Luck o' the (non)Irish (New Haven Police Romance Series Book 1) Read online

  “I liked it.”

  “You did?”

  He nodded.

  “But you pushed me away.”

  “Honey, I’m not going to kiss you for the first time while you’re drunk.”

  She stared into his eyes and whispered, “I’m not drunk now.”

  “I know.”

  Amy gazed longingly, getting lost in the magnetic pull between them, but he didn’t inch closer to her like she did to him.

  Then he did that thing—that cocked head and crooked smile that drove her crazy. “I’m also not going to kiss you for the first time in front of an audience of nosy old women.”

  Amy gasped and turned to see all the ladies, plus Hank, Lucy, and the older man she didn’t know, all standing there smiling at them. The thief stood towering above tiny Lucy, now wearing official cuffs instead of the green fuzzy ones.

  “Hang on a minute,” Betty said, scampering off. “Let me get my phone so I can take a picture for your grandmother.”

  Amy pushed away from Peter. “Take a picture of what?”

  The older man took the thief’s arm. “Hank and I will take him in while you and Lucy stay here for questioning.”

  “You got it, Chief.” Lucy shooed the ladies to the quilting area and sat down.

  Alone again, Peter took Amy by the waist and pulled her to him. “Now I can relax Saturday during the festival. Will you spend the day with me?”

  Butterflies fluttered to life in Amy’s belly. She ran her finger along his jawline. “I’d love to.”

  He bent and pressed his lips to hers. She’d never felt so alive in all her life. Fire scorched her entire body as he pulled her tighter and deepened the kiss, opening their mouths slightly, their tongues meeting tentatively.

  “Damn,” Betty said, holding her phone out in front of her. “I had the stupid thing set to reverse and ended up with a selfie. Although I do look cute with this green bow.” She smiled into the phone, then lifted her eyes and fluttered her hand to Peter and Amy. “Do it again. Act natural.”

  Peter cleared his throat. “I better go check on Lucy.”

  As soon as Peter was out of hearing range, Betty winked at Amy. “So, is he a good kisser?”

  “Betty!”

  “Just asking.” Betty leaned in. “You do know he’s up for a promotion, right? That was Hal, the Chief of Police in here with them. He’s been giving poor Peter more and more responsibility.”

  Amy gawked. “A promotion?”

  Betty nodded. “Hal wants to retire. I think he’s going to recommend Peter as the new Chief. Peter’s training Lucy now while Hal tries to pair her up with a partner.”

  “That’s wonderful!”

  “You must be his good luck charm. He’s been awfully stressed lately and now he’s all relaxed and loosy goosy again.”

  Amy blushed. Did she affect him the way he affected her?

  Betty pulled Amy toward the quilting/questioning area. “Ladies, as committee members of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, I believe we should be honorary parade participants for bringing down the most highly sought after criminal in the history of New Haven.”

  “Yes!” Madeline said, clapping her hands together. “I’ll get my grandkids’ hover boards. Maybe they can teach us to do some of those fancy stunts.”

  Peter scrunched his forehead. “I don’t mean to imply that you’re too old for that, but, uh, you all are in your seventies. Isn’t your balance a little off sometimes? I don’t want you to fall and break any bones.”

  “Nonsense,” Madeline said. “The grandkids love to ride our motor carts. They can ride with us and we can switch if we get too tired.”

  Lucy tapped her green and yellow painted nails on the taut quilt. “Can we get back to the questioning?”

  Shirley crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “Shouldn’t you haul us in to the precinct with the lights flashing and sirens blaring and stuff? We should be zipping through town a hundred miles an hour right now. This is nothing like TV.”

  Lucy glanced at Peter. “Is this for real?”

  With a crooked grin, Peter shrugged. “This is New Haven. What you see is what you get.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes and turned back to the ladies, asking something long-winded and serious, but Amy didn’t hear her. She was too lost in Peter’s eyes. He moved closer and spoke quietly. “I hope you like what you see, and I hope you plan to spend more time here.”

  She touched his arm. She shouldn’t have. Not in front of all the ladies, and not while doing official business, but she couldn’t help herself. The pull was too great. Heat rose in her cheeks. “You might get tired of me.”

  They stared at each other for what felt like minutes.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake, just kiss him, Amy,” Shirley said. She looked around at the others, grinning. “Get it? For Pete’s sake? I’ve always wanted to say that.”

  Amy laughed, then took Peter’s face in her hands and kissed him briefly. “That was for their sake. I’ll give what’s coming to you later on.”

  He smiled and bit his lip.

  Amy’s hands warmed on his face. She lifted her palms and looked at his skin. “Are you blushing now?”

  “Maybe.” He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “Today’s been the luckiest day of my life.”

  “Mine too,” Amy said, leaning closer.

  “Dammit!” Betty grumbled. “Somebody figure out how to switch my camera from selfie mode.”

  Chapter 8

  Gray skies finally cleared and made way for nice weather. The sun warmed bare skin, even though a gentle breeze blew through on occasion. It was a perfect day for the parade and daylong street festival.

  Cupid and Lenny worked side by side in the midst of the street vendors, Lenny at his beer stand, and Cupid at his parents’ vendor cart, Val ’n Tiny’s, where they sold green carnations, beads, trinkets, and other miscellaneous stuff. Tiny, Cupid’s dad, stood behind them grilling bratwursts and cooking sauerkraut.

