Page 3 of Love, Restricted
Once the kitchen was the way I wanted it, I headed upstairs to get ready for the day.
I loved being police chief because it was the only thing I wanted to be since I was a child. It took a while for me to get there because the previous chief refused to retire. He lived and breathed blue, so I understood. Even now, he still hung around the police station. Chief Keith was my mentor and like another father to me. He helped me when I was in the academy and when I first became a police officer. He knew how important this job was to me.
Not only was it a lifelong dream for me, but my grandfather was a police officer, then a detective before he retired. Becoming an officer was my way of always honoring him.
Most days, I enjoyed the job. Some days, I carried guilt that I couldn’t shake.
When I first got out of the academy, I had a friend who was in an abusive relationship. No matter how many times I tried to get her to leave him, she wouldn’t. One day, she called, and I could hear him yelling at her in the background. Unfortunately, I was too late getting to her house. He’d finally done what he kept saying he would do to her. I felt like it was my fault that I couldn’t save her. It was one of the worst days of my life. I went to therapy and had been doing so much better, but there were some days it got me down. Years had passed since it happened, but it was something I would never forget.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, I finished getting ready so I could stop at the donut shop on my way to work.
Every morning, I got two breakfast tacos, two donuts, and black coffee for breakfast. Most of the time, one of the workers would already have my order ready by the time I got there.
“Oh, I guess you feel like working today,” I said to Shadow as he came down the steps.
He rubbed his head against my leg, and I chuckled. He knew I would get him a pup cup if he came along.
We left the house and got into my work truck, which was a Ford Explorer. The donut shop wasn’t too far from my house, so it took us no time to get what I needed, then make it to the police station.
When I got to the station, I talked to a few people to catch up on things, then went into my office. Shadow sat on his couch and ate his pup cup while I ate my tacos.
As soon as I took a bite of the second taco, Chief Keith came strolling into my office.
“Shouldn’t you be home sleeping or something,” I said as I shook my head.
“Now you know that isn’t happening. I see you didn’t bring me any donuts,” he said as he leaned over my desk.
“Because I thought you would be home.” I slid the donut box toward him. “You can have one of my mine if you want.”
He slid the box back in my direction. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. I hear you need to find a new assistant.” He shook his head and smirked.
I chewed my food, then addressed him.
“I do, and I’m not looking forward to it. I hate conducting interviews, but I can’t let anybody else do it.”
“Donna said she left some potential candidates’ information. I can help you look over it real quick.”
I didn’t even notice the stack of folders on the corner of my desk.
“Have at it,” I told him.
He picked up the folders while I continued eating. I trusted him with my life, so I knew I could trust him to pick some decent people to interview.
When he narrowed it down, he passed the folders my way.
“Do me a favor if you hire one of these women.”
“And what favor is that?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“Don’t fuck her,” he deadpanned.
“I won’t.”
The folders only had their information, not any pictures, so I didn’t know what any of them looked like. I picked the most qualified people, and two of them happened to be women. Chief had a right to be concerned because I fucked my last assistant, then she ended up quitting when I didn’t want to take the situation further. I had to convince her not to report my ass because I really shouldn’t have messed with her in the first place. I wasn’t trying to make that mistake again.
“Okay. I just stopped by to check in with you. If you want, I can be here for the interviews.”
“That’s fine.” I chuckled.
