Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest) - By Carly Phillips Page 0,15
to turn around and head on upstairs and away from temptation. Ever the risk taker, Mike continued toward her only to realize the guy to her left was making a play, something that seemed to happen to Cara regularly, and Mike didn’t want to examine the feeling gnawing at him too closely.
He’d placed an arm behind her chair and sidled up close. Mike’s stomach twisted with what he would have liked to think was hunger. He knew better and didn’t like the possessive feeling one bit. The knowledge that she could get to him on any level filled him with frustration.
The guy leaned in and whispered in Cara’s ear.
She immediately stiffened and pushed her chair back to get away from him. “What part of get lost don’t you understand?” she asked the man Mike didn’t recognize.
The rejection was all Mike needed to see in order to ease the painful cramping in his gut.
“I just want to buy you a drink, sweet thing.” The other man smiled, more than a hint of arrogance in his grin.
Cara cocked her head to one side. “I already said no thank you twice. Get lost or I’ll show you I’m nobody’s sweet thing.”
Mike stifled a laugh. She hadn’t realized he was watching, and he wasn’t ready to call attention to himself just yet. Cara was a handful on a good day. She could more than take care of herself, something he definitely admired about her.
She was off duty, but like him, he’d lay odds she carried a piece somewhere on her. The night they’d spent together, they’d each had to unstrap their guns before things got going.
The persistent guy still looked at Cara as if trying to determine whether she was serious or playing hard to get. Given the swing of her leg, encased in steel-toed cowboy boots, the man really ought to take a hint.
Before she could kick him in the nuts, Mike decided to step in. “The lady is with me. Take a hike.” Mike came up beside Cara on her free side, deliberately looming large and close.
She glanced up at him in surprise.
“I’m not poaching on your woman, Chief,” the man said, obviously recognizing Mike. “She didn’t say she was taken.”
“But she did say no,” Cara muttered. With a scowl, the other man left. “Idiot.”
“You can say that again. Waiting for friends?” Mike asked.
She shook her head. That she was alone surprised him. Unlike Mike, Cara was a people person.
“Alexa had an emergency and I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.” She gestured to a table where a group of people from the station were hanging out. “What about you?” she asked, as she finished her drink.
“Same. Sam’s out of commission and I wasn’t in the mood for people either.” He hooked his leg around a suddenly free bar stool and settled in beside her. “What are you drinking?”
“A Manhattan.”
He cocked an eyebrow. Strong with a hint of sweetness, just like her, though he opted not to point that out. Instead he gestured to Joe to refill Cara’s drink and give him his usual. “So what’s got you needing a strong drink?”
Cara pivoted in her chair until their knees touched. “What is this?” She pointed back and forth between them.
“What are you talking about?”
“Me. You. Real conversation. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” She settled her blue eyes on him as she turned the tables.
He’d prodded her much the same way when he’d shown up at her house to visit his brother, so maybe he deserved it, Mike thought. He hadn’t exactly been a decent guy since his return.
“Since we have to work closely together now, it makes sense, doesn’t it?” He didn’t want to give away too much of what he was feeling. Hell, he couldn’t define it for himself, let alone verbalize his emotions.
She narrowed her gaze, studying him. “I suppose.”
“Here you go. A Manhattan for you.” Joe placed a new cocktail glass in front of Cara. “And a whiskey neat for the chief,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks,” Mike said.
“How’s Annie doing?” Cara asked Joe.
The bartender’s eyes lit up at the mention of his fiancée. “She’s great. We’re great. You got the wedding invitation, right?” he asked.
She smiled brightly. “You bet. I RSVP’d right away.”
Mike merely nodded.
Joe waved in dismissal. “I don’t pay attention to things like that. Who’s coming is Annie’s job. I just want to marry the woman.”
Cara’s pleased laugh expressed how she felt about that sentiment. “Well, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.”