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Vicki’s sense of style is much different than mine. She prefers more clean lines and modern styles. I’m more eclectic and if I like it, I take it and use it even if it doesn’t match everything else.
“No worries. I’m just going to lie on the couch and pray for this day to be over.” I throw myself onto the couch face first.
She comes out of the bathroom.“Uh, what happened?”
Sitting up, I place my hands in my head and I tell her the story about my run-in with officer “A”. Also how embarrassed I was that he caught me looking and even down to the goodbye he said before he left.
She looks at me, pursing her lips, holding back any judgement. “Well, he was cute, right?”
I shake my head. “Not cute. Painfully hot as fuck. I mean, if what I could see outside his uniform was any sign,” Kicking my feet up on her table, I lean my head back against the couch. “Hot. As. Fuck.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean, he’s probably used to the staring, if he’s as hot as you say he is.” She tilts her head to the side, flashing a smile.
I shrug. “Yeah, I guess.”
The thing about Vicki is she is very confident in herself. She works at a bar and she’s absolutely gorgeous. Vicki gets hit on by guys every minute of the day. She is everything I am not. Being complete opposites, she sometimes doesn’t get what I find uncomfortable. So, for her, even the idea that I was staring at officer “A” made sense, since that happens to her all the time.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. He probably forgot all about it when he left.” she says as she walks into her kitchen.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I get up and scroll through my phone. “I just hate being in the spotlight like that.”
Vicki gives me a sympathetic look. “I know.”
Why would he even have a second thought about some random weirdo in a coffee house? He wouldn’t. I’m sure he and his partner got a solid laugh about the crazy OneShot Coffee girl who couldn’t take her eyes off him, when they went back to their patrol vehicle. After that, I’m sure I was a fleeting thought.
Besides, I should do the same. Completely forget that hunk of a man. I mean, it’s not like I will ever see him again.
Chapter 2
Bryce
There isno way to unsee them. Those beautiful emerald eyes; they were the tint of a spring clover. They were enchanting. And the woman behind those eyes? She was beautiful. I couldn’t stop looking at her. When I sat down, I picked that table on purpose. I knew it would allow me to continue seeing her. Of course, I feel like a complete stalker now, but I couldn’t help it. Something had pulled me to her. My mind is in the clouds as I head back to my patrol car with my partner, Austin Hardwick.
“You okay over there, Hawthorne?” Hardwick stops at the driver’s side door and raises his eyebrow at me with a slight grin.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” I shoot back, annoyed at him for even asking.
“Well, you look a little like you’re out in left field. You were fine until you saw that little hottie in there. Though, I don’t blame you. She’s sexy.” He grins and whistles. “Man, she was a sexy thing.”
“She is way too young for you, old man. So, don’t even think about it.” I point at him and narrow my eyes. He is trying to get a rise out of me. It may be working.
“What? She had to be in her early twenties. That would be perfect!” He laughs and gets into the driver’s side of the police vehicle. I follow his lead and sit down on the passenger side. Austin had caught me staring at her inside OneShot, and he also knows we sat right next to her while we were waiting for our drinks. It’s obviously not lost on him I found her extremely attractive.
“Whatever, man.” I sip on my coffee, and we sit there for a minute.
Needing to get my mind off the green-eyed beauty in there, I scroll through some texts from my ex-girlfriend. Anything to pull my mind out of the clouds, and Emma’s texts could definitely bring me back down. After a couple minutes, the door shoots open. I see her come barreling out of the coffee house, looking a little flustered. She doesn’t even notice that we’re still in the parking lot.
This woman is absolutely stunning. Her black hair falls to the middle of her back, and those emerald eyes sparkle bright against the dark of her hair. She’s probably only a little over five feet tall, and she’s tiny. This one hid herself well in her oversized hoodie, trying to hide and blend in, but even I can still see she’s was absolutely beautiful. She had me mesmerized from the moment she looked up and our eyes locked.
It’s been over a month since I have moved out here, and quite a few months since I’ve been with anyone. Even though I’ve been out and about on the strip with some guys from the force, no girl has ever truly even held my attention. There hasn’t been a single woman I wanted to get to know or tried to talk to that interested me.
This girl is different. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. There is just something about her that roots her in my mind. Her eyes tell me something, but I just don’t quite know what they’re saying. There’s an innocence about her, which is hard to find these days.
“Lost deep in thought over there?” Hardwick asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“No, just texts from my ex had me thinking.” I lied. The only thing I’m thinking about is how could I find this girl again. If I came back here, would she be here? Did she come here often?
I watch her locate her car, get in, and leave. We’re too far away for me to get the plates at the angle we’re at. Not that I have a reason as to why I would run her plates. However, she drives a black Ford Fusion. At least I have something. I also just became a frequent patron of OneShot Coffee.