"Hey, snap out of it."
Seth turned to see Craig standing beside him, his ap.r.o.n in hand.
"Margie"s ordering us to stand down and eat. Grab a plate and join us. She has one of the kitchen workers taking over the line in case we have any stragglers."
Feeling anything but hungry, Seth fixed a plate and followed his friends to a table on the far side of the room. There wasn"t a lot of talking going on. Most of the people ate in silence, though there were a few conversations from some of the regulars who knew each other or hung out together on the streets.
He positioned himself so he could see the woman and tuned out the rest of the goings-on so he could watch her and take in every detail he could.
She ate daintily and never looked up or made eye contact with any of the others. When she wasn"t looking down at her food she fixed her gaze out the window, watching the people pa.s.s on the busy street.
There was something wistful about her stare, and again, that protective surge came roaring to the surface.
"Who is she?" he blurted out.
"Who is who?" Craig asked.
Rob looked up and followed Seth"s gaze. "You mean her?"
"Yeah, I haven"t seen her before but it"s been a few months. When did she start coming in?"
Craig shrugged. "I haven"t seen her before. She wasn"t here last month. Maybe she"s new. Margie would know. She keeps up with everyone."
Seth frowned, not liking the tired look on the woman"s face. She was young, early twenties, far too young to be out on the streets. Spring in Denver was often harsh with copious amounts of snow. She was so slight, and all she had was that sweater and a cap. She"d freeze to death.
"What"s bugging you, man?" Rob asked.
Seth shook his head. "Nothing."
Seth forced himself to eat but watched the woman as the other people finished their meal and began to filter out. She remained, even after she"d finished eating. She pushed her plate to the side and rested her chin on the top of her fist as she continued to gaze out the window.
He cursed when one of the kitchen workers came over to collect her plate, because even though the worker didn"t say anything to the woman, the action prompted her to rise. She looked guiltily around as if she thought she"d overstayed her welcome, and then she hurried toward the door without a backward glance.
Before he realized it, he was on his feet and hurrying after her. It wasn"t something he could even explain. He had to go after her. He had to know where she was going, if she was safe.
Ignoring Rob and Craig"s startled exclamations, he strode out onto the street and looked left and right to see the direction she"d gone. Seeing her retreating figure to the right, he set off after her.
He kept his distance, not wanting to spook her. He felt like a d.a.m.ned stalker, and maybe that"s what he was. There was no reasonable explanation for his pursuit of her. It certainly had nothing to do with his cop"s instincts. He"d reacted to her as a man, and something about her called to a part of him that hadn"t ever awoken before.
For six blocks he followed her. His hands were clenched at his sides. She had no sense of self- preservation. She never looked up, never looked back to make sure she wasn"t followed. She blended seamlessly with the busy downtown crowd, and he quickened his step so he wouldn"t lose her.
He slowed when she turned into an alleyway. His approach was cautious. The last thing he wanted was to walk into a d.a.m.n trap. He turned the corner and peered down to see her hunker down between two cardboard boxes. She disappeared from view and he stood there a moment, battling between anger and...he wasn"t sure.
He hadn"t wanted her to be homeless. He"d hoped that she was down on her luck and needed the free meal, but that she had a place to live, protection from the cold. Refuge from the streets that took lives every single day.
What about this woman fired such a response in him? In his job, he saw all manners of people. The hungry, the homeless, the abused. There were plenty of young women in need, but none had infused a soul-stirring desire to help and protect.
It was presumptuous of him. She might not need him. She might be just fine on her own, but something in her eyes told him that wasn"t so. She needed someone, and he wanted to be that person.
Crazy talk. He wondered now if that bullet had hit him in the head. But that didn"t stop him from walking with determined steps toward the boxes at the end of the alley.
When he was close enough to see the top of her head over the edge of one of the boxes, he saw that she was sitting cross-legged on what looked to be old towels, and she was absorbed in a tattered paperback book. After every page, she moved one of her hands from the book and held it to her mouth while she blew to warm it and then she returned to the book to turn another page.
His chest clenched and he moved a step closer. His foot glanced off a discarded Styrofoam cup, and her head jerked up. Alarm flashed in her eyes when she saw him, and she scrambled to her feet like a doe poised for flight.
In a lightning-fast move, he snagged her wrist just when she would have bolted. He was careful not to hurt her, only prevent her from fleeing.
A small cry of fright escaped her lips, and her eyes widened as she stared up at him.
"I"m sorry. Don"t be afraid. I won"t hurt you, I swear it. Do you remember me from Margie"s Place? I just served you an hour ago."
Though she didn"t relax, she nodded, her eyes still solidly trained on his face as if judging the validity of his promise not to hurt her.
"If I let you go, will you promise not to run?"
She looked at him like he was crazy.
He held up his other hand in surrender. "Let me amend that. Do you promise not to run as long as I don"t do anything to further scare you?"
For a moment she studied him, and then slowly, she nodded again. He relaxed his grip, carefully easing his fingers away, studying her body language for any sign that she meant to flee. He couldn"t blame her for not trusting him, but suddenly it was the most important thing in the world for her to do just that.
"What do you want?" she asked quietly.
The shock of her voice floated over him. It was pleasing. An electrical sensation that nipped at his neck and snaked through his body like a river current. He wanted her to talk again. To say his name.
"I..." What did he want? And how to say it? He laughed softly and shook his head. "You"re going to think I"m nuts."
She smiled then and it made her so lovely that he ached.
"I might already think you"re crazy. You stared at me so funny in the line. I worried I"d somehow made you angry."
"No. No, of course not," he rushed out. "Look, will you go somewhere with me?" At her look of surprise he hurried to amend his statement. "There"s a diner down the street. It"s warm and we can sit and talk there."
She gave him a confused look. "But I just ate. So did you."
"Do you like coffee? Hot chocolate?"
"I love hot chocolate," she said wistfully.
He latched onto that like a dying man struggling for one more breath. "Then walk with me to the diner. We can have hot chocolate and you can talk to me. What do you say?"
Puzzlement still shone in her blue eyes. She nibbled at her bottom lip as she clearly couldn"t decide whether to accept or decline.
"I"m a police officer," he said. He rummaged in his pocket for his badge. "You"re completely safe with me."
She stared at the shield, and he could swear tears flashed for a single moment before she quickly gathered herself.
"What"s your name?" he asked. "My name is Seth. Seth Colter."
"Lily," she said in a soft voice. "Just Lily."
Lily. It suited her. Delicate and beautiful.
"Well, Just Lily. Will you walk down and have a cup of hot chocolate with me?"
She took a deep breath. "Okay."
Relief coursed through his veins until he thought he was going to crawl out of his skin. He held his hand out to her, unsure of the gesture and how she"d take it. He only knew he had to touch her.
With a curious look in his direction, she slid her small fingers trustingly into his. He gripped her hand, infusing his warmth into her cold fingers, and then he tugged her back down the alley to the street.
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end.