Don't Call Me Hero (16 page)

“So … is Grace seeing anyone?” Rich stroked the scruff on his chin.

I spun on my heel to regard my friend. “You stay away from her, you wolf.”

He held up his hands, surrendering.

“She’s too sweet for you, Rich.”

“I like sweet,” Rich said contemplatively. “I can do sweet.

I shook my head. “I’ve gotta get to work.”

+ + +

The night had been longer than usual. I didn’t know if it was because I knew my friend was sitting alone in my apartment with Grace Kelly just across the hallway, or if the Summer Solstice had kicked in early.

When I finally got off work around 6:00 a.m., Rich was sitting upright on the easy chair, snoring like a downshifting semi-truck. I fell into my own bed and closed my eyes. Luckily, I was used to sleeping through similarly loud noises after living in a war zone.

I woke up a few hours later, not to Rich snoring, but to the sound of an ice cream truck playing its song. I stayed in bed and listened as the truck drove up and down the surrounding residential streets. I could hear its jangled song grow stronger and fade again. Children’s voices carried through my open apartment windows.

“Are we under attack?” Rich’s voice called out to me.

I stood on top of my bed so I could peer out the high windows. A gaggle of children swarmed the ice cream truck like zombies after brains.

“It would appear so.”

Rich was at the kitchen island shoveling Cap’n Crunch cereal into this mouth when I left my bedroom area. “Good morning, sunshine,” he greeted in a far too cheerful tone. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“You eat all my food,
and
you expect me to entertain you?”

“I drove all this way. It’s the least you could do.”

I sighed deeply, letting my body sag with its weight. “Let me grab a quick shower, and I can give you the grand tour of town.”

Rich’s spoon clanked in the empty cereal bowl. “What are we going to do once those five minutes are up?”

“Fair enough,” I laughed. “I guess we could check out that Summer Solstice thing.”

“Oh yeah,” Rich said, remembering. “And we can check out your cute neighbor, too.”

“Leave Grace alone,” I warned.

Rich gave me a cunning smile. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on that cute little thing.”

Grace was attractive, but she was also very straight and not my type at all. Even without my massive crush on Julia, she was a too sweet and domestic for my tastes. I was drawn to women a little more dark and dangerous and far more unattainable.

I considered telling Rich about Julia, but I myself didn’t know how to explain what was going on between us without bringing anyone else into our complicated relationship.

My apartment tended to run uncomfortably warm, which was a stark contrast to the weather outside. It was officially the first day of summer, but it was rainy, foggy, and barely sixty degrees Fahrenheit. The unseasonably cool weather hadn’t appeared to dampen anyone’s interest in the Summer Solstice celebration, however.

The streets surrounding my apartment were closed to traffic for the city-wide festival. Local businesses had dragged their wares onto the sidewalks in front of their storefronts, and others peddled handmade crafts from portable booths. Carnival games were scattered throughout the few city blocks, and tents selling sweets like cotton candy, lemonade, and funnel cakes beckoned to festival-goers.

Rich and I grabbed coffee from Stan’s and began to walk from one end of town to the other. I saw a lot of familiar faces, and it felt good to have so many locals acknowledge me with a friendly wave.

“You didn’t tell me you were a celebrity, Miller,” Rich remarked after my breakfast buddy Franklyn Walker stopped me to say hello.

I took a sip of my coffee and grinned. “And just think,” I said, linking an arm through Rich’s, “people probably think you’re my boyfriend, visiting from out of town. You’re famous by association.”

Rich laughed. “You could do a lot worse.”

“Not by much, I’m afraid,” I teased back.

I missed this—the easy banter and familiarity I had with friends like Rich. I was becoming more comfortable in this town, but in my years of traveling the globe I’d found deep, enduring friendships like I had with Rich to be rare. Julia and I bantered, but there was always barbs or orgasms attached to our conversations. It was a rollercoaster with that woman.

“Cassidy!” Grace Kelly Donovan flagged us down.

I grabbed Rich’s bicep and squeezed. “Behave yourself, Detective,” I warned under my breath.

He looked at me with mock injury. “I’m offended, Cassidy. I’m always a perfect gentleman.”

Grace was all smiles and eager energy when she walked up to us. “You made it!” she beamed.

“Well, you made the Summer Solstice festival sound so exciting, I told Cass that there was no way I’d miss it.” Rich’s tone matched Grace’s enthusiasm, and I instantly bristled. My friend was up to no good.

Grace fell into step with us as we continued our promenade down Main Street. “What do you think of our little town, Detective Gammon?”

“Please, call me Rich.” His smile was disarming. “I haven’t been here too long, but what I’ve seen,” he made a big show of looking Grace up and down, “is completely charming.”

An attractive blush colored Grace’s pale cheeks. Great.

“I should be getting back to the church booth,” she murmured. “I just wanted to say hi.”

Rich’s eye contact was unrelenting. He pulled off his knit cap. “It was nice to see you again, Grace. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

Grace ducked her head and regarded my over-the-top friend from beneath her heavy eyelashes. “You wouldn’t be interested in some corn on the cob, would you? We sell the best in town at our booth.”

“I happen to have a weakness for sweet corn,” Rich grinned. “Lead the way.”

Grace flashed a look in my direction. “Do you want some too, Cassidy?” I was honestly surprised she remembered I was still standing there.

I waved a hand. “No, you two have fun. I’ll be fine on my own.”

Needing no more prompting form me, the two skipped away in the direction of corn on the cob.

Left on my own, I continued to stroll along Main Street to check out the sights, sounds, and smells of the block party. A high school garage band was setting up its gear on a small, covered stage, and with nothing else to do, I stopped to watch them tune their instruments while I finished my lukewarm drink.

