6. Behind The Scenes
Chapter 6
Behind The Scenes
M arcus forced himself to do paperwork and make some calls before he headed to the B&B. Arriving at six in the morning would have been obnoxious, so he forced himself to work for over three hours. Surely, after nine was an acceptable time. If it wasn’t, he knew Jim and Carl would kick him to the curb.
Feeling like a teen showing up at his crush’s home, Marcus rang the doorbell. The B&B had upped their security systems after a jerk had attacked Piper on the property. Now, guests had keys, but everyone else rang the bell. Troy had selected the alarm system, and Marcus had helped him install it. He liked knowing he was part of keeping his town safe in more ways than one.
It wasn’t long before Jim opened the door with a smile. “Deputy. What can we do for you this morning?”
Marcus refrained from rolling his eyes. He’d bet a bunch that Jim knew exactly why Marcus was at the B&B. And he’d bet even more that Jim was going to play the Dad card, even though he wasn’t Elina’s father.
Marcus raised an eyebrow, making Jim laugh. He waved him inside just as Carl shouted. “Shut the door.”
Marcus’s entire body tensed at the nerves in Carl’s voice. He hurried into the foyer, hand on his gun, but didn’t see a threat. Jim laughed behind him. “It’s okay. Kimi dropped off some animals for us to foster yesterday, and we keep losing kittens. We don’t want them to escape, but they’re quick.”
Sure enough, a tiny black kitten peeked out from under the couch and made a run for the closed door. Marcus scooped him up and brought him to eye level. “No jail breaks, bud. You’re safer inside.”
The ball of fluff waved its paws, then yawned and closed its eyes. Marcus brought the little guy to his chest, where he promptly fell asleep. “How many kittens did Kimi ask you to take?”
“Three, although it feels like twelve. They’re adorable, but they’re sneaky. Kimi said they’re in their holy terror stage, but they should settle fairly quickly. They’ve been living outdoors, so this is a big change for them.”
Carl walked in holding two kittens and looking like he’d already put in a long day. When he saw Marcus holding the other one, he sighed. “Thank you. I don’t think I’m young enough for kittens.”
Jim leaned down to kiss his husband’s head and then took the grey kitten. “I’ll take Jem. Marcus can keep Boo until Elina comes down. You keep Scout for now. They probably just need some attention.”
Carl nodded. “At least Finch isn’t as much trouble.”
Marcus grinned. “Has Nina been reading To Kill A Mockingbird?”
Jim shook his head with a smile. “Not that I know of. Elina thought of the names. When the group was dropped at Kimi’s, she was told Finch had curled himself around the kittens to protect them.”
“Good choice of names.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
The soft feminine voice had Marcus smiling as he looked up to see Elina descending the stairs with a smile of her own and a gangly Great Dane puppy at her side. He approved of a lot more than the animal names. The woman looked like perfection in a sunny dress with a jean jacket worn overtop and pink sneakers on her feet. He untangled his tongue. “Good morning. You look beautiful.”
Her skin flushed, and her smile widened. “Thank you. I see you’ve met Boo.”
He nodded and stroked the soft fur. “And Scout and Jem. This big guy is Finch?”
The dog eyed him warily, eyes moving from Marcus to the kitten and back. Marcus squatted down and held out the kitten gently. “I’m not going to hurt your little friend. He’s safe with me. Just like you’re safe with everyone here.”
The dog’s green eyes tracked to Boo, and then he leaned in to sniff him all over. Satisfied the kitten was okay, the Dane turned his attention to Marcus. He waited patiently while the dog sniffed him and then the cat again.
Then the dog leaned into Marcus with a happy sigh, nearly knocking him sideways. “You’re going to be a big monster, aren’t you? I bet you’re going to eat your weight in kibble. Or do you eat full-size moose already?”
The dog tilted his head and batted at Marcus’s hand in a request for pats. Laughing, he shifted the kitten to one hand and complied. It didn’t take long to discover Finch loved to have his chin scratched and his belly rubbed.
Playing with the animals was a great way to start the day. Or the date.
He set the kitten on the floor beside Finch. The pup sniffed the little guy all over and then licked him from head to tail.
Grinning, Marcus stood and looked at Elina. “I thought we could go to the No Fail Diner if you haven’t already eaten.”
Her face lit up again, and Marcus felt his chest puff up. He was ridiculous but Elina did that to him. He wanted to be a better man and wanted her to feel safe and appreciated. Wanted to be the one eliciting smiles from her.
