Ever After (Love to the Rescue Book 3) (14 page)

And that was good enough.

He showered, changed, and drove down Main Street. Olivia’s red Prius was in the lot behind the café. Other than a slightly dulled paint job on the driver’s door, no trace remained of the graffiti. It still bugged him that she’d parked around the corner last night, although she wasn’t wrong. The sheriff had ordered him to stay away from her, after all, but Pete had never consulted his boss on who he dated in the past, and he didn’t intend to start now. And if it cost him his shot at detective this year, he would accept that consequence with his dignity and conscience intact.

When he walked inside, he didn’t immediately see her so he asked the hostess to seat him in her section. The girl, a brunette, gave him an appraising look as she did so. Almost as if she didn’t approve of his being here, although he had no idea why.

He’d barely settled into his booth when Olivia came around the corner, menu in hand, eyes wide with surprise. “Pete?”

“I was hungry,” he said with a shrug.

Her left eyebrow lifted. “And a bit lonely perhaps?”

He decided to ignore that. “Last time I was here, I let my waitress con me into a vegetarian meal. Don’t suppose that’s common practice around here?”

She grinned. “I can’t say, but your last waitress sounds pretty awesome. We have a new special—a loaded omelet made with local cage-free eggs. It’s delicious.”

“You’ve had it?”

She nodded. “I had the kitchen make me a vegetarian version. I do eat eggs and dairy if I know they were humanely raised.”

“So would my waitress be offended if I ordered the nonvegetarian version?” Because a loaded omelet sounded pretty damn good.

“No she wouldn’t.”

“Great then. I’ll have that and a sweet tea.”

“I’ll be right back with your drink.” She sashayed off toward the back. He found himself watching the sway of her hips and the swing of her ponytail across her shoulders. Yep, he was pretty hung up on his waitress.

Still hoping there was a chance he’d have her in his bed tonight too.

She returned a minute later with his drink and a warm smile.

“I don’t suppose you had anything to do with the new local cage-free eggs?” he asked.

“I’ve been trying for years to get Tom—he’s the owner—to buy humane meat and dairy, but I finally figured out the right angle. I convinced him that supporting a local farm would be good for business. A lot of people are into that right now. He’s giving it a try. If it’s popular, he may agree to switch more of our products over. I’d love to see him create a niche with local, organic, and humane products. He’s kind of stuck in his ways, but we’ll see.”

Pete shook his head, amused and impressed. “You are something.”

“Something more than a pain in the butt, I hope.” She winked, and then she was gone.

His omelet was perfection, bursting with cheese, spinach, mushrooms, ham, and pretty much everything delicious that could be put inside an omelet. He cleaned his plate and sat back, full and content. Maybe he’d stop by here more often.

“Pete Sampson?”

He looked up to find Tamara Hill standing at his booth, dressed in the café’s uniform of pink top and black pants, her black hair carefully styled. His food instantly congealed into a cement block in his belly.

“Yes,” he answered. She’d recognized him. She’d connected the dots and figured out his dad had killed her husband.

“Zach told me you’ve been coaching the boys on Tuesdays,” she said.

He nodded tightly. “That’s right.”

“He thinks highly of you, and that’s a lot from him. You know, his dad died a few years ago, and he’s—well he’s had some trouble handling everything.”

“Yeah, he mentioned that.” His stomach curdled.

Tamara flashed him a warm smile. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She didn’t know, and he’d never felt like a bigger fraud.

“You two know each other?” Olivia handed Pete his check, still secretly thrilled that he’d stopped by for supper—and to see her.

“I’m coaching her son at the rec center.”

“Oh. Cool.” A simple enough explanation, and yet, Pete looked anything but simple right now. He was pulsing with tension, his eyes dark and haunted. What was it about Tamara that had triggered this? Or had something else happened that she’d missed? A call from work perhaps?

“Well, I should go.” He slid some cash inside the bill holder and passed it back to her.

“Do you need change?”

“No.”

“Hey.” She put her hand on his shoulder before he could stand. “I was just thinking about the sunrise this morning. It was really beautiful. Maybe we can do that again sometime.”

His expression softened. “I’d like that.”

So would she, but that wasn’t why she’d brought it up. She hoped to subtly put the image in his head, in case he needed to visualize it later.

He slid out of the booth and went on his way, and Olivia returned to her shift. Things stayed busy during the dinner rush, gradually tapering off until the café closed at nine. She was fortunate not to have any stragglers in her section tonight, so she cleaned up and clocked out, walking to her car alongside Tamara.

