Officer in Pursuit Read Online Free

right. He wasn’t about to take it back – he’d
just clarify a little, so he didn’t seem like a perv. “Feel free to
swing by sometime if you want to lift.”
    “Thanks. I’ll keep that in
mind.”
    There was a mildly awkward silence
that went uninterrupted. In a movie, a waitress would’ve swooped in
and saved the day by delivering their food. Instead, Grey ate the
rest of his cookie and thought way too long and hard about what to
say next.
    It wasn’t something he usually did.
But he wanted to say the right things – wanted to make Kerry
comfortable. Happy. She’d caught his eye for obvious reasons the
day he’d first met her, but his attraction had deepened over the
past few months. Every minute he spent in her presence multiplied
his desire exponentially.
    Kerry was smart, disciplined and liked
things he liked too, like fitness. She didn’t play games and didn’t
seem overly-concerned with what other people thought. She was just
herself, and she was easy to like.
    Up until the fire – the culmination of
a horror movie-style summer – he’d only spent time with her with
their friends around. That day, he’d driven her to her house, had
held her hand. When he’d left for his own home, his palms had been
stained black, had left ash smudges on the steering wheel that’d
lingered for days.
    It’d been different, being with her
then – she hadn’t bothered to choose her words, her actions. She’d
seemed glad to have him there. Now…
    She was the same Kerry he’d always
known, the woman he’d become familiar with while Liam, Henry,
Alicia and Sasha were around. It wasn’t like he wanted to see her
covered in ash, tear trails carving through the dark dust. But he
wondered what it would be like if she wasn’t so self-contained now.
If she was willing to let him into her world when it wasn’t in
shambles.
    Before he could think of anything
brilliant to say, the waitress appeared.
    The smell of food snapped him out of
his overworked thoughts. He wanted Kerry, more than he wanted
anything… But at the moment, he’d settle for breakfast.
    Afterward, though, he was determined
to make this day one they’d remember – for once, not because
anything had fallen apart, or nearly been torn away from them. But
because things had changed, in a good way. Things might not be as
easy for him as they had been for Liam and Grey, but that was all
right. He didn’t expect winning over Kerry to be easy.
    But he did expect it to be worth
it.
     
    * * * * *
     
    It was well past dawn, but Sunrise
Beach was beautiful anyway. The late morning was cloudless and
bright, full of sunlight that made the water gleam silver and the
sand shimmer. It was pushing 80 already and it felt like a summer
day in every sense except for that of the crowd – or lack
thereof.
    The tourists that flooded Riley County
annually had left with the previous season, and the arrival of fall
had brought a marked decline in beachgoers. Lying stretched on a
large blanket, Kerry finally felt like she could
breathe.
    It wasn’t that she disliked tourists,
or didn’t appreciate the fact that if it wasn’t for them, she
wouldn’t have a job. But crowds were a blessing and a curse at the
same time. On one hand, they offered something to blend into – a
risky sort of sanctuary – but on the other, they could harbor
anything. Anyone.
    Out here on the modestly peopled
beach, she could keep an eye on everyone. Take note of any
newcomers. Relax a little, not having to worry that someone from
her past might step out of the crowd and bring her
carefully-constructed world crashing down around her.
    “Hey Kerry.” Alicia stood, shaking her
dark hair out of her face and pushing a pair of large sunglasses up
onto the bridge of her nose. “I’m getting hot. Want to go for a
swim?”
    “Sure.” Kerry’s dark blue tankini was
absorbing the sun’s heat, making her sweat. The water looked
inviting – perfect.
    “What about you, Sasha?” Alicia turned
to