Work Text:
Shit. Shit shitty shit.
Karen sighed, cursing under her breath when the cop pulled her over. With an irritated breath, she killed the engine and looked in the rearview mirror, watching as he got out of his own car, the red and blue lights flashing around, and walked towards her.
She was trying to come up with a way to get out of this ticket - she was definitely speeding - when she noticed his profile as he looked at the other side of the street. That’s… That’s that guy, she realized, watching the way he walked. It was definitely him. From the coffee shop. She saw him every single day, every morning, when she stopped by to get her breakfast. Damn, what’s his name….?
“Evening, ma’am”, came his voice, for the first time, and she looked out the window, up to his face.
“Hello, officer. Was I going too fast?”
Trish had batted her eyelashes once and got away from a parking ticket. Karen was awful a this kind of stuff, but what the hell. Didn’t hurt to try.
He let out some sort of sarcastic chuckle and she found herself annoyed.
“Yeah, I’d say you were. License and registration, please.”
“Oh, yeah, sure thing, hold on.”
Turning to fish her purse from the back seat, she lifted her leg slightly, making the hem of her dress move a little bit, and immediately felt horrible. Ugh, how do people do this? Turning back around, she took her wallet out of the mess that was her purse and, in her haste to get the things he asked for, she flung it out the window. Her license hit his stomach and fell to the ground.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
The officer looked at her, unimpressed, and then slowly crouched to pick it up, lighting it up with a torch.
“Miss… Page.”
“That’s right”, she said, smiling, carefully handing him the rest of the documents. Maybe a bit too slowly.
“You been drinking tonight, ma’am?”
…What?
She blinked at him, surprised at the question.
“If you count five cups of coffee too many, yes I have.”
The guy supported a hand on the car and bowed his head to stare at her, unimpressed as he ever could be, a frown in place and Karen smiled. Be nice to the cops, be nice to the cops. But, also, a little bit, because he was a very… Present man. If that makes any sense.
“Let me rephrase that. No, I haven’t.”
“You sure?”
Taking a page out of Trish’s book, she blinked at him and nodded.
“I promise.”
He inspected her a little longer and gave her documents back to her.
“You were about ten over the limit, there.”
“Oh. I’m sorry”, not even thinking about it, she moved her hair out of her face, placing it above her head, and she caught as his eyes followed as the strands fell back down.
Huh. So maybe he likes blondes. Ok.
Feeling silly, she went on, catching the end of a lock, twirling it around her finger, keeping her tone serious. “It’s been a long day at work.”
“Yeah?”
Geez, dude. It’s not a leg, it’s not a smile, it’s not blue eyes. You’re all about the hair, aren’t you?
She nodded, feeling a little more confident.
“Oh yeah. Boss just cut my deadline in a week.”
A hand on the nape of her neck, a twist and oops. Hair flying and falling around her collarbone, the tips grazing the low but flattering collar of her dress.
“What is it, that you do?”
“Reporter.”
“Have I seen you in anything?”
“I doubt it”, she smiled again, because it couldn’t hurt. And, what the hell, she felt like it. “I work in print. The Bulletin.”
“Bulletin. You know Ben Urich?”
She raised her brows.
“Yes, I do. He’s the one that got me writing in the first place. You read him?”
“He’s neighbors with my mother”, he explained, and that frown wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t exactly smiling, but she could almost see it happening. “Is he the one pressuring you?”
“That he is. Since he made editor, it’s been… tricky.”
A curl around her ear and boom. There it was. A tiny smile.
“Ok”, he said, looking to his left and then his hand was on the roof of her car again, and he was bowing his head to look at her. “See, I’ve got a problem.”
Karen blinked up at him.
“This isn’t what I normally do, traffic. I’m here covering for a friend.”
“What do you do?”
“Not traffic. And, see, I don’t wanna give you a ticket.”
That, right there, officer, earns you a smile. There you go.
“And I don’t want to make your day worse, see. But you were going really fast, ma’am.”
She sat back against the seat, letting her head rest on the support, making sure her hair touched the whole length of her neck, looking up at him.
“Would it help if I promised I wouldn’t do it again?”
“Not really.”
Come on, guy. Play ball.
“What if”, she tried, leaning towards him now, lowering her voice. “Your coffee was on me tomorrow morning?”
He raised his brows, no doubt misunderstanding what she meant and she squinted her eyes at him. “Double espresso, right?”
He clicked his tongue and touched his closed fist to her door.
“I knew it. From Arlene’s.”
She nodded, hand moving a big, big portion of her hair around, now, purposely throwing it a bit towards her face, pulling a strand that stuck to her mouth.
“What do you say?”
He stared at her for a bit longer and she held his gaze.
“Well, don’t tell anyone”, he said, low, just for her and she felt herself smiling at him again.
“You got it.”
“And I’ll definitely hold you on that coffee.”
“I insist you do.”
Eyes landing on her lips quickly, he got back up, voice going back to it’s normal tone. “So that’s a warning, Miss Page. Don’t let me catch you speeding again.”
“Cross my heart”, she said as her finger drew an invisible cross above her left breast.
“Drive safe, now”, he turned to walk back to his own car. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yes, you will, Officer… Castle”, she said, making a show of reading his name tag.
“Frank”, he offered.
“Frank”, she repeated, holding his gaze a little longer, and then he walked away.
He tapped the roof of the car twice and she watched him walk through the mirror, turning the key on the ignition and starting the car up.
When they both reached the corner, he flashed his lights at her and she stretched her hand out in a little wave. He turned left and she went on straight.
So. No speeding ticket plus a date.
Just wait until Trish hears about this.