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Her face lit like a billboard with her obvious intent to matchmake. I’d need to take her aside and let her know it wasn’t going to happen. Sam might be cute but dating someone new would merely be a distraction from my problems, not a resolution. This time was set aside for two things: determine if Mr. Shepherd was guilty and get my head on straight for work. Was it time to move on from my current job? Start something new? Working for Emerald Candies after getting passed over for promotion left a bad taste in my mouth. Had the hiring panel decided my personality made me too over-the-top for the role? It certainly wasn’t my technical qualifications that were the issue. I needed to figure out if I could get excited about my job again, given current management.

That was the one good thing about jury duty — time. I’d have plenty of it to think and enjoy the eye candy around me. Ty might be uninterested in me, but he was still pretty to look at. Ditto Sam. And maybe over the course of the trial I’d make peace with Ty and my next career move.

Chapter 2 – Ty

I ignored Andi as I pulled the soft pink cotton yarn from my knitting bag. The danged woman was everywhere.

Tempting me.

I scowled down at my knitting needles and picked up my garter stitch. Used to be, I only had to be mindful that I wasn’t staring at her too long at trivia night but now I’d have to be on guard for the foreseeable future too. She’d been beautiful as a teen, but grown, everything about her struck a chord. Ballsy, caring, and intelligent. My kryptonite. The center of everything. Her laugh alone was enough to capture an entire room. She’d gotten under my skin with her quips and confidence, making it impossible to focus on anyone else when she was near. Until Jimmy reminded me that adult or not, she was still off-limits.

I whiled away the time before lunch focusing on my current project. Knitting had become a panacea for everything that ailed me. Something I could do almost unconsciously while on calls, and still feel productive.

To offset when I felt absolutely useless.

After almost a decade at South Sound Fire Communications as a dispatcher, I should be used to the miasma after a bad call, but it still hit me. Every time. Good results were common, but the bad ones made the news. Remembering successful CPR or AED saves helped when the swimmers swept away in our icy rivers left me feeling lost. And left an indelible mark on my heart. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Sometimes there was nothing I could do but coordinate behind the scenes and ask for updates afterward when I knew the first responders. It always felt unfinished, dissatisfying. And accepting that was easier some days than others.

The invisible weight dragging me down was hard to shake. A change of pace, of scene, seemed like just the thing. Thus, jury duty. But I hadn’t anticipated Andi joining me on my little sabbatical.

I snuck a quick glance down the table to where she sat between a thirty-something man and an older woman, smiling. Her bold laughter had more than me turning her way, curious about what was so funny and wanting to share the joke.

Her curly dark hair haloed her head, making her seem almost angelic. I snorted. False advertising. Andi was an absolute demon at trivia, competitive and quick. She answered questions lightning fast and playfully trash talked the other teams. Watching her was half the reason I went every week.

Pretending not to enjoy watching her was hard.

Turning down her blunt proposition for a night together had been even harder.

I swallowed at the memory of Andi, all sheets to the wind, sliding onto the bar seat next to me at trivia and whispering her question in my ear. I cursed quietly as I dropped a stitch on my blanket, backtracking to fix my mistake.

Mistake.

Maybe turning her down had been one. It certainly wasn’t whatIwanted. But it’s what my friendship with Jimmy demanded. He’d been blunt about his sister being off-limits, and my conscience wouldn’t let me take her home drunk, even if she proposed it.

Never mind that I fantasized about what might have happened until I was spent that night.

If Jimmy knew I’d stroked myself to thoughts of his sister, the next time I bench pressed at the gym, he’d be sure to let the weights drop instead of spotting me safely. If Andi had approached me sober, things might have been different, but ever since I’d turned her down, she’d avoided me. I couldn’t help but wonder if Jimmy had warned her off. I’d already proven I was a bad risk in relationships. Jess, my ex, had bailed at the first sign that my soccer star had faded. If she hadn’t seen something worth staying for, why would Andi be any different? She had everything going for her. Professional career, loving family, and friends.

I gritted my teeth as I dropped another stitch and had to backtrack yet again.

Keeping my attention on the present, on the trial, was the only way I’d be able to get through serving on the same jury with Andi.

I’d focus on the facts, finish this blanket, and then return to my regular life, ready to bring my A-game, running on codes, chaos, and caffeine.

Andi’s bright laugh burst out from her end of the table, and I couldn’t help but look up, admiring the gleam of her smile.

Her gaze caught mine, and her smile died.

Right.

Lately that had been my effect on her. Extinguishing her joy. Stoking her embarrassment that I’d turned her down. Unless Jimmy had disabused her of thinking I was any kind of catch?

Andi deserved a prince. Not a washed-up soccer player struggling to hold it together.

She dropped her gaze from mine and smiled at the blond man next to her.

Maybe he wasn’t a prince, but he looked nice and normal. Someone Jimmy would approve of and welcome into her life.

The older woman on her other side caught me staring and winked.