I can see her here for a long time.
As we walk through the little Christmas market, her eyes shine in wonderment, taking in the sights and the smells. I find a vendor that sells hot chocolate, bringing it to her at the bench as she waits for me. Her purple hair blowing in the gentle wind, her soft expressions sending my heart into rapid pace.
How did this all happen?
Our hands brush against each other as I give her the cup.
“Never pegged you for a hot chocolate kind of guy,” she says, taking a sip of it.
I shrug, “Guess it’s the holiday spirit.”
She looks at me with inquisitive eyes. “Is this the part where people divulge their life story to you?”
I shrug again, “Don’t know. Haven’t been out in a while.”
She coughs, I don’t know whether that is dramatic or not, “You’re joking.”
“Afraid so.”
“You’re lying.” She pauses, “Well now that I think about it, I could see that.”
“Care to share,” I say with a straight face.
“Oh, there’s Mr. Grumpy face.” she teases and yet I’m ready to toss her over my knee in one fluid movement. “You’re kinda cute when you’re grumpy.”
“I just don’t have time to date.” I say, but her face drops like I said something. It’s not a lie I don’t have time to date nor did I need to put anyone else in the line of fire. We already have Falcons sending us threats, trying to tamper with our own businesses.
Her grimace look changes everything, “And yet you wanted to take me out. That’s a bit contradictory.”
“You could have said no,” I don’t know why I’m fighting this.
“We both wanted something and it was better to say yes.” She admits, taking another sip of the hot chocolate.
“You don’t already regret this, do you?” I raise the question.
I can see the thoughts running in her head, she shakes her head, “Not yet. Are you trying to give me a reason?”
I grab her hand, bringing it up to my lips to place a gentle, sweet kiss on it. Her skin is soft under my touch. “Not a chance, I’ve given you the pre-warnings and here we are.” I place her hand on my thigh, and instead of retreating it, it remains there.
“Honestly, tell me your story.” She commands. I don’t know if she’s ready for my story. The story of how a fallen hero turned into a villain.
Chapter 20
Lottie
“Tellmeyourstory,”I say again. I want to know the man that’s proving he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I want to know if the grumpy man was once a happy person, someone with a true heart.
He looks like he’s debating on wanting to tell me or make up a new story to appease me. He looks around us as families and other couples walk around, creating their own memories. Like he’s careful of who’s around to hear him.
“I was a police officer before I came into the club,” he starts. But he starts with information I already know. Hope starts to slide away from me. I roll my eyes because all I want is the truth and this is not the beginning.
“Roll your eyes at me again and I’ll put you over my knee,” he warns
I shut up all thoughts. The small smirk on my face is now gone, “Back home, I was a police officer, on my way to move up in ranks. I trained a lot of recruits and some turned out to be a good fit for the department. I worked alongside different departments mostly drugs and organized crime. The more field time I had, the more the force gave me partners and sometimes I wasn’t the best in the beginning,” his expression changes like his body was rigged with sorrow.
“You kept saying that you didn’t need another partner or someone you couldn’t trust.” I point back to the words he said the other day.
He nods, “I never had problems with my partners as a whole, and sometimes they turned into family. We had a common goal and mutual respect. But, there was one partner that changed everything.”
