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She blinked, taking a moment to wake up.
“Are you okay? What happened?” he asked quickly. “You didn’t see anything?”
It took her a moment to realize that last question was for one of his officers, barely visible in the soft glow of the porch lights.
“I’m fine,” she said with a croaky voice, still a little disoriented. She must’ve fallen asleep.
Mitch looked at her for a moment, and then his shoulders lowered before he exhaled a long breath. He leaned forward, his head hanging.
She was ready to apologize when he looked up, a smile playing on his lips. “Whatwereyou doing?”
She all but giggled as it quickly became obvious how ridiculous this must look. “I came out to look at the view and then I decided to stay here awhile and appreciate it. I think I was meditating and fell asleep.”
His eyes sparkled and he shook his head softly. “That was three hours ago. You haven’t been answering your phone. We did a sweep of your house and no one could find you—no one saw you tucked up here between two plants.”
Now she laughed, not at the waste of resources, but for how ridiculous this was. “I’m so sorry,” she said, glad it was dark so he couldn’t see her red cheeks. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, realizing it was on silent. She shook her head, her embarrassment growing.
“No need to apologize, I’m just relieved you’re okay.” Mitch stood, holding out his hand.
Her eyes stayed on his as she took his hand and he pulled her up.
He looked to the officer standing by, who nodded before walking around the side of the house, leaving Zoe alone with Mitch.
“I haven’t prepared anything for dinner,” she said suddenly.
Mitch laughed. “I don’t imagine you have,” he said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go inside. We can order pizza from Jackie’s.”
She brushed the dirt off her jeans and led the way inside.
Mitch locked the door behind them, and when Zoe pulled out her phone to find the number for Jackie’s, she saw eleven missed calls.
She frowned. “How many officers wasted time looking for me?” she asked, chagrined.
Mitch studied her a moment. “None. It was not a waste of time,” he said. The heat in his eyes, the sincerity in his voice... it made her heart skip a little faster.
A moment passed between them, and then Zoe cleared her throat, forcing herself to focus. “I’m going to call Jackie’s. What would you like to order?”
“Pepperoni,” he said with a smile. “I’m a simple guy.”
Zoe grinned. “Two pepperoni pizzas coming up. This probably isn’t the best time to tell you, but I make the best homemade pizza dough. It’s a shame you won’t be having it tonight,” she said playfully, and he tipped his head back laughing.
“Then you owe me another dinner,” he said with a grin.
She nodded, biting her lip. It had been so long since she’d flirted with anyone that she’d always thought it would be awkward.
But it was easy with Mitch.
She ordered two pepperoni pizzas before heading to the kitchen. “Wine?” she asked, then stopped to wonder if he wouldn’t drink in case he had to be on duty. As the local sheriff, he was probably always on call.
“Sure, just one glass,” he said.
She found a nice bottle of red and poured two glasses. “How was your afternoon?” she asked.
He seemed to choose his words carefully. “Interesting. We have a few potential leads on some of these cases, which is good. We’ve only identified two of the bodies, but the coroner is working hard to make progress. It would help if we had the other identities, because then we could try and establish a link between them. It’s hard without that link, especially given most of the DNA evidence has been destroyed now due to the time that has passed. But a few leads are better than nothing. We’ll get there, I promise,” he said, his eyes meeting hers.
She didn’t doubt him for a second.
CHAPTER19