I was finishing the dregs of my coffee when Rich found me. “Some party, huh?” he grinned.

“I see you got your corn.”

Rich bit aggressively into the corncob. “It’s good,” he mumbled around the overly large bite.

I glanced over at my friend and smirked. “Rich,” I laughed, “you’re a total mess.”

Rich’s face, normally ruggedly attractive, was covered in butter and salt. I wiped his chin with a napkin, beginning to erase the excess.

“Seriously, have you never eaten corn on the cob before? You’re like a two year old with a birthday cake.”

“Hey, I’ve had corn before,” he protested as he let me clean his face. “It just usually comes in cans or in frozen baggies. Hey, isn’t that…” Rich trailed off. “Jesus, Miller. Isn’t that your girlfriend from the club?”

“What?” I whipped my head around to see who he was pointing at.

Julia stood near a craft booth that was selling homemade quilts. She wore a long black jacket and her lipstick was a vibrant red. Standing next to her was a man I didn’t recognize. He said something to her, and she laughed. I stared at him and his dark hair, dark eyes, and brilliant white smile that seemed to dazzle even on this overcast day.

I hated the smile that seemed to come so effortlessly to her lips when I had to stand on my head to be rewarded with even a smirk. I hated the way she touched his arm, a familiar and easy gesture. I didn’t know this man, but I knew I hated him if he was able to produce such a reaction from her without even trying.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I grit out. She wouldn’t even let me take her on a date.

“Did you know she would be here?” Rich questioned.

“She lives in Embarrass if that’s what you’re asking.”

“But I’m guessing you didn’t expect her to be arm-in-arm with Captain America over there.”

My silence was answer enough.

“C’mon, Miller.” Rich threw a bulky arm over my shoulder. “Let’s get you good and drunk.”

+ + +

I sat at my kitchen island, nursing a beer and my fragile ego. It was my only drink of the evening as I still had my shift that night.

“I don’t know what it is about her,” I sighed. I tipped my beer to the side until the amber liquid threatened to spill out.

“She’s beautiful,” Rich noted from his seat in the easy chair. He’d seemed to commandeer it as his spot in the apartment.

I nodded. “Can’t argue with you there.” I worried the beer bottle between my hands. “At work is when it’s the worst. I find myself looking for excuses to talk to her, to even just walk past her open office door. I just want to be
near
her.”

Rich whistled. “That’s some crush.”

“Yeah, but the damn thing is, I
know
she likes me back. She just, I don’t know, won’t let herself.”

“Get someone to cover for you,” he said, draining the last of his third beer. “We’ll get to the bottom of this Julia case before the night is over.”

“I can’t. There
is
no one else to take my shift,” I protested sullenly.

It was about 7:00 a.m. by the time I finally dragged myself home. The Summer Solstice festival had shut down when the sun had set, but the locals had simply moved their festivities to the bars. It had been a busier shift than usual and I’d stayed at the station an extra hour to get a head start on the paperwork.

I unlocked my apartment door and reached for the light toggle. The overhead light went on, accompanied by a surprised gasp.

Grace Kelly fell off the easy chair. Her backside connected hard with the wooden floor. I only saw enough to realize that her shirt was also on the floor.

My hands flew to cover my eyes. “Holy shit!”

The sounds of fumbling, quiet grunting, and frenetic scurrying filled my ears.

“My eyes! My eyes!” I complained.

“Knock much, Miller?” Rich growled.

I kept my hands fisted over my eyes. “Put a sock on the doorknob much?” I countered.

Grace’s voice was surprisingly composed. “You can look now.”

“I don’t want to,” I stubbornly protested.

“Grow up, Rookie.”

Only reluctantly did I remove my hands from my face.

Grace’s shirt was back on, and her cheeks were tinted pink. Rich looked similarly embarrassed, but I imagined he had more experience with this kind of thing.

“I brought breakfast,” Grace announced. A six pack of muffins sat untouched on the kitchen island next to a half-finished bottle of red wine—the breakfast of champions.

I held up my hands to stop the apologies and excuses. “You’re both adults. Just don’t have sex on my bed and we’re cool.”

Grace hopped to her feet. “I’ll just be going now. I need to get to work anyway.”

I held up a hand to stop Rich’s verbal diarrhea of excuses. “I’m exhausted. You can explain yourself after I’ve had a few hours sleep.”

His lips pressed together and he nodded.

I flopped onto my bed, not bothering to change out of my clothes from work. I slept with no fear of dreaming.

I woke up a few hours later. I wasn’t ready to get out of bed, but I knew Rich had to get back to the Twin Cities. I found him sitting at the kitchen island with a magazine open in front of him. He looked up and smiled when he heard me shuffle into the room.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that thing with your friend, Miller.” Rich rubbed his hand over his shaved scalp, something I noticed that he did when he was uncomfortable. “It just kind of happened.”

“Let me guess; you slipped and your mouth just fell on hers, huh?”

A lopsided grin came to Rich’s chiseled features. “Yeah.”

“I’d appreciate it that when you leave this morning, you don’t leave a trail of trampled hearts behind. I’m the one who has to pick up after you,” I said sternly.

“I like Grace,” he admitted. “She’s easy to talk to.”

“And she’s also adorable.”

“Yeah, that helps, too.”

I walked Rich down to his waiting motorcycle which was parked in the alley behind the Laundromat.

“Thanks for the visit, man,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s nice knowing you guys haven’t forgotten about me.”

Rich grinned broadly and slipped his helmet over his shaved head. “You’ve kind of hard to forget, Rookie.” His motorcycle roared to life.