Saving Mistletoe Page 2

  The fact she recalled his name pleased him more than it should have. He mustered a fierce scowl, but then he looked into her face. Dang, she sure had gorgeous eyes. And her skin appeared silky smooth. Then there were those soft pink lips just begging for a kiss.

  Man, he needed to get his head on straight, at least where this woman was concerned. “You’re a public menace. This is the second time you’ve run into me. I could haul you in for assaulting not one but two officers if I wanted to,” he warned. “Do you make it a habit of plowing into people, objects, and animals?”

  Deep crimson blossoms gave away her embarrassment as she tugged the files closer against her chest, as though she could use them as a barrier to protect herself from his accusations.

  “I... I’m not... I didn’t.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them again. “I’m sorry, Office Tipton. I was late for a meeting with a client and was reviewing the case as I walked. As for me making a habit of running into others, I can honestly say, you and your horse are the only two who’ve had to endure my bumbling moments. Please accept my apologies.”

  Taken aback by her apology and the sincerity in her voice, Burke didn’t know what to say. He’d expected her to lambast him as she had the last time they’d met, or toss him an insufferable scowl.

  Instead, she picked up the leather bag she’d dropped on the sidewalk, offered him a brief nod, and started to walk off.

  “Miss Meade?” he called, not certain what urged him to call out to her. He could easily have let her go, but he didn’t.

  She stopped and turned back to face him. “Yes, sir?”

  Humility covered her like a cloak while kindness seeped from warm, gleaming eyes that would no doubt invade his dreams. She seemed so different from the woman he’d seen in July. That girl had been cocky and full of herself, of the importance of her position and the power that accompanied it.

  How could a few months make such a difference? The expensive suit she wore was similar to the one she had on the last time he’d seen her. The bag was the same one she’d toted then. He couldn’t put his finger on what, exactly, was different about her. Only that something had undeniably altered in her world.

  Unsettled by the changes he sensed in her, he waggled a finger in the direction of her head. “If you’re meeting with a client, you might want to fix your hair.”

  “My hair?” she asked, then reached up and felt the knot that had slid far to the side. A sigh accompanied the roll of her eyes as she pulled out the pins and dropped them into an exterior pocket of her bag.

  She ran her hand into the dark tresses and shook them loose. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders and down her back in a gleaming mass that made Burke’s hands itch to touch it.

  “Thanks for telling me. I’d hate to go to an appointment looking like a complete mess.” She offered him a smile.

  “Are you certain you aren’t hurt, Miss Meade?” he asked, taking a step closer to her.

  “I’m certain, Officer. Other than a dent to my pride and a bruise to my backside, I’m fine.” Her cheeks flamed with color again at the admission and she hastily turned around. “I’m sorry about running into you and your horse. He’s a beauty.”

  “He’s not the only one,” Burke muttered as she offered him a wave and rushed down the sidewalk. He swung onto Bear, wishing he could have offered to inspect her bruises.

  A firm mental shake failed to dislodge thoughts of the woman. The remainder of the day, he pondered what might have happened to change the young attorney. For her sake, he hoped it wasn’t something horrible and earth-shattering, like loss of a loved one or the diagnosis of a terminal illness.

  The more he thought about the possibilities, the more concerned he grew. No reasonable explanation existed why he couldn’t stop thinking of her. He’d been livid after she’d helped that jerk Jonathan Westmont avoid going to jail for bilking good people out of their hard-earned dollars. In truth, it wasn’t her specifically he was angry with, but a system that sometimes failed to deliver justice.

  He believed in the system, would give his life defending it if he needed to, but it bothered him when people like Westmont got away with crimes that created such hardships for others. Burke wouldn’t have known anything about the man, except he had an elderly neighbor who’d invested his money in something that sounded fishy.

  One day, he just happened to find himself in the same restroom downtown as Westmont and overheard the man bragging to a colleague about the millions he’d taken from “people too dumb to know better.”

