Unbound (Crimson Romance) (3 page)

He had been at the celebration covering as an officer for his father. He hated playing officer. Maybe the job wouldn’t have been so bad if he had a gun. The idea of shooting someone usually cheered him up when he was conned into working.

Unfortunately, they never gave a gun. Something about him being a liability without the proper firearms training or some such nonsense. His father was the police chief in Hartsville, though. So, training or not, he always wound up filling in when the department ran short on help.

Last night when the crowd for the celebration had cleared out of the park and he had gone home, Payten had been directing her Boy Scout minions in cleaning up the park. That had been around two
A.M.

“Payten,” he called. She turned around and came back to stand in front of him. “How much sleep have you had?”

She shrugged. “A couple hours.”

“You can’t — ”

When Payten straightened and glared at him, he knew he was in trouble.

“I can’t what?”

He held up his hands. “Not trying to pick a fight here. I just don’t know how long a person can run on their feet with no sleep. Is your mama coming in later?”

“Nope,” she answered. “Her and Pop are on vacation. Besides, I got three hours.”

“I could come in later and help out,” he offered.

“Are you serious?”

“I fill in for Teddy and Coop, don’t I?”

She shook her head. “That’s different. You work in the kitchen. You don’t wait tables.”

“Let me help,” he said. “I can figure it out.”

She started to shake her head again, but stopped when Fletcher called her.

“Patty! It’s time for breakfast.”

She grit her teeth. “Coming.”

He watched her as she moved around the round table taking orders. She was sluggish at first, but after the first few orders, she moved flawlessly. She came back to the kitchen to drop the orders for Cooper, then returned to the table with a pot of coffee to refill cups. The booths came next. She dropped orders in the kitchen, returned to refill glasses, and moved to the next booth.

Quick, efficient, and friendly, she was a pleasure to watch. Mile-long legs encased in dark denim carried her gracefully from the kitchen to the floor and back again. Plain in style, her grey long-sleeve shirt hugged the curves of her chest and flowed to her hips. Her fiery red curls were ruthlessly tied back in their usual braid and already fighting their way free. She loved what she did. Her bright smile remained genuine, and her dark blue eyes lit up when she laughed.

Dean flinched when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, much like his had landed on Fletcher’s. He shook off the hand even as he hoped he hadn’t been spotted watching Payten. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted his cousin and knew he was caught.

“Jack.”

“Dean,” Jack replied.

“What are you doing here?”

Jack sat down on a stool at the counter beside him. “Hoping to get some breakfast.”

He was suspicious. “Shouldn’t you be at the shop?”

“You win,” Jack answered. “Jonah sent me to come find you. We could use another hand today.”

“And you came here because?”

Jack smirked. “You eat here almost every day. With a waitress as pretty as Payten, why not?”

Dean thought about decking him, but decided it wasn’t worth the scene. “You’re getting on my nerves already.”

“I’m your cousin,” Jack replied. “It’s my duty. And since your favorite little cousin — ”

“There’s a reason Maddie’s my favorite,” he muttered.

“Since she’s home, I figure I should pick on you twice as much to make up for the babying she’ll do to you,” Jack continued.

He didn’t comment. Maddie did baby him. “What’s going on at the shop?”

“Odd jobs,” Jack said. “Kalvin volunteered us to shovel the sidewalks at the old folks’ apartments Wednesday. Jonah says the phone has been ringing off the hook since then.”

Dean turned on his stool to look at Jack straight on. “You expect me to leave this warm diner to go out there in that slop and shovel snow with you? How much are you paying?”

“I realize I’m not as good looking as Payten, but I’m your buddy.” Jack glanced over his shoulder at her and wrinkled his nose. “She’s just a girl,” he whispered conspiratorially.

Dean leaned close to him. “So is Kayla.”

The playfulness died. “Fuck you,” Jack grumbled.

Payten came around the counter and leaned against it at the spot in front of them. She grinned broadly at Jack.

“Good morning, Jack.”

“Morning.”

“Hungry?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Just looking for Dean.”

“Do me a favor?” she asked. “Talk to your cousin and make him quit making my cousin cry.”

Jack sat blank faced. Dean took mercy on him. After all, even in a town as small as Hartsville, there were too many Whitley cousins to keep track of.

