Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
ALARIC
“I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar
Ithrust up in bed as the alarm scares me nearly to death.
A groan escapes as I crash back, throwing the pillow over my head.
I should have gone to bed early last night but this case kept me up all night trying to get a step ahead of the perpetrator.
Blindly, I wave my hand looking for the alarm, meeting my purchase and hit the snooze.
What seems like not even a minute after my eyes shut the damn blaring noise resumes its assault. I force myself up, dragging my hand over my face. I need to set a reminder to take some time off after this case. A week of straight sleep sounds good right about now.
Looking down on my phone, I see a text from Monroe letting me know that the meeting has been postponed which means I can stop at the cafe on the way to work for good coffee instead of the bland shit they call coffee in the office.
I quickly take a shower and get dressed in my suit, holstering my gun to the side of my pants.
I guess it’s my lucky day. A spot is wide open in front of the cafe and I don’t hesitate to take it.
The early morning streets are booming with residency pacing quickly down the sidewalk trying to make it in time for work.
Loud horns from the cabs fill the air and drivers lean out the window yelling at the people in front to move.
There are perks to living in the city but not very much and if it wasn’t for my job, I would live off the grid surrounded by silence.
Walking through the door, I’m met with the smell of exquisite coffee and baked goods.
My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I actually need to eat while I’m here.
I order a caramel macchiato and an egg and spinach bagel sandwich.
The cashier looks me up and down, and as her eyes come back to mine, she blushes since she was caught red-handed.
“Your order is on us, Officer. Thank you for your service,” she shyly advises me as I take my card out of my wallet.
“Oh no, I would like to pay. Thank you, though.” I hand over my card giving her a smile.
“Rules of the cafe. Maybe next time I’ll let you order a simple coffee. We insist.” She waves me off, motioning for the next customer.
I hate special treatment, but I’m not going to sit and argue and piss off the customers behind me who seemed to be in a hurry.
I grab my items and make my way to an open table.
As I take a bite of my sandwich, my eyes land on a woman sitting on the couch right in front of me, reading a book and sipping on her coffee.
She has long chocolate brown hair cascading down the side of her arms. She’s wearing a nice white blouse, a knee length, tight skirt and heels with her legs crossed.
I haven’t seen her eyes yet, but just from what I see, she’s breathtaking.
As if she can feel me staring, she looks up meeting my gaze.
Those eyes take my breath away, so much so that I choke on my sandwich.
A light chuckle streams over, pricking at my ego just a little more.
Once I’m able to clear my throat I take a daring look up as she gets up from her seat, placing her book into her purse and walks into the hallway towards the bathroom.
She has long, strong legs with sun-kissed skin.
She walks with purpose, every step is intentional.
I don’t know her but the pull to her is so strong.
The need to know who she is, what her voice sounds like.
Those eyes looking into mine. What she smells like.
What her lips…Fuck, I sound like an absolute lunatic right now.
Shaking my head clear, I go back to eating my sandwich and drinking down my coffee. Glancing at my watch, I get up quickly realizing I’ve been sitting here longer than I thought and need to get to the office. Quickly gathering my trash, I turn around and run right into someone.
“Shit, that’s hot!” That voice, that angelic voice, rings through my ears.
“I’m so sorry. Let me grab you a napkin!” I look up; meeting those green piercing eyes sends me into a trance.
It’s like black magic cast a spell, forcing me in a place, looking like a complete idiot. I’ve never been this pathetic. This just shows that I’ve been out of the game way too long.
“You know, if you wanted to talk to me, you could have come over instead of knocking into me spilling my coffee.” She smirks, looking over me.
“I, uhm, let me get you those napkins.” I move past her, cursing myself for getting caught and for being a blubbering mess.
I retrieve the napkins bringing them back to her, shocked she didn’t leave. She’s watching me. Watching every step I make. Calculating my moves but I don’t miss the hint of interest in her eyes. She’s affected by me as I am her.
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to swoon you by asking what you were reading and sweep you off your feet and earn a date with you.” I dab the napkin against her chest before I can even think.
