It always seemed to come down to a grudge match.
“Yeah, well, I need training time. So, the faster you can get me the information, I’ll figure out what I can do to help.”
Baldwin nodded. “I’ll make a copy of the packet and leave it for you in your sergeant’s office.” Then he turned toward the room as a whole. “Now, I’ll turn the meeting back over to Sergeant Turner.”
Crois wondered if he’d made a stupid decision to participate in the tournament, but he didn’t really have time to ruminate over the idea.
Kate stepped up to the podium and launched into the morning meeting.
By the time they were headed down to their cruiser, Chois was wondering what kind of time frame he’d have to train. He might joke about his boxing skills, but he wasn’t someone who liked to make a fool of himself. He didn’t want to show his ass in front of his fellow officers, but he was also every aware that Harmony might be in the crowd of onlookers at the tournament.
To be a fool in front of her was one thing.
To be beaten to a bloody pulp? That was something else entirely.
When the meeting ended, Crois walked with Pilar down to their cruiser.
His partner waited until he was behind the wheel to make another comment.
“How did I not know that you were a boxer?”
Crois stretched out his legs and gave her a curious smile of his own. “There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know.”
He’d made his tone playful, almost suggestive.
Pilar shook her head. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“Well, at least I’ve made an impression on you.”
“Like a scar,” she smiled at him, her voice almost a whisper. “You’re so lucky that I like you, partner.”
Crois smiled at her. “It’s my nature,” he knew he would get under her skin. “You know you love me.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Pilar frowned and laid her head back against headrest in the car. “Let’s get going,”
Crois knew that his partner was a unique mix of sweet and spicy.
He grinned, ready to give her back some of her sass. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Crois heard Pilar hiss out a low, quiet curser under her breath.
The curse was in Spanish, but he’d known Pilar long enough to know her favorite phrases.
This one was particularly colorful and when he drove out onto the road he was smiling from ear to ear.
EIGHT
HARMONY
It wasa few days before she saw Crois again. Even though the area that her ambulance covered was the same area that Crois covered in his cruiser, there wasn’t necessarily a lot of overlap in their activities.
When she finally bumped into Crois it was during a confrontation between two drivers and a car accident.
Vega was the first to spot the CCPD cruiser as he drove the ambulance up the street.
“Hey,” he lifted his chin at the street up ahead, “looks like your hot cop is on scene.”
Hot cop.