  Val, Tiny’s mother, clapped her hands to the beat as the high school marching band passed by. Horns blared and drums pounded, and children screamed in terror at the booming noise.

  Lenny grinned. “Look who’s up next.”

  Cupid peered down the street behind the last few rows of band members and burst into laughter.

  Ladies Who Brought Down the Most Sought After Criminal in New Haven History.

  That’s what the banner read, anyway. Two boys drove motor carts side by side, each holding one end of the banner. Shirley, Dorothy, Madeline, and Betty buzzed around behind them on hover boards, spinning and darting in and out in a carefully choreographed routine, their superhero capes flowing mightily behind them. Along with their respective superhero pajama onesies, they also donned knee pads, elbow pads, helmets, and pillows strapped around their hips. Apparently they’d foregone the St. Patrick’s Day theme.

  Cupid leaned toward Lenny. “Why isn’t Amy with them?”

  Lenny’s eyes twinkled. “She’s coming.”

  Cupid craned his neck and looked down the street. A convertible with two people sitting on the back. Peter and Amy.

  “How’d that happen?”

  “Peter’s been promoted as Chief of Police, and Amy has been named honorary Queen of Police. The ladies’ decision, not the police department.” Lenny chuckled. “Peter insisted she ride with him.”

  “Nice,” Cupid said, grinning as he watched the couple steal kisses between smiling and waving at the crowd.

  A petite woman with green hair, green eyeliner, and green nails stood before Val ’n Tiny’s cart and scanned the items for sale. She spoke quietly to Val, but soon, Val’s voice carried over the noise of the crowd.

  “Oh, honey, I understand,” Val said from underneath her green parasol. “You worked so hard, and don’t you think for one minute that Hal and Peter don’t respect you for it. It’s not your fault things turned out the way they did.”

  Cupid’s and Lenny’s eyes met, then they looked closer at t
he customer.

  Lucy. With tears welled up in her eyes. “I know they value me, but they’re not who I wanted to impress. My family would have been so proud of me, and now what? Hal gave me the chance to crack this case and I blew it. I should have seen through that guy’s stupid diversion. It didn’t even make sense.”

  Val patted Lucy’s arm. “There, there, honey. Your family would still be proud. They understand how these things work. And you’ve only just begun. You have your whole career ahead of you.”

  Green mascara trickled down Lucy’s cheeks. “I don’t know if I’ll have a career. I just don’t know if I can do it.”

  Tiny, Cupid’s three-foot-nothing father, glanced up at Cupid and Lenny and whispered. “I thought she was supposed to be a badass chick.” He shook his head. “Thousands of years I’ve tried to figure women out. I’m about to give up.”

  Cupid nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

  Val reached in the cooler and pulled out a special green rose. “Of course you can do it. The question is, do you want to do it? I’m not so sure you do.”

  Lucy’s forehead crinkled as she took the rose from Val. “What makes you say that?”

  Val smiled. “Just think about it. You’ll find peace eventually.”

  Lucy bit her lip and stared at Val for a moment. “I… I will. Think about it, I mean. Thank you.”

  Tiny shrugged. “No idea what they’re talking about.”

  Lenny and Cupid nodded in agreement.

  A man’s voice boomed over Lucy’s. “I’ll take five orders of brats and kraut, please.”

  “Five?” a sweet, feminine voice asked.

  Cupid looked up and saw a very tall man at the cart smiling at the woman next to him, then at little Lucy. “One for each of you, and I want three.”

  The sweet woman giggled. “Okay, Hank. Be sure to save room for dessert.”

  “You know I will.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes. “You two are disgusting with all your fru-fru happy giggly shit. Why don’t you just date, already?”

  “Why don’t you try to be happy for once?” the woman said. “You might like it.”

  Hank nodded. “Sarah’s the happiest person ever. She never has a bad day.”

  “That’s why I hate her.”

  Sarah giggled. “You don’t hate me.”

  “You’re right,” Lucy said. “I’m jealous. But jealousy is just as poisonous as hatred.”

  Sarah took a strand of beads from around her neck and handed it to Lucy. “Don’t be jealous, be my friend. I want to see you laugh.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes. “I haven’t laughed in five years. I hate people who laugh.”

  Sarah sighed. “You’re gonna be a tough one to crack, but I know you can be fixed. I’ll make you a batch of cookies.”

  Hank grinned. “Make me one too.”

  “Oh, Hank,” Sarah giggled, “I already make you cookies every few days.”

  “Gah, you two are sick,” Lucy snarled.

  Tiny grinned at Cupid and Lenny. “Here’s the badass woman I thought we were dealing with.”

  Cupid and Lenny fist-bumped. “May the best immortal win.”

  About the Author

  Yeah, I have nothing fun to say about myself. I spend my time grocery shopping and doing laundry. But I do have four beautiful kids who I adore and cherish. Love them!

  But, enough about me. :P I’m excited to tell you the next books in my series will be available soon! Lucy’s story should be ready near the end of April, and Hank’s story at the beginning of June. Follow my links below for cover reveals, release dates, and sale information.

  Better yet, go to my website (see below) and sign up for my newsletter to allow the information to come to you!

  If you enjoyed Luck o’ the (non)Irish, I would be ever so grateful if you’d leave a quick review. So grateful, in fact, that I’d love to send you a free advanced copy of Lucy’s story in hopes that you’d leave a review for it, too. Please contact me if this is something you’d be interested in.

  @ReneeGraceauth

  ReneeGraceThompson

  reneegracethompson.com

  [email protected]