Shelby"This is The Café," I tell my parents as we make the trip down the sidewalk from my office to the place where most people in town go to eat. They've been here for almost two weeks. Since I was brought to the hospital and now that I'm home. They leave tomorrow, and I finally feel well enough to take them on a tour of Laurel Springs."It's all so quaint." My mom grins. "I can see why you love this place.""It's not hard," I admit. We walk in being greeted by so many people who have become friends and family to me in such a short amount of time. Seeing three swivel chairs at the soda fountain free, I lead them to my favorite place to sit. That's when I notice Ransom, Cruise, and Havoc standing in a group together, cracking up."Hey guys." I wave. "What's going on?"Ransom giggles as he looks at me. "Your man is in a slow speed chase.""Slow speed chase?" I ask, not sure what he's saying. I'm not sure I've ever heard of a slow speed chase. "Mr. Honeycutt is refu
Sullivan"I love that shirt almost as much as I love you." I wrap my arms tightly around Shelby's waist. Since she came home from the hospital, I've had her within my reach.She wrinkles her nose up cutely at me. "I have no idea why.""Oh you know." I turn her around in my arms. The front of it says Laurel Springs SWAT Team and on the back it says Baker. One day I'll make her last name the same as mine. We're in no hurry. For the first time in my life, I'm not in a hurry.To prove to my family how much better I am than my brother.To do what everyone thinks I should be doing. Finally, I'm becoming my own man. "You gonna be there at the end?" "Oh yeah, hooting and hollering for the hottest guy on the course."I smile, shaking my head. "You're good for my ego."She reaches up, running her fingers through my hair. "You're good for me period.""So if we win, does that mean I get to do whatever I want to you?" I rub my nose against her neck."I believe you said
SullivanMy heart swells in my chest as Rowan walks down the aisle toward the man who will be her husband. Standing in front of the church, along with the man who she'll give herself to, I swallow hard. The dress I helped her pick out looks incredible as it sparkles in the candlelight of the chapel. As much as I thought she was beautiful then, she's gorgeous now. The wide smile across her face, the wetness in her eyes, and the sparkle that radiates from inside competes with the one she wears on the outside.Our dad is like the rest of us in our dress uniforms. Even though he and I don't always see eye-to-eye, I'm still proud of the awards he wears on his chest.As they step to the altar, Cutter comes down, holding out his hand for Rowan. "Who gives this woman to this man?""Her family and I do," Dad answers, before kissing Rowan on the cheek and heading over to where Mom sits. She wipes at her eyes, which means she's crying. Mom always cries at important moments in her
DevanteAs has become my habit when I'm working the morning shift, I park the ambulance in front of A Whole Latte Love. "You want anything?" I ask Cutter who's feverishly texting. Ten bucks says it's to his brand-new wife, Rowan."Black, one cream, two sugars.""Then it's not black, is it?" "Don't give me shit this morning. Ro gained two pounds and she's convinced she won't be able to fit into any of her clothes now. Never mind we've already gotten married.""This is why you got married, and not me," I remind him. Marriage isn't my deal. Never has been, probably never will be."I'm gonna call her, try and talk her down from the damn ledge.""Good luck with that my man."Gratefully, I leave him in the ambulance by himself. I might be happy for him, but he's driven me crazy talking about this wedding the last few months. Walking into the coffee shop, I expect to see Eden at the counter with a smile on her face.That's how I've seen her almost every day since she opened
VOLUME SIX: DEVANTEPrologueDevante"I'm scared."The fear in Eden's eyes hits me square in the chest. A fear I've never felt before follows. Usually when I'm out on a call, I'm helping people I don't know. I'm on auto-pilot. There's a repetition to the care I give. The automatic movements that have been ingrained; I can do them in my sleep. In the moment, I'm always able to push through anything distracting me from the periphery, but not this time.This is different. She's different. I've grown to care for her, and damned if her dark eyes don't kill me.Reaching down, I cup her cheek in the palm of my hand. "I know. I'm gonna take care of you." She nods, closing her lids tight against the pain. "I went to school for it and shit."There's a laugh with an almost smile. Barely there, but enough to make me feel better about the situation."Thank you, Devante.""No need to thank me. I'd do almost anything to hear you laugh.""You ready?" Cutter asks from where he stand
