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“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll have it out for you in about ten minutes.

“Excellent.”

Cassie felt someone walk up behind her but did not hear them. “That’s quite the combination.”

A pleasant shiver ran down Cassie’s spine. Just his voice was enough to affect her. That, along with the hint of his cologne. She turned and confirmed her fear. Jason stood there with a smile on his face. Her pulse quickened. “Yeah, my sister and I couldn’t decide what would be best.”

“Oh, is your sister in town? That’s nice.” He kept smiling, but he looked sad. “I’m hoping that’s the only reason you didn’t text back.” An awkward silence ensued. He quickly followed up with, “And the pizza here is so good, it stands on its own with just cheese. Anything else is just a bonus.”

It took Cassie a few seconds to realize what he was talking about, and then the late-night text came flooding back. She gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot. I’ve had a lot going on.”

“It’s okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly, I regretted it as soon as I sent it.”

“No, no, it was really sweet.”

“Sweet…” His hand caught at the crown of his head.

The woman at the counter interrupted them. “Can I get you something, sir?”

“Ah, large pepperoni, please. To go.”

Cassie stepped off to the side. She waited until he finished ordering before she put a hand on his arm. “I’m really, really sorry I didn’t respond. This isn’t at all how I wanted it to go.”

“And how did you want it to go?” Jason’s voice was gentle, but an apprehension in it made her heart ache. “Because I have to be honest, I’m getting mixed signals from you.”

“I know. You are. And that’s completely my fault.” Of course, as soon as she talked candidly with Jason, she couldn’t find the words. “I really like you. A lot.”

There, that was a start, right?

“But?”

“But I have a lot going on at the moment.” Cassie’s stomach twisted. That didn’t sound right either. “I’m having a little trouble balancing everything. I have some things I need to figure out with my family and another case I’m working on the with the Savannah PD.”

“Another case?” Was he annoyed? Surprised?

“Yeah, this guy was murdered, and it turned out that he was a serial killer from, like, twenty years ago. And now we have to figure out who killed him. David and I just found the last of his victims yesterday.” Cassie saw a train of thought take seed in Jason’s mind and rushed on. “My older, very married, totally platonic friend David. By the way. In case you were wondering.” She smacked her forehead with the base of her palm.

Jason smiled and looked away. “I was wondering.”

Cassie shook the embarrassment away. “The point is, there’s a million things going on in my mind at once these days. I’m working through a lot of stuff. And I don’t want to burden you with that.”

“It wouldn’t be a burden, Cassie.” He took a step closer. “I like you too, but I feel like there’s this whole other part of you I don’t know yet. And I want to. I really do. But you gotta let me in. A little, at least.”

It was a few seconds before Cassie remembered to breathe again. “I’d like that, too.”

Jason took a step back, and the spell was broken. “I understand if you don’t trust me yet—”

“I do trust you.” She rushed to answer and regretted it. “Kind of. I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just… it’s a lot. There’s a lot going on.” She rambled now. “A lot going on at all times. I’m a hot mess. In case you didn’t notice.”

“Oh, I noticed.” He laughed, and the deep baritone of his voice made several women and a couple men turn to stare. “But it doesn’t bother me.”

“It bothers me.” That was maybe the most honest thing she’d said to him so far. “I just want to get it under control before I start seeing someone. Before I bring someone into my orbit. My life can get crazy sometimes.”

Jason stared at her for a moment, and she couldn’t read his expression. After what felt like an eternity, he shrugged. “It won’t work.”

“What?”

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