“How’s Zach these days?” she asked. She’d known Tamara about three years; she’d started working here shortly after her husband was killed in a car accident. A former stay-at-home mom, Tamara had found herself suddenly thrust back into the workplace, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her son, while going to school nights to finish her bachelor’s degree.

“He’s been keeping himself out of trouble, mostly.” Tamara smiled. She exuded a kind of effortless style and presence that seemed suited to much bigger and better things than the Main Street Café. “He goes to the rec center most days after school.”

“That’s good. You should bring him in sometime soon. It’s been ages since I’ve seen him.”

“I’ll do that. Good night, Olivia.”

“Night.” Olivia waved. She slid into her Prius and drove home, exhausted. She took care of her animals and fell into bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, after a flurry of text messages with Merry, she headed out to the farm to have breakfast with her friend. Dinner would have been more fun, but Olivia was working noon to nine again today.

“Perfect timing,” Merry said as she opened the front door. “I just put Jayden down for a nap. We should have a solid two hours.” She crossed her fingers.

“That’s all I have anyway before I have to get to work.” Olivia followed Merry into the kitchen, setting down a bag of fresh muffins from the café.

“Mmm, those look awesome. Help yourself to coffee or whatever you want to drink.” Merry set a couple of plates on the counter and sipped from her own coffee mug. “So I have two things to tell you, and then I want to hear all about the other night.”

“Okay.” Olivia poured herself a glass of water and put a strawberry muffin on her plate.

“First, I’ll take you up on babysitting on Friday night. T.J. and I haven’t had a date night in ages.”

Olivia nodded. “You got it.” She enjoyed babysitting, and she owed Merry big time for taking care of her dogs after working a twelve-hour shift.

“Thanks. So my other news is that I have an approved adopter interested in Scooby. They should be calling you later today.”

“Sweet! But are you sure they wouldn’t be interested in Bailey instead?”

Merry gave her a steely look over her chocolate chip muffin. “You’ve got to crack down on her with the potty training. And she needs to know some basic obedience.”

Olivia picked at her muffin. “You’re right. I’ll work with her, I promise.”

“Good. So,” Merry wiped a chocolate smudge from her mouth and settled back in her chair, “tell me all about Monday night, and please let it involve Deputy Hot Stuff.”

Olivia grinned. She’d missed having a girlfriend to gossip with since Cara moved. “Oh it most definitely involved him.”

“In sexy ways that had nothing to do with handcuffs?” She paused and seemed to consider this. “Unless you were using them for, um, recreational reasons.”

“No handcuffs. I spent the night at his place.”

“And?” Merry prompted.

“And it was amazing. He’s, well…” Olivia fanned herself. “You know.”

“I can imagine.” Merry winked. “And it’s not a problem for him that you were convicted?”

Her smile faded. “He says no, but I get the feeling it’s still not good for him to be associated with me, and he’s trying to make detective this year.”

“Then why would he get involved with you? He strikes me as a smart man.”

She set her half-eaten muffin down with a sigh. “Good question. He says he’s only looking for a casual relationship, so maybe this is too short-term to matter.”

“Oh, honey.” Merry rested her hand on Olivia’s.

“All this business with getting arrested has made me realize maybe I am ready to grow up after all. I’m ready for a more settled job, whenever I figure out what that is, and I’m ready for this—” She gestured around the kitchen. “A house, a husband, a family.”

Merry laughed. “I’m not married yet.”

“Oh please.” Olivia rolled her eyes.

Her friend sobered. “A few months ago, I wasn’t ready for any of this stuff either. It took T.J. practically hitting me over the head with it to realize we were meant to be together. So you’re already ahead of me in knowing what you want. Are you sure Pete isn’t that person?”

“He’s divorced, and he doesn’t want to get married again.”

“Well I give him props for being up front about it at least. So will you see him again?”

Olivia felt a tug deep in her chest. “Probably. The fire definitely hasn’t burned out yet. And it’s not as if I’m a stranger to casual relationships, so I’ll enjoy this while it lasts. Maybe it’ll be my last hurrah before I settle down.”

“Atta girl. Maybe I can find you a cute doctor at the hospital.”

“Oh yeah?”

Merry tapped her finger against her lips. “There is a really hot surgeon. I’m pretty sure he’s single.”

