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I’m about to say something when I realize I didn’t get it nearly as bad as the poor guy behind me.
My mouth literally drops open as I see whoever charged me just about do a full-on tackle into the poor kid. And kid is a fair assessment. If the first guy was running from a bull, the second one shouldn’t even be trying to run from a Pomeranian. I see sunglasses go flying up in the air and clatter down over by the curb. His body is actually lifted off the ground, spun, and brought down with his arms pinned behind his back.
And I’m just standing there watching like it’s on tv.
The kid is yelping something out and I’m surprised to hear my name, twice, then repeated by the bulldozer man. I see his big shoulders relax and he spins the kid around, dusting off the smaller guy’s shoulders and straightening out his sweatshirt like it’s a tie at a junior prom.
It dawns on me now; this is Danny Taylor (Thomas? Something like that) from my anthro class. The poor guy is bent over, breathing deeply. The bigger fellow must’ve knocked the wind out of him. I finally realize I’m just standing there like an idiot when I ought to be seeing what the problem is, and that’s when the bigger guys turns around.
I feel like my eyes must’ve popped out, cartoon-style.
I’m not surprised I didn’t recognize him. I mean, I’ve thought about him more than once, and in more ways than one, but actually seeing him again wasn’t something I’d really considered a possibility. And not once, I’m a little embarrassed to admit, had my imagination put him in street clothes. Regular old jeans and a shirt. No, in my mind he was always the big burly cop,mybig burly cop, and in spite of the fact he’d been dressed like a detective when I first saw him, in my imagination he got the full blues, hat and all.
“You all right?” he says, turning to me for the first time.
I can see there’s a part of him still in cop mode, assessing the situation, checking on bystanders. And he did catch me a good one on his way by, but there’s something else in his eyes, something I really hadn’t ever anticipated seeing. But if I’m not wrong, he looks just a little bit embarrassed.
I start to answer, but before I can, a sarcastic wheeze comes from Danny. “I’m super, just super. Thanks.”
The cop, Brady, I think, licking my lips just a little, turns back to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. He leans down and murmurs something I can’t quite hear. Can’t quite hear, and am not sure I want to hear. Whatever the case, I feel the butterflies in my stomach when I see how tightly Brady’s jeans outline his ass. I’m definitely going to need to work out today. Or at least take the post-workout bath.
Danny stands up finally and looks around Brady’s shoulder, considering that he’s practically hidden from view when he’s on the other side of the officer. “Hey,” he says, “I was just coming over to say hi. I didn’t mean anything by it and I didn’t realize you were still working. I’ll just..uh…I’ll see you in class. I guess.” He started walking away, though he never turned his back on Brady.
“Your glasses,” I say, pointing to the curb.
Danny takes a quick glance and picks up the pair from the sidewalk, never taking his eyes off Brady. “Thanks,” he gestures with his shades, and even from where I am I can see the frames are terribly bent out of shape.
Danny makes a little wave, looks like he’s about to cross the street, and then, changing his mind, keeps on our side of the road until he gets to the corner.
Brady finally takes his eyes off the poor kid and turns back to me.
I look back at him for a moment and, thankfully, he seems to take what is my unabashed gushing as some kind of reprimand. I was just admiring the view but he jumps into some kind of formal report on the incident. I’m not sure what to say; I just hope my bright red cheeks aren’t giving my excitement away too much.
“I just happened to be in the area,” he says, “heading south on Park Avenue when I noticed the…”
His voice trails off and I think he finally realizes I’m not a commanding officer, I’m not even a mid-level employee at the jewelry store. I’m just an eighteen-year-old girl biting her lip and unsuccessfully hiding her grin.
“Sorry,” he says. He looks down the street, and though it’s in the direction Danny went, it’s more of an aimless glance, like he’s just not sure where to put his eyes. I thought I saw just a tiny glimmer of this when we spoke the first time, but if I’m being honest, I was more concerned with how he was viewing me.
“I’m all right,” I say when he looks back. “And if you were trying to put the fear of God in Danny, it clearly worked.”
He looks at me, one eyebrow up in this charmingly innocent way.
“He waited till he got to the corner to cross the street,” I say. “That’s what this was about, right? Because he jaywalked? Or, at least I assume he did. You kinda had the whole thing under control before I realized it had started.”
Brady laughs just a little, looking down. “Yeah, I have a tendency to do that.”
“I hope you do,” I say. And am immediately mortified.
My mind has been focused on two main things when it comes to this cop. One is that we would have ravishingly wonderful sex and fall in love and the world would be like an x-rated Hallmark movie. The other is that I was never going to actually see him again. Which would be fine, except now here I am, seeing him again. And half of my brain is gearing up for a nice little orgasm just out of habit.
“Because…,” I start, unsure where the sentence is going to go, just knowing it probably can’t get worse. “It’s important…you…”
Thankfully, he jumps in and saves me. “It’s what they train us to do. Assess, assess, assess. If something looks weird, it’s because it probably is. At least that’s the way I’ve been viewing things for the last twenty,” he winces a little, “years or so.”
“I suppose it’s a good way to stay safe,” I say, lamely. “Even in a town like this, you need to be on your guard.” Even lamer. Great job so far, Meg.
“Well,” he says slowly, glancing down the sidewalk again, “you’ve just witnessed what can happen when you forget that sometimes weird things are just weird, or sometimes they are just plain normal. Tell your friend I do apologize next time you see him.”
