SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 21

Never had his patrol car ever smelled so good. She'd carried in the scent of lavender, vanilla, and baked bread. The heater blasting in the small passenger compartment of his Ford Escape just emphasized the fact. He was going to be salivating all night and it wasn't going to be over just cinnamon rolls.

Her reaction to his arrival hadn't disappointed. He decided that surprising her could quickly become his favorite past time. Her eyes had this way of becoming even bigger and bluer than normal, while her cheeks flushed, and that smile of hers was just blinding.

Even dressed like she was headed to Antarctica, it was impossible to ignore that she was in possession of a tight, attractive little body.

He chuckled to himself. Had she thought Brooks would be completely without a heater in his vehicle? The little black beanie with its bright blue pom on the top made her look both ridiculous and playfully sexy at the same time.

He could definitely see a snowball fight turning naughty in a hurry if he was given the opportunity. Different parts of his body stirred to life as he imagined just what she would look like flushed, breathing hard, pinned down on a freshly fallen blanket of white snow after he caught her and they both crashed into a mound of the stuff.

His body liked the alluring imagery so much that he had to shut down that line of thought immediately and imagine something thoroughly unsexy like the very first time the doctor had asked him to turn his head and cough. Man had that been awkward.

Jake zeroed back in on reality and the present. Kara was strapped into the passenger side beside him scrolling through the options on his MDC, her face lit up by the bright light of its LED display.

"No wonder you guys are always asking for directions. This map sucks." She announced as she slumped back into the seat with a huff. "Not that I don't mind telling you, it's my job and all, but it seems like we would be doing you a better service if we gave you access to the map we have in dispatch."

 "Maybe it takes up too much memory for the MDT?" He shrugged. Jake would never claim to be a techie by any means. He barely knew how to run his touch screen phone with all its apps.

"No, that shouldn't be an issue because its web based. You'd just need a log in." Her brow furrowed and she chewed lightly on her lip as she contemplated the reasons he could be denied the arguably most useful resource as her disposal.

There did not appear to be an expression she possessed that was not in some way appealing to him. He considered purposely angering her to see what that looked like and if it affected him the same way. Something told him she'd be fiery and fierce, nothing like the cold, silent punishment his ex wife used to exact upon him when she felt he'd done wrong.

"I've long since stopped trying to understand the decisions made by those in higher pay grades than mine." Perhaps angering her while trapped in a car with her would be a bad choice.

"I'll send an email out when I get back and see what I can do." She appeared to let it go for the time being as she settled back to observe their surroundings. They'd been patrolling for a little over 2 hours, chatting comfortably as the landscape passed by outside.

At the moment they were slowly rolling through one of the new, large, upper class neighborhoods in the north eastern side of the county that had been built in the last 2 years. Many of the homes had long driveways with privacy gates, the homes themselves large looming structures barely visible from the street. They looked ominous in the blue, gray light of the winter moon.

"I haven't taken the time to drive up her yet. It's been on my to-do list, but with the B&B I just haven't found time." Her head swiveled from side to side as she tried to commit each intersection and landmark to memory. "Wow! These people have a lot of money."