“You take this whole serve-and-protect thing seriously.”
“Protect and serve,” Chad corrected her. “And yes, I do.” That was the only reason he had suggested she enroll in the CPA—for her protection and the protection of everyone else on the road. Not because he was attracted to her. He could not be attracted to her. Yet his gaze skimmed down her body, over the wiggle of her hips as she stalked toward the parking garage in the high heels that brought the top of her blond head nearly to the level of his chin.
“Whatever,” she said, dismissive of a police officer’s sacred oath, “You take it too seriously.”
He bit back a laugh as he followed her up the ramp of the parking garage. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a more self-involved woman.”
Her blond hair swayed across her back as she swung her head toward him. She gasped, and her blue eyes widened with surprise. “You think I’m self-involved?”
Thinking of her shameless flirting and constant phone calls and texts, he snorted. “I don’t think. I know it.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she said, heels slamming into the concrete as she stalked up the ramp.
“I know your type.”
“What’s my type?” she asked, but didn’t even slow down for his answer.
He caught her arm, drawing her to a halt just steps from her black SUV, which she probably would have stormed right past. “You’re beautiful.”
She spun toward him, her mouth falling open at his compliment.
Desire kicked him in the ribs. He wanted to kiss her. “Vivacious,” he continued. “Reckless.” And that was why he couldn’t kiss her. “With total disregard for your safety or anyone else’s.”
She pulled keys from her briefcase, her hand shaking so much that they jangled, and unlocked her SUV. “I am not reckless.”
“Your driving record proves otherwise.”
She shrugged. “A few speeding tickets.”
“One with an accident,” he reminded her.
She laughed, albeit without humor. “I hit a patch of black ice and slid off the road into a mailbox.”
He tensed, dread tightening his stomach muscles. “It could have just as easily been a tree or utility pole.”
“It wasn’t.” She lifted her chin. “And I didn’t even put a dent in my vehicle.”
“The mailbox wasn’t so lucky,” he pressed. “You need to slow down. Stop being so reckless…”
“I wasn’t going fast. And I’m not reckless. You don’t know me,” she insisted as she pulled open the driver’s door.
He nodded as if he agreed with her, even though he didn’t. “Let’s keep it that way.”
As she planted her toe on the running board, Chad palmed her head, so she wouldn’t hit the metal doorjamb. Her silky hair brushed his palm. She ducked her chin, pulling away from him, and her eyes darkened with anger. “Let’s keep it that way,” she agreed.
Chad winced as she started the SUV, grinding the engine, then peeled out of the ramp with such speed that the gate, raised after hours, rattled.
“You’re wrong,” he murmured. “I know you, Tessa Howard. I know I don’t want anything to do with you…”
But to protect and serve. That was the oath by which he lived. His only reason for living now…
Chapter Two
Shaking from her argument with the lieutenant, Tessa fumbled with her keys to her ranch house. Before she could unlock the door, the knob turned beneath her palm and the door opened. She jumped back, startled.
“Gee, Tess—”
“What are you still doing up?” she asked her younger brother. Since summer vacation had just ended, getting him back in the habit of going to bed early hadn’t been easy.
Christopher, clad in his superhero pajamas, stepped back from the doorway. “I just texted you a little while ago.”
“When you should have been in bed,” she admonished the ten-year-old as she joined him in the country kitchen with its warm oak cupboards and green-apple painted walls. “And what did I tell you about opening up that door without knowing who’s on the other side?”
“I knew it was you,” he said as he climbed onto a chair at the long oak trestle table. “I saw you drive up.”
“You shouldn’t have been waiting up for me.”
“What was the police academy like?” he asked, his blue eyes bright with excitement as he stared up at her. “Did they let you shoot a gun?”
She bit her lip to hold back a smile. “No. It’s not like that.” At least she hoped not, because she should definitely not be trusted with a gun around the lieutenant. “It’s the citizens’ police academy.”
“So what was it like?” Christopher asked, still awed. “What did you do in class?”
She shrugged. “Not much. It was just a bunch of people talking.”
The chief had given a rather eloquent speech with a short question-and-answer period, and each district captain had talked about the areas for which they were responsible. Then the instructor for each session had been about to speak when she had slipped away to return her missed calls. From what she could tell so far, the purpose of the academy was to teach people how the police department and police officers worked, which would be fine if she had any interest, either. But she didn’t. No interest in any police officer.
“Tess!” Christopher yelled as if he’d been trying to get her attention. “Did you ask if I can come next week?”
She shook her head. “No—”
“Tess!” The little boy’s voice squeaked with indignation. “Why didn’t you ask?”
“Because you can’t come. The class isn’t over until past your bedtime.” Although Christopher was not much smaller than her, she lifted him from the chair. Her arms and back strained in protest of the exertion. She breathed deeply, inhaling the fruity scent of his shampoo. At least he’d had a bath, but it looked as if no one had untangled his mop of dishwater-blond curls. “And that’s where you’re going right now—to bed.”
He wriggled out of her arms and protested, “I’m not a baby, Tess.”
“You need your sleep. You should already be in bed,” she reproached him, playfully swatting at his pajama-covered bottom as he headed down the hall.
“Audrey?” she called out in a loud whisper for her fourteen-year-old sister, who was supposed to have been watching the younger kids while their mother was at work and Tessa had been at the damn class she didn’t have time to take. As Tessa had feared, Audrey wasn’t responsible enough yet to
