When I Found You

By Friday afternoon, she was nearly up to date with work. If she put in a half day on Saturday, she’d be completely caught up.

At the light tap on her door frame, Ariana glanced up from the incident reports she was scrolling through on her computer. Cynthia, her executive assistant, stood in the doorway.

“It’s after six,” Cyn told her. “Why don’t you pack it in for the evening?”

Ariana smiled. “I will, but I want to go through the rest of today’s reports first.”

“The reports will be waiting for you Monday. Knowing you, you’ll get back to them tomorrow morning anyway. There’s nothing noteworthy. I already checked. Max and I, and some of the supervisors, are going to grab a drink at The Runway,” she said, referring to the popular bar in one of the hotels close to the airport. “We’d really like it if you joined us. It’s been a while since you’ve come out for an after-work drink.”

Ariana pushed back her hair and tucked it behind her ears. “Thanks for the invite, but I should finish the reports.” She pointed to a stack of file folders on her desk. “The work is piling up.”

Cyn came into the office and stopped in front of Ariana’s desk. “It would mean a lot if you came along. Everyone’s worried about you.”

That’s exactly what Ariana didn’t want. The department was under enough pressure right now with all the cost-cutting that had been going on. Not wanting to burden her team, she’d been carrying the brunt of it. She knew they looked to her to set the tone. If she avoided them, it would only make matters worse. Cyn was right.

Ariana offered a weak smile. “You always know what to say, don’t you?”

She’d get everything done, even if it meant continuing to work at nights and on weekends, but they didn’t have to know that. She’d lead by example and show her team that all was well.

Even if it wasn’t entirely true.

“You’re right, Cyn. Thanks. I’ll meet you at The Runway in thirty minutes or so,” Ariana said and turned back to her computer screen.

“Nope.”

Ariana glanced up with surprise.

“If I leave you here, despite your best intentions, it’ll be a lot more than half an hour before you’re out the door. By then you’ll probably have changed your mind about joining us. Come now.”

Ariana sighed. She couldn’t argue with Cyn. They’d been working together for as long as she’d been at the airport, and Cyn knew her well. “Fine,” she conceded.

“Great!” A smile spread across Cyn’s face. “I’ll buy you your first drink.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Cyn shrugged. “I might as well. A couple of the guys bet me you wouldn’t show. I knew you would. There’s a twenty in it for me—times two.” She flaunted the smile again. “So, I might as well share the spoils with you. I’ll go freshen up, come back and get you. That’ll give you ten minutes to finish up.”

Ariana watched Cyn stroll out of her office. Her assistant’s parting comments were a wake-up call for her. Her team was betting against her—even if just related to social matters—and she couldn’t let that happen. As a leader, she needed to be present, calm and steady. She thought again about her discussion with George and wondered if she could have done anything differently with Dave.

She’d have to thank Cyn, she decided, as she sent off the authorization to proceed with the upgrade of the video management system in the parking area and shut down her computer. She pulled her handbag out of her bottom drawer, changed her practical work flats for a pair of high-heeled pumps and was running her brush through her hair when Cyn returned.

For Cyn, freshening up meant reapplying her makeup, undoing the updo she’d had her golden-blond hair in, and adding a slick coat of bright red lipstick. She’d also removed her off-white jacket, exposing the siren-red sleeveless dress she wore beneath.

“All set?” Cyn asked.

“Absolutely. And thanks,” Ariana added softly.

The Runway was busy, as it usually was on a Friday night. They bypassed the entrance to the restaurant on their way to the lounge and squeezed by the throng gathered by the bar.

Ariana watched with amusement as heads turned their way, the men no doubt giving the undeniably beautiful Cyn appreciative glances.

The crowd was eclectic as always, a mixture of traveling business executives on layover, airport workers, law enforcement types assigned to the airport, construction tradesmen, and women either there to mingle with the men or—Ariana knew plenty about the seedier side of executive travel—those working and hoping to meet a john.

She was relieved when they made it through the worst of the congestion and incredibly loud noise, and she spotted the table that their group had commandeered.

Max rose and waved to them from across the room. It warmed Ariana to see the genuine pleasure on the faces of her team members when they saw her. She smiled and waved back. As they wound their way between the tables, Ariana’s attention was drawn by loud cheers from a group to the left. She recognized a couple of faces and frowned. Logan’s coal-black hair and brilliant blue eyes were unmistakable. Also at the table was the other cop...Sergeant Rick Vasquez. The one she’d met at Buster’s Beach House Bar. There was another man with them. Judging by the haircut and demeanor, she assumed he was a cop, too, but one she’d not seen at the airport. The three cops were surrounded by a bevy of attractive women. The two on either side of Logan were the most striking of the group. A slender, elegant blonde sat on his right, and the most stunning redhead Ariana had ever seen was on his left.