Jim and Carl hustled them out the door, and Marcus worked to ignore the knowing smiles. The two men took credit for Piper and Troy becoming a couple, and he knew they were now conspiring how they could help Marcus. He wouldn’t mind their assistance.
Something deep inside him had clicked when he’d met Elina overseas. And it clicked again when he’d seen her here in Phail. Whatever the click was, he wanted to keep the feeling.
The fall morning had a bit of a chill, and Marcus eyed her jean jacket. “Are you warm enough?” He only wore his uniform, and didn’t have a coat to offer her but they could easily walk to his home or office to grab one.
She smiled. “I’m good. I’ll be warm enough if we’re walking. It took a while to acclimate to the temperatures in Seattle, but I’m used to it now.”
He nodded. “Vermont is very different from the desert countries we often worked in. That first winter nearly had me running for the south.”
“What made you stay?”
He raised an eyebrow. “One guess.”
She laughed. “Epic. Troy. He can be very persuasive.”
“Very true. It was also a good town. They’d struggled to find a police officer who was willing to live in such a small place.”
“It’s not that small.”
He shrugged. “Not compared to some places. But Phail has at least doubled in size since I moved here. The changes Piper and Troy are implementing are attracting more people and businesses too, so it’s growing.”
“What wasn’t here when you first arrived?”
“The Saloon is new. Doc’s too. We didn’t have access to any health professionals. Same with the Firehall. Mitch is a paramedic, but he hasn’t been here for much more than a year either. Fiona had just opened Phail Phoods when I arrived. There hadn’t been a grocery store, and she was determined to make it work. She’s Troy’s cousin and makes lots of homemade items. Falcon’s construction business, the combo tattoo parlor and hair salon are new as well.”
“That’s a lot. I met a boy named Owen climbing the rock wall yesterday morning. That’s new, too?”
He nodded and stopped at the corner of Phail Way Park to point as he spoke. “In the spring, everyone helped out to create the park. We tore down a few empty buildings that sat on the front part of the block. We added the gazebo and the movie screen, which doubles as the rock-climbing wall. Actually, Owen and his mom, Rachel, are new as well. She runs the Yoganna Love It studio.”
Elina grinned. “That’s a great name for a yoga studio. I’ll have to try out a class.”
Marcus wondered if he might do that as well. He did plenty of stretching and exercises to keep his body fit. Doing it in a group had never appealed to him, but doing yoga with Elina?
Yeah, that appealed to him. A lot.
E lina loved hearing about the town’s history as they strolled along Phail Way. “It’s a vibrant, friendly place. Hard to believe it hasn’t always been this way.”
Marcus touched her lower back again and gestured to Phail General. “This is Troy’s store. If you need anything, he probably has it in stock. If not, he can get it for you. My current office is in the back.”
“May I see?” She wanted to see where he worked and what that side of his personality was like. But she wasn’t sure what the rules for police stations were like. “I understand if that’s not okay.”
He grinned at her. “It’s more than okay. I’d love to show you. Come around back, and we can go straight in.”
He led the way to the back, and unlocked the door, then ushered her inside with a hand on her back. She liked that way more than she would have thought.
The room was large but not large enough. One desk was arranged so that anyone working there could keep his eye on the entire space. Aside from the computer, there were neat stacks of paper and binders. Another desk, obviously not the one Marcus used, was more barren, ready for another officer to make if their own.
There was a small couch and a couple of chairs grouped in one corner around a table. Filing cabinets lined the wall under the back window with file boxes on top.
Her eyes skittered away from the cell in the corner, but she forced herself to take a brief glance. When her hands trembled, she shoved them in her pockets. The cell wasn’t anything like the cave where she’d been held. This was clean and neat.
With a deep breath to steady herself, she let her gaze drift back to the rest of the room. It was neat as well, but the boxes proved that he definitely needed more room.
Marcus brushed his hand down her arm. When she looked at him, his gaze was concerned. She managed a small smile. “You definitely need more space, but you’re an organized soul.”
He studied her with such intensity that she wondered if he could read the past in her eyes. Finally, he nodded. “If the army teaches you anything, it’s staying organized. You need to know where everything is at a moment’s notice. Sometimes lives depend on it. Sometimes, it’s merely not wanting to have some colonel chew you out.”
“I bet you didn’t get chewed out too often.”
His grin had her smiling back. “Not after the first time.”