  Burke was so angry when he realized the braggart was Westmont, he wanted to shove the man’s head through a wall. Instead, he reported what he heard to his superiors. Detectives had already gathered enough evidence to make an arrest. Burke’s testimony should have been the final nail in Westmont’s coffin.

  Yet, despite the proof that showed Westmont as guilty, he’d gotten off with nothing more than a few fines and a warning from the judge.

  At the time, Burke had blamed Westmont’s attorney. She’d looked so lovely, sweet, and innocent, he was convinced she’d swayed the jury into believing the crook was innocent. He’d thought her girl-next-door act was just that — an act.

  Then she’d run into him, literally, in July. She’d looked the same then as she had at the trial. A little more harried, hurried, and worried, perhaps, but the same innocent girl.

  That day, she’d turned around and bumped against his leg. It hadn’t hurt him or Bear, but when she’d placed her hand on his thigh to get her balance, it felt like she pressed a hot brand to his skin. He’d even looked down to make sure she didn’t have some sort of weapon in her hand.

  Disturbed by the surge of emotions she evoked in him, he’d relied on his anger to mask everything else. Looking back, he’d probably been a little rude to her that day, but he was still mad over the whole debacle with Westmont. Burke’s neighbor lost his entire life savings and had to take a job at a discount store just to keep a roof over his head. The man should have been more careful about investing his money, that was true, but it still didn’t excuse Westmont from taking advantage. It certainly didn’t excuse Miss Meade from helping Westmont go free when he ought to be rotting in jail.

  If Burke cared to confess it, which he did not, he’d thought of the pretty attorney numerous times since their encounter on that hot summer day.

  To see her again only stirred his interest in her. Perhaps his memory was faulty, but she looked even lovelier than he recalled. And she smelled nice, too. Like something that put him in mind of Christmas, although he couldn’t say what it was.

  It was ridiculous to think about hot chocolate, cozy fires, and peppermint-laced kisses when it was nearly eighty degrees outside and the trees bore the fiery splendor of autumn.

  “Bear, I think I need a vacation,” he grumbled to the horse as they made their way to the end of the patrol for the day.

  The horse blew out a puff of air and shook his head, as though he disagreed.

  “What do I need then, boy? Huh?”

  The horse bobbed his head, as though trying to point Burke in the right direction.

  There, at a vendor cart on the corner in front of him, was none other than Miss Meade. She searched through a selection of autumn-hued bouquets of flowers.

  “Oh, come on,” Burke groaned, tilting his gaze skyward. What were the odds of running into the woman twice in one day? Perched on the back of a big red horse, it wasn’t like he could just casually walk by her unnoticed.

  Resigned to speaking to her, he and Bear made their way down the sidewalk. Miss Meade gave him a passing glance. Eyes wide with surprise, she turned his way again and she studied him a moment. “Are you following me, Officer Tipton?”

  “No, Miss Meade, I am not,” he said, unable to hold back a grin. “Did you make it to your appointment on time?”

  “Barely. I only had five minutes to spare.” She handed cash to the vendor and accepted a large bouquet of burgundy and yel
low autumn flowers.

  “I take it you like to be punctual?” he asked, allowing Bear to move forward when Miss Meade thanked the vendor and began walking down the sidewalk.

  “Ten minutes early, but I guess you can call that punctual since most people show up at least fifteen minutes late these days. I don’t understand that at all.” She stopped and observed the horse for a moment. “May I pet him?”

  “Sure. He enjoys the attention,” Burke said, keeping a firm hand on the reins as the attorney reached out a steady hand and let Bear take in her scent before she gently rubbed his face.

  The horse blew out a contented sigh and fluttered his eyelashes.

  She smiled and looked up at Burke. “He’s a sweetheart. What’s his name?”

  “Sugar Bear.”

  At her barely constrained laugh, Burke grinned again. “Go ahead and laugh. I call him Bear, to salvage his pride and mine. I should never have promised my little sister she could name him.”

  “Your sister? Is she an officer, too?”

  He shook his head. “No. Miss Bella just started her senior year of college at Oregon State University. She’s planning to be a math teacher.”

