Chance Collision Read online

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  A Totally Bound Publication

  Chance Collision

  ISBN # 978-1-78184-929-3

  ©Copyright C.A. Szarek 2014

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright January 2014

  Edited by Rebecca Douglas

  Totally Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2013 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Burning and a Sexometer of 2.

  This story contains 231 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 11 pages.

  Crossing Forces

  CHANCE COLLISION

  C.A. Szarek

  Book two in the Crossing Forces series

  Vowing to protect her had nothing to do with feelings.

  Detective Pete Crane catches a new shooting case and considers it business as usual. But when the lead witness is the Chief of Police’s fiery assistant, he never anticipated she’d challenge him—personally and professionally. Especially while under his protection.

  Little do they know, the shooting she and her grandmother witnessed was anything but random.

  Thrown together, their attraction sizzles, even though she’s squarely in the no-fly zone. She makes him break every rule in his little black book.

  Nikki Harper has been attracted to Pete since they met two years ago. Witnessing a brutal shooting throws her into a stigma that’s always been her greatest fear—a victim. She has no choice but to accept his protective custody and let him help save her and her beloved grandmother.

  Can Pete protect his witness and solve the case, while fighting the intense heat with Nikki?

  Dedication

  The fact that this book came to fruition amazes me. The further I go to chase my dream, the more surreal it seems!

  Thanks to my husband Shane for your support and input on ‘the cop stuff’. Yes, I added a dispatcher just for you!

  Thanks again to my former FBI agent friend Holly for mentally walking through crime scenes. Thank you to my detective buddy Matt for answering my incessant emails. The same goes for cops Jason and Mario and all the texts with random questions! Y’all are awesome for all you do, both for a living and sharing your expertise with me.

  Thank you to my critique partners, Gina, Michelle, Clover and Jen. You ladies have made my stories stronger.

  Thanks to Susie, too, who plays equal part critique partner and cheerleader! You’re a fantastic writer and a valuable friend.

  Amee, thank you for being my muse and my sounding board, and for holding my hand when I most certainly needed it.

  To my two Jo’s: Y’all are AWESOME, from Canada to Texas! Love you guys!

  To Alanna, Toni, Kerry and Michelle: Thanks for always being there for me. Love you guys!

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  iPhone: Apple, Inc

  Styrofoam: The Dow Chemical Company

  Chevy Impala/Chevy Tahoe: General Motors Company

  Hummer/H2: General Motors Company

  Wheel of Fortune: CBS Television Distribution

  Beretta: Fabbrica D’ Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A.

  Coke: The Coca-Cola Company

  Stetson: John B. Stetson Company

  Starbucks: Starbucks Corporation

  Ford/Crown Vic/Taurus: Ford Motor Company

  Dodge Challenger/Dodge Charger: Chrysler Group LLC

  Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Bryanston Pictures

  Pleasantville: New Line Cinema

  New York Yankees: Yankee Global Enterprises LLC/Major League Baseball

  Rangers: Major League Baseball

  Teflon: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

  SIG: SIG Sauer Inc

  Magnum Ruger: Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

  Glock: Glock Ges.m.b.H.

  Tilt-A-Whirl: Larson International

  Barbie: Mattel, Inc.

  2004 Nissan: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

  Word: Microsoft Corporation

  BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

  CVS: CVS Caremark Corporation

  Silverado: Chevrolet, General Motors Company

  (Everything I Do) I Do It For You: Bryan Adams, Michael Kamen and Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange

  Lego: The Lego Group

  Chapter One

  The paper aeroplane sailed down the long hallway, heading towards Chief’s office. Pete cringed as the click of high heels registered at the same time as the feminine yelp.

  Ethan dashed around the corner, and Pete hurried to follow.

  “Hey, squirt, slow down,” Pete called, but his partner’s son was already out of sight.

  Nikki, his boss’s administrative assistant, bent down towards the little boy. Ethan’s copper curls were several shades lighter than the young woman’s, but Nikki’s hair was as natural as the kid’s. Usually neatly coiffed at the back of her neck, today her locks were loose and flowing. Appealing.

  “What do you have there?” she was asking Ethan when he reached them.

  “I’m sorry,” Pete said. As she straightened, Nikki had a smile on her face. Thank God. “Didn’t realise I’d get that kinda air.”

  Ethan retrieved the paper creation and slid a small hand into one of Pete’s, looking up at both of them.

  “It’s no problem, just startled me. Not like a paper plane collision can do much damage.” She smiled at the little boy, then met Pete’s e
yes.

  “Yeah, except for maybe a paper cut?” Pete shrugged.

