Page 18 of Big Girl Panties

I caught up with her just as she was about to charge through the missing window. "Whoa there, Nancy Drew." I threw an arm out to stop her. "Let me check inside first. For all we know, the Incredible Hulk is in there having a really bad day."

She was already dialing 911, her voice trembling as she gave the operator information. I stepped through what used to be a window and surveyed the damage.

Someone had gone full tornado on the place. The pastry case was destroyed, the granite counters looked as if they'd been used for sledgehammer practice, and the tables and chairs had apparently been rearranged by someone with a serious anger management issue.

Glass crunched under my boots with each step as my mind raced, calculating the days of work ahead, sweeping, repairing, rebuilding. It would take at least a day just to clean up the mess and several more days to fix and replace everything.

When I stepped back outside, red and blue lights were painting the scene. A uniformed officer was taking Brooke's statement, and she looked so devastated that my heart ached.

"All clear inside," I reported.

The officer looked up at me, and I watched his expression shift from professional to starstruck in record time. His posture straightened like he'd just been visited by the ghost of law enforcement past.

"Oh wow," he breathed. "You're The Mountain! Dude, I am such a huge fan!"

Because, of course, of all the cops in the city, we get the one who probably has my poster on his bedroom wall.

"Can I get a picture? My son would absolutely lose his mind!"

I glanced at Brooke, who was looking at this exchange like she was watching a particularly surreal movie. "Tell you what, Officer…"

"Rodriguez!"

"Officer Rodriguez. You take really good care of my girl here, and I'll make sure you get pictures and an autograph for your son."

His gaze shifted between Brooke and me, and I could practically see the gossip headlines forming in his brain. "That's your girlfriend?"

The disapproval in his tone made something dangerous flicker in my chest. "Be very careful with your next words," I said quietly.

"Oh no, no!" He waved his hands frantically. "I wasn't judging or anything! I just didn't know you were dating anyone!"

"Do you make it a habit of keeping track of my personal life?"

"No! God, no, that would be super weird! I just meant…"

"Just take her statement," I interrupted, before this could get any more awkward.

While Officer Rodriguez fumbled his way through police procedure, I turned to Brooke. "I'm going to make some calls, see how quickly we can get someone out here to board up these windows."

"You don't have to do that," she said, her voice thick with unshed tears.

Before I could think about it, I was pulling her into my arms. She melted against me, and I could feel her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

"Hey." I brushed a tear from her cheek with my thumb. "Don't cry. We're going to fix this, okay? It'll be better than new."

"Why would someone do this?" she asked against my chest. "Every other store on the block is fine. They only targeted mine."

I looked down the street at the untouched neighboring businesses, and a cold certainty settled in my stomach. This wasn't random. This was someone sending a message.

"Thank you for staying." She pulled back from my embrace. "But you don't have to…"

"I'm not going anywhere," I interrupted gently.

"Why?" she asked, and there was something vulnerable in her voice that made my chest tighten. "Why do you want to help me?"

I looked down at her, hair escaping from its haphazard bun, mascara smudged under her eyes, wearing clothes that suggested she'd gotten dressed in the dark, and she was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"We can talk about all of that later," I said. "When your café isn't a crime scene and you're not running on three hours of sleep. But for now, I just want to help."