EdenThe world is hazy as I struggle to open my eyes. It's extremely difficult but I fight against the fatigue plaguing my body. The last thing I can remember is feeling like shit at the shop. Correction, I'd been feeling rough for a few days, but there'd been no way I could take time off or close early. A Whole Latte Love has been barely making it since I opened a few months ago, but business is finally starting to become consistent. The money I managed to bring with me from Chicago has quickly been running out. If only I'd planned to get more. I'd been debating on what my choices were with the shop when I started to believe I was really sick. And then I'd panicked because I'd been alone.No wait, Devante was there. He was there, and I'd ridden in the ambulance.There's a beep, beep, beep, in the background and I wonder if this has all been a dream of some sort and I've slept through my alarm. If I have, I'm late for opening, and I can't afford that. With a burst of energy I
DevanteTwo hours later, there's a knock at the door, not as heavy as the ones before. "C'mon in," I answer quietly, although I'm unsure why. Eden's just got her next dose of pain medication I think she could sleep through a bombing. "Hey, how's she doing?"Stella is already in nurse mode, even though Eden's not her patient. She's checking her vitals, pulling up her chart, and making sure everything is in order. "You tell me." I raise a pointed eyebrow her way.She puffs out a breath on a chuckle. "Ransom says I have a hard time letting my friends be taken care of without my input and damned if his ass isn't right. They need to get the infection under control before they take her gallbladder out. She may have a few more days in here. I'm hoping they'll be able to remove it laparoscopically as long as they can get the infection down.""That's what I thought. She's not going to take it well.""I mean she has no choice. It can get bad. Her body could go septic and she coul
Eden I'm back in that weird space again. Where everything reminds me of a dream, but also feels as if it's staying still. I can't remember how long I've been here or what I'm doing. There's that annoying beeping again. The one that continues in a rhythm, almost like a song I've heard before. I can't place it though, that's what keeps bothering me. It's on the tip of my tongue and I can't seem to make it work.My mouth is dry as the desert and I want nothing more than a drop of water. My eyelids are heavy as I fight against their weight to open them. It's almost too much for me to do, but I keep going. If I can pool together all my strength, I can do it, I know I can."Eden?" It's a voice I recognize.ÊBut my mouth is so dry I can't seem to make it work.Ê"Eden?" The voice says again. "You okay?"No, no I'm not okay. I'm thirsty, and I'm scared. I can't remember what the hell happened to me, and instinctively I know I'm in a foreign place. Where am I?In my mind I've said
MenacePresent TimeIt's been a hell of a day. One where I got here late in the afternoon because I had meetings. Something I've learned since taking this position a few months ago is that it's mostly meetings. It's keeping people happy and kissing a lot of ass. My legs ache to get back out on the street, to do a couple laps around downtown, or to drive a car fast. To chase a speeder with the lights bright and the siren blaring. I miss it more than I thought I would. It's close to midnight and I know Rina will be wondering where the hell I am, but I wanted to get a look at what went on today by reading the reports of the officers. This is something I do everyday so I can try to gauge how my officers are doing. It's important for me to know if there's an issue in town. If someone is a nuisance, do we need to step up patrols in certain areas? Community policing is the name of my game and I take it seriously. Reading the last report, submitted by Caleb
ArcherA Year And A Half LaterNerves make circles in my stomach as I stand outside of Laurel Springs Medical waiting for Alisa to come out. She doesn't know I'm here and, the truth is, I didn't know I was going to be either. I've been carrying this ring around in my pocket for the last year and a half of the two years we've been together. Waiting. For what, I'm not sure. The right time? The perfect moment? We live together. I could've done it a million times, but there's something different about these stars against the inky blackness of the sky. They aren't crazy bright, but they aren't muted either. They're sparkling. The perfect backdrop to the plan I have. Tonight, as I helped a woman leave a dangerous domestic violence situation, I realized I'm wasting precious and valuable time. Even after dealing with Calvert County, it didn't hit me that seconds are to be treated with the same reverence as the big events in life. Lo
Alisa"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Yes." I nod as I sit before the grand jury to give my testimony about what happened with Officer Fugate. "Please tell us when you first met him," the attorney instructs. Archer is sitting in the back row, all hot in his uniform. I don't know how he managed to be here, but he has and it's one of the sweetest things he's done for me. I'm not sure I could be doing this without his dark eyes staring back at me. "I met him when he brought a suspect into the ER. It was obvious that man had been beaten badly and it didn't happen only once. After that day, it happened on a regular basis…"ArcherUshering Lis into the station is like sending a babe into the belly of the beast. She's never been here before, doesn't know how things work, and could honestly be scared, given everything she's dealt with. I'd like to kill Officer Fugate with my own two hands.
