Tangled in Tinsel: The Celebration Series, Book 1

Her car left the station parking lot, and I felt like an ass. From the moment I had first seen her, I had been doing one stupid thing after another. Maybe that slam to my head at the bar did more damage than I previously thought.

As much as it pissed me off that I couldn’t make her understand, she brought to life feelings that I had never known existed before, not for me at least. I’d heard the stories of the moment you met someone, you felt the connection, and every glance, touch, kiss would set your soul on fire. I’d never believed it, not until I’d met Casey.

Her car disappeared down the street, and I lumbered back into the station. When I came around the door to the squad room, Missy stepped out, “That was her, wasn’t it?”

“What? Oh, Casey, well, um…” I didn’t even know what to say.

She rubbed her hand up and down my arm, for the first time not in a flirtatious way, but in a comforting way. “I’m so sorry that she had to see that. I’m sure she will calm down and things will work out.”

I nodded absently. “Yeah, sure,” I said over my shoulder as I walked away.

A few minutes later, I got a call and for the next few hours I was busy going from call to call. I was thankful when the day was over, and as I turned onto my street, I saw a pickup truck pulling out of her driveway.

George pulled up beside me. “Hey, Thad, how are you?”

“I’m doing well, George. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?” I knew, but I wanted to find out what he’d been doing at Casey’s house without asking him directly.

“Strangely enough, that new woman, you know that beautiful one that lives next door to you,” he thumbed back toward her house and I looked up in time to see her door close, “she wanted me to finish your job. She probably could have done it herself, but I didn’t mind helping her. She sure is a pretty thing, isn’t she?”

There was no way to avoid it, “Yes, she is. Thanks for helping her out.”

“She said you were too busy to get it finished up, but man, if I had been you, I would have called in sick to spend a few hours with that young lady.” He shook his head, “I’m never gonna understand you young people.”

“George,” I laughed, “I appreciate you helping her. I know she wanted to get it done quickly. I’m glad she got you to help her out.”

We chatted a few minutes longer before we each headed home. As hard as I tried not to look at her house, I couldn’t help myself as I searched for any sign of her.

And that is the way it was over the next week. Her car was rarely there, and when it was, the house was mostly dark and uninviting. I had hoped for a chance to check on her, maybe test the waters to see if she was still angry with me, but the opportunity didn’t arise until Thanksgiving Day.

After a physical domestic, I’d had to respond to the hospital to get the victim’s statement. I was walking around the corner when a nurse darted out from behind a curtain and right into me. My hands went out automatically to stabilize the person, and I looked down to find Casey staring up into my face, cheeks turning redder by the millisecond.

“Hi, Casey,” I whispered and stared down into her gorgeous eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.”

Her mouth opened once, then twice, before she shook her head and stepped back out of my grasp. “Officer Wagner, I should be apologizing, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Casey,” I took a step closer and lowered my voice, “can’t we please talk for a second?”

She stared at me for another second before she glanced at the nurse’s station, “I’m working, Officer Wagner.” She gave me her attention again, “Is there something I can help you with that pertains to work?”

My anger began to build. Damn it, why was this woman being so stubborn! “Casey, come on, just give me two minutes.”

She glared at me, “I told you before that we have nothing to say. Now do you or don’t you need assistance here?”

I ground my teeth to keep from grabbing her and yanking her behind a curtain and onto a gurney to show her how stupid this was. I knew she felt the same things I did, why was she so adamant about denying it? Was it really because of her girlfriend? The one that lived down south?

“I’m looking for the woman who was assaulted by her husband earlier, Peggy Small.”

“She’s down in curtain three.” She began to step around me, and I grabbed her arm. Her eyes flared as they came up to meet mine. “Please let me go.”

“I don’t know why you keep denying it, Casey. I know you feel it as much as I do.”

She swallowed, “The only thing I feel is your hand on my arm, and my blood pressure rising. Now, release me so I can get back to work.”

“Jesus, Casey, give us a chance,” I pleaded quietly and she jerked her arm free.

“Like hell I will.” She spun and practically ran down the hallway and around the corner.

When I glanced around the room, I found three nurses and two doctors staring at me. One of the nurses smiled, another shook her head and headed down the hall to where Casey had disappeared. I turned away from the rest of them and went to curtain three.

For almost two hours, I sat with the victim as she talked about what had happened. I could have left sooner, but I didn’t have any calls pending, and Peggy didn’t have any family here yet. Part of me didn’t want her to be alone, especially after everything that had happened, and the other part of me was afraid to walk out of the curtain and run into Casey again. She’d already chopped my manhood off, what would she go for next?

When I finally departed, I only had an hour left of my shift, and I went back to the station to work on my report. My partner had arrested the husband, and our night shift guys would have him arraigned in front of the on-call judge tonight to have his bail set.

Corrine and Tommy had gone to a friend’s to celebrate Thanksgiving, so on my way home I decided to stop into the tavern and grab a bite to eat.

It wasn’t until I was halfway to the bar that I saw her. She was sitting with her elbows on the bar and her hands over her face.

I should turn around and walk the hell out of here immediately, I thought, but as that thought dashed through my mind, Dabby saw me and called out a greeting.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Thad. You just get off work?”

Casey stiffened and then dropped her hands to look my way.

Without answering Dabby, I stepped closer to her with my hands up, “I swear I didn’t follow you. Corrine and Tommy are at a friend’s tonight, and I didn’t want to go home and fix anything. I’m too beat.”

She studied me for a moment and then glanced at Dabby who watched us with great interest. “Have a seat,” she said as she pointed to a seat next to her. “I owe you an apology.”

