five

WHEN SHE WOKE up, Arilyn swore to have a better attitude.

It lasted all the way up till the moment Stone Petty strolled into her class.

He was late. A full fifteen minutes. The worst part? He strolled into the firehouse with a lazy grace that confirmed he didn’t give a crap. Luther and Eli glared at him. Dammit, arriving late to her class set the wrong tone. A large coffee cradled in his big hands, he shoved some sort of greasy biscuit with bacon hanging from it into his mouth, rubbing his hands down the front of his jeans. Today he wore a Jets T-shirt, a battered ball cap from Key West, and sneakers with a tiny hole in the big toe. His five-o’clock shadow only added to the dark menace of his goatee, and he nodded to the other men before plopping into a chair.

“Whassup?” he grunted, crumpling the wrapper into the brown bag, and shooting it across the room at the wastebasket in the corner. He made the shot and gave a half grin of male pride before sliding his gaze back to her.

Oh, she was going to kill him.

He was a heathen with no manners. Her nose crinkled with disgust. How on earth did his body look in decent shape? His diet probably consisted of crap. And he may have tried to hide his discomfort during their time in a seated position, but she knew he had difficulty keeping still and pain-free.

Wait till she finished with him today.

“Officer, perhaps you’d like to explain why you’re late?”

He glanced around as if surprised that anyone cared. “Had to stop at the station first.”

“I see.” She dropped her voice to arctic chill mode and narrowed her gaze. “I’m sure your superior informed you that you must sign in to these classes at the appropriate time. Being late disturbs the class and disrespects all of us.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure solving a crime trumps being late.”

Her brow lifted. “Remind me again, Officer: Are you currently on suspension?”

Gotcha.

He jerked in his seat, and anger flickered over his features. Those inky eyes slammed her with male irritation. “For two weeks only. How did you know about that?”

“So, solving crimes on suspension would be against the rules, wouldn’t it?”

He refused to surrender. Just stretched out his legs like a relaxed predator and sipped from his coffee. “How would you feel if I stepped back and watched a theft happen ’cause I’m on vacay? Is that a great use of the taxpayers’ money? ’Cause it seems you’ve always been concerned with how I spend my day.”

She remembered their very first conversation in the summer, when she accused him of being a liability on the taxpayers. Hmm, still sore about that, huh? She tried not to crow in glee. “Oh, I apologize, you were helping with an arrest? Maybe I’ll call and thank your boss. Explain to him in this particular case it’s fine to be late.”

His jaw clenched. She refused to let her gaze waver, knowing if she backed down here, it would be all over. Stone Petty would eat her alive and then ask what was for dessert. “I had to consult on a case,” he finally ground out. Waves of heat and crankiness swarmed from his aura. He paused, and his next words seemed strangled, as if he was forcing them out. “I apologize.”

She treated him to a brilliant smile, mostly fake. “Apology accepted. Please don’t let it happen again. Oh, and you’ll need to stay additional time after class. The rules, of course. Each minute must be accounted for. Now, let’s start the subject of the day, shall we?”

Eli and Luther looked satisfied by his punishment, and she was back in control.

For now.

She ignored the shiver that raced down her spine and concentrated on her class.

STONE PICKED AT HIS thumbnail and wondered what Devine was up to. Maybe he had been chasing a speeder, and when he got to the driver’s window, the driver looked off. Maybe Devine asked him to get out of the car, and the driver refused, and his partner got to slam him up against the hood, cuff him, and do a vehicle search. Maybe he found something incriminating like a weapon or drugs. He’d get a medal and Chief Dick would boast about him in the department, and the whole time Stone was stuck here in anger management class learning how to eat well to decrease anger and stress.

Bastard.

“Officer Petty?”

He looked up from his battered thumb. He was getting sick and tired of her prim and proper tone. His title sounded like a mockery and irritated the hell out of him. “Stone,” he reminded her again. “You call that dude Eli and the other dude Luther. How about calling me Stone?”

She smiled again, but it wasn’t real and they both knew it. “Achieving the status of a policeman deserves respect. You earned the title and deserve to be called ‘Officer.’”

Bullshit. How did she manage to get away with such behavior? She wrapped up insults in phony attempts to be nice. Of course, she’d backed him into a wall on that one. Who would’ve thought his being a bit late and eating fast food could make her so damn snarky?

Stone smothered a humorless laugh. At least temper made her more real. If he had to hear one sugarcoated statement about avoiding bad foods, soda, alcohol, cigs, and anything else fun in life, he was gonna seriously fake some kind of illness. Maybe food poisoning from his bacon biscuit. Yeah, that was good. Was she calling him again?

“Yeah?”

“Luther and Eli have shared some of their concerns with their diets. Do you have any?”

He began to roll his eyes but caught himself just in time. He didn’t want to have to stay any later in psycho zen detention. “Nope.”

She was sitting cross-legged again on the mat. Head rising high above her slender shoulders. Red-gold hair caught in a thick braid that hung down her back. Long, graceful limbs tangled up in a dance of grace and balance he’d never really seen in another woman. Too bad she was so dull and boring. “Wonderful. Why don’t you take us through typical meals during a workday?”

Why weren’t Luther and Eli normal dudes? If they’d band together and make some serious trouble, the day would go a lot faster. “I get up and have my coffee, toast, and bacon.”

“Turkey bacon?” she asked.

He snorted. “Hell, no. Nothing wrong with eating pig. That’s why God put ’em on earth for us. To eat.”

She literally paled. Stone’s mood picked up. Yep, she was a vegetarian all right. Too funny. He warmed up to his topic. “I go to work, and have a midmorning snack of Cheetos or Oreos. Then for lunch I usually swing by Micky D’s or Arby’s, depending on my mood. Wash it down with a Big Gulp soda. Then, for my midafternoon snack, I hit the vending machine. Dinner is pretty healthy.”

She swallowed. “Chicken?”

He scratched his head. “Sometimes. Kentucky does a good job of it. Sometimes steak, nice and rare and bloody. A few IPAs and maybe a shot of Irish whiskey later on. Oh, I eat veggies, too. Like you’ve been saying, they’re important for balance and stuff. I like corn.”

“Of course you do.” A fine sheen of sweat had broken out on her forehead. He tamped down on a laugh. Damn, she was a do-gooder. Wanted everyone to eat from the earth, probably, and die of starvation and boredom. She cleared her throat. “Umm, do you feel any of these habits need to change after our session? Luther wants to try drinking more water. Eli would like to stop snacking in the evening. What would you like to change?”

Stone pretended to think. “Well, I did quit smoking, so that was a big change.”

“Yes, a wonderful decision we all applaud.”

“I’d say I’d like to change my choices with fast food.” She looked so relieved and happy, he almost felt bad for her. Almost. Her smile seemed much closer to real. His gut clenched. Funny, he had an urge to make her do it again. For him. Her eyes sparkled, and her lips relaxed, and that amazing energy shimmered around her, setting off something deep inside.