Olivia shrugged. “Doctors seem kind of stuffy to me, like lawyers. I need someone who’ll go camping with me and meditate.”

“Does Deputy Hot Stuff meditate?” Merry asked.

“It just so happens I’ve taught him a few things.”

Merry’s eyes rounded. “Really?”

“His job can be stressful so I took him out to Jordan Lake and introduced him to meditation.”

“Wow. That sounds…intimate.”

“It was.” Olivia remembered just what it had led to, and her cheeks heated. But she knew what Merry meant: it was intimate on another level. And Pete had already warned her not to go there, not with him.

Two hours later, Olivia walked into the café, ready for her shift. She found Tom waiting in the back hall.

“I need to talk to you.” He motioned her into his office at the end of the hall.

Uh-oh.

A heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as he closed the door behind her.

He looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “I’m very sorry, Olivia, but I’m going to have to let you go.”

“Oh no.” Her face felt hot, then cold.
Fired.
“What—why?”

“There have been complaints.”

Complaints?
About her? Her heart thudded against her ribs until she felt sick. “I’m sorry.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “So am I. You’ve been a hell of a waitress.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll walk you out.” He opened the door and escorted her down the hall and into the parking lot.

Olivia walked ahead of him, numb. Her job, her friends at the café…

Gone. Done. Blinking back tears, she got into her car and pointed it toward MacArthur Park.

P
ete walked up Olivia’s front steps promptly at six thirty Thursday evening. A break-in at the card store had held him up at work, but he’d had just enough time to go home and get ready to take her to dinner. On time. He’d been late to plenty of dates—a fact that was sometimes overlooked due to his profession—but tonight would not be one of them.

He was ridiculously glad about that. And ridiculously thrilled to be taking her out to dinner. In fact, he’d changed into khaki pants and a green button-down shirt, which was about as dressed up as he ever got. He’d even picked up a bouquet of wildflowers for her from the flower shop. Yesterday he’d worked overtime, so he hadn’t seen her since Tuesday, and right now that felt like an eternity.

Flowers in hand, he knocked on her front door. A dog barked from inside.

Olivia pulled the door open a few seconds later, wearing jeans and a T-shirt that read
Tofu Never Screams
, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God. Look at you.”

Well that wasn’t the reaction he’d expected, and now he felt a bit overdressed. Usually Olivia was decked out in one of her cute dresses while he wore jeans. He held the flowers toward her. “These are for you.”

She took them and buried her nose in their depths, a blissful smile on her face even as her eyes welled with tears. “They’re beautiful. They’re perfect. Thank you.”

She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“I lost my job.”

“You
what
?” He followed her inside, where only one dog greeted them in the living room.

“I got fired.” Her eyes flashed, a mixture of hurt and anger.

“Shit. Why?”

“Apparently there were complaints about me.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

“Complaints?” That was ridiculous. Olivia was nothing but professional at work. “What kind of complaints?”

“He didn’t say.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, know any place that’s hiring convicts? Because I need a job.”

“What are you looking for?”

Her chin went up. “That would be helpful to know, wouldn’t it?”

“Christ, Olivia.” He touched her cheek. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.” Her tone was hard, but with the faintest quiver that filled him up with all kinds of warm and mushy things.

“Never.” He wanted to wipe the hurt off her face, to do something for her the way she’d helped him when he was feeling low. But he had nothing.

So he kissed her.

Olivia kissed him back hungrily, her body pressed to his, all soft curves and the scent of wildflowers. He backed her against the kitchen counter.

“You’re dressed like you had bigger plans for tonight than to seduce me,” she whispered against his cheek.

“I made us a reservation at Torino’s. I’ll cancel it.” He lifted her onto the edge of the counter.

She slid forward, pressing against his erection. “I could still get dressed.”

“Or I could get you
un
dressed.” He skimmed his hands beneath her T-shirt.

“What time is our reservation?” she asked breathlessly as his fingers slid inside her jeans.

“Seven.”

She hooked her legs around him. “Let’s do both.”

He nibbled her neck. “Both?”

“You undress me.” She lifted her T-shirt over her head. “And then I’ll get dressed.”

Well shit. He didn’t need that invitation twice. He lifted her from the counter and carried her upstairs to her bedroom, where they scrambled out of their clothes and fell onto the bed. Twenty minutes later, and a whole lot sweatier, Pete lay panting beside her, his body humming with satisfaction.

“God, that was perfect,” she whispered, her arms around his neck, legs still entwined with his.

