Lisa Dyson - Prince Charming Wears A Badge

She still had the ability to heat his blood, but he was an adult now and knew better than to get too close to a smoldering fire.

“Thanks, Pete.” He waved Callie in and rose from his chair. Her deep blue eyes with long lashes gave her an innocent quality. “Have a seat.” He pointed to one of the two beat-up chairs on the other side of his desk. He sat when she did. “I apologize for the heat. The AC repairman was here three times last week, but the system needs to be replaced.” He swallowed, feeling like he was babbling. “I haven’t seen you since high school, Callie. How have you been?”

She crossed one bare leg over the other. “Pretty good, until I had to come back here.”

He nodded, forcing his eyes from her legs to her face.

“What about you? I didn’t realize you were the one I’d be reporting to.” She looked around his cramped office. “What are you doing back here? Weren’t you going to West Point? Planning to make the Army a career?”

“I left the Army. Plans change.” He didn’t want to get into the details of his own life. That wasn’t why she sat across from him.

“So you’re the Chief of Police now?”

“That’s right. For about a year now.” He checked the email again from Dr. Hammond. “It says here you need to perform community service hours. You couldn’t do them where you’re living?”

“I was going to, but Dr. Hammond thought I should come back here to see my family.”

“How long has it been?”

She twisted a lock of her still-long hair. “Eleven years. I guess he figured it would take more than a day trip for me to resolve things to his satisfaction.”

“Eleven years is a long time to not see your family.” He couldn’t imagine how painful it would be if either of his young daughters someday decided to stay away from him for that long.

She shrugged. “If I’d been given a choice, I would never have come back.”

* * *

WHEN TYLER DIDN’T COMMENT, Callie turned the focus on him. “What about your dad? Is he still living in town?”

Tyler hesitated and cleared his throat. “He died almost a year and a half ago.”

Callie leaned forward. “I’m so sorry. He was a great guy.” Tyler’s dad had been very active in youth sports when they were growing up. As the owner of Garrett’s Hardware Store, he’d had flexible hours, allowing him to be on the practice fields after school. He was also very generous when it came to sponsoring teams. Callie’s softball shirt with Garrett’s across the back came to mind. “What about the store? Is someone still running it?”

Tyler shook his head. “Dad closed it when he got sick. He sold the inventory and gave up the lease. The furniture store that was next door—Pratt’s—expanded into the space.”

“That’s too bad.”

“It was for the best. Dad had an inoperable brain tumor and it was either close the store then or my sister and I would have had to do it after he passed away.”

“Neither of you wanted to continue running it?”

“Isabelle definitely had no interest. And, at the time, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

Isabelle’s best friend had been Callie’s stepsister, Wendy, who’d had a major crush on Tyler. Had the two of them ever gotten together? Pushing the question to the back of her mind, Callie opened her mouth to ask why he’d left the Army—she had a hunch there was a story to that—but he changed the subject before she could bring it up.

“Now, about your community service...” He consulted his computer while she took in his broad shoulders. He’d gone from slim teenager to well-built adult. “You’re only the second person I’ve had report to me to fulfill their hours. I’ll have to see what I can find.” He clicked a few keys.

“What did that other person do for their service hours?”

He looked at her with his deep-set, dark brown eyes. As a teenager she’d thought of them as puppy-dog eyes, but on a grown man they were downright sexy. “He loaded and unloaded mulch into a truck and spread it at the elementary school. He did some other landscaping, too.” Tyler glanced at her and took in her outfit from head to toe. “I’m not sure landscaping is right for you. Besides, you’re not dressed for work like that.”

She heated at his perusal. “I have clothes to change into.” In truth, she’d worn her office clothes, hoping the Chief of Police would see her as a professional and not someone ready to do hard labor. Not that she wasn’t strong, but if she had to do community service, she might as well do something that would benefit the community. It never crossed her mind that Tyler would be the person holding authority over her. She doubted he’d give her any kind of break, though, no matter how she’d dressed.

“That’s good.” He clicked keys on his computer again and the printer in the corner, partially hidden by banker’s boxes, came alive.

Tyler stood to retrieve what he’d printed. He glanced at the page and then handed it to Callie. “You can report to this address tomorrow morning at eight. There’s a volunteer group, mostly seniors, who have planned a clean-up of the city streets.”

“Are you talking about picking up trash?”

His dark, well-groomed eyebrows rose. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Her hands clenched and unclenched automatically. “Of course not.” She rose. “I’ll be sure to be on time.”

She was outside his office when she heard him add, “You might want to wear gloves and shoes you don’t care about. Oh, and long pants. You never know when you’ll run into poison ivy or the occasional snake.”

She shivered at the thought. “Great,” she muttered to herself. She should have guessed that he’d give her a nasty job rather than one she was actually suited to. He hadn’t even asked about her skills.

For that matter, he hadn’t asked her anything about herself. Was he still holding that outburst against her? The one she hadn’t held back that last night before leaving for college? She’d thought letting him walk her home from that party would be nice. She’d planned to leave for college the next day and he’d made it clear all summer that he was interested in her.

But even if she could go back and do everything differently, there was no way to a happy ending. One of two things would have happened regardless. Either her stepsister would find a way to hurt her physically or emotionally because she wanted Tyler for herself, or, sooner or later, Tyler would have discovered how dysfunctional her family really was. What he’d witnessed that night was a mere hint of the reality.

Fine. His disinterest didn’t bother her. She had things to do and she’d get them done and get out of town.

She should have thought to bring old shoes with her, not that she really owned any. She tended to clean out her closet every spring and donate to the local women’s shelter. They were always looking for gently-worn work clothes, shoes and purses so disadvantaged women could go on job interviews and hopefully make new lives for themselves and their children. Callie was happy to help them out.

She got into her car and turned the air-conditioning up to maximum. She twisted her long hair into a bun and secured it with a few bobby pins from her purse. The heat in Tyler’s office had been stifling. The town was obviously in a financial bind if it couldn’t replace the AC or even Tyler’s ancient computer.

She pulled out of the small visitors’ parking lot next to the police station and headed to her appointment to see about a room for rent. It was the only option she’d found on Craigslist within a twenty-mile radius.

Callie could have lived out of a hotel, but she preferred to not waste her hard-earned money. And she’d save a lot if things worked out with Mrs. Thompson.