Page 1 of Hot Pursuit (Love To The Rescue #1)

ONE

VIOLETA ‘VI’ PEREZ

I blinked. Once, twice, three times.

I had no idea why, but for some reason, I couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at.

Of what had just happened.

I stared out the shattered windshield of my old SUV and let out a shaky breath.

“This cannot be happening,” I whispered to myself. I swallowed down fear and bile. Usually, Fridays were great. They were the days I looked forward to the most. The best. Easy. My fun days, so to speak.

But not this Friday. One thing had tumbled into another, creating an avalanche of an incredibly crappy day. Now, this? This was the cherry on top of a shit-tastic sundae.

“Hey!” a deep voice sounded, slightly muffled. I blinked and slowly turned my head, wincing in pain. I glanced out the window. Crap, that one was broken, too! “Hey,” the deep voice called again, and I tried to focus on the man coming closer.

Not that he could get that close.

Not when an electrical pole that had been struck by a truck had fallen on top of my car. Am I dead? I wondered as my vision cleared slightly, no longer as blurry due to being shaken up that badly. Nope, I was crying. Ugly crying.

The man mere feet away was beautiful. Had I’d actually died?

“Are you an angel?” I asked because the guy was way too good-looking to be a police officer in real life. He was hot enough to play one on TV, that was for sure.

I shut my eyes and breathed in, then exhaled slowly.

Okay, it didn’t hurt to breathe. That was a good sign.

I tried to get a better look at him through the shattered glass.

Tall and brawny with close-cut dark hair and an even darker scruff covering his jaw.

Almost like he’d been in a hurry this morning and didn’t have time to shave.

Glad I wasn’t the only one who woke up late!

The navy-blue uniform didn’t hide the muscles that lay beneath. And he had two sleeves of tattoos that went from his short cuffs all the way to his wrist in an intricate design I couldn’t quite make out. I was too far to see what was drawn on his muscled forearms arms. Do angels have tattoos?

“What?” His lips twitched up, and I could have sworn there was a hint of not one but two dimples. Dimples that made him look even hotter. Not that I was able to appreciate it for long. He moved closer, but the wires hanging off the windshield of my old car sparked, and I yelled.

“Oh god!” My body felt like it was vibrating.

That’s when it all came tumbling back.

The high-speed pursuit. I’d witnessed when the big black truck flew past me, and not a second later, just when I’d approached the stop sign, I heard the loud BANG of the truck just in time for me to see the big wooden electrical post fall right on top of my car.

The sound of metal crunching up still rang in my ears.

“Shit, stay where you are! It’s going to be okay,” the handsome cop reassured me. His eyes took in the situation.

“I’m not dead?” I asked as I looked at the front seat of my older sedan. The middle of the roof was sagging, and the glass in front of me was shattered.All the glass in my car seemed to be.

“No, beautiful. You’re not dead. You’re very, very alive. I’m gonna help stay you that way, okay?” Beautiful? Maybe I had a concussion, and I was hearing what I wanted to hear. How long had it been since someone had said something nice to me?

“Promise?” I asked with a cheesy smile that probably made me look like a crazy person who was flirting in a seriously inappropriate time! The wires snapped and popped, making me jump again. I squeaked with fear. So much for flirting and trying to lighten the situation.

Shit. My heart rate started to pick up speed, but my breathing was becoming shallow as I thought about my predicament. I was dizzy. Lightheaded. There was an electrical pole on top of my car. Live wires jumping and sparking.

Shit. I was going to get electrocuted.

Is this how I am going to die?

“Hey! Look at me again, beautiful,” the cop snapped me out of my dark thoughts. Even through the shattered glass, I could make out his eyes and the way they locked with mine. “I promise, princess. I’m going to get you out,” the handsome officer reassured me.

I didn’t know him.

This was probably what he was trained to do. Give hope to the hopeless. Shit. Tears burned behind my eyes, but somehow, I didn’t let them roll down my face. This couldn’t be how I died. Zapped by a stupid electric pole like some kind of bug! Nope, I wasn’t going to let my mind go down that path.

Instead, like some kind of horny lunatic, I chose to check out the hot cop.

And my oh my, there was a lot to soak in.

My gaze skated down his broad chest. I tried to read his name but couldn’t make out what it said.

I lifted my hand and touched the bridge of my nose.

My head was hurting. Pounding really. Something wet ran down the side of my face that was probably blood.