Play it cool. The chicks dig a witty personality right? Maybe cockiness is a better word. Fuck. She must think that I’m bat-shit crazy.
“Is that so? And what makes you think I need you to sweep me off my feet, Officer?” she teases seductively, looking down at my badge, trailing back up my body slowly until she meets my eyes again.
“Maybe not, you look like you can hold your own, but wouldn’t stop me from trying. My name’s Alaric.” I move my hand away from her realizing I’m still touching her chest.
“I’m Celeste. You looked like you were in a hurry.” She takes a step away from me. “It was nice meeting you, Alaric.”
I love the way my name rolls off her tongue. I’d like to hear how she says my name in other ways. God, I haven’t felt like this in a long time and I don’t even know her. She’s a new addiction that surfaced that I need more of.
“Wait!” I throw my trash away and take long strides to catch up to her. “How am I supposed to sweep you off your feet if I don’t have your number?”
She turns slowly, not surprised that I’m chasing after her. “How do you know I’m not taken, Alaric?”
I glance down at her hand and then slowly back up to her face. I take a moment to profile this beautiful creature to provide a convincing answer.
“First, you don't have a ring. You carry yourself as if you’re very independent and enjoy not being nagged by a partner. Which I don’t nag. You also looked at me like you wanted to devour me. So, about that number and a chance to take you on a date?” I smirk at her with confidence.
“Smooth. Real smooth. You’ve got my attention.” She reaches her hand out.
I pull my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it for her.
She enters her name with a kiss emoji and her number and presses save.
She hands it back to me and waves as she leaves the cafe.
Celeste. I smile to myself, pocketing my phone and head back to the counter to grab a to-go coffee before I head to the office.
Walking into the office, people are scurrying around grabbing reports and making furious calls for their cases.
I make my way over to my desk setting my coffee down before I take a seat.
Logging into my computer, I pull up my email to see if anyone has sent anything over that would be useful for my case.
My mind keeps going back to those green eyes, distracting me from my task at hand.
“Earth to Solace.” The sound of Monroe's voice breaks me from my trance. I look up from my screen finding her staring at me with curiosity.
“I take it that you had a good morning. What’s her name?” she teases as Beckett approaches us to join the party.
How in the hell does she know that there's a “her”. I haven’t been with anyone in a long time, at least relationship wise.
This job doesn’t exactly allow me the luxury of settling down or even taking a woman on a proper date.
But I’m stupid to think that Monroe can’t see it as she’s one of the best profilers.
“Who’s to say I didn’t just get a good night's rest and really good coffee.” I hold up my cup knowing I’m not fooling anyone.
“Yeah, because sleep and good coffee makes you go into a day-dreaming trance. We both know that you didn’t sleep worth shit staring at this damn case that gives us no leads. The coffee might be good but not enough to make your ass smile, which you never do. So, who is she?” she challenges me.
They both lean over my desk waiting for me to disclose the secret I supposedly have for them.
I don’t blame them though. They’re quite frankly the only friends I have here and I’m with them twenty-four seven.
At least we don’t have to hear about the naked adventures Beckett has with the girls he meets on Tinder.
“You need to get laid, my friend. Why are you being secretive? We’re supposed to be your best friends,” Beckett jumps in on the interrogation.
And there it is! Beckett comes in with the sex talk. We all know I need to get laid. But he doesn’t need to announce it to the whole damn office! Colleagues start to look over from their seats as Thing One and Thing Two who don’t know how to talk in a normal tone echo it across the damn office.
“How do you know I don’t get laid? If you must know, as I was getting coffee I ran into this woman.
She’s breathtaking and I sort of spilled her coffee on her and next thing you know, I got her number.
That’s all.” I shove Beckett off my desk, nearly causing him to fall over, and return my focus back on my screen shifting through my emails.
“You spilled coffee on her. That’s a classic, you couldn’t be original, could you?” Monroe snorts. “So, have you texted her?”
“We just left the coffee shop. I’ll give it time and I’ll send her a text. I don’t need to come off desperate. Which I’m not. Did you get any new leads?”