“Garrett,” Dean told him.

“Of course,” Jack groaned. “What did he do now?”

“If he doesn’t quit making Vicki cry, my uncle is going to kill him,” she warned. “Apparently, your darling cousin doesn’t believe in the One-Woman-Whitley-Curse and enjoys seeing several girls at a time.”

Jack winced. “How do you know?”

She shook her head tiredly. “You find these things out when a teenage girl bursts into tears over the Christmas ham.”

Jack laughed. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I haven’t had a girl cry all over me since Billy Weaver dumped Maddie in the eighth grade.”

She eyed him carefully. “What happened to Billy?”

“I beat the shit out of him,” Jack told her cheerfully. “Dean helped.”

Dean felt himself squirm under her stern look. “She’s my favorite cousin.”

She laughed. “Of course.” Something over his shoulder caught her eye. She waved. “Duty calls.”

Dean turned to watch her progress across the room. A man about his age sat at the back booth. Dean didn’t recognize him and figured him to be a tourist. It was the wrong season for them, but it happened sometimes.

“When are you going to ask her out?” Jack pestered in a low voice, pulling his attention away from Payten.

Dean sighed.
Always the same thing with Jack.

“Seriously, if you don’t get a move on, some guy is going to come along and snatch her up. Where will you be then?”

“Not interested,” Dean told him.

“Liar.”

Dean tried ignoring him.

“It isn’t that hard. Ask her out. One date. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. No big,” Jack coaxed.

Dean didn’t answer.

“You heard Maddie at Christmas,” he whined. “She says that Payten thinks you’re good looking.”

Dean smirked. “Maddie said ‘sexy.’”

“Exactly!” Jack exclaimed. “You know she’s interested!”

You fed the bears
, Dean thought.
Shouldn’t have said anything.

“Jack, this isn’t high school. I’m not basing my dating decisions on something that someone says someone else said.” He stopped to consider that mouthful for a moment. He’d said it right.

“No, Dean. This is real life.” Dean watched Jack look down at his coffee cup, then back up at him. “She will find someone else and she will marry him instead. I would know.” He stood up and grasped Dean’s shoulder. “If you could stop by the shop, we’d really appreciate it,” he said before he turned to go.

Well, doesn’t that just make you feel like shit?
“I’ll be there,” Dean called to him.

Jack raised a hand and kept moving.

“Where’s Jack headed?” Payten asked, coming around the counter.

“To shovel snow,” he answered. “I’m headed out to help him after I stop at the police station.”

She moved to the back counter and grabbed two of the plates with steaming food on them. She turned back and smiled at him. “I guess that explains why he was here.”

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a sad face.”

She laughed. “You sure are.”

“I’ll be back in a while, but call me if you decide to take me up on that offer to help out.”

Payten nodded. “I’ll call the shop if we need you.”

“Maybe you could call Vicki or something to help hold you over,” he suggested.

“Do you remember what hysterical teenage girls are like?”

“Because it’s been so long since we were teenagers,” he teased. “I’ll be back.”

He forced himself to leave the diner. He didn’t want to leave Payten there alone, but he knew she would need time to warm up to the idea of him helping her. He walked through the snow to the police station.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Kalvin called when Dean stepped inside.

Dean paused in the doorway to wipe his boots. He spotted Kalvin leaning against the edge of Burke’s desk. Burke was buried behind the desk in a sea of paperwork.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Kalvin, moving toward them.

“Pestering me,” Burke answered without looking up.

Kalvin rolled his eyes. “He’s being pissy. I took time out of my busy schedule to come see him, but is he happy to see me?”

“No,” Burke muttered.

Kalvin ignored him. “No, he isn’t. He’s pissy.”

“They offer to let you come shovel snow, too?” Dean asked Burke.

Burke finally looked up. “Yeah, he did. Ain’t he sweet? I’m buried in paperwork up to my ass and I’m supposed to be excited at the offer of shoveling snow? Well, I’m not. So you might as well get lost, Kalvin.”

Kalvin grinned wider. “Why? So I can go shovel that shit? Not me.”

Dean laughed. “How long do you think you’ll have before Jonah comes looking for you?”

