His Risk to Take Page 1
Chapter One
Same bullshit, different city.
From the darkest corner of O’Hanlon’s bar, Piers Nivanst took a long pull of his draft beer and watched men and women start to pair off, retreating to their own dark corners together. The bitter snow storm taking place outside had kept people inside well past their cut-off point. Loud music emanated from unseen speakers until everyone around him yelled to be heard or had given up and started dancing. Toward the back, a group of men played pool under an ancient light, their girlfriends looking on from the sidelines. He’d thought of joining the game himself, but since arriving an hour earlier, Piers had seen money discreetly exchange hands several times. Nothing new in a dive bar like this, but illegal gambling was something that, as a cop, he tended to avoid.
He took another pull of his beer and tried to focus on the debate taking place in front of him. His first week as a member of the NYPD had been long and tedious. Daniel and Brent, two officers who’d been gifted with the task of showing him the ropes, had dragged him to the bar to celebrate his survival.
“So let me get this straight, Danny boy. You’ve never once cried in front of a girl?”
Daniel heaved a breath toward the ceiling. “No, Brent. Why would I be crying if I’m with a girl?”
“To show her how emotionally complex you are.”
Brent tapped his finger against his temple. “Women go crazy for that shit.”
Daniel smiled lazily in response, his attention diverted once more by the cute bartender as she passed.
“When I’m with a girl, I’m a little too busy to worry about how she’s gauging my emotional maturity.”
In the one week since Piers ’s transfer from Chicago, he’d watched Daniel, the hostage negotiator, date and discard at least three different women. Brent, on the other hand, seemed more interested in blowing shit up. They were good at their jobs, and Piers considered himself fortunate Lieutenant Tyler, his former superior back in Chicago, had put in a good word for him with the NYPD Emergency Services Unit.
At the reminder of his previous home and position on the Chicago police force, Piers drained his beer and signaled the bartender for another one. He shouldn’t be drinking to forget the reason he’d left Chicago, but it had become a habit of late. One he needed to get control of soon. Just not tonight.
“Weigh in on this, Piers . Do women want men who, like myself, are as deep and fathomless as the ocean?”
Brent gestured to Danny with his beer. “Or like pretty boy over here who hits it, quits it, and forgets it?”
Piers avoided responding right away by sipping his beer. He had a feeling his answer would inspire an entirely new debate, but he had no interest in discussing his approach to women and relationships with Daniel and Brent, who he’d known less than a week. He knew what they saw when they looked at him. Quiet, friendly guy. Passionate about his job. It’s the same thing women saw, too. In the beginning.
But Prince Charming disappeared as soon as they made it to the bedroom.
He’d tried once or twice in the past to be the guy who whispered sweet nothings into a girl’s ear when she came, but he’d never been able to keep up the façade. He’d rather be explaining in very explicit terms how and where he planned to take her next. It was a part of him he couldn’t explain, but had learned to embrace. Finding women to embrace it with him tended to be the difficult part.
Deciding on evasion as his best bet, Piers half smiled. “If I knew exactly what women wanted, do you think I’d be sitting here with you two?”
