And, as a nurse, my eyes were glued to his forearms where every single fucking vein that I could see was popping out like he had a tourniquet around his bicep.
The only thing around his bulging bicep was the sleeve of his t-shirt, and though it was tight—oh, man, was it so tight—it wouldn’t have produced the vein effect.
“Can I get you another?”
I blinked, surprised that I’d been watching Will at the end of the bar with his beer for so long that I hadn’t noticed another man coming up to me.
He wasn’t safe.
He actually looked kind of shady.
“My husband and I are fighting.” I pointed at Will at the end of the bar. “I’m fairly sure you buy me a drink, and you’ll be getting a black eye.”
The shady looking man that was way too close to me took a giant step back.
Eyes wary now, he said, “Sorry. Didn’t know you were with anyone.”
With that he left, leaving me to my study of the man at the end of the bar again.
Will was finishing the last dregs of his beer and raising his hand for another.
I should probably recommend that he slow his roll, I really wanted to use him tonight, but first I had to work up the courage to go down there.
I finally did ten minutes later after my second shot.
Standing up, I made sure to pull my pants up really good so they made my ass look amazing and walked down the length of the bar to the man that was giving off a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe a mile wide.
I reached Will’s side just as the bartender asked him if he could get him another.
Will jerked his chin in what I assumed was a yes nod.
I pulled out the barstool beside him, took a seat, and turned slightly toward him.
I watched as he stiffened, his mouth already open and his head turning to tell me to fuck off, but he stopped the moment he saw me sitting there.
CHAPTER 4
69% of people find something dirty in every sentence.
-Cannel to Will
WILL
“Can I get you another beer?”
I looked at the bartender and gave him a chin tilt as an affirmative.
Then I went back to staring at the foam that’d collected at the rim of my glass.
The chair beside me pulled out, and I nearly groaned.
I did not, under any circumstances, want to deal with anyone tonight.
I was in a really bad fuckin’ mood, and it all had to do with my partner who’d turned into a goddamn shrew again when I’d turned her down for a date.
Why had I turned her down for a date when a week ago I wouldn’t have?
Because I couldn’t get that girl out of my head.
The one from the hospital with her Coke bottle green eyes, and her skin that looked so warm I wanted to press my lips against it.
From the moment I saw her, spoke to her, there was no other woman that struck my fancy.
Not even the partner that’d been playing hard to get before I’d met Cannel.
Turning to tell the person that’d just sat down to fuck off, my mouth open ready to let the words fly, I came to a sudden halt at the sight of her sitting there.
“Cannel,” I said in surprise.
She smiled. “You look kind of thundercloud-ish,” she mused. “Is something wrong?”
My lips twitched at her calling me a ‘thundercloud.’
“Been better,” I admitted. “What are you doing at a place like this?”
My ‘you’re too good for this bar’ was left unsaid.
This bar was seedy, on the outskirts of town, and looked like it needed to be renovated at least twenty years ago.
At this point, I was surprised that they even got clientele.
The only reason I came here was because it was close enough to walk home if I needed to.
“I came here because it’s between my house and the hospital,” she admitted. “Why are you mad, Thundercloud?”
I leaned back even farther and hitched one foot on the rung of the shitty wooden barstool.
“Argument with my partner,” I admitted sourly.
Just the reminder of her anger at my supposed ‘betrayal’ set me back on edge and reminded me why the hell I was in this shithole in the first place.
Her head tilted slightly at my words.
“Your partner pissed you off?” she asked curiously.
I turned in my seat, putting the wall against my back, and allowed my legs to straddle her barstool.
Her eyes took in the move, then came back to meet mine.
“She’s not technically my partner,” I confessed. “Technically, she’s just the woman that’s giving me my field training that’s mandatory with the police department I just hired on at.”
“Why did she piss you off?” she asked curiously.
I didn’t know if I wanted to tell her why.
I mean, she was the reason why.
Would she want to hear that?
But I was just buzzed enough that my filter didn’t work so well.
Meaning, I did end up telling her everything.
“So I asked my partner out before I knew she was my partner,” I admitted. “At first when I started working, we caught a serial killer case, and I was working that with the chief, the FBI contact, and an old detective that knew about the case. During the case, I met Brianna. Found her attractive and asked if she would want to go on a date. She turned me down. I found out why a couple of days later when I learned that she would be my field trainer. Which is fuckin’ stupid because she’s not really in a supervisor capacity. We’re just shoved together because the chief doesn’t want us to be confused on procedures at our department.”
Cannel seemed to deflate at my words.
“So you like this woman? Your partner?” She sounded sad now.
Which I didn’t like at all.
Not one single fucking bit.
I didn’t like seeing a frown on that beautiful face, and I definitely didn’t like seeing those lines along her forehead that showed how unhappy she was.
“I like her…” I waited. “But when she asked me on a date today, I turned her down.”
Cannel blinked.
“What? Why?” she asked, sounding a bit upset.
“Because I met someone else that I’d rather date instead,” I found myself saying.
Cannel’s eyes widened. “Who?”
Thinking, ‘fuck it,’ I said, “You.”
Her mouth fell open slightly.
“Really?” she rasped.
Her teeth came down to worry her bottom lip, and I all but groaned.
“Really,” I confirmed. “When I met you last week, I started to ask around about you. See if you were single. But nobody knows anything about you.” I paused. “It’s been really hard to find out any information about you.”
“And your partner.” She smirked. “What did she say when you told her that you wanted me?”
“I didn’t tell her that I wanted you,” I admitted. “That would just put you on her target. I’ll let her figure it out naturally.”
“Naturally?” she asked.
“Naturally,” I confirmed. “When you come meet me at the station after work so we can go grab something to eat.” I broke off. “Or when you and I are out, and she sees us eating.”