Kalvin glanced at his watch. “About another ten minutes.”

Dean grinned.

“Is there something you need, Dean?” Burke asked.

“You guys have new uniforms since the last time I worked. I wanted to ask if I should drop that uniform here or have it cleaned first.”

Burke rolled his eyes. “You drop it in the washer, then you can drop it here.”

“You want me to wash it?” Dean smirked. “You’ve obviously never seen me do laundry.”

“It’s probably like when Burke does laundry.” Kalvin said.

“Get lost,” Burke grumped.

“Why don’t you?”

“Because this is my desk,” Burke roared.

The noise startled Kalvin into jerking away from the desk. He looked over at Dean. “He’s a crabbypants.”

“Kalvin Davenport, get the hell out of this room before I choke you to death!”

Kalvin ignored him. “The celebration was pretty great this year, don’t you think?”

Dean nodded.

“That Payten sure knows her stuff, huh?”

Not touching that one
, Dean thought.

“What’s all the paperwork for?” he asked Burke.

Burke sighed and rubbed his hand over his head. “Aside from the usual bullshit from New Year’s Eve, I’m trying to sort through the information forms for the new officers.”

“New officers?” Dean asked. “What new officers?”

“Richards got the can last week,” Kalvin informed him.

“What? I thought he was on vacation. That’s why I was asked to help out last night.”

“Vacation? Ha. The dumb ass took a swing at Rykers, then your pops,” Kalvin said. “You should really keep up with this stuff.”

Dean grabbed the chair from under another officer’s desk, pulled it close, and sat down. “This happened last week? Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

Burke shrugged. “You were out at the Kincaids’ for most of last week. When you came home, you weren’t answering your phone.”

Dean shook his head. “My phone line has been out. The county grader got it last Sunday when they were grading the road. They’re supposed to get it fixed sometime this week.”

“Underground phone line?” Kalvin asked.

He nodded. “It’s a piece of shit.”

Kalvin and Burke nodded sympathetically. The line out to their house had been underground the winter before. After listening to their complaints all winter, the phone company had put up poles for it the following spring.

“Who are you looking at for a new officer?” Dean asked. “Out of town?”

Kalvin laughed. “Try out of this world.”

“Kalvin,” Burke warned.

“Total babes.”

“Babes?” Dean repeated. “As in two?”

Kalvin shook his head. “I said babes and the only thing you notice is the ‘s’ at the end. It’s like you’re already an old married man. Useless.”

“Funny,” Dean said. “Jack told me the same thing earlier.”

“It’s true,” Kalvin replied.

“Your old man squeezed the town board for the money for an additional officer,” Burke said answering Dean’s question.

“Wow,” Kalvin said sarcastically. “That means you’ll have four whole officers and one police chief. Look at you go!”

Burke shook his head. “When you leave, Dean, take him with you or I’ll kill the little shit. I swear to God, I will.”

“Back to the babes,” Dean said. “Women officers?”

“Got a problem with it?” Burke asked.

“No,” he replied. “I don’t have a problem with it at all, but a bunch of the backwoods rednecks you all drag in here every Friday night are going to.”

Burke smirked. “I’m not too worried about that. These two come highly qualified to deal with just about everything.”

“Where are they out of?” Dean asked. “Stealing them from the next county over?”

“No, sir,” Burke answered. “One’s from New York. The other’s from Los Angeles. Homicide and Sex Crimes. They’re sisters.”

“Holy shit,” Dean muttered. “Are you serious? What the hell are they doing out here?”

Burke grinned. “I have no idea, but I plan on enjoying it.”

Kalvin laughed. “Me too. Women who are trained to use handcuffs and nightsticks.”

The burst of cold air into the room caused all three men to look toward the door. Two tall women were standing there. The first had her hands in the pockets of her jacket, studying the men. The other was busy closing the door.

“Twins,” Kalvin gasped. He grabbed onto Burke’s arm so tight, his knuckles turned white. “They’re twins?”

“Obviously,” the first of the women said.

“I’m in heaven,” Kalvin announced.

The other woman stepped forward and offered Kalvin a hand while her sister rolled her eyes. “I’m Devin Chase. This is my sister, Dylan Smith.”