Amy grinned. “Good luck.”
Miguel returned her grin. “Thanks.”
Several hours later, Miguel pulled into HPD’s visitor’s parking garage. He got out of the car and went around to carefully pick up the Tupperware container of cupcakes from his front passenger seat. He’d gone to the store immediately after their half day at work and rushed home to get them made in time to bring them to the station before the end of Hector’s shift. He’d made it with time to spare, but now that he’d arrived and was approaching the building, he was nervous.
Was it weird to bring Hector cupcakes at work? His cop buddies were probably going to think this was weird. Crap. He stalled out at the base of the steps into the precinct. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. He should go.
Miguel took a deep breath. He wasn’t leaving. He was doing this. If worse came to worse and it was awkward, he could always say he was dropping them off for his mother. Feeling better now that he had a backup plan, Miguel went up the stairs, entered the building, and walked across the lobby to check in at the visitor’s desk.
“Hi. I’m here to see Officer Hector Castillo. He’s in the SWAT division.”
The officer pointed at a clipboard on the desk. “Sign in there, and I’ll need to see your state ID.”
Miguel signed the sheet, then gave his driver’s license to the officer to scan. The officer returned his ID and gave him directions. Miguel smiled his thanks and took the elevator up to the correct floor.
Throughout the building, there were lots of people walking around, some in uniform, some not. Phones rang, drawers slammed, people talked. Miguel kept going, passing a vending machine nook, until he came to an open area off the hallway. A low glass and steel wall formed a square around rows of desks. At the front of the wall was an opening. Miguel went toward it, but Hector saw him before he reached it.
“Miguel, what are you doing here?”
Miguel’s mouth went dry as Hector came toward him. Holy crap Hector was hot. He looked so… commanding in his all black uniform. He filled out the black button-down shirt well. Miguel had seen him in his uniform plenty of times before. But somehow, here, he looked amazing. How the hell had they never role-played cops and robbers before? He’d love to be bent over for Hector while he was wearing that uniform. Miguel coughed, hoping none of those thoughts showed on his face. He held the tub up.
“I brought you birthday cupcakes.”
Hector grinned with happiness. He came over and put a hand on the nape of Miguel’s neck, herding him into the space between the rows of desks. “You hear that, guys? Miguel brought me cupcakes.”
Miguel cut his eyes at Hector for the emphasis he put on ‘me.’ “Actually, they’re for you and your team.”
Hector’s coworkers came and crowded around Miguel as he took the lid off. He’d baked half chocolate and half vanilla. They all had swirly white icing with dark blue sprinkles. And he’d found little police cupcake toppers at the party supply store to decorate them with.
“Oh man, those look amazing.”
“I can smell that sugar.”
“Thank you so much!”
Miguel blushed at all the compliments and thanks while Hector stepped in front of him.
“Back up, fools. I get first pick.”
After Hector made his selection, everyone else got one as well. A dark-haired guy took two, jumping out of the way when Hector tried to snatch one back. Another round of thank-yous came from all of the cops before it got quiet as they started to eat. An excited outburst briefly broke the silence.
“Oh my god, these are so good!”
Hector grinned at his coworker as he pulled up a chair so Miguel could sit down next to his desk.
“Thank you, mi amour. This was really sweet of you.”
Miguel blushed again. “You’re welcome. And happy birthday! It’s okay I came up here, right?”
“Of course. You’re welcome to stay for a bit as long as we don’t get a last-minute call out. Our shift ends in forty-five minutes.”
“Yeah, I can hang.” Miguel brought his crossed legs up and tucked his heels underneath him in the chair before he grabbed a cupcake for himself. He carefully took the topper off then licked at the frosting. Hector made a small noise and Miguel looked up to see the other man watching him. “What? I like to eat the icing first.”
A small smile touched Hector’s lips. “You’re killing me, Miguel,” he softly said.
This time the blush scorched Miguel’s face. He hadn’t been trying to be sexy. But he couldn’t deny that he liked that Hector liked it. He gave the icing one last lick. “Lo siento,” he said with a smirk.
Hector laughed. “You’re not sorry at all.”