  Nikki’s smile slid into a grin and he got swept into the deep pools of her big brown eyes. She shoved her hair over a shoulder and Pete swallowed hard. The soft, wavy sea of red begged for a touch. A light floral scent tickled his nose with her pleasant perfume. It made her more intriguing.

  Gorgeous. How had he never noticed before?

  “Somehow I think I’ll live.” She laughed. The sound was sweet and he found himself grinning back. Like a besotted idiot.

  “Unca’ Pete. Did you see? It went faaaaaaar,” Ethan piped up, tugging on his hand and jumping up and down. He veered the plane back and forth with his free hand.

  “I did, squirt.”

  Ethan grinned, his blue eyes wide and bright. “What’s your name?” the four-year-old asked Nikki.

  Her white billowy skirt moved as she bent down and offered her hand. The fabric stopped at her knees. Damn, she had killer legs.

  Pete averted his gaze from her asset-hugging lilac top and the cleavage peeking out as she moved to the child’s level.

  “I’m Nikki. Ethan, you’re getting big! I know your mommy. Andi’s my friend.”

  “And my daddy is Cole!” Ethan tugged his hand out of Pete’s and shook Nikki’s outstretched one.

  A smile played at Pete’s lips as he watched them.

  “I know him, too. We all work together.”

  Ethan eyed her up and down. “Where’s your gun?”

  “Oh. I work for Chief Martin. I don’t have a gun. I’m not a detective like your parents and Detective Crane,” Nikki explained.

  “C’mere, squirt,” Pete said, hauling his partner’s son onto a hip. “Hungry?” His shoulder didn’t even twitch. Good. Never could tell when his year-old bullet wound would bother him. How much of that was in his head?

  “Yeah,” Ethan said, nodding.

  “How’d you get little guy duty?” Nikki asked, brown eyes dancing. As she squared her shoulders, her lilac top hugged her breasts more.

  Pete’s stomach fluttered. He must be hungrier than he thought. He was too old for her, even if he didn’t consider her off limits. Unlike his partner, he didn’t date—or marry—at work. “Andi went into labour this morning.”

  “Ah, I hadn’t heard.”

  Shifting his feet, he met her gaze. “Yeah, and Cole’s with her, of course. Bella, his normal babysitter, is a camp counsellor for the rest of this summer down south in Livingston, and Andi’s mom is on her way. She moved to Ohio a few years ago when she remarried. Cole’s sister’s even coming in from Seattle later today. But for now, I’m it. I don’t mind, really. Me and Ethan are cool.”

  Nikki’s eyes widened as she took in all the info he’d thrown at her.

  Babbling? Really?

  Come to think of it, that soliloquy was probably the most he’d ever said to her. He cleared his throat.

  “My cousins are coming,” Ethan announced.

  “That’s nice,” Nikki said, an easy smile back in place.

  Pete had never noticed the dimple in her chin before. He tried not to stare.

  “My mama’s having a baby,” his partner’s son continued.

  Nikki ruffled Ethan’s hair. “You’re gonna be a big brother?”

  Pete chuckled as the little boy nodded. He looked at Nikki’s slender hands. She’d been close enough to touch his face. What would that feel like? Her skin against his—

  Jesus, what is wrong with you? Lusting after a kid. What was she, twenty-five?

  “I’m gonna be the bestest big broder ever!”

  Her laugh jolted him. It was as tempting as she was.

  “I bet you are,” Nikki told Ethan, holding out her hand. The little boy slapped a loud high-five.

  The buzz of Pete’s phone offered him the excuse he needed to tear his attention away from the Chief’s lovely administrative assistant. He offered a wave and turned away. He admonished Ethan to hush while he brought the phone to his ear.

  “Crane,” he said.

  “How’s Ethan?” Cole asked.

  “Howdy to you, too, bud,” Pete answered, hiking the little boy up higher on his hip. Kid was getting heavy.

  Cole’s sigh was all the answer he got.

  “Everything okay?” he asked his partner’s husband.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Isn’t your wife, I don’t know, having a baby or something?”

  “Not yet. I just wanted to call and check in,” Cole said.

  Pete’s bullshit meter lit up like a Christmas tree. He set Ethan down on his desk in the Criminal Investigations Division room—where all the detectives officed—as they reached it, handing his partner’s son the foam apple he kept around to squeeze when he was stressed.

  Ethan made motor sounds as he steered the paper aeroplane around, then rammed the apple into it, making explosion noises.

  He grinned at the child. “What happened?”

  “What do you mean?” Cole asked.

  Pete might have only known the guy for about a year, but it was obvious his buddy was trying to come off as innocent. It might’ve worked on someone else. “How’s my partner?”

  “She’s…fine.”

