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“I think calling Sheriff Thompson is a great idea,” Joel stated. He’d liked Aaron Thompson from the moment they’d met about his investigation a few weeks back. The man would look after her if need be.
She whipped her head toward him and he wondered if the resentment in her eyes was a remnant from how their evening had ended, or specifically for right now.
“No one asked for your opinion.”
“You got it, just the same. After last night, don’t you think it’s a good idea they have this on record?”
“What happened last night?” Mark demanded.
Her gaze scanned the men in front of her, then her shoulder’s dropped the tiniest bit. “Someone keyed my truck at Billy’s.”
“You did report it, right?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “But that has nothing to do with this.”
“Kelly was at Billy’s last night,” Casey reminded.
“It was just some kids.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
Joel wasn’t so sure about the kids theory. Her boss’s gaze met his, and he gave a slight shake of his head.
Mark shouldered his way past the group, headed for the office. “I’m calling Aaron.”
She barreled after him. “He was just mad and venting his frustration. After you guys heard his threat, he wouldn’t have the guts to do anything, so why bother Aaron with it?”
Casey murmured to Mitch and they moved back toward the couple of horses standing at the hitching rail. Joel trailed after the other two and saw them face off across Mark’s desk.
“I feel bad for putting you on the spot in front of him, so humor me, okay?”
She had one palm braced on the desktop, and the other holding the phone handset in its cradle. “I’m the one who should apologize. I should’ve told you right away.”
“You should’ve, but that’s water under the bridge. And I’m still calling Aaron because Joel’s right, it’s best to get it on record.”
“He’s not right about everything you know.”
“On this I am.”
She stiffened, then crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the desk as he approached. “Oh, shut up. What are you doing here, anyway?”
Truth be told, he’d wanted to convince himself she wasn’t worth his restless night, but it backfired. The moment he’d seen her, incredible awareness jetted through his entire body. Judging by her expression though, it appeared one-sided, and that thoroughly annoyed him.
He knew she wasn’t immune to him, but she controlled it well. He, on the other hand, felt like he couldn’t control much of anything with her around.
He dug into his front pocket and held up her photo card. “Forgot this last night.”
“Oh.” Pink tinged her face as he dropped it onto her palm. “Thanks.”
The blush was promising, so he added, “I also wanted to talk to you about last night.”
She cast a glance down and to the side, clearly aware of Mark’s presence. With a shake of her head, she stuffed the card in her pocket and headed for the door. “Forget it. In that case, I agree one hundred percent that you were right.”
That’s the frickin’ problem, he thought as she swept outside. He’d spent most of the night coming to the realization he didn’t want to be right.
“You need to talk to me, or just her?”
Joel turned around to see Mark, eyebrows raised as he held the phone in one hand while pressing down the connection switch with the other.
“Anyone booked for the Thursday overnight?”