Just as she and Cyn reached their table, out of the corner of her eye, Ariana noticed Logan push out of his chair, nearly toppling it, and draw the redhead out of hers and into his arms. The redhead wasn’t petite by any means, but Logan lifted her off her feet as if she weighed no more than a feather. He spun her around before giving her a smacking kiss on the lips.

“Now, why can’t I have luck like that with women?” Max murmured into Ariana’s ear as he pulled a chair out for her, thankfully not giving her direct view of the table where Logan was. “That guy earns the right to his nickname.”

After greeting everyone, Ariana tried hard to keep her gaze from wandering back to Logan and gave Max a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

Max chuckled. “You haven’t heard about how he got his nickname?”

She shook her head, not wanting to admit that she’d been curious about it.

“You do know O’Connor’s nickname is Jagger, right?”

She nodded. “As in Mick Jagger? Thank you,” she said to the waitress when she was handed a glass of white wine.

“I took the liberty of ordering for you when Cyn texted me that you were on your way.” Max raised his bottle of beer to her glass and tapped it with a clink. “Good to see you out. As I was saying, yes, as in the Rolling Stones.”

“He sings?” she asked, incredulously.

Max laughed, barely managing not to spit beer on everyone around the table, and caused heads to turn his way. “No. He earned his nickname because of his moves with women. Mick Jagger is famously successful with them.” Max made a subtle gesture with his bottle toward Logan. “It seems the captain shares that trait.”

The image of Logan lifting the gorgeous redhead into the air and placing his lips on hers was vivid in Ariana’s mind. Against her better judgment, she peered around Cyn, seated on her other side, and cast a furtive glance at Logan. He was sitting down again and leaning back in his chair, a huge grin on his face. He had an arm draped around the back of each of the chairs occupied by the redhead and the blonde. When his hand squeezed the redhead’s shoulder and he whispered something to her, her rich and sensual laugh could be heard clearly. As Ariana watched, the redhead leaned in and rested her head against Logan’s shoulder briefly before glancing at Rick.

Was the redhead Becca? Ariana experienced an unusual sensation watching the vignette. Trying to put a name to the feeling, she astonished herself. Jealousy? She was feeling jealous, watching the cop she barely knew with a woman! “Well, more power to him,” she grumbled in response to Max’s statement. “As long as he does his job and does it well for us, what he does with his personal time is no concern of ours.”

* * *

LOGAN WAS THRILLED for Rick and Madison. His sergeant and the K-9 Unit’s veterinarian had just announced their engagement. If that wasn’t enough happy news, Cal Palmer, one of his best K-9 officers, and his wife, Jessica, were expecting their first child together, to join Cal’s daughter, Haley, from his first marriage, and Cal and Jessica’s adopted daughter, Kayla. They had a lot to celebrate. When Rick had announced the engagement, Logan had been the first to sweep Madison up into his arms and congratulate her, before he gave a hearty bear hug to Rick, too.

He glanced at the blonde on his right. He wouldn’t have known Jessica was pregnant if they hadn’t announced it, despite the pregnancy being nearly four months along. His colleagues across the table, Rick and Cal, were both wildly in love with their women. Logan couldn’t have been happier for them. Their impromptu celebration included Shannon Clemens, the newest addition to the K-9 Unit, and the unit’s administrative assistant, Beth. Madison had invited two of her colleagues from the Mission Bay Veterinary Clinic: Heather, their office manager, and Jane, one of the other veterinarians who used to work with the SDPD dogs until Madison had come along. As Logan listened to what Heather was saying, he noticed a table behind her, at the far end of the room.

She sat tall and erect, long dark auburn hair hanging more than halfway to her waist. Her back was to him and partially blocked from his view, but there was no mistaking the thick, pin-straight hair or the quarter profile he glimpsed. He’d just been thinking about how lucky his friends and colleagues were to have found such special women: intelligent, warm, caring and—never one to underestimate the importance of it—beautiful, and Ariana had popped into his thoughts. He’d meant to call her, but then one thing after another had come up. Or, if he was honest, he’d avoided it because he was wary of the emotions she’d stirred in him in the short time he’d known her.

As if he’d conjured her, she was sitting not more than a hundred feet from him. He saw her flick her hair back and laugh.

Logan tried but was unable to keep his eyes from repeatedly drifting back to her. When she rose, said what appeared to be goodbyes and slung the strap of her handbag over her shoulder, he stood, too, as if drawn by a magnet.

“Enjoy the rest of the evening,” Logan said to the table in general.

“Leaving so soon?” Rick inquired. “I figured my engagement might be worth a few more rounds at least.”

Logan chuckled. “Believe me, we’ll have many more rounds for an occasion as monumental as this. Besides, I’m driving tonight.” He glanced toward the front of the room, and saw Ariana winding her way through the crowd around the bar. He noted more than a few admiring glances cast her way and what he assumed were pickup lines, as well. “Uh...I just remembered something I have to do.”