Page 4 of Heart of a Hero

"No need to apologize," he said, his voice low and smooth. "If I were in a hurry, I would’ve said something. But you were doing your job—taking care of something important. Waitin’ a few minutes to head back to the station wasn’t a problem."

Her smile widened, and a light chuckle escaped before she could stop it. "No mad dash to chase down any criminals?" The second the words left her mouth, she winced internally. Flirting? Really? She hadn’t flirted in… well, she couldn’t even remember when, and she certainly hadn’t meant to now.

But there it was again—his smile grew just enough to crinkle the skin at the corners of his dark eyes. "Not at the moment," he replied, his tone laced with a warmth that sent a shiver down her spine.

Karen swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure. "Well, it was nice meeting you." She nodded toward her vehicle. "I’ll just get out of your way."

Mark dipped his chin, the gesture slow and deliberate. The kind of movement men made that conveyed a host of unspoken thoughts. For reasons she couldn’t quite understand, she found it impossibly sexy. She’d never considered a simple nod to hold such quiet intensity until now. The way his dark eyes lingered on hers made her feel flustered and strangely captivated.

As she turned and walked toward her small SUV, her thoughts buzzed with images of how effortlessly handsome he looked compared to how frumpy she suddenly felt in her work scrubs. She had always been practical—dressing for comfort and utility, never for attention—but something about how he made her feel standing there stirred a self-consciousness she hadn’t felt in years.

Once behind the wheel, she took a breath, hands gripping the steering wheel as she glanced through the windshield, expecting to see Mark climbing into his vehicle. But when she looked up, her pulse quickened—he hadn’t moved. Instead, he leaned his shoulder casually against his SUV, his gaze still fixed on her. And there it was, that faint smile still lingering on his lips.

2

Mark stared at Karen as she backed out of Brad's driveway, but he didn’t take his eyes off her until she disappeared down the road. Only then did he climb behind the wheel and do the same.

Something about the pretty nurse captured his attention. Her beauty was understated—her golden-blond hair had a slight wave as it brushed against her shoulders. Her light brown eyes radiated warmth, which he imagined put her patients at ease.

His reaction was surprising. He was certainly acquainted with beautiful, intelligent, and kind women, but most were coworkers or involved with his friends.

She didn’t sport a traditional wedding ring on her left hand but wore a small ring with two stones—one green and one red. Not a jewelry connoisseur, he had no idea if it was a genuine emerald and ruby or a piece of costume jewelry. Even so, it could’ve been significant as an unusual wedding or commitment ring.

His eyes had followed her as she walked down the hall to check on Bess, and when he’d turned around, he found Brad’s shit-eating grin staring back at him.

“What?” he’d asked.

“Saw that you noticed her.”

He played it off by simply saying, “Pretty lady.” He quickly completed what he needed to go over with Brad, knowing his partner would take a few days off to be with Bess until her parents arrived.

When he went outside, he discovered that Karen had parked behind him. Not being in a hurry, he wasn’t bothered, especially knowing he’d have another chance to speak to her. He’d leaned against his vehicle, and in about fifteen minutes, she walked back out, giving him another opportunity to talk to her.

His pulse quickened slightly as she walked toward him. She exuded the air of quiet confidence he’d noticed earlier. Her steps became hurried when her gaze lifted, and she spied her vehicle blocking his.

Their time together had been less than a minute, yet he could have sworn there was something more in her tone… something playful, maybe even flirtatious. Snorting, he shook his head.I’ve been out of the game so long I wouldn’t recognize flirting if it bit me in the ass.Even with that thought and the recognition he had nogame, he drove back to the station, remembering how nice it had been having those warm brown eyes gazing at him.

Pulling into the parking lot and coming to a stop, he sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly as his fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “Okay, okay,” he muttered aloud. “Stop thinking about what isn’t happening. Got enough on my plate.” With those words, he climbed out of his vehicle. But as he walked toward the door, the image of Karen with her quiet laugh remained. The undeniable spark between them lingered in the back of his mind, refusing to be dismissed as easily as he’d hoped.

He walked down the hall, greeting those he met, then entered the detectives’ bullpen. The large room held desks in sets of two facing each other. When full, the hum of conversations and tapping on computer keyboards might seem overwhelming tosome, but Mark loved the energy. Without Brad sitting across from him, he mosied over to Aaron’s and Sam’s desks. Aaron Bergstrom had only been a detective for a few months longer than Mark after both had careers as deputies. Aaron was engaged to Belinda, Bess’s sister. Sam Shackley was a longtime detective.

Sam looked up and smiled. “Brad doing okay?”

“You aren’t going to ask about Bess?”

Sam laughed and shook his head. “I know Bess will have tons of people helping her. But Brad? He’s going into caregiving, protection mode.”

“Know that all too damn well,” Aaron quipped, turning around in his seat to grin at Mark.

“Brad’s doing okay, and Bess’s parents are due soon. Plus, the home health nurse showed up as I left.”

“Karen?” Aaron asked. “She’s wonderful. She was Belinda’s home nurse and seems to really care about her patients.”

“Yeah… she’s… yeah… seems nice…” As soon as the staggering words left his mouth, Mark battled the urge to cringe visibly. He sounded like a bumbling teenager and prayed the others hadn’t noticed. Looking around, he realized his prayers had obviously gone unanswered.

“Nice? Are you sure that’s all you noticed?” Aaron laughed.

“Damn,” Sam chided. “If you’ve got any hope of going for that, you need better adjectives thannice.”

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