Perfect.
He rested his forehead against hers, completely blindsided. It had been perfect. Everything about her felt perfect. Except nothing about this was. It was about as far from perfect as a relationship could be.

She gave him a quick kiss and rolled out of bed. “We’d better hurry if we want to make our reservation.”

“Right.” He shook his head to clear it.

He joined her in a quick shower then went downstairs while she fussed with her hair and makeup. He rummaged through her cabinets until he found a vase, put the flowers in it, and set them on her kitchen table. Her dog followed him around, wagging her nub of a tail.

Ten minutes later, Olivia came down the stairs, breathtaking in a pale green dress and strappy sandals, her hair long and loose over her shoulders.

His throat went dry. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks. You look pretty dashing yourself.” She crossed the kitchen to him, dodging slobbery kisses from her overzealous boxer.

Pete pointed at the dog. “Where’s the other one?”

“Scooby got adopted,” she said. “So only Bailey the un-potty-trained remains.”

He grimaced. “Sounds like there may be a reason for that.”

“I know, I know. Merry said the same thing. I just haven’t had time to work with her on it, but I do now, so she’s about to get her little butt trained.”

She gated the dog in the kitchen and followed him out to the Forester. He drove the short distance to Torino’s, where they were seated in a romantic booth in the corner. Olivia sat across from him, still glowing from their romp under the covers, a ray of sunshine in the dimly lit restaurant. He couldn’t figure why everyone else in the place didn’t turn around and stare.

She sipped from her glass of wine. “Catch any bad guys today?”

He shook his head. “Hunted for a couple of them though.”

Someone had broken into Cathy’s Card Boutique and dumped a bucket of purple paint over the Halloween card selection. A stupid prank that was causing the property owners a huge headache, not to mention the fact that they were going to take a financial hit.

This was one more act of vandalism in the already long list of incidents plaguing Dogwood this fall. He didn’t like it, and neither did the sheriff. There was a lot about the recent goings on that Pete didn’t like, but he would put his misgivings aside until tomorrow. He took a sip of his own wine. It was bold and spicy, like the woman across the table.

“Did you always know you wanted to be a law enforcement officer?” Olivia asked.

“Since I was a teenager.” That was the short answer. The long answer was that he’d decided to become a cop the first time he’d seen his dad come stumbling in the front door, high as a kite, car keys dangling from his fingers. He’d wanted to be the one to put his father in jail, where he couldn’t disappoint Pete or Maggie by forgetting their birthdays and missing family events, where he couldn’t hurt their mother with his lack of a steady job and frequent drug-induced rages.

Instead, Pete had been the one to put his father back on the street, to get high and drive one last, fatal time.

“I envy you that,” Olivia said. “Knowing what you want from life.”

“What did you dream of being when you were a little girl?” he asked.

“For a little while, I had a secret dream of being a vet. I wanted to help sick dogs and cats, but then I realized I’d have to go through veterinary school and dissect all kinds of dead animals. Plus, I’m not really into bloody, medical stuff.”

“And your parents wanted you to be a lawyer.”

Her brows bunched. “Well that dream is over. McKellon would probably never take me back after all this time with a criminal record.”

“Maybe it’s just a way of clarifying things for you.”

“Everything happens for a reason. I know.” She took another sip of her wine. “I just wish I knew what came next.”

“What do you want?” he asked.

The waitress interrupted them then to take their dinner orders. Olivia ordered linguine with roasted vegetables in a lemon and caper sauce. He went with traditional lasagna. She made no comment on the meat content of his dinner choice.

“You asked the million-dollar question,” she said after the waitress had left. “What do I want? Not what my parents want or my so-called friends in the animal rights group. What do
I
want?”

And that question spoke volumes. He saw the turmoil in her eyes, and also the anger. It was obviously eating her up that she hadn’t figured it out yet.

He shrugged. “It’ll come to you when it’s meant to. Whatever it is, you’ll be great at it.”

She took his hand across the table. “Thanks. In the meantime, I’ll probably look for another job waiting tables or something similar. Maybe the Dogwood Diner is less picky about the criminal history of their employees.”

“Is that why you were fired?”

“I think it must have played a part. Tom told me he didn’t hire people with a record. But he also said there had been complaints.”

And that was the part that was sticking with Pete. A really dark, cynical side of him remembered that the sheriff had once gotten Tom Hancock’s daughter out of a sticky situation. Linburgh needed to keep Halverson happy, which might include hurting Olivia.