  “A girl who loves math?” Miss Meade asked. “That’s awesome. Math was never my strongest subject.”

  “Mine either,” Burke admitted.

  “But I still don’t understand how your sister named a patrol horse?” She gave him a confused look.

  “Sugar Bear is my horse. I grew up on a ranch in Eastern Oregon and raised him from the day he entered the world. He just happens to also be my work partner.”

  She smiled. “How wonderful for you both.”

  Her attention remained focused on Bear, so Burke cleared his throat, scrambling to keep the conversation going. “Are you finished with work for the day?”

  “Yes. I’m on my way home.” She pointed to an apartment building visible down the street. “It’s not far.”

  “Mind if I accompany you? Bear and I are heading off our shift, too.”

  “It’s a free world,” she said, giving Bear another gentle rub before she stepped back and shifted the flowers, two reusable tote bags, and her leather bag.

  Burke swung off the horse and held out a hand. “May I help you carry something?”

  “Oh, that’s okay, Officer Tipton. I’ll manage.” Her smile melted some of his reserve and most of his inclination to hold a grudge against the woman for past transgressions.

  “I’m sure you can manage, but since I’m heading that way, I might as well lend a hand.” He took the two tote bags from her, surprised by the weight in the bags. “What have you got in here? Rocks? Bricks?”

  “Books, bagels, and dinner.” She laughed. “Quite a combination, isn’t it?”

  As the autumn sunlight sent shards of golden light through her rich brown locks, the fascinating gleam and his desire to touch a wavy strand left him uncomfortable and concerned. With Bear’s reins in one hand and the woman’s bags in the other, he kept step with her the few blocks to her apartment building.

  Glad to see it had a security fence around it, he let her take the bags from him after she punched in her code and the gate opened. “Thanks for the escort, Officer.”

  “My pleasure, Miss Meade.” He took a step back and tipped his hat to her. “Have a pleasant evening, Miss Meade.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, call me Ellen. After I’ve smashed into you and sweet Sugar Bear twice, I think you can certainly call me by my first name.”

  “Okay, Ellen,” Burke said, testing out her name and finding he liked the way it sounded on his tongue and echoed in his heart. Her name seemed a little old-fashioned, rather like the girl who possessed it. “Be careful. No more running into horses or police officers.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, Officer Tipton.” Her smile turned her from pretty to breathtakingly beautiful, accenting the fine lines of her cheekbones and the whiteness of her smile.

  “If I’m supposed to call you Ellen, you might as well call me Burke, at least when I’m not on duty.”

  “But you’re still on duty, sir.” She stepped inside the gate and it slowly closed.

  An odd bereft feeling swept over him as she stood out of his reach. “I’ll be off duty as soon as I get this guy settled in for the night.” He let his gaze rove over that glorious head of hair, her sweet face, and down her conservative navy blue suit before returning to her face. “Take care, Ellen.”

  “I will, Officer... Burke.”

  He watched her walk away and enter the building through a side door. It had been on the tip of his tongue to ask her out, but he’d somehow managed to hold himself back. Even if he sensed a change in her, it didn’t mean he planned to consort with her type. He wanted nothing to do with anyone who helped criminals go free.

  ~*~

  Ellen held her breath until she stepped inside the apartment building. She could feel the officer’s gaze on her back as she walked across the parking lot.

  Burke Tipton was handsome, rugged, masculine, and apparently not quite as fierce and intimidating as she recalled from their July encounter.

  She’d thought him uncommonly rude then, even as his words pricked her conscience. In truth, Burke was the reason she’d recently made so many changes in her life. Unable to stop thinking about his accusations, she knew what he said was true. Whether wittingly or not, she had helped criminals go free by defending them, purely focused on winning the trial, regardless of who it might hurt or harm. Her sole interest was not in her clients or the victims, but in making her employers happy so she could continue climbing up the corporate ladder.

  After one particularly stressful day when she was asked to take on a client whom Ellen could tell was lying about his innocence before a minute of conversation had passed, she knew she’d had enough.

