Held by You
Riding Tall
Held By You
Cheyenne McCray
Copyright © 2014
Held by You by Cheyenne McCray
All rights reserved. No part of this e-Book may be reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded, distributed in any printed or electronic form, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
E-book conversion by Bella Media Management.
Published by Pink Zebra Publishing.
13-Digit ISBN: 978-1-939778-87-1
First Edition e-Book
“See you, Ricki,” Hollie Simmons called out to the owner of Sweet Things Bakery. Hollie juggled two large pink boxes of holiday cookies as she pressed her hip against the glass door of the bakery. “Merry Christmas.”
Ricki gave a little wave. “Bye, Hollie. Hope those kiddos of yours enjoy the goodies.”
Before Hollie could push the door open with her hip, it swung wide, catching Hollie off guard. She stumbled out of the bakery and gave a little cry, knowing in that instant that she and her cookies were going to land hard and scatter across the sidewalk.
A man’s strong arm caught her around her shoulders, dragging her up against a hard chest. At the same time her savior caught her, he caught the cookies in his opposite hand, gracefully saving them from their fate of moments before.
“Oh! Thank you.” Hollie let out a breath of relief as the unseen man steadied her. The bakery door closed, leaving her on the sidewalk with the man who still held her. She caught a sexy masculine scent that was warm despite the December chill in the air. She tried to turn but he didn’t immediately set her free, ensuring she was steady on her feet.
He dropped his arm from around her shoulders but kept his hold on the cookies. She turned and hitched her purse up on her shoulder. It was Lieutenant John McBride who had just saved her from a nasty fall.
“Lieutenant McBride.” For no reason whatsoever, her stomach gave a little flip. Okay, maybe there was a reason…and that reason was wrapped up in a six-foot-two, brown-eyed, dark-haired package wearing a uniform fitted to perfection on a powerfully muscled body. “Thanks so much.”
“It was my fault.” He shook his head. “I didn’t see you and I opened the door at the same time you were coming out.”
“Whatever the case, thanks for catching me.” She smiled. “Protect and serve. You’re doing a great job of it.”
He gave a little grin that surprised her. She didn’t know the police lieutenant personally, but whenever she had seen him, he had never been wearing a smile. He always seemed so serious. That hadn’t stopped her from having a little crush on him from afar. She’d always found the man incredibly attractive from a distance. His seriousness, his hard expression, had made her want to know more about the man and what made him tick.
She’d always been too shy to go up to him and introduce herself when she’d seen him around town. With her full curves, and stepbrothers who had belittled her constantly since she was a child, her confidence wasn’t the best.
Lieutenant McBride raised the boxes of cookies. “Let me take these to your car.”
“Thanks.” She nodded toward her small Honda parked along the curb.
He walked at her side as she headed for the car. “Are these for your students?” His question surprised her and she cut her gaze to his. “I imagine today you’re having holiday parties at the elementary school.”
She blinked. “You know who I am?”
He gave a slow grin. “How could I not know one of the best kindergarten teachers in the school district, Ms. Simmons? You have an excellent reputation.”
“I could say the same about you.” She couldn’t help but smile again as they reached the car’s driver’s side door, which she unlocked with the remote. “But it is nice to actually meet you in person.”
He gave a nod and opened the car door for her with one hand, still holding the cookie boxes with his other. Before she could extend her hands to take the boxes from him, he leaned past her, into her car, and set the cookies on the passenger seat.
When he drew back, his body brushed hers. She felt a shiver run through her that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold, and she swallowed as her body reacted to his nearness. She wanted her few moments with John McBride to last. She wasn’t ready to part company with him yet…and she wanted to see him again. Now how could she possibly arrange that?
A thought came to her and she cleared her throat. “After the holidays, I’m having a career day in my class. Do you think you might have time in your schedule to visit my children?”
John studied her in a way that made her stomach flip. She found herself holding her breath as if she’d just asked him out on a date.
He gave a slow nod. “I’d enjoy that.”
She let out her breath in a rush. “So would I—I mean the children.”
Again a sexy little smile. “Why don’t I call you and we’ll set up a date and time?”
“Sure.” She tried to compose herself after her slip up and clasped the strap of her purse for something to do with her hands as he pulled a small spiral-bound notebook from his shirt pocket. “Going to put me in there with all of your suspects and criminals?”
This time he gave a low laugh. “I have a section reserved just for you.”
A flutter went through her midsection again. Was he flirting with her? Yes, he was definitely flirting with her.
She gave him her number and he jotted it down before tucking the notepad into his uniform pocket again. He pulled out a business card with a police shield, Prescott Police Department, and his name and number on it. She held onto the card as she looked up at him.
“You have a good day, Ms. Simmons,” he said.
“Please call me Hollie,” she said. “I hope your day is great too.”
He gave a nod. “Hollie.” The way he said her name about made her melt. His voice was warm and deep and at that moment had a caress to it. She had no doubt that his tone would turn hard in a flash when necessary.
