Chapter 5
It was my first day of work, and I was overly excited.
For one, I didn’t want to sit around the house all day every day.
The main thing I was excited about was seeing Kairo again.
Or maybe I should call him Chief Bishop.
I wasn’t sure what he wanted to be called, but I would find out when I got to work.
The day of my interview, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kairo.
There was something mysterious about him that I wanted to uncover.
He let Chief Keith ask the majority of the questions while he just watched.
There was a flicker of something in his eyes when I said that I took instructions well, but I didn’t think I would ask him about it.
I didn’t know the rules of the department, but I was pretty certain that it was against policy for him to mess around with his subordinate.
That wouldn’t stop me from admiring him, though.
There was no way I couldn’t notice him. Muscular build, multiple tattoos, and his lips–I wanted to pull that bottom one between my teeth.
He was just too damn sexy to me, and I was sure there was someone around that didn’t play about him.
Each time Kairo’s eyes landed on me, I felt like he could see my innermost thoughts.
It should have been a crime for him to look at me the way he did.
For all I knew, he could have been a shitty person, so I needed to get my stuff together and not think too far into this.
I thought Kairo or even Chief Keith would have called me to tell me I got the job, so I was surprised when Donna called me.
She was such a nice lady, and she made sure I knew everything I needed to get done before I started.
My previous job required fingerprinting to be done, so I didn’t have to do that again.
The only thing I needed to do was fill out the paperwork and get a drug test. It only took a few days for everything to be finalized.
Since I would be gone for most of the day, I took Cashmere out for a long walk. He would be fine by himself for a while.
All of a sudden, Cashmere barked his little head off.
“What’s the matter?” I looked down at him.
I heard another dog let out a bark that sounded like if he wanted to, he would tear my boy into shreds.
Then, I heard his voice. Looking up, my eyes landed on Kairo and a beautiful, but big German shepherd.
Kairo smiled widely when he looked at me. I watched him as he and his dog came closer to us. Cash kept barking, so I picked him up.
“Good morning, doll baby.”
“Doll baby?”
Cashmere growled in my arms, while Kairo’s dog sat perfectly still and quiet.
Kairo’s pink tongue slowly licked his bottom lip.
“Yeah, you look like a pretty doll to me.”
My heart thumped against my chest as heat crept up my neck.
“Thank you.” I pushed a piece of hair out of my face and looked down. “Good morning to you too.”
I took in his simple outfit of black sweatpants with a hoodie to match and some sneakers. The weather here was weird. In the morning, it was cold enough for a hoodie, but by the afternoon, people would be in shorts. It was almost summer, and I wondered how brutal the summers were.
“I hear today is your first day. Are you excited?”
My gaze traveled back up to Kairo’s face, and my breath caught in my throat. His penetrating gaze bore into my eyes, making my stomach tighten.
“I am excited. I’m used to working, so I hoped it wouldn’t take long for me to find something, and it didn’t.”
“And here I thought you would have said you were excited to see me again.”
If I didn’t know any better, he was flirting with me, but I wasn’t sure if I should feed into it or not.
“I mean . . .”
“You don’t have to admit it.” He winked. “What’s this little one’s name?” he asked as he stroked the top of Cashmere’s head, and he actually let him.
“This is Cashmere. He thinks he’s bigger than he is. What about yours? Can I pet him?”
“Little man syndrome, huh.” Kairo removed his hand from Cash’s head, then patted his dog on his back. “This is Shadow. You’ll see him sometimes at work or when we take walks together.”
I was surprised by what he said, because I wasn’t expecting us to go on walks together or see each other outside of work at all.
“We’re taking walks together?”
Kairo rubbed the back of his neck and looked around behind me before he refocused on me.
“Yeah. We’re neighbors and coworkers. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Unless you got a man that might get jealous.”
Of course, he meant as coworkers. He may have looked at me like he wanted to fuck me, but unless he came right out and expressed an attraction to me, I wouldn’t look too much into it. Anyone could be attractive to someone, but that didn’t mean it would go beyond that.