  Enough of the lies, of working so hard for something that held no meaning, of pretending she was doing something good and purposeful with her life.

  Thanks to Officer Tipton and his angry reaction to her, she’d opened her eyes and started herself down a new path.

  Now, she couldn’t help but wish her path would intersect his again. She’d like the opportunity to tell him how profoundly his words had changed her life. A sly smile filled her face as she realized she wouldn’t begrudge another chance to see the good-looking officer.

  Chapter Three

  Burke impatiently drummed his fingers on the red and white checkered tablecloth at the pizza parlor and looked at the big clock on the wall for the tenth time in as many minutes.

  One of his friends had practically begged him to go out on a date with a cousin, but so far, the girl had been a no-show. Maybe she was as reluctant to participate in a blind date as Burke was.

  The past few months, Liam had mentioned his cousin with increasing frequency, which struck Burke as odd. He’d never heard Liam talk about the woman before, but his friend made it sound like a matter of life and death that Burke go out with her, the sooner the better. When Burke failed to show an appropriate measure of interest or urgency, Liam had pleaded with him to have dinner with the girl Friday night.

  Burke had first met Liam at the gym years ago. Sometimes they played basketball together with a community team. Once in a while, they stopped for a burger after work and watched a football game on TV. In all the time he’d known Liam, the man had never asked him for a favor, so Burke didn’t feel he could refuse when Liam insisted on the blind date.

  The cousin was supposed to meet him at six at a popular pizza parlor, but the hands on the clock edged toward a quarter past the hour. In the grand scheme of things, she wasn’t that late, but Burke was eager to latch onto any excuse to cancel the date and leave. The last thing he wanted was to spend his evening entertaining some girl who was clearly desperate enough to agree to Liam’s matchmaking efforts.

  He had no idea what she looked like, or even her full name. Liam just referred to her as EJ. He promised Burke meeting the cousin would be a pleasant surprise. Lia
m assured him she’d be easy to pick out in the crowd with a bright red and green scarf around her neck.

  Although he seriously doubted the surprise would be pleasant, Burke remained seated at his table. He flagged down a server and ordered another Dr. Pepper then leaned back in the chair, waiting for his date.

  A minute later, he glanced up and saw Ellen Meade hurry inside the busy restaurant. Cheeks and nose red from the cold November air, she took a moment to savor the warmth before looking around, as though she sought someone.

  Before he could stop himself, Burke stood and waved to get her attention. At first, she gave him a befuddled look before recognition lit her features and she smiled, heading his way.

  “If it isn’t Officer Tipton. I thought I only ran into you when I literally ran into you,” she said in a teasing tone.

  Burke chuckled. “Bear and I have kept an eye out for you, but I haven’t seen you downtown for a while.” Ellen appeared even more beautiful than he remembered. When she unfastened the top buttons of her coat, he gaped at the red and green striped scarf she wore.

  “What?” she asked, glancing down as she finished unbuttoning her coat, trying to see what had caught his attention.

  “Your scarf,” he said, pointing to it. “Please tell me you have a cousin named Liam who set you up on a blind date tonight.”

  Ellen gawked at him. “You’re his friend Tip?”

  Burke nodded.

  Ellen blinked twice, absorbing this bit of welcome news before draping her coat over a chair. Burke pulled out a seat for her and she sank onto it. When her cousin insisted she go out with his friend weeks ago, Ellen resisted. Liam just wouldn’t let the idea go and when he begged her to go out with the guy Friday night, she finally relented. She’d heard him sing the praises of his friend Tip for a long time, but had never met the man. Not that she and Liam spent a lot of time hanging out together, but neither of them had any siblings. Liam had always watched out for her and she’d enjoyed playing the role of his younger sister.

  She’d thought it odd he demanded she wear a ridiculous green and red scarf her aunt had made for her a few years ago, but she’d wrapped it around her neck and headed out the door. Although she had no clue what her date looked like, Liam assured her the scarf would be how the mystery man identified her.