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His brow lifted. “Huh. Crazy this is your first time being late for work, and the same thing happened to my daughter Rory this morning. She’s never been late for anything, and today of all days…she’s late.”
Not moving an inch, I simply smiled and replied, “Crazy coincidence.”
The smile that moved across his face made me nervous. “Sure is.”
“I’m sorry, Captain Adams. I won’t let it happen again. This is the first and last time I will ever be late for my shift.”
He nodded while leaning back in his chair. “You know, Ward, I have to say, I was wrong about you.”
Lifting my brow, I asked, “Why is that, sir?”
“You probably don’t remember me from when you were younger.”
With a grin, I nodded. “I don’t. sir. I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “You were young. Had a thing for my daughter Rory, though.”
I swallowed hard and prayed he didn’t see the sweat forming on my forehead. “R-really?”
“You would follow her everywhere. My wife and your mother thought it was cute.”
With a forced laugh, I spoke when I should have kept my mouth shut. “And you didn’t?”
His eyes turned dark and he leaned forward. “Someday, Ward. Someday you’ll have a daughter and you’ll want to protect her from guys like you.”
My blood boiled. “From guys like me? I’m sorry, sir, but what is that supposed to mean?”
“Players. Love them and leave them. I know….I was once that man.”
I leaned forward to show him he was not intimidating me. “May I ask you a question, sir?”
He chuckled. “Sure, Ward.”
“What made you change?”
“I met Chelsea and fell in love. She changed my entire world.”
I nodded. “So if it happened for you, why couldn’t the same thing happen to ‘a guy like me’?”
Captain Adams’s eyes turned dark. “I guess it could.”
We sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. “You know, if you want to keep Flash here at the station, you can.”
“Is my lesson over then?”
His jaw clenched and he remained silent.
“I’d actually like to continue to bring him home, sir. I’ve been working on training him.”
Before he could answer, an alarm went off. I stood and said, “Good talking to you, Cap.”
Before he could respond, I headed out of his office and down to the truck, my heart pounding in my chest so loud I could hardly hear what was going on around me.
Quickly getting dressed, I glanced up and saw Captain Adams staring at me.
He knew.
—
The weights dropped to the floor as I dragged in a deep breath.
“Jesus, Ward. You all right today?”
Glancing over to Colton, I replied, “No. I’m not. Did you say something to Cap?”
“Fuck no I didn’t. You know me better than that.”
“What are we talking about?” Zeb asked.
We turned and looked at him and replied in unison, “Nothing.”
Holding up his hands, Zeb took a step back. “Damn. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of you so uptight before.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face, then dropped them to my side and took a quick glance around. “I’m dating Captain Adams’s daughter. He just doesn’t know it. At least I don’t think he knows.”
Zeb’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hold on….I’m still trying to process that you said you were dating someone.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fuck you.”
He let out a chuckle, then dropped his smile and turned serious. “Ward, you do know that if he finds out you’re dating his daughter he is either going to kill you, make your life miserable, or fire you.”
With a laugh, I shook my head. “Fire me why? Because I’m dating his daughter? There aren’t any rules that say I can’t.”
“No, but he’ll be hell-bent to find something you do wrong and use it to get you out.”
I reached down and picked the weight bar up again. “Well, he won’t find anything.”
“You were late today, dude. Since I’ve known you, you have never been late for a shift.”
Letting out a huff, I started to pump the iron for ten reps before dropping it on the floor again. “Well, there’s a first time for everything. I overslept. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Were you with Rory last night?” Colton asked.
Not wanting to lie to my best friends, I swallowed and looked down at nothing on the floor. “Yes. We were together last night and she was also late. Cap brought up how she was late today as well. Almost like he was fishing for something.”
“Do you think he suspects?” Zeb asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure. Unless he’s seen us together. Otherwise he couldn’t know unless someone in my family or Colton here told him.”
Colton shot me a dirty look. “I didn’t say a word to anyone, asshole.”
“Listen, Finn,” Zeb said. “You know I’m not one to preach shit to you. But this doesn’t feel right. You’re starting your relationship with her in a lie.”
