He’d found himself waking up in time to meet her in the gym every morning, anxious to see that now-friendly smile when she walked in the door. They’d settled into a routine, despite her continued aversion to the new schedule. An aversion she had no problem vocalizing. She knew how he took his coffee, and he knew that halfway through the day she added hot chocolate to hers. He’d let her take the lead on nearly every call they’d gone out on, but she’d also stepped back to relinquish control over the “coded” calls, most of which revolved around the Cocoon Club.
He didn’t realize he’d been staring at her until her gaze met his over the top of the crowd. She frowned at first, those brows of hers veeing so sharply he thought she might hurt herself. Then the V disappeared and she smiled again and whispered something in Phoebe’s ear that had the child looking toward him and waving.
“That little Phoebe is a sweetheart,” Luke told him. “Kendall isn’t always great with crowds, so Frankie does stuff like this with Phoebe.” Luke leaned forward, caught his gaze. “Things going okay with you two?” Luke asked. “I heard she gave you a pretty hard time when you first got here.”
“We worked it out,” Roman said, shrugging it off. What’s past was past and for the most part, things with Frankie were going well. “I’ve been through worse.” On the other hand, Roman wasn’t thrilled with how the woman popped into his thoughts at the most inappropriate times. He liked her. A lot. And the more he worked with her, the more he realized what a colossal mistake Gil Hamilton had made in not promoting her to chief. But Roman couldn’t let his feelings about Frankie get in the way of the job he needed to do or the plans he had. This place was just another rung on the ladder. Butterfly Harbor wasn’t for settling in; it was a launchpad. Nothing more.
But another time? Another place? Perhaps things between them...
Mrs. Hastings ended her speech to thunderous applause and, with Simon holding her hand, moved to the light switch.
The crowd counted down. “Five, four, three, two...one!”
The twenty-foot tree was suddenly ablaze with colored lights twinkling and blinking into the night.
Cheers and applause mingled with the oohs and aahs as Butterfly Harbor officially welcomed Christmas.
Above it all, Roman heard Frankie’s laugh ringing out over the crowd.
That sound, Roman thought, that wonderful, lyrical, joy-exploding laugh, zinged right through him and settled somewhere north of his heart.
“Not for you.” He didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until Luke leaned forward to look at him.
“What’s not for you?”
“Nothing.” Roman shook his head, wishing the weather were cooler so he could explain the sudden rush of warmth to his face. “Just...” He glanced back at Frankie, the bright lights of the tree making her eyes glisten. “Nothing.”
* * *
“AUNT FRANKIE, CAN I go look at the tree?” Phoebe wiggled free of Frankie’s arms. The ceremony had come to an end and the gathered crowd broke and drifted apart in the holiday-lighted darkness. She had to admit, she’d enjoyed the tree lighting more than she thought she would, but that could be because she was seeing it through Phoebe’s eyes. The little girl routinely reminded Frankie about life’s little wonders.
“Sure thing. I’ll come get you in a few minutes.” She caught sight of familiar red pigtails in the crowd of kids and added, “Stay close to Charlie.”
“’Kay!”
Frankie turned in the hopes of getting a cup of hot chocolate and nearly collided with Roman. She jumped back as the two cups he carried nearly emptied onto both of them. “Ah, sorry. I’m such a klutz sometimes.”
“Maybe I should have an early-warning system.”
“Not the worst idea you’ve had.” She avoided looking up at him for more than a second. She’d gotten more than a full view of him while he’d been standing up on those steps. Roman Salazar most definitely made for a beautiful picture in his full dress uniform, medals and commendations decorating his lapel. The more she’d looked at him, the more she’d wanted to. Somehow in the space of a few weeks, she’d stopped seeing him as enemy number one and accepted him as part of her life. Her professional life, she reminded herself.
“This is for you.” He offered her one of the paper cups. “Where’s your companion for the evening?”
“Phoebe wanted to...” She glanced down at the cup. “Was that for her?”
He shrugged. “Looked as if you two needed it.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” It was really hard to deny her attraction to him when he did stuff like this. He was so considerate it made her teeth ache. And sometimes, when he smiled at her, he made her remember the part of her life she’d let go dormant. She had never been one to dwell on her personal life—marriage, kids. She’d always assumed if it was meant to happen it would, which gave her the excuse to focus completely on her job, even when she was off shift. And darn it, she’d been okay with that. Whatever sights she had set were on a solid, practical man who worked a nine-to-five job and didn’t take risks simply by waking up. But then she had to ask herself if there could ever be anything serious with a man she either intimidated or someone she’d known so long there was no, well, spark.