ArcherIt's a gully washer tonight, as my instructor at the Academy always said when it rained hard. Visibility fucking sucks and I've worked more accidents tonight than I have in the previous three months. It's as if when it rains, no one can remember how to drive. It's hard to even see out of my windshield but, as I pass one of the abandoned gas stations on the outskirts of town, I see another cop stopped.They're an eyesore and, at the next city planning meeting, there's going to be a vote on demolishing them. They're a breeding ground for drug use and criminals. We've put up cameras to show what happens at night when there aren't patrols going back and forth. Since it's raining and dark, I figure I'll hit them, just to make sure nothing's going on that shouldn't be.As I round the corner. I'm surprised as fuck to see Alisa's car parked next to a Calvert County patrol SUV. She's kneeling in front of a cop who has a taser pointed at her. My heart gallops in my chest as I wonder
Archer"Chief Harrison wants to see you," Tank tells me as I make my way into the squad room. I have no idea what I've done and am immediately questioning what the hell is going on. I try to do everything by the book and I can't remember anything I might've done that was untoward. My stomach rolls as I head toward his office. I've never been called before him before and, truth be told, I never wanted to be. When I reach the door, I knock with a double tap. "C'mon in." Opening it enough so that I can sneak my head in, I glance at the Chief. "You wanted to see me, Sir?" "Yeah, come in and have a seat. There's a few things we need to discuss." I don't like the sound of this shit at all. Going in, I have a seat in the chair facing his desk and prepare to get my ass handed to me. "Officer Fugate has made a complaint and I'm bound by state laws to investigate those complaints." "I told you what happened," I defend myself. "He'
Alisa"Thank you for coming tonight," he says as we enter my apartment. "You don't have to thank me. You've saved me more times than I can count." I grin, taking my jacket off. "Come sit over here on the couch with me. You look a little stressed." "They do that to me." He waves his hand toward the street where his parents have just left. "They always make me feel like I'm not good enough, as if I should've done something different with my life." "I know how that feels." I beckon him over with a crook of my finger. "Let me take care of this tension for you, Archie. Let me show you what the fuck your parents are missing." Something about the way they don't appreciate their son has me wanting to show him just how much I do. How important he is to my life. One of the ways I can think of showing him is with my body. Fuck if that isn't exciting. Reaching for my shirt, I pull it over my head, motioning for him to do the same. In a lazy game o
ArcherI'm heading into the squad room at the station to pick up some supplies when the phone in my pocket rings loudly. There aren't many people I have set ringtones for, but this one? I hate when it rings. It's my parents. Not wanting to make whichever one this is wait, I hurriedly answer. It's always struck me as odd. They were so quick to get me out of their lives, yet they do everything together, including share a fucking cell phone. That's right, they share this phone, which means I never know who I'm going to talk to when I put it to my ear. Talk about a surprise every time I answer. "Hello?" I wait for the response. It's always delayed as if they're on some far away phone line. "Archer, it's Dad." No fucking shit. "Hey Dad," I answer, wondering if he'll continue on or if I'll have to pull the words from him like teeth. "What's going on?" "Your mom and I will be in Laurel Springs tonight. We'd like to have dinner w
AlisaHis body over mine is equal parts hot and hard in all the right places. Our naked skin slides together as he leans down to take the tight bud of my nipple in his mouth. "Yes." I tilt my head back against the pillows, allowing him full reign over my body. "Please don't stop," I beg as I rake my hands over his strong back before digging my fingers into the hair on his head. "Never gonna stop," he promises as he sucks at the prominent tip, before letting it go and moving further down. I'm still unsure of how we got our clothes off. All I know is they're in a pile next to the bed. He moves down my body, kissing my stomach before he drops onto his knees and pulls me to the edge. Separating my thighs, he props them up on his shoulders, gazing up at me with those dark eyes before he dips down. His warm mouth covers my pussy, going straight for my clit and lapping against the trembling flesh. "Archer," I moan, lifting my hips to meet his mouth. "It's been so fucki
Archer "Look guy." I hope me using that term pisses him off. "This isn't even your jurisdiction. What the fuck right did you have to pull her over?" "It's Officer Fugate," he corrects me, before continuing on. "She failed to signal a turn." I'm real annoyed. "You got that on your dash cam?" I point to where his camera is mounted on the dash. "It wasn't on." He shrugs. "How fucking convenient for you." I smirk, shaking my head. "It's something the garage knows about, but the budget is lean over in Calvert County." He eyes me. My gaze is on Alisa who's sitting in her car with her hands locked around her steering wheel. She's white-knuckling as he and I stand out here, yelling at one another. "I'm not allowing you to ticket her without proof. Did you radio it in?" His cheeks go red, which tells me all I need to know. "You son of a bitch. You think you can intimidate her? Officers like you give the rest of us a bad name." Going in