Dad’s Policeman Friend by Lena Little
2
Camila
The man of my dreams, Captain Caden Justice, stands in front of me with his gun drawn. Slowly he lowers it, those big shoulders, round as boulders, allowing his arms to fall to his sides as the tension goes out of his forearms.
“Damn it, Camila. I could have shot you,” he exhales, wiping the back of his hand across his brow.
“And whose fault would that be? What are you doing sneaking around dad’s house like that?”
“What the hell are you doing home? I haven’t seen you since…” He stops mid-sentence, his gaze starting to drift a little from my eyes, across my lips, and tracing my jawline before moving down to where I have the shower curtain in front of me.
“Do you mind?” I ask.
“Sorry.” He holsters his weapon and brings a hand in front of his eyebrows, shielding his vision like a visor as he turns his head slightly.
“Everything okay up there, Captain,” a voice calls out.
“Caden! How many people are here?”
“I’m coming up,” the voice announces before Caden can reply.
“Stay put,” he snarls. “No way he gets to see this. Only me,” he adds under his breath, almost as if he doesn’t realize I can hear him. My eyes narrow as I scratch at my cheek and then rub at my chin in confusion. Since when did Caden become so possessive? “Better yet, go outside and wait in the car.”
“Everything okay up there?” the other voice asks quizzically. “You catch the guy?”
“Go,” Caden orders, and the sound of boots on the creaky floor below quickly fade off in the distance.
“Camila,” he says, but never finishes his sentence.
He’s still turned from me and without his eyes, on me, it gives me a free pass to scan his uniformed body from head to toe.
My back arches and I reach for my neck, my hand trailing down my cleavage while I keep my eyes locked on him. As my hand continues below the water’s surface and finds my thigh and I rub it out from the juncture of my legs to my knee, and then repeat the process, my legs opening slightly as my body sinks into the water before I straighten up and lean closer to the edge of the tub, Caden pulling me in like a magnet.
“When did you get in?” he asks, his voice horse and gravelly as if he’s straining to say the words.
“Just now,” I reply softly. “That’s why I was using a flashlight. The power is out.”
“Or your dad just shut off the fuse box because he knew he was going to be away for a while.” He pauses. Even from the side, I can see his pinched expression. “Did you talk to him before you just showed up?”
“No. I want to surprise him for his fortieth birthday.”
“Well, you sure surprised me.”
Caden’s jaw clenches and I get a surprise of my own. Taking in his profile I see the groin of his police trousers tighten, the stitching in the crotch fighting to contain his desire.
I don’t know much about the birds and the bees as I’m completely inexperienced in that department, but the bigger question is is this a reaction to seeing my breasts or is it something more?
I’ve never felt so exposed in my life because I never have been exposed in front of a man before. But Caden is not a man. He’s the man. The man I’ve always wanted but he never seemed to notice me.
Until now.
“Your dad’s birthday isn’t for almost two weeks.” Caden swallows hard as he scratches at his face, and then swallows a second time.
“Yeah, I wanted to get in early and surprise him beforehand. Spend the time leading up with him before I start college.”
“College? Where? Here in town? You’re not leaving after his birthday are you?” Caden shotguns the questions at me, his tone laced with anger at the thought that I might only be around for a week, which is ironic considering he never seemed to even notice me before.
“I have to start college soon.”
“You’re not old enough for college are you?”
“Caden.” I cross my arms even more than they already are and cock my head. “I’m eighteen, just turned last week. Thanks for the card by the way.”
He goes radio silent, as we both know he forgot entirely and my sarcasm in regards to the card he never sent is like an additional nail in the coffin of guilt.
“I’ll…I’ll make it up to you.”
“How?”
“Tomorrow,” he blurts out. “I’ll take you out to eat.”
My eyebrows raise. “What time?”
“I finish my shift at eight. We can go then.”
“Eight in the morning?”
“Yeah. We can do breakfast.”
“Let me guess…coffee and donuts?” The corners of my mouth curve up into a mischievous smile.
“Breakfast of champions, but no…I’ll take you someplace better.”
“Okay then. Breakfast,” I agree, trying my hardest not to let out a scream of joy.
Caden takes a step outside the bathroom into the hallway and then pauses, almost as an afterthought adding, “It might be chilly in the morning. Best to wear a jacket and long pants.”
“It was almost ninety degrees today.”
“In the afternoon, not in the morning. Plus it’s fall. The temperature is all over the place.” He pauses. “Listen, it’s better to be covered up.”
“Why?”
“I um…don’t want you getting sick. Your dad would be angry.”
“My dad doesn’t even know I’m here, not to mention he doesn’t know we’ll be going out for breakfast. Do you…think he’d mind.”
“I don’t know. I mean no, of course not. He’d want me looking after you if he wasn’t here.”
Looking after or looking at, Mr. Policeman?
“Yeah, you’re right. So, I’ll see you at eight then.”
“Fifteen after. I have a debriefing when the shift ends. I’ll be over right after.”
“See you then.”
The sound of his footsteps moving away from me creates a void inside. When he’s at the door he announces, “Make sure and lock the deadbolt as soon as you finish your bath.”
“Okay.”
And with that, he’s gone, but the reality is that things are only beginning.
