Page 6

Toni’s was still lit up but given that it was the middle of the work week and past ten PM, the place was less than half full. None of that mattered though, because as soon as my gaze landed on the man sitting alone near the end of the bar, I knew there was nowhere else I would want to be.

I smiled, offering small waves at the familiar faces as I passed them by, struggling to remove my eyes from North Hastings as he sipped from a glass of what looked like whiskey. I never realized throats could be sexy, but as I watched his Adam’s apple bob and the tendons in the side of his neck strain as he swallowed, a rush of warmth crashed into me like a wave threatening to take me off my feet.

His normally-well-styled hair was slightly disheveled, like he’d been running his fingers through it, and the dark blue uniform he usually had on when I saw him had been switched out for a pair of well-worn jeans that hugged his thick thighs and a navy tee that stretched over his biceps in a way that made my ovaries stand up and take notice.

It wasn’t only his looks that made my heart race. Though, the dark hair, his sharp, chiseled bone structure, muscled frame, and light eyes made him all kinds of fun to look at, I knew in my bones there was so much more to him than all of that.

What called to me most was the fact that he was a good man. No, a great man. I didn’t know from personal experience, but I’d seen enough to know I was right. More than once, he’d intervened when Tolliver Brady and his goons tried to overstep, using their badge as a reason to harass and abuse.

I knew about shitty guys. All too well, unfortunately. And my gut told me North Hastings wasn’t like that. That was why I kept moving in his direction, even though sitting by himself was probably due to the vibes coming off him. I might not have been as woo-woo as my mother was, but I totally believed in vibes and energies, and North’s was not inviting company.

But on top of being in tune with moods, I was also a little (or a lot) stubborn and when it came to things I wanted, something clicked and I went for it. And as embarrassing as it was to admit to myself (and my friends since I was as transparent as a wet sheet of rice paper), I couldn’t stop wanting him.

He didn’t budge as I grew closer, like he was in some sort of trance, staring into his glass as he spun it in circles.

The bartender, helping a customer a few stools down, tilted his chin at me before heading toward me as I pulled up the stool directly next to North. “Hey, sweetheart. What can I get you?”

“Oh, uh . . .” My head had been so wrapped up in the man beside me since walking through the door, I hadn’t even considered if I wanted a drink. “Can I get a vodka soda with two limes?”

The bartender gave me a nod and made quick work of my order, placing the glass in front of me on the bar when he finished. “Thanks,” I said as I picked it up and took that first sip. The crispness of the soda water and the sweet tang from the limes coated my tongue as the vodka slid down my throat and settled in my stomach, creating a pleasant warmth in my belly. I was going to need that tiny hit from the booze if I had any chance of having an actual conversation with North without making a stuttering fool of myself. I could handle myself well in most situations. Hell, I made a living talking to strangers, but I couldn’t keep my cool around this man. And the harder I tried, the worse it got.

I worked on my breathing to try and find my center, then, when that didn’t work, I sucked back a hearty gulp of my cocktail.

“You box breathing?”

North’s unexpected voice caused me to jump in my seat and spill a bit of my drink down my shirt. “Damn it,” I muttered under my breath as I mopped at the spot right over my boob aggressively.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

I could feel the heat hitting my cheeks and knew they were probably burning as red as my hair. The thing I hated the most about my telling blush was the fact it practically made my freckles (the bane of my existence) stand out even worse. The stupid things glowed like those stick-on stars I had stuck all over my ceiling and walls when I was a kid.

“Oh, no! I mean, um . . . it-it’s totally fine. No problem. It’s all good.” Dear Goddess, shut up Iris.

I pulled in a fortifying breath. “Uh . . . and, yeah. I was box breathing. How’d you know?”

He twisted his head around, facing me fully for the first time, and damn if that one simple look wasn’t a punch right to the solar plexus. This was the closest I had ever been to the object of my every fantasy for an embarrassingly long time, and from this close, I could see his hair looked even softer than I originally thought. And his eyes . . . Goddess alive, the man’s eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue I’d ever seen, like the ocean with a ring of copper around the outer rim of each iris. The only word I could think to describe them was piercing. He had the most piercing eyes I’d ever seen. Sinking deep into those eyes felt like floating in the warm Caribbean waters with the sun beaming down on me.

His gaze was a tropical vacation that I never wanted to return from.

“We learned it in the academy. A way to keep us calm in high-stress situations.”

I nodded, then, after a good ten seconds, I realized that was all I was doing. I probably looked like a bobblehead. “I-I’ve heard that.” I took another drink for more courage, hoping it would smooth out the stuttering. “I learned from my mom. She’s always been into that kind of thing.”

One dark brow quirked up on his forehead, and even that was sexy. “Kind of thing? You mean breathing?”

I didn’t miss the one corner of his mouth trembled in what looked like a suppressed grin. At least that was what I hoped it was. He was either flirting or making a joke, and I knew which one I wanted it to be.

“Sort of,” I said with a small giggle that thankfully didn’t result in a snort. “I mean breathwork, yeah, but she also practices yoga and mindfulness.” I scrunched my nose up and lifted my shoulder in a shrug. “She also loves Tai Chi and journaling.” I left out the part about her Wiccan practices and the whole naked-chanting-beneath-the-moon thing. Just to be on the safe side.

“Wow. That’s a lot.”

“It is. And there were more than a few times growing up when I found it embarrassing, but more times than that, her teachings got me out of a bind. If I was stressed about an exam, the box breathing helped. If I had anxiety about upcoming finals or finding the perfect prom dress, meditation helped.” My smile started to melt away as my mind drifted to my mother.

“Hey.” North’s voice pulled me out of my head and back to the here and now. “What happened just now?”

“Sorry. My mind wandered for a second. I was thinking about my mother.” I didn’t know why the words were falling out as quickly as they were. Truth was, only my closest friends knew what was going on, but there was something about this guy that had my words vomiting all over the place. “She’s battling breast cancer right now.”

“Christ,” he breathed. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”