  “Okay, quit hedging. You’re starting to worry me. Is something wrong?”

  “Sorry.” Cole’s tone was dejected. “Everything’s fine. Really.”

  “What’d you do?”

  “Andi’s…in a mood.”

  “Well, hell, she is having a baby.”

  “She…asked me to leave the room.” His fellow detective’s voice dropped to a whisper.

  Pete couldn’t hold the laugh back. He shook his head, though his friend couldn’t see him, ignoring Cole’s growl. “Do you want me to come up there?”

  “I can handle my wife,” Cole shot back.

  He held back another laugh. Damn good thing Andi couldn’t hear her husband’s declaration. “Want to talk to your kid?”

  “Sure.”

  “Ethan, your dad’s on the phone,” Pete said.

  The little boy’s face lit up even before he handed over his cell phone. “Daddy!”

  It was odd considering someone other than Iain as Andi’s son’s father. Pete’s partner’s first husband had never got the chance to be a father to Ethan, but Cole was a great dad. The former FBI agent was equal parts fantastic husband and hell of a cop, too. Stubborn, like his partner, but they were made for each other.

  Iain would have liked the guy, as odd as that was to contemplate. A fellow cop and good friend of Pete’s, Iain had been killed in the line of duty over four years ago, leaving a six-week-old baby and a devastated wife to cope without him.

  Pete had been out of commission when Cole had come to town after a human trafficker. The slimy bastard had put two bullets in Pete, actually.

  The FBI agent had turned Andi’s life upside down. But they’d solved their case and fallen for each other. It was satisfying to see his partner happy again. She’d always meant the world to him. Cole was a good guy.

  He heard the steady hum of Cole’s voice as he spoke to Ethan. Pete smiled as the kid babbled away about the paper aeroplane and Nikki. Her carefree laugh bounced around into his mind and he sat straighter in the chair. Get her out of your head, dude. You’ve bigger things to worry about than a chick you can’t have.

  Pete snapped back to attention when Ethan handed his cell over.

  “Pete?” Cole’s voice was far away as Pete’s fumbling fingers brought the iPhone back to his ear.

  “I’m here.”

  “Well, I’m not. I need to go. Nurse’s hollering.”

  “Showtime?”

  “Maybe.” Cole’s voice kicked up a notch.

  Pete smiled. “It’ll be okay. Go have a baby. Keep us posted.”

  “You got it. Cass is gonna grab E-man later.”

  “Good deal.”

  Cole disconnected the call, and Pete glanced at the little boy sitting on the edge of his desk. Ethan was still m
aking motor noises, flying the pliable fake fruit and his paper aeroplane around in circles.

  God, he was growing up. Not a tiny baby anymore. Hell, not a baby at all. Pete had held him and changed his diapers, fed him so many times in the middle of the night he’d lost count. Almost like Ethan was his kid.

  Andi had needed that from him. He loved her like a sister. It wasn’t a chore to be more than her partner at work. She’d needed him.

  But not now. She had a new love, a new life. And Pete was happy for her. But he’d been…displaced. They’d been partners for years. More than that, they’d been best friends. Still best friends, dammit. Now that she had Cole in her life, they saw less and less of each other outside of work.

  Pete needed to get a life.

  And isn’t that pathetic?

  His text alert went off and he glanced at his cell.

  We need to talk. Do you have time for me tonight?

  Liz.

  Shit.

  Sucking in a breath, Pete looked at Ethan and pocketed his phone. He didn’t have time for the lovely blonde attorney.

  “C’mon, squirt. Let’s go to Dixie’s and get some grub.”

  “Yeah!”

  Pete grinned at the kid’s enthusiasm and swung Ethan into his arms.

  Liz would wait.

  Chapter Two

  Nikki tried to tear her eyes away from Detective Pete Crane as the tall lean form moved down the corridor with the child on his hip. Probably headed to his cubicle in CID, as most of the PD called it.

  She’d always thought he was good-looking, but she’d never noticed just how green his eyes were before today. He’d stared at her, hadn’t he?

  He hadn’t talked to her often, but he had a quick wit. Pete was always making someone laugh about something. He gave off the constant impression of being carefree and easy-going.

  It wasn’t odd to see him with his partner’s son. Before Andi had remarried, Pete and Andi had seemed forever attached at the hip. Half the PD had assumed they were more than just partners.

  Nikki was a friend of Andi, so she knew better, but she’d always been curious as to why Pete wasn’t married. Or ever even hinted at being in a relationship. Of course, there was nothing wrong with being a private person, but Nikki had never heard Andi talk about Pete dating anyone, and he’d never brought a woman other than his mother to police department functions like the annual Christmas party or family picnic held every spring.