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“Do I even want to know what went on in the family suite last night?” Ace asked, rubbing his chin. “No, forget I even said anything. I don’t want to know. You were both consenting adults.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Actually, it was. But Ace didn’t need to know that.
“Did you get her full name? You can always look her up.”
That was true. Although it sounded sort of stalkery. Even if Grant was a cop.
“I need to respect her decision,” Grant finally said. “She decided to leave. While I might not be happy about it, that doesn’t give me the right to argue. Shit, I’ve got a full day’s work ahead of me. I need to finish getting dressed and get to it. There’s a lot of people in our town that want and need my help today. I’m not going to chase someone down who doesn’t want it.”
He was tempted to, though. She probably hadn’t made it too far. There were only a few roads in and out of town. If she was headed to Naples this morning, he knew exactly which highway she needed. With his siren and lights, he could catch her…
Nope. He wasn’t going to do that.
But he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t going to think about Mia Gamble for a long time. In the few hours that they’d spent together, she’d made more of an impression than people he’d known for decades.
Be safe, Mia. I hope it all turns out well for you. If you need me, just let me know.
He didn’t think, however, he was ever going to see or hear from her again.
7
“We should get the chocolate cake for dessert,” Ashley said, taking the last bite of her dinner and then pushing her plate away. “I’ve been saving up the calories all week. What do you say?”
Grant loved the chocolate cake here just as much as she did, although he couldn’t honestly say that he’d specifically saved any calories for it. It simply sounded like a great way to finish a delicious meal.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” he said, signaling the waiter who had been hovering a discreet distance away.
They ordered a slice of chocolate cake, two forks, and two cups of coffee. Decaf for Grant because caffeine kept him up at night, and he had an early morning tomorrow.
“I have a great idea. My grandparents have a cabin up in the mountains that anyone in the family can use,” Ashley said, taking a sip from her ice water. “How about you and I plan a week up there in August or September? Get out of the heat and maybe dodge a few storms. I heard the weatherman say that it’s going to be an active hurricane season this year. I wouldn’t mind missing some of it in a much cooler area.”
Just the word hurricane had his mind drifting back to three years ago when he’d rescued a scared woman on the run.
Mia.
They’d spent an intense night together and then she was gone. He’d thought about her often since that time, but recently he’d been putting his heel down and squashing any of those wandering thoughts. Mia was gone, and it was all in the past.
He lived in the reality of the present. Hanging onto memories that he wasn’t even sure were real anymore wasn’t doing him any good. He shouldn’t be thinking about some woman he’d barely even known when he had a perfectly good woman sitting across from him.
Grant liked Ashley. He truly did. She was a lovely woman who owned a local hair salon. He had actually known her for years, but she’d divorced about two years ago, and they’d hit it off when he’d come in for a haircut. They’d been dating for three months, and he kept waiting to feel something more for her but so far it hadn’t happened. She was nice, funny, beautiful, and charming. She was a great cook and didn’t get squeamish about putting a worm on a hook when they went fishing. Yet she could still look screaming hot when they went on a fancy date like tonight.
And he wasn’t in love with her. Not even close.
He wanted to be, but he wasn’t. It wasn’t her fault either. It was him. There had to be something deeply wrong with him because he couldn’t seem to find the right woman no matter how hard he tried. He wasn’t getting any younger, and he wanted to settle down, maybe have a few kids.
I don’t think that’s going to happen. Not for me.
“Grant?”
Ashley’s sharp tone brought him out of his reverie. He’d been lost in thought, and he hadn’t yet answered her question.
“August? September? I’m not sure. I’d have to check the schedule.”
He didn’t have to check the damn schedule. He had an excellent memory for numbers and dates. He knew his deputies’ vacation schedule like the back of his hand.
Going away on a trip together was big. It meant something. He didn’t go on vacation with casual friends. Other people might, but he didn’t. If he went to the mountains with her, he would be saying to his family and friends that Ashley was a special person in his life.
