Page 53 of Espresso Your Love

“You’ll do great, Cassie. Safe travels.”

“Thank you, Ryan,” I say as he turns and walks inside Coffee Loft.

I resist watching him leave as I turn to get into the limo. Sighing heavily, I slump into the plush leather seat and plop my phone in my lap. It continues to buzz with notifications, including a text from Ashley. Sure enough, she saw Ryan and wants to know what happened. I shake it off and turn my attention to the task at hand. I have clients to impress.

16

Ryan

Seeing her this morning is killing me. Her blonde curls cascading down her shoulders. Her blue eyes looking straight into my soul. She’s concerned though, and she has every right to be. I was a coward and ran off instead of telling her what was wrong. I could have told her exactly how I felt right there amid the crowd. I could have pulled her in for a kiss like I wanted to in the hay maze.

But after the incident, I can’t shake the feeling of impending failure. If I can’t guarantee her safety then how can I pursue more? The closer I get to her, the more dangerous it is. So I have to stay away. And now that the festival is done, it should be fairly easy to do just that.

Luckily, Ashley isn’t at the register when I place my order to go. If Cassie filled her in, she’d definitely be asking me questions, and I don’t want to answer any of them right now.

As soon as my order is ready, I take it and go to my cruiser. Not that I ever wish for crime, but I hope it’s a busy day to keep my mind occupied with other things. Maybe another round ofmissing gnomes or cornering a chicken in a bakery. Bring it on, Meadowbrook. I’m ready for the small-town crime.

When I get to the station, I’m immediately pulled into a meeting. Chief Dobbs is standing at the front of the room, and most of the officers in the precinct are here. This must be big.

“I called everyone in today for a serious matter. It’s been brought to my attention that we have a problem in the precinct.”

I look around wondering what this could be about, but not even a whisper fills the room.

“That problem is with our newbie, Ryan Hayes.”

All eyes shoot to me.

“Ryan, you were in charge of the Autumn Festival security, and we had an issue there, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Care to explain?”

I clear my throat. “We followed a group of teenagers who were acting suspiciously. It ended up being harmless. They are in a band and tried to connect their phone to the sound system at the stage and blew a fuse.”

“I heard how you handled it through Lawson and Mitchell,” he pauses, then smiles. “And the festival went without a hitch.”

The room breaks into applause.

“You did a fantastic job running point on the security for this event, Hayes. We wanted to give credit where credit is due, with a little dose of hazing for the new guy.”

A few slaps on the back cracks a smile from me. I chuckle and shake my head at their antics. “Thanks, everyone.” I feel my face heat up under their applause.

With pats on the back and some congratulations, the meeting turns into casual conversations. Officers filter out as we all get back to work. I have a mountain of paperwork waiting for me at my desk. I’m hoping to get called out, but I guess the paperwork will take my mind off of everything too.

About an hour into it, Cecilia calls me over the phone.

“What can I do for you?”

“We got a call saying there’s someone suspicious at your house. Figured you might want to be the one to head over there.”

“Sure, Mitchell and I are on our way.”

Mitchell starts grabbing his gear as soon as he hears his name.

“C’mon, Max.” I grab my gear, and we head out to the cruiser.

“Did she say anything else?” Mitchell asks me as we get inside.

---