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“Still swallowing those burpees, huh?” Delaney teased. “You need to learn to be on time, Detective.”
“Well,” Callahan gasped, “I was busy trying to find your motorcycle, Miss Monroe. So the least you can do is not laugh at me while I’m doing my penance.”
Delaney immediately wondered if he’d found anything, but kept that question to herself. It would clearly be rude to grill him considering he could barely talk and they hadn’t even said hello. “If you step up your running game, you won’t be so out of breath on a measly four hundred meter.” Delaney put the pedal to the metal and took off, leaving Callahan in her dust.
He caught up to her again and streaked inside the bay just as she did, almost tripping over Duke, the secret service agent, who raised up his giant arms in protest. He reminded her of Boom, both of them sharing an intimidating physical presence with a teddy bear’s heart tucked deep inside.
Delaney and Callahan gave the workout their full attention after that, Rhett eyeing them with hopeful suspicion, like he was just waiting for a reason to assign them penalty burpees.
At the end of the hour, Callahan settled on the bench where Delaney was packing her gym bag. “I have nothing to share yet,” he said, even though she hadn’t asked. “I’ve talked to Dude’s Bikes and looked into the drug angle. Nothing definitive yet. Next up is a visit to Pittie Place. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Alright.” Delaney didn’t press. She was disappointed but not surprised. “By the way.” She glanced at Tabitha, who seemed to have struck up a new friendship with the woman she’d run with earlier. The woman was a petite blonde and appeared to be giving Tabitha running tips. “How do you know Tabitha?”
“Met her at the grocery store,” Callahan said. “Not long ago. She was having some trouble. I just happened to be there.”
Delaney looked over toward Trinity, who patiently waited next to Humphrey on his bed. “I think she’s going to fit in here. She can lose herself a little bit. Get outside of her own head. Make some friends she can trust, too.”
Callahan followed her gaze. “Yeah,” he agreed. He silently packed his bag after that, his demeanor changed from the playful side to the cop side as soon as he’d brought up the case. Delaney respected that, but he clearly wasn’t as fun. “I wasn’t laughing at you having to do burpees, by the way.”
Callahan looked up from his bag. “Sure you weren’t.”
“I was...” Delaney bit back her words. She’d been about to tell him what had really made her giggle, but then she watched the detective’s gray eyes soften with curiosity and decided to restrain her comments about the video. Suddenly, it became a private joke that she didn’t want to share. “I was laughing because you really think you won that 5K race, don’t you?” That was the best Delaney could think up.
Callahan snorted. “You know I did.”
“You knowIdid.”
“There’s only one way to settle this.” Callahan pointed his water bottle at her, then took a sip.
“How’s that?”
“Rematch.” Callahan shrugged. No-brainer.
Delaney laughed. “I see.”
“Unless you’re scared.”
Delaney laughed again, louder this time. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll do a rematch. Anytime, anywhere. But this time...” she started to walk away, then peeked over her shoulder “...it’s a 10K. Deal?”
Was that a sneaky flash of joy that crossed Callahan’s face? “Deal,” he said, all too quickly.
Delaney smiled to herself, unexpectedly reliving that feeling she’d gotten when Callahan had touched her hand the other day. For the first time, she was looking forward to the detective giving her a hard chase.
Constance had been right. Humphrey had a thing for Delaney. Tabitha watched her interact with the beagle once the detective had chatted her up and headed out with a smile. The little dog rolled onto his side and let Delaney pet light strokes with her fingertips over his fur. Tabitha stood and headed her way. The detective waved to her from the doorway. Based on their interaction, Tabitha was guessing that Sean Callahan felt the same way about Delaney as the beagle did.
“How well do you know Sean?” Tabitha asked as Delaney said goodbye to Humphrey, rose and grabbed her bag.
Delaney’s face blanked. “Who?”
Tabitha pointed at the door. “Detective Callahan. You were just talking and laughing with him.”
Recognition lit Delaney’s expression. Her eyes blinked rapidly. “I didn’t even know Callahan’s first name.”
“Well, everyone seems to call him Callahan.”
“True.”
“Massages.” Constance suddenly appeared, holding business cards. “Both of you. Just text me.”
