His to Love (Carmel Springs Book 6)

Chapter 2

Stevie~

My heart was beating hard inside my chest as I made my way into the police station conference room. When I had interviewed with Chief Sergio, he'd given me a Cliff's Notes version of how things ran in Carmel Springs, and the starting and ending shifts always met in the station's conference room for a shift pass down. According to Chief Sergio, there wasn't ever much to report, so the meetings only lasted about fifteen minutes, so nothing major. There were always five to six officers on shift at one time, so he had warned me to expect about ten to twelve officers in the room. However, today was going to be a little different because I knew that he planned on announcing me to my fellow officers.

When I walked into the room, there was about fifteen people in the room, some sitting, some standing. Chief Sergio was in the front of the room, speaking to one of the officers. I quietly made my way through the room to find a seat, making sure to keep my head high, but not really making any eye contact with anyone. I'd wait until Chief Sergio introduced me before branching out and making new friends.

However, as I took my seat in the front row, I noticed three officers standing together, and I'd gotten a good enough glance to see that they all had to be related somehow. They resembled each other closely enough that I'd guess brothers, but I couldn't be sure. Now, while I didn't know their relationship, I did know that all three were freakin' gorgeous. All tall with dark brown hair and light eyes, they looked like they belonged on one of those fundraiser calendars.

Not wanting to look like I was gawking, I made a quick scan of the room, and in all honesty, most of the guys in the room looked like they might be worth going to dinner with. Whatever was in the water of Carmel Springs, it was probably magical. Not one potbelly in sight, and that was saying something. Most veteran cops had earned their potbellies, and God bless them.

"Okay, let's get started," Chief Sergio announced, and all the officers immediately took their seats. It was nice to see the level of respect that Chief Sergio commanded, and it made me feel a little bit better about taking this job.

We all listened patiently as he gave a rundown of all the happenings of the town, and it was hard not to smile when it sounded like he was more of a complaining father than a chief of police, upholding the laws of the town. The more that he spoke, the better I felt, and that felt like everything after what I'd been through at Leyland.

After he was finished complaining about the townsfolk, he said, "One last thing before you guys start your shift and the other half leave. I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our team, Stevie Whitley." He gestured for me to stand up. "Officer Whitley, welcome to Carmel Springs."

I stood, then gave a blanket wave to the room, smiling at everyone as they greeted me back. Some said hello, some waved back, and some even smiled. The only person to do none of those things was the guy in the middle of the three officers that I had lumped in as brothers.

"Okay, get going," Chief Sergio said, dismissing us all.

As I stood up to make my way through the room, I was approached by two of the guys that I had pegged as being related, and it was incredible how good looking they were when you saw them up close like this. There was definitely something in the water.

"Hi, I'm Brett Colter," one of the guys said, introducing himself. "This is my brother, Jax."

That had me smiling at them. "I thought that you guys might be related."

"Fair warning, there are six of us living in Carmel Springs, so you're likely to run into any one of us at any given moment in time," Jax said good-naturedly. "And since there's three Officer Colters that work the day shift, you're better off just calling us by our first names or else you're liable to get confused."