Page 18 of Nothing At All

I might be naive, but I wasn’t stupid.

That right there was a crossed boundary. The only woman who could use my with my name like that was Lila.

“I’m not your anything. We’re neighbors and sometimes I give you a ride. Call me by the right name.” I pitched my voice to the calm, authoritative tone I’d practiced over and over at the academy, that I used whenever I entered a dicey situation. “And don’t refer to me as yours. It’s not appropriate.”

She froze. This time, the tremble to her chin was probably real. Her throat moved with a hard swallow, and she pulled her lips in, like smoothing lip balm. “Okay.”

I jerked my head toward my unit. “You need a ride, get in the car.”

Without looking to see what she did, I walked to the driver’s side and started my pre-shift inspection. She slid into the passenger seat, face turned away from me. Phone in her hand, she texted with shaky fingers. A soft sniffle hung in the air.

Yeah, I was immune to those, although that wounded noise rang authentic.

I almost felt bad because I’d probably humiliated her, except she kept pushing–

Oh.

Shit.

Yeah, Lila was right.

I stiffened and straightened from my slump, then tapped in my pre-check and logged on-duty through my laptop. While the engine warmed, I fired off a text to Lila.

Nicole riding with me to work. You were right. See what you mean now

Knew you were smart. She punctuated that with a kissy-face emoji.

Smartass. I love you. Staring at what I’d just typed, I backed that out real fast. Couldn’t say it the first time over text messages.

“Are we going?” Nicole fidgeted in her seat.

“You wanna walk?”

I barely caught her muttered asshole.

“I can be.” With a shrug, I shifted to reverse. Navigating the driveway, I frowned at her car in her carport. “Why isn’t your car in the shop?”

She startled, phone dropping to her lap. “Oh. Um, the dealership is shortstaffed. Mechanic shortage. They’re picking it up today.”

I nodded. “How are you getting home?”

My shift ended at three, but the city offices were open until five. I wasn’t waiting around on her, and I damn sure wasn’t making a special trip back to pick her up.

“Um, Elizabeth. She leaves the store about the same time I do the office.”

I snorted so hard my nose hurt. “She doesn’t work in that store.”

Nicole bristled. “She does now Hannah flaked out on them. Ridiculous.”

“Hannah flaked out.” I didn’t know her well, but remember Hannah Hall from high school, always in the media center studying, always leading something for student government. She was responsibility personified.

“Yes. She’s having a little tantrum because Elizabeth is successful and it hurts her feelings.” If an eyeroll could be audible, I’d have heard that one.

“Right.”

This was the longest conversation we’d had, and I wasn’t impressed.

And if she wanted me, like Lila thought, I was doing a jam-up job of changing that.