Page 216 of Hot Cops

WAITING FOR US

I Do is the easy part.Happily ever after? Not so much.

Evan and Annie are deeply in love, but that hasn’t stopped tension from creating cracks in their relationship. Determined not to fail his wife, Evan takes action before those cracks become craters, damaging their marriage irreparably.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, he’ll reignite Annie’s passion with his own brand of fireworks. And this hot cop will pull out all the stops…and his cuffs.

Stand back and watch the sparks fly.

PROLOGUE

“Well,look what the cat dragged in. This is an unexpected surprise. Didn’t know Maris’ biggest, baddest lawman was planning to stop by tonight. Where’s Annie?”

Lieutenant Evan Sparks claimed a seat at the counter and smiled at his cousin, Macie. He’d left work a little later than normal and had almost been home when he found his cop car making an illegal U-turn in the middle of Sagebrush Lane to come to Sparks Barbeque instead. The restaurant had been in his family for three generations and it felt more like home sometimes than his actual house.

He’d been depressed all day and he needed some advice. He could count on straight-shooting Macie to lay it all out for him.

Evan shrugged. “She’s at home, I guess.”

Macie narrowed her eyes. “You guess?”

He glanced at his watch. It was almost six-thirty. Quitting time at the bank, where his wife Annie was a loan officer, was at five o’clock. “Yeah. She’ll be home by now.”

Macie reached into the cooler and pulled out a Heineken. She popped the cap and slid it across the counter to him. “And you’rehere. Looking like someone shot your dog. Did you two have a fight or something?”

He shook his head. He and Annie rarely fought. At least, not with words. Instead, there was a tension hovering in the air so thickly these days that sometimes Evan thought it would almost be a relief to break it up with some screaming. However, they couldn’t do that because they’d both be yelling at the wrong person. No one was to blame for what was making their lives together so unbearable.

Macie looked around the restaurant. Their cousins, Jeannette and Sydney, would be in the kitchen cooking, while Macie’s mom Stella and their Uncle TJ were serving dinner and chatting with a large table of patrons in the corner.

The general consensus in Maris, Texas, was that the Sparks family made the greatest barbeque in the world. Countless entrepreneurs and food critics had found their way to Maris in he hopes of bottling the sauce or creating a chain of Sparks restaurants. The family had turned down every offer, dedicated to maintaining quality over mass-producing something that wouldn’t live up to their standards.

Macie always manned the bar, since she was damn easy to talk to and made one hell of a Bloody Mary. She had a bubbly personality and an incredible memory. Evan suspected she knew the drink of choice of every single person who had ever walked into the restaurant.

Once Macie was sure they could chat relatively undisturbed, she leaned over the counter and lowered her voice. “Okay, spill. What’s wrong, Evan?”

He hesitated, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d come here because he needed someone to talk to and he trusted Macie. Evan wondered if it was embarrassment or pride holding him back.

“You know, Mace, there’s only one thing I’ve ever been sure of in my life. One thing I’ve known about myself since I was young.”

“What’s that?”

“That I want to be a father. That’s the life I’ve always wanted to live. The feeling’s always been there.”

Macie sighed softly, her eyes filled with compassion. “Still no luck?”

He shook his head miserably. Evan and Annie had married when they were in their early thirties, both well established in their careers. They’d planned to start a family immediately, hoping for a honeymoon baby. Everyone in town knew they were anxious to become parents and in those early days, very few weeks passed when someone hadn’t asked if they were expecting yet. Then the months turned into a year and that year extended into another. With the passage of time, people stopped inquiring, and actually tried to avoid making eye contact with him and Annie anytime the subject of babies came up.

“I know the doctor said there was nothing medically wrong, but have you and Annie considered talking to someone else?”

“We have.”

Macie seemed surprised by Evan’s admission. He didn’t blame her. She’d been his confidant for most of his life. Maybe it was strange for him to be so close to a female cousin who was several years older than him, but even when they were younger, Macie had felt like a kindred spirit. “When?”

“We drove to Austin a few months ago to see a specialist.”

“And?”

“And Dr. Bryan was right. There’s no medical reason why we can’t conceive, so the specialist gave us some tricks to try. None of them are working.”

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