’t make it. I was eager to see my favorite barista and didn’t want to wait.” He winked and took the lid off his coffee. Steam rushed up and filled their little space with the bittersweet smell of Colombian roast. He inhaled deeply and sighed.
“So, spill it,” she said, unwrapping her sandwich. “Where have you been?”
“Well, I was involved in a shooting back in July and couldn’t work during the investigation, which took almost two months to complete. And then for the last four weeks, I’ve been on night shift.”
“Was that you involved in the thing at Sam’s place? I wondered about that. Oh, my God.”
Sam was one of Jake’s four brothers. The oldest, uber famous, mega-rich brother. Everyone knew who Sam MacDonald was, but hardly anyone knew he and Jake were brothers.
