413 Cherry Street

Citizens start coming out of the nearby buildings and telling them what happened.

“They’re the good guys,” an old man hollers. “Those thugs were trying to kill them!”

“It’s true,” a lady pushing a stroller says. “Those four guys attacked that poor girl with a knife and that man saved her.”

Eventually, enough people speak up that it convinces them to lower their guns. “Wait over here,” one of the older officers says as they go handcuff the four guys. Two of them are in bad shape. Luckily for them, the ambulance arrives and paramedics jump out.

They start working on the guy I hit with my car and the guy I stabbed. The other two get handcuffed and thrown into the back of the police cruiser.

“Which is the one who arrested you?” I ask Hazel.

She points him out and I charge up to him with my lawyer face on. “These are the guys you should have arrested yesterday. Not her. Check their bags to see if they have any contraband on them.”

He frowns but reluctantly checks the bag on the sidewalk. There are two bricks of cocaine in it, both packed in the same fashion as the ones confiscated yesterday.

“See? She was telling the truth. He left the bag in her coffee shop and she was just trying to return it. They came back today for revenge.”

The stubborn cop doesn’t want to believe me, but I go on, making the case. Finally, he’s forced to agree that what I’m saying is true.

“You were really working at the coffee shop?” the cop asks Hazel.

Hazel nods enthusiastically. “I can show you the security footage or show you that I punched in.”

We step into the coffee shop and head into the back. Hazel plays the security tape and the three of us watch on the TV as the guy walks in with the bag. He leaves it and Hazel grabs it and rushes out.

“I was mistaken,” the cop admits. “I apologize. I’ll make sure that all of your charges are dropped.”

“And that her arrest is erased from the system.”

He nods. “Of course.”

“I’ll be following up on that, officer,” I warn him as he leaves.

Hazel and I watch through the window as the four guys are taken away—two in cop cars and two in ambulances.

She’s all shaky after it’s over. I pull her in for a hug and hold her until the shaking stops.

“That was terrifying,” she says.

“I know.”

She looks at me funny. “But you didn’t look scared at all.”

“I wasn’t scared of a few punks, but I was terrified something was going to happen to you. You’re it for me, Hazel. I know I won’t be able to live without you. And I know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you. Especially on my watch.”

“You’ve been pretty good at taking care of me so far,” she tells me. “I kind of like having you look out for me.”

“Good,” I say as I lean down and kiss her on the lips. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

She smiles. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”

I sit at the counter as she texts Madison to let her know that everything is okay, wherever she ran off to.

Hazel smiles when she puts her phone away and looks at me.

“What’s good here?”

“You have to try a black cherry mocha drink,” she says with a grin. “Can I make one for you? On the house.”

Could this girl be any cuter?

“Absolutely.”

She slips behind the counter and starts to make it as I watch her, feeling both enraged that all of this happened to her and blessed that it did so we could end up together.

She’s the girl for me. There’s no doubt about it.

I’m going to ask her to marry me.

I just hope she says yes…

“I never get to look good in front of you,” Hazel says as she holds the towel around herself.

I’m in the pool looking at her like she’s crazy. “You always look good,” I tell her. I’ve seen her completely naked. It’s impossible for her to look any better than that.

“No,” she says with a sexy grin and a shake of her head. “You’ve seen me in a big bulky bright orange jumpsuit, your workout clothes that were ridiculously large on me, and in my gross work clothes.”

“You still looked stunning in all three,” I tell her.

She laughs. “Well, then this will knock your socks off.”

I drop my jaw in awe as she lets the towel go. It falls to the ground, revealing her perfect body covered in a small red bikini.

My mouth waters as I look her over with hungry eyes. She’s fucking incredible. I can see the outline of her perfect nipples sticking through her top and it makes my cock rock hard.

“You’re not wearing that for anyone but me,” I tell her. I can’t handle anyone seeing her like this. This beautiful view is for my eyes only.