He didn’t like to think ill of his boss, but he’d seen Linburgh play dirty in the past. Tomorrow Pete would do a little poking around and see what turned up.

In the meantime, he and Olivia stuffed themselves on pasta, polished off their bottle of wine, and strolled hand-in-hand down Main Street to check out Halloween decorations. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d dressed up, but he loved the ambience of fall—the pumpkins, colored leaves, and tacky decorations with winking lights and fake spider webs.

“This is my first Halloween in a house,” she said, her body pressed close to his against the chill of the evening. “I probably should have stayed home and bought candy for the trick-or-treaters.”

He pulled her closer. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

Here and there, a few kids were still out. He spotted Darth Vader and some newfangled action hero running across the town square.

“Be glad you didn’t know me when I was a teenager.” Olivia giggled. “When I was fifteen, I dressed up as a slaughtered chicken and snuck out of the house. I passed out PETA pamphlets at every doorstep. I didn’t get much candy that year.”

“Fifteen is too old for trick-or-treating anyway, but I guess the candy wasn’t what you really wanted.”

“No. I was just going for shock factor.”

“Animal rights has always been your passion then.”

She looked up. “Yeah.”

“Then you need to find a career that lets you follow your passion. It’s the only way you’ll be happy.”

Olivia absorbed the truth of his words. Of course, she’d love a job that let her follow her passion for animal rights. “But there aren’t many paying jobs.”

He looked down at her, his dark eyes serious. “One is all you need.”

Well, shoot. When did he turn into a philosopher?

They reached his car, and he opened the passenger door for her. She swooned a little inside. Who said a strong, independent woman couldn’t still enjoy a little chivalry from time to time? Thank goodness she’d decided to go out with him instead of moping around at home.

No moping. It just wasn’t her style.

Pete climbed into the driver’s seat and turned to her. “Is Bailey social with other dogs?”

“Totally. Just prone to accidents and a bit short on manners.”

“I was just thinking, if she and Timber got along, it would make things easier. You know, no rushing home to the dog.”

“Oh.” She finally caught up with his train of thought, and she liked what he was thinking. “You mean like if we stopped by your place right now to get Timber?”

“How do you think that would go over with Bailey?”

“She’ll be fine, although she might pee on the kitchen floor in her excitement.” And she was only half joking about that.

Pete made a face. “How is it that you haven’t potty trained that dog yet?”

“I’m never home.” She sighed. “I suck at dog ownership. To my credit, the kitten is totally trained.”

“Oh yeah?” He laughed as he pulled onto the road. “And let me guess, she trained herself while you were keeping her locked up in the bathroom.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pretty much.”

They pulled into the driveway of his townhouse, and she followed him inside. Timber greeted them in the kitchen, howling and letting out ear-piercing squeaks to show his joy at their presence.

“Just wait,” she told him. “You’re going to have a sleepover with a girl. It should be very exciting.”

Pete woke in Olivia’s bed with her hair in his face, her scent wrapped around him like a warm cocoon. He felt refreshed. In fact, he hadn’t woken a single time during the night, not to make love to Olivia or for any other reason.

Her hair tickled his nose, and he reached up to brush it away. Something sharp poked his finger. Ouch. And what he’d thought was Olivia’s hair didn’t feel right at all. What the hell?

He felt another prick, then pain everywhere in his hand. “Fuck!”

He lurched upright to find the little white kitten hanging from his index finger, biting and kicking for all she was worth. Olivia lay blinking up at him from the other side of the bed, not nearly close enough for her hair to have been in his face.

It had been goddamn kitten fur.

“Hallie, stop it,” Olivia mumbled, swiping lazily at the kitten with one hand while she buried her face back into the pillow. “What time is it?”

Good question. He rolled over, looking for a clock. “Seven thirty.” And a good damn thing the kitten had woken him, because he was on duty in thirty minutes. “Don’t take this the wrong way, babe, but I’ve gotta run.” He pulled her in for a kiss, and damn she was sexy first thing in the morning, all rumpled with sleep.

“Work?” She snuggled in close, reminding him they were both naked. And he wanted her.

A dog barked downstairs.

“Shit.” He pulled back. “I forgot Timber was downstairs.”

“Leave him here,” she said.

“Really?” He slid out of bed regretfully and headed for the bathroom.

“I’ll keep him. Plus it means I get to see you later.” Her smile held all kinds of promise.