Marcus angled so that the cell was at her back. Of course, he’d noticed her reaction. The man was incredibly observant and intuitive. She doubted she’d have much left to tell if she ever decided to talk about her past.
“That’s the door that connects to Troy’s store up front. More people come through that door than the one we used. When I first agreed to take on the policing job here, there was no funding for space, just enough for my salary. Troy had been using this space for storage, but we cleaned it out and set me up here.”
“That’s amazing.”
He nodded. “But it’s time to move on. It would be great to have a space with actual rooms so I can have separate areas for different needs. It’s ridiculous to have a conversation with a victim when the criminal is in the same room. I end up using Troy’s office a lot of the time.”
“And it looks like you need some storage place of your own.”
He grinned. “That would be awesome. And if I could lock up the evidence in something other than a filing cabinet, even better.”
That made her smile. “I’m looking forward to seeing the building you’ve got your eye on.”
The landline on his desk rang, making Marcus turn. “Excuse me a minute, I’ll need to take this.”
“Should I leave?”
He shook his head while he rounded the desk and picked up the phone. Elina moved to the side of the room where the chairs were grouped to give him at least the semblance of privacy. If the call seemed personal or private, she could move into Phail General and see Troy.
“Ramirez.”
Even the way he answered the phone made her smile. Authoritative, calm, ready for anything. She had it bad.
Elina tried to tune out the conversation by focusing on a comic strip idea. She based her strips on her own experiences and observations. Marcus had shown up in many ways over the years.
The boy who always wore shirts with an arrow on them.
Arrows pointing out subtle parts of the cartoon that hopefully caused the reader to smile.
And Lobo, the wolf who showed up in almost all of her animal strips. She’d based his personality on Marcus. Wise, calm, patient, with a wry sense of humor. Strong and sure without being obnoxious.
Every time she drew Lobo, she thought of Marcus. And fell a little bit harder. No man had ever measured up.
His voice broke into her thoughts of Lobo in an overcrowded den, overrun with the other creatures he’d been helping survive.
“That’s what I was hoping for. Thank you so much.”
She turned as he hung up the phone. He made eye contact, and the joy dancing in his eyes had her smiling. “Good news?”
He moved behind the desk and swung her up into a hug, and then whirled her around in a circle, making her laugh. Whatever it was, it was definitely good news.
Still holding her to him, with her feet off the floor, he grinned. “The funding came through.”
“That’s amazing.” Almost as amazing as she was feeling, being held in his arms.
His eyes, still twinkling, moved from her eyes to her mouth and back up. “Amazing.”
She mimicked his movement and smiled. “I’m so happy for you.”
He squeezed her to him, then slowly slid her down his body but didn’t let her go. His eyes still sparkled, but the tone changed. His hands drifted up her body, and he framed her face. “I’m happy, too.”
He lowered his head slowly enough for her to break away without it being awkward. Not a chance.
Elina lifted up on her toes to close the distance.
The first brush of his lips sent shivers cascading through her body. He nipped and licked at her lips, then he sent her another look as if to check if she was sure. “You are addictive, Elina.”
Before she could respond, his lips were on hers again. This time she opened for him and in less than a nano-second, he took over.
He kissed like he’d been trained for the task. His mouth took and gave in equal measure, demanding and enticing.
She gripped his shirt to keep from wobbling, and one hand immediately moved to her waist to keep her steady.
And press her closer.
She wondered if her skin could contain the sensations or if it would simply shimmer off and float away.
And they were only kissing. Hands hadn’t started to wander.
She really wanted to wander.
Distantly, she heard a knock and then Epic’s voice. “Hey, Marcus, do you…”
Marcus broke the kiss but didn’t pull away, didn’t try to hide their connection. He sighed but didn’t take his gaze off of hers. “Better be important.”
Troy laughed, his tone amused. “Nothing that can’t wait. Carry on.”
The door closed, and Marcus sighed again while she tried to stop the giggle that was building. The answering sparkle in Marcus’s eyes did her in, and the laugh burst out of her. She thunked her head on his chest and then looked back up to find him smiling at her.
“That was one hell of a kiss.” His voice rumbled across her sensitive skin, causing even more shivers.
“It was. A lifetime highlight-reel kiss.”
He grinned and kissed her but kept it short. Then he did it again.
Finally, he lifted his head and kissed her nose. “You’re okay with him seeing us.”
She nodded. “Perfectly okay.”
“Good. Let’s see what my dumbass friend wants, and then we’ll grab some breakfast.”