Page 2 of Olivia
Colt
My hip and my shoulder throb with pain. I’m too old to be running after thieves in the middle of the night. But when I saw that man push that beautiful woman to the ground it was like I was possessed. Nothing mattered except catching the criminal.
“Wow, sarge,” Elliot, a rookie on the squad who walks around like he’s the second coming of Jesus Christ gives me a rye smile. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, son,” I growl, not in the mood for his bullshit.
I haul the thief up off the ground and push him towards my Elliot. The guy stinks. Mr. Young-and-perfect can take care of him from here. Maybe he'll learn something along the way. “Get this perp back to the station,” I say, “and if the paperwork isn’t done by the time I get back, you’ll be working the night shift for a month.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, nudging the thief towards his vehicle.
I rub my shoulder and stretch my back, and when I turn around, there’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen walking towards me.
An involuntary gasp escapes my lips. My mouth is suddenly as dry as the Sahara desert. I’d had my eye on her since the moment she left that bar. It was impossible not to notice her. Those thick, curvy hips. Her long, dark hair, cascading over her shoulders and framing her face like a halo on the head of an angel. Her large breasts are practically bursting out her dress, and it’s all I can do to keep my eyes on her face.
“Ma’am,” I say, doing my best to smile at her professionally. The woman’s just been robbed. She’s probably scared witless. The last thing she needs is a horny, middle-aged cop lusting over her. “I believe these belong to you.”
I hand her back her possessions, but her eyes remain firmly on the ground. “Thank you,” she whispers. “I can’t believe that just happened. I was just heading home.”
Her skin is pale and I’m worried she might be going into shock. There’s a scratch on her elbow, and I clench my fists at my side. If I’d have known that asshole made her bleed, I might have tackled him a little harder!
“How about you come and sit down in my cruiser? I need to get a statement, and maybe it would be better if you weren’t standing up.”
“My sisters,” she mumbles, “my Uber.”
“It’s okay.” I put my hand on her shoulder and a jolt of electricity shoots through my fingers all the way to my groin. Guiding her to my car, I try not to look at her cleavage. This woman’s good enough to eat. I’ve never felt like this around anyone. I barely trust myself being near her. Sitting in the same car as her. “Are you hurt?”
She looks down at her elbow and smiles. For the first time she looks me in the eyes, and it’s like time stands still. Her emerald green eyes melt my heart. I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything is going to be okay. That I’m here now. That I’ll protect her. That I’ll never let anything bad happen to her ever again. Not as long as there’s still breath in my lungs and blood pumping through my heart.
“I’m fine,” she says. I open the car door for her and she sits down, her legs hanging out onto the sidewalk. She rests her head against the back of the seat and lets out a long sigh. Her large chest rises and falls and I run my tongue along my lips imaging what I’d like to do to her. Imagining what it would be like to rip her clothes off and feel her naked body pressed against me. “More embarrassed than anything.”
“You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. You’re the victim. I’m just glad I was here to catch that asshole.”
She smiles at me and pulls her legs into the car. I take the seat next to her and turn the engine on. Hot air streams into the cab.
We sit there for a while as I take her statement. It’s mainly just routine. I saw everything. Even from across the road. But somehow it feels intimate. The gaps in our conversation heavy with lust. Listening to her voice gives me goosebumps. I can barely take my eyes off her lips as she talks. This woman is perfection.
An Uber pulls up next to us, and I have to get out and explain to him what happened. He’s a friendly Middle Eastern guy. More worried about the woman than losing his fair. He hands me a couple of bottles of water. “For the lady,” he says in his thickly accented English, shaking his head. “I don’t know what the world is coming to, officer. Thank God she is okay.”
“You have a good night,” I say, tapping the top of his car.
“So what happens now, Sergeant Dalton?” Olivia asks when I’m back in the car and I’ve passed her the water.
“Now I take you home,” I say, shaking my head at my stupidity. Being near this woman for too long is a bad idea. I have my career to think about. My reputation. I could have sent her home in that Uber. But there’s a part of me that needs to know she gets home safe. Although, even I know that’s an excuse. The truth is I can’t bear to see her leave. I want to spend every last second I can with her. Even if it’s only driving along in silence. Having her sit beside me makes me feel alive. Makes my heart beat that little bit faster. Makes me feel twenty years younger. Like I could do anything. Be anything. As long as she’s by my side. “And call me Colt,” I tell her.
“Colt,” she says, taking a sip of her water. “I nice strong name for a nice strong man.”
I look at her out the side of my eyes. Boy, this woman is something else. Is she teasing me right now? Is she flirting with me? Does she know how little it would take for me to play along? "I'm not all that nice, "I growl. "but I am strong... and big."
Chapter Three
Olivia
I suck my thumb and hop from foot to foot.
It’s four-thirty in the morning, and I was getting the cupcakes out of the oven when I burned myself.
A rookie mistake.
