About Last Night (About Last Night #1)(77)

My heart was racing. Rejection was my biggest fear, but if I wanted a life with Mia, I would work for it. Being an escort was no longer an option. In my heart, I knew Mia would never ask me to leave my job, but what kind of man would that make me?

A creep. A jerk. A cheater. I didn’t want to be any of those things.

The last few days had been tough, but I imagined if this was how I felt, then Mia likely felt worse. The things I had said to her…

Jesus. How I wished I could take them back. But I couldn’t, so I would deal with the consequences. I was ready to tell Mia how I felt about her. It was unfortunate that it had taken me seeing her with someone else to realize I wasn’t ready to give her up, but life was funny that way. It never waited until you were ready for it. It simply dropped the bomb and you decided how to deal with it.

I loved Mia, and that was a big deal for me. I didn’t love easily. Furthermore, I was not the easiest person to love. She was the person who hung the moon in my sky. She lit the dark and made me want more than I was comfortable with. The funny thing was that she never asked anything from me, but I saw how she looked at me. It was the way I looked at her—with heart and soul, and completely invested in the other person.

The senior officer at the front desk stared over me. “You just gonna stand there?”

It broke me from my thoughts. I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I was wondering whether you could help me. I need some information.” I added, “I want to become a police officer.”

The man raised a brow. “How old are you, son? 30?”

I shrugged. “Thereabouts.”

He shook his head. “You sure? There are a series of tests you’ll have to undertake. Your knowledge of the state, federal, and local law needs to be near perfect.”

My face blanched, but he went on. “Then there are the physiological tests, as well as the grueling physical tests you’ll be put through.” He grinned. “They’re designed to push the limits, you hear?”

I nodded slowly. “I hear.” I straightened myself and stood taller. “What do I need to do?”

The man smiled, nodding. “That’s the spirit.” He took out a folder full of papers. “You can start by filling these out. Recruitment is every six weeks. We’re just about due. If I’m not mistaken, the next lot will be in ten days. If you get us what we need in time, you could start training in three weeks’ time.” I went to reach for the folder, but he held it away from me, his face stern. “You’re gonna have your ass handed to you. You know that, right?”

I had no preconceived notions that my time in training was going to be easy. “I know.”

He handed me the folder, and with a jerk of my chin, I was out of there and ready to sign my life away for some semblance of normal.





Chapter ThirtyEight



Mia




Home was becoming overly silent and somewhat overbearing. I needed to get out of the house, and there were only so many evenings I could arrive on Bill and Terry’s doorstep like a little lost puppy.

They needed time alone too. I felt myself overstepping boundaries. They assured me I was welcome anytime, and I know Terry wouldn’t say that if he didn’t mean it, but I felt awful, a little like a third wheel, as if they were babysitting me.

It had been close to two weeks after Quinn had said those gut-wrenching things, and although it still hurt, that hurt had been downgraded from stabbing pain to dull ache.

The morning he had the cake delivered to my door, I was surprised. Imagine my further surprise when I came home later that afternoon to find a huge bunch of flowers at my door. I had no idea what they were, but luckily, the small card attached explained they were purple hyacinth, and the particular color of the flower meant ‘sorry.’ The card also read: I’m an *. Please let me be your *.

I smiled to myself, brought the flowers inside, and pulled out my cell.

Me: The flowers are gorgeous.

Not a minute passed before I received a response.

Quinn: Not as gorgeous as you.

And every day after that, I received something at my door.

First came the bag of turkey jerky with a note that read, I’ve been a jerk, with jerk underlined three times over. Then came the card with a lollipop on the front that simply read, I suck. After that was an unexpected delivery of bratwurst from a local butcher, and spelled out in sausage was, Sorry, I was a brat. Then arrived the plush doggie with a card that read, I’m sorry. Can I come out of the doghouse now?

The very last gift was a box of Air Heads. The card attached had scribbled inside, Sometimes I can be a real airhead. Sorry!

With every gift, my smile returned. Not because he was spending money on me, but because of the thought being put into them. How could I not see how sorry Quinn was? The effort inside every delivery was enough to see he cared.

And so I went to work with a smile on my face. Of course, Ella could smell something fishy and waltzed over to my desk. I was glad that the bounce in her step had partially returned. What Rick did to her was not something she would get over easily, but she was trying.

She sat on my desk and whispered, “What’d he get you today?”

I handed her the box of Air Heads and, looking confused, she opened the card and read in silence. Her face turned to goo and she frowned over at me. Taking the box of candy, she hit me with it.