“Nope, no man. I don’t mind walking with you some mornings. I have to make sure this little guy is okay with Shadow.”
“Put him down and let them greet each other. Shadow knows how to respond to smaller dogs.”
I hesitated for a second, but I put Cashmere down, and he slowly sniffed Shadow, and he just let him. A few seconds later, Shadow sniffed Cashmere, and they seemed to be okay.
“See. Usually, I walk earlier than this, but if you like to walk later, then some days, I’ll push the time back.”
Warmth spread from my head to my toes. This man was willing to adjust his schedule to walk with me, and he didn’t know a thing about me. I was confused but also afraid to ask too many questions.
“Um, yeah. That’s fine. What time do you get up?”
“Every day at four a.m. I don’t go outside right away, but that’s the time I get up.”
“Sheesh. I’m definitely not getting up that early. Six is early enough for me.”
“Around this time will work. I’ll let you go for now, though, because I know you have to get ready for work. I heard your new boss is a stickler for being on time.” He winked.
I didn’t know how serious he was, but I would hate to be late for work on my first day. I would report directly to Kairo, but there were other people that would talk if I came in late.
“I guess I better go then. I’ll see you later, Chief Kairo.” I turned to walk away, but I felt Kairo grab my wrist.
That same spark that I felt the other day came back again.
“Just Kairo is fine. Even when we are at work, it’s still Kairo.”
“Yes, sir.”
“See you soon, doll baby.”
Heat filled my cheeks as I walked away. I could feel Kairo watching me, but I didn’t want to turn around and make things awkward. I wasn’t sure what transpired between us, but the day had already started out great.
I made it to work on time, and I even had a chance to get coffee. I picked up a gift card for Kairo since I messed up his shirt the other day.
It didn’t take long for me to learn the lay of the land.
At least the basics for the time being. I met Donna and a few officers.
I didn’t have my own office, but I did have a big desk and a comfortable chair.
My desk was set up right outside of Kairo’s office, and he had a big window, so he was able to look right at me if he wanted to.
He spent most of the day out of the office, so I didn’t get to see him.
I kind of wished I did after our interaction in the morning.
I wanted to see how he would react to me in a professional setting.
Since he wasn’t in his office when I came in, I had put the gift card on his desk.
Everyone was nice and helped me whenever I had questions. I tried not to overthink the interaction with Kairo, but I couldn’t help it.
When it was time for lunch, I walked around the block to a small deli and got a quick bite to eat. Afterward, I walked around the area for a little while. I spotted a couple of stores I wanted to check out in my free time.
I was surprised to see Kairo in his office when I returned after lunch. Before I could sit at my desk, I heard, “Mycah. Can you come in my office please?”
Being summoned to Kairo’s office made my heart rate accelerate. I didn’t know if I had done something wrong or what. Straightening out my dress, even though there wasn’t anything wrong with it, I held my head high and entered his office.
“Yes, sir.”
A low growl rumbled in the back of Kairo’s throat, but I pretended I didn’t hear it.
“What’s this for?” he asked as he held up the gift card.
“Oh, it was for ruining your shirt the other day.”
He smiled as he looked down at the card, then back at me.
“I told you it was fine but thank you. Are you good?”
“I didn’t feel right not compensating you for the dry-cleaning bill. And yes, I’m good so far.”
“My dry-cleaning bill is nothing for you to be concerned about, but thanks again. If you have any issues, let me know,” he said and I nodded.
“In the meantime, can you make a few copies for me?” He passed me a sheet of paper, and I took it from his hand.
When I did, our fingers touched, and I felt that jolt again. That was the third time that happened.
“Will do.” I walked out of the office to make the copies he requested.
The rest of the day was spent with me filing and organizing papers. Kairo spent a lot of time in meetings, so we didn’t have any real communication after I made the copies for him.
That was okay with me because I didn’t need Kairo throwing me off from what I needed to do.
I was tired by the time I got home from work, but I looked forward to the next day.