A/N: This story is coming together rather slowly. I will not, however, abandon it. I will see it through to the end!! Bwahaha. Anywhosies, here is chapter two.
Chapter Two: Nice to Meet You.
"Thank you, Mrs. Burkley, so much for the job." I stood up and shook my superior's hand.
"Please, call me Tammie, Detective Andrews." She smiled, shaking my hand.
"Only if you call me Ryan," I joked back, tossing my blonde curls.
"Alright. Let me show you to your office, Ryan."
She led me down the hall to a big office. Inside were all my personal belongings, all ready for me.
"Looks great! Thank you." I grinned at her. "And thank you for this opportunity."
"Oh, don't mention it." She waved my thanks away. She turned to leave then faced me again. "One more thing. Detective Adam Banks might bear you some ill will. He really wanted this job."
"Oh, alright. Maybe I should meet him as soon as he gets in?"
"Great idea! I'll bring him straight here!"
With that, she left me. I closed my office door and sat down at my new desk. I got the files I wanted to discuss with Detective Banks, then looked at the corner of my desk. There sat a picture of my ex-boyfriend. I picked it up and gently caressed the glass.
"Oh, Pierre." I sniffed but held my tears at bay. "Oh, well. C'est la vie." I put the picture in the bottom drawer.
Then I saw those cool, electrifying blue eyes. My mystery man. It wasn't a big deal, a one-night stand, really.
I propped my elbows on my desk and leaned into my hands so they framed my face. He was attractive… and smart. I smiled as I thought about the night before. It had been his first time, yet he was so confident and sure. I sighed.
"Pull yourself together, Ryan," I said quietly. "You only did that for a pick-me-up…for both of you."
Yet I couldn't get him out of my mind. I wish I'd gotten his name or at least paid attention to where he lived.
The voice outside my office door brought me to.
"Detective Andrews wants to meet you and make sure there are no hard feelings." Tammie knocked on my door.
"Come in." I stood up and smoothed my skirt.
"Hello again!" Tammie said cheerfully. "Detective Ryan Andrews, meet Detective Adam Banks."
A young man about my age stepped into the room.
I blinked as he entered, seeing as the light from the main area was brighter than that of my office. I held out my hand to him. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Ditto," the familiar voice said.
I blinked a couple times to get accustomed to the light. Then I gasped. It was my mystery man.
"I'll let you two get better acquainted." Tammie shut the door behind her.
"You! Oh, no!" I returned to my seat.
"Nice to see you again, too. This isn't exactly what I expected either, Ryan," he hissed bitterly.
"Detective Andrews, if you please." I shot him a filthy look.
"Sorry, Detective Andrews," he drawled. "Loved the note, by the way. Maybe we should have gotten names, then we could've carpooled."
"Are you finished?" I asked, annoyed.
"So, now that you got what you wanted, it's all business? That's not a fun relationship, Andrews." He sat down on the corner of my desk nearest to me.
"What relationship? I bought you porn, we had sex. Big deal." I rubbed my temples to ease the tension.
"Speaking of your 'gift' to me, I found the girls very—enchanting." He walked behind my chair, put his arms around it, and whispered into my ear. "But none of them hold a candle to you." He ran a finger down my cheek and turned my head towards him. "How can the one person I hate the most in the whole world be the one I find to be the most beautiful?"
He tried to kiss me, but I stood up and put the desk between us. "Enough, Banks. We've got to get started. On work," I quickly added when he raised his eyebrows up and down.
"Pray, tell, Detective Andrews. Please let us begin." He moved to the seat in front of my desk as I moved in the same direction to the one behind it.
"All right," I began, handing him a file. "National Hockey star, Charles Conway, wants us to put up security around his home and get him a security guard as soon as possible."
"What's the deal? Why's he need the security?" He looked so cute when he focused.
I snapped out of that thought quickly. "Supposedly, Mr. Conway has a stalker." I handed Banks a pile of letters. "Each of these was sent by the same person, all of them demanding the same thing…Conway."
He examined the letters. "Have you sent these to the lab for-"
"Analysis? Yes, and they came back as inconclusive. No finger prints, no DNA. The envelopes weren't licked closed. They were glued closed."
"Okay, so how will a few of our men help? I mean, obviously this person wants Conway, but why us?"
"Apparently, he heard it was a good agency." I shrugged and crossed my legs, leaning back in my chair. "He trusts us."
"Detective Andrews?" Ilene was calling me on the intercom. "Charles Conway is here to see you."
"Send him in, Ilene."
Banks and I stood up and watched the hockey player enter the room.
"Mr. Conway, I'm Detective Ryan Andrews." I shook his head. "This is my co-worker, Detective Adam Banks."
Charles turned to Banks and grinned. "Hey, Banksy. What's shaking?" He gave Banks a warm hug.
"Hey, Charlie. Nothing really. You?" Banks shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, I'm being stalked, but other than that, nothing."
We all sat down. I looked back and forth between the two young men as they talked. "You two know each other?" I interrupted.
"Yeah," Charlie answered. "We used to play hockey together."
"Oh, well then, I guess we found your guard, Mr. Conway. That was really all I needed to speak to you about." I stood up and held out my hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Thank you, Detective Andrews. See ya, Banksy." Then Conway left.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Banks looked at me in bewilderment.
"He knew you. He trusts you. What am I supposed to do?" I looked at him.
"I spent the last ten years running from that kid. Why couldn't you have interviewed another agent to deal with him?" Adam collapsed into his chair and rubbed his forehead.
"What?" I looked at him in angry confusion. "Why would you run from Charles Conway?"
"Charlie had a major crush on me in high school. I went to my second choice college just to get away from him." Banks sighed. Then he looked at me, brightening slightly. "You called me your co-worker. Why not 'my employee' or something like that?"
I felt myself turn red as I circled the desk and leaned on the bit in front of him. "Because you don't work for me, you work with me."
"No, I work under you." He stood up and put his arms around me. "Or, I'd like to."
"Very funny, Banks." I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let me go. "Come on, knock it off."
"Or what?" he asked, teasingly, letting his hands roam freely over my legs.
"Banks, as your superior officer, I demand that you leave me alone!"
I reached back to slap him, but he grabbed it.
"Ah, ah, ah. That's not nice." He kissed my palm, sending shivers down my spine. "And as for you being my superior, then you should have been on top last night."
"You are so juvenile. Get off me!" This time I succeeded in pushing him away.
He looked me up and down. "You like it. You know you do. I'll prove it."
He strolled confidently up to me and grabbed me. Before I could resist, he fierily kissed me. I wished I could have stopped. But we didn't. Thankfully, though, the door was locked.
A/N: There you go. Hope y'all like it. R/R, ~Nelli~