If it was, I seriously needed to ignore it because blood made me woozy.

“Talk to me, babe. What’s going on?” He stepped closer to my car, and I pressed my lips together.

Life had a weird sense of humor. It’d delivered gut punch after gut punch since I’d been born.

Every time, I’d stood up, almost positive it had done it for some kind of reason.

Now I was staring death in the eye with the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

Even through the shattered glass, I could tell he was breathtaking.

“Babe, talk to me,” he urged. Babe. I was sure he didn’t mean anything by it. It was probably just the high-stress situation, but for a moment, I let myself think about what it would be like to date a guy like him.

Officer Tall, Dark, and Handsome probably had a reputation as a Grumpy Gus within his department. All stoic and quiet, more than likely serious. But if I were his, he’d show me a softer side. A sweeter side.

“Hey—“ he called out, stepping forward and then jumping back when the cable swung out, snapping me out of my delusional thoughts.

As if a guy like Officer Angel Eyes would ever take a second glance at me, much less ask me out.

“Nothing.” I shook my head, licking my dry lips. “Nothing’s wrong.” I tried to smile, but a heavy wave of dizziness washed over me. My fingers dropped in front of me, and I realized the warm liquid there was red.

Blood red. So much for ignorance being bliss.

“I’m bleeding,” I gasped and looked out at the man.More police cars arrived in a frenzy, along with two fire trucks. Sirens and lights whirled with my own nauseousness.

“You’re going to be okay,“ he promised.

“I don’t remember hitting anything.” Panic started to bubble up.

“Hey! Princess?” My eyes moved back to his blue ones. He was closer now somehow. “There you are.” He smiled the moment our eyes connected. I had no idea how I could feel so connected yet so far from someone who was mere inches from me.

“You have pretty eyes,” I noted out loud, resting the back of my head against the headrest.

“The better to see you with.” He winked, lightening the mood. Damn, he was likable. My lips twitched.

“Did you just quote the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood ?” I asked in disbelief.

“Maybe.” He smiled. His eyes left mine as someone called for him.

“Help’s almost here, okay?” He looked like he was ready to jump right towards me and rip me out of my car.

“Right,” I whispered. My mind was fuzzy while it buzzed a million miles a minute.

Is this it?

Is this all life has in store for me?

“Do me a favor, princess?” he called out, and I blinked away tears.

“What?” I asked, swallowing down the bile that threatened to rise. I had no idea what I’d throw up if I did since I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before.

“Can you unclip your seatbelt for me?” he requested. I heard his words, but he wasn’t making sense.

“What?” I asked. The big, beautiful sight of him started to turn fuzzy, and a knot lodged in the middle of my throat. What if this was it? What if I died a never-been-kissed virgin?

“Baby, stay with me,” he ordered in a tone that forced me to pay closer attention.

He stepped forward again, as close as he could without touching the wires still sparking. Probably too close, but he didn’t seem too worried about the live electrical wire hanging out on top of my car.

“Unclip your seatbelt,” he repeated, and without thinking, I did as he asked.

“It’s unclipped.” I forced a smile we both knew was fake.

“What’s your name?” he asked, his attention laser-focused on me. Man, a girl could get addicted to the way he’s looking at me.

“Princess,” I teased, and he chuckled.

“That’s pretty.”

“It’s a name.” I shrugged. I had no idea I could flirt. Shit, if this was my last chance, at least I could flirt with a hot cop built like an Adonis.

“Mine’s Logan,” he shared. Logan. It fit him.

“I like it. It works, Officer Logan.”

“Yeah? Fits me?”

“Are all cops this needy for compliments?” I teased, trying to ignore the serious fear mounting inside me. I breathed in slowly and noted that nothing major seemed to hurt. I just felt stiff. Really, really stiff. Trapped.

“Pretty much.” His answer made me smile, but then my lips wobbled.

“Hey, Logan?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Did I, umm, did I hurt someone?” My brain felt like a slushie, all fuzzy with what had happened.

I’d been waiting for two cars in front of me to get through the stop sign.

I’d watched a truck fly through the stop sign with two police cars chasing close after him with lights and sirens.

The moment they passed, the cars moved up, and then…

nothing. Nothing but a loud bang and crunching metal.

“No.” He shook his head. “You were at a stop. We had a high-speed pursuit, and the suspect hit the electrical pole behind you.” I tried to turn, but pain shot down my neck and spine. “Stay still for me, okay? Just to be on the safe side.”