Relief washed over me as if a ten-gallon bucket of ice water on a hot summer day had been dropped over my head. “Why is it that every time we see each other, one of us is apologizing?”

I focused on her profile and fisted my hands to keep from caressing every inch of it.

Her laugh was brittle, “I know, right?” She picked up her beer bottle, “Can I buy you a beer?”

“Sure, if you can do me a favor.” I nodded at Dabby as he set down my beer and stepped away.

She eyed me warily, “What is your favor?”

“Can we start over? Can we forget about everything that’s happened and just sit here as friends and neighbors and have something to eat?”

She let loose a smile that almost knocked me off my stool. “Yeah, we can do that.”

I tipped my bottle to her, “To new friends?”

She tapped her long neck against mine, “To new friends.”

Over the next hour, we talked about how she was settling into her new job and about the little calls I’d had to handle. We kept our distance from anything personal, and I even forced myself to not ask how things were progressing on the repairs at her house. I didn’t want to remind her of what had happened that Sunday afternoon.

When Dabby set the bills down on the bar, I reached for them before she did, and her hand landed on top of mine. “No, Thad, I can pay for my own dinner.”

“Casey, I know you can, but would you mind allowing me to pay? Just a friend buying another friend dinner.” She slipped her hand off mine, and I immediately missed the warming contact.

“I was supposed to be buying you a beer,” she reminded me.

“You can grab the next tab, how’s that?”

She thought for a second and then nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” I pulled some cash out of my wallet and set it on the bar with our checks.

As we said good night to Dabby, he continued to observe our every move. I rested my hand on her lower back as I pushed the door open and ushered her out.

She shivered as she walked past me, “Wow, it got cold out here.”

“Yeah,” I pulled my jacket closed, “it sure did. I heard they are calling for some early snow. It looks like we are in for a bad winter.”

She sighed as she approached her vehicle, “And this car probably won’t be the best ride for the weather.”

“I’m afraid not. You’d be better off with an SUV or truck with four-wheel drive.”

Her eyes skimmed over her car. “I really love this car.”

I joked, “Maybe someday you can afford to own two cars, and you can have one like this for summer and one for winter.”

She rolled her eyes, “I have no use for two cars. I’m just gonna have to suck it up and let it go.” When she finished, I noticed that she had a sad look on her face.

I ran my knuckles over her cheek. “Why are you so sad? It’s only a car.”

Were those tears in her eyes when she gazed up at me? “I know. It’s just the last link I had to my old life.” She shrugged, “I know it’s silly, but I feel like if I get rid of it, then I’ve totally let it all go.”

I turned her to face me and put my hands on her shoulders. “Isn’t that why you moved here? To put the past behind you?”

“Yeah, it is.” She lifted her chin and met my probing gaze.

“Then you should get rid of the car, and completely move forward,” I said firmly. “Let go of everything in your past and focus on your future.” I didn’t tell her that I wanted her to let go of her girlfriend or have me in her future, but I thought it selfishly.

“You’re right. I need to do that. Thank you, Thad.” She placed one of her hands on top of mine. “I had a nice time. I’m glad we were able to find a truce.”

“Yeah, me too.” We continued to stare at one another, and it was as if a magnet was slowly pulling us together as my feet shuffled a few inches closer and I saw her do the same. “Why is it that when I get within five feet of you, I can’t keep myself away?”

She tried to smile, but it was stilted, “I know.”

I pulled her to my chest, forcing myself not to bring her lips to mine and held her in a tight hug. “Casey, I don’t know if I can do the whole friend thing with you. The feelings you bring out in me, I’ve never felt before,” I whispered in her ear as she curled into me.

“I feel it, too, but it’s not right.” She went to pull back, but I tightened my grip.

“Not yet, let me hold you for another few seconds.” I felt her sigh against me and could have sworn she placed a kiss on my chest as she turned her head and looked up at me.

“Thad, we need to figure out how we can be friends and put whatever it is we are feeling behind us.”

My hand cupped her face, “Casey, I don’t know if I can do that.” My thumb stroked her bottom lip, and she nuzzled into my hand ever so slightly.

She closed her eyes and then they fluttered open, “We have to.”

“Fine, if being your friend is the only way I can have you in my life, then fine. I’ll do as you ask, but not right this second.”

She opened her mouth to respond, and I swooped down and took her lips in a crushing kiss before she could utter a word. There was a mere second’s hesitation on her part before she clung to me and whimpered.

My entire body melted as I curled around her and pushed her gently up against her car. I wanted time to freeze right at that moment where my heart felt so full and my entire body tingled with desire for her. I didn’t want to step back, didn’t want to release her and do as I said I would. I didn’t want to be her friend, but I knew that’s what she wanted. I slowed the kiss, taking gentle slow swipes with my tongue over hers and her lips. My fingers slid through her long locks one more time before I pulled back and rested my forehead on hers.

“Don’t say it. Please, don’t say a word. I know, just friends. I know.” Her breath was heaving out of her chest as was mine, and she clenched her hands tightly around my shirt under my jacket before she slowly loosened her grip. “I’m sorry, Casey, you’re probably furious with me for that,” I finally opened my eyes and found her watching me, “but I had to do that one time.”

She shook her head, “I’m not furious. I wanted to kiss you, too. But—”

I put my fingertip over her lips, “I know, friends, just friends. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

She kissed the tip of my finger and slipped her hands out from under my jacket.

“Thank you for dinner, and for understanding,” she spoke as I stepped back.

“You’re welcome for dinner, and I’m not sure I understand, but I will respect your wishes.”

“Thank you, Thad. That’s all I can ask of you.” She smiled sadly and climbed into her car.