It didn’t surprise her that he didn’t tell her to call him by his first name. After all, she didn’t know him well and he was an officer of the law and had to maintain a certain amount of distance in public.
She gave him one last smile before climbing into her car. She dropped his business card into her purse as he closed the door behind her.
After she turned on her car, he watched her back out of her parking space. His presence made her so nervous she almost backed into a passing car and she had to jam her foot on the brake pedal. Her face flushed with heat and she did her best not to look at John McBride as she guided her vehicle out of the spot and headed toward the elementary school.
John had to hold back a smile as he watched a flustered Hollie Simmons drive away. No doubt she was embarrassed because she’d almost hit another vehicle with hers while a police officer looked on. Maybe he shouldn’t want to smile, but she was so damned cute he couldn’t help it. And now he had her phone number in his pocket.
The pretty elementary school teacher had such innocent honey-gold eyes, a soft smile, and soft, generous curves. He’d noticed her several times at various local functions but had never approached her. A twinge of disappointment went through him that he couldn’t have spent a little more time talking with her by her car.
It was hard to believe Hollie Simmons was related in any way to the trouble-making redneck brothers, Carl, Dickey, and Floyd Whitfield. But then again, she was their stepsister and wasn’t blood-related. Still, he couldn’t imagine her growing up with three men who were at complete odds with her sweet disposition.
He headed toward his sister-in-law’s bakery. It was Friday and his turn to pick up donuts for the station. As he walked, he continued to think about Hollie and frowned. What had happened to his decision to never date any woman from Prescott, much less flirt with anyone?
As a matter of fact, he didn’t “date” anyone. He had casual relationships with women he’d met in Flagstaff and Sedona. Nadia, who lived in Sedona, was one of those women, and she had become a friend with benefits. Theirs was a relationship based on the understanding that either one of them could walk away and they would remain friends with no regrets. It was a satisfactory arrangement that had carried on over the past six months.
He didn’t think there was the right woman out there for him. Until he reached a point where he would leave his chosen career, he was married to his job and no woman wanted a man whose loyalties were to his badge first. He’d seen a lot of cop marriages fail, and he didn’t intend to become one of the sad statistics.
Maybe one day, when he was ready to move on, then he would consider a relationship.
John glanced at the large plate glass window that was frosted around the edges as if snow was on it and had
Happy Holidays
written in an arch over a winter scene. He grabbed the cold door handle, pulling the bakery door open, and walking inside. Warm smells of baked bread and pastries flowed over him and chased away the cold. Ricki smiled at him from behind a pastry case.
“’Morning, John.” Ricki gave him a winning smile as she brought out pink boxes that would fit a dozen donuts each. His sister-in-law was a pretty woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes. “Two dozen?”
“You’ve got it.” John dug in his pocket for his wallet and slipped out enough cash to pay for the donuts as she set the pastry boxes on the donut display case. “How’s your day starting out?”
“Great.” She opened the case, grabbed a small piece of wax paper, and used it to pick up donuts as she began putting an assortment into the pink boxes. She put an extra Long John in the box as usual since she knew it was his favorite type of donut. His stepmother had always made them when he was a kid.
Just as he finished paying for the donuts, his radio squawked. The dispatcher asked for units to respond to the report of a body found on the south side of town. John answered the dispatcher, indicating that he was on his way. He carried the boxes of donuts toward the door as he said goodbye to Ricki over his shoulder before hurrying out of the bakery at a brisk pace.
So much for taking donuts to the station while they were still warm and fresh.
Today John was on his own. Yesterday on a call, a Rottweiler had come out of nowhere and had taken a chunk out of Jamie Cruz’s leg and the young officer had been forced to take a few days off. Having recently moved to Prescott, Jamie was John’s new partner and John hadn’t had much of an opportunity to get to know the officer. From what John had seen, dog bite notwithstanding, Jamie seemed to be a good, more than competent cop.
John tossed the donut boxes onto the passenger seat as he climbed into his cruiser. It had been two minutes at most from the time the call had come in to the moment John was in the car and headed to the south side of town.
It didn’t take long for John to reach the address where a small crowd had gathered. Another cruiser arrived at the same time John did and both vehicles parked in front of the apartment building and the crowd. Officers Pablo Suarez and Darryl Taylor climbed out of their cruiser as John left his.
Immediately, Suarez and Taylor began securing the scene while John went to the body that he could see, now that Taylor had ordered the crowd to back away. John crouched beside the man’s corpse.
The body lay on the sidewalk, his face—what was left of it—turned to the side. Blood was congealing on the cold concrete.
Anger burned through John at the thought of all the violence and murder that had been occurring in Prescott. Dark days had come to the town that had been quiet before the drug trade and even human trafficking had reared its ugly head. He felt a disillusionment with his home town. As a cop he could fight to clean up the trash in the town, but he resented the fact that so much had invaded the once peaceful town.