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I couldn’t blame her for the flat, almost cold way she greeted me, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel like a punch to the chest. Before that night, she’d always had a smile for me, her melodic, husky voice causing a shiver every time she said my name. But I’d lost the right to that when I’d walked out on her the way I had. I would have been lying if I said I didn’t want that back, but I had no right to ask for it. I’d burned the bridge between us. I hurt a good woman who didn’t deserve it because of my own fears and insecurities.
Yet I couldn’t make myself stay away from her, no matter how many times I told myself I needed to back off.
Deb moved back in front of Lyric, forcing me to stop ogling. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were here to meet the deputy. I’ll bring your food over there as soon as it’s done.”
Lyric’s eyes went wide, those full, pouty pink lips parting to offer a fast objection, but Deb was faster, moving back down the counter to help other customers. I wanted to push, tell her there was no reason we couldn’t have a meal together, but then I remembered what she said the night I’d insisted on driving her home from her friend’s house.
I didn’t want to force her into another situation she didn’t want to be in. I moved closer, still far enough away not to crowd her personal space, and lowered my voice. “I can leave if you want. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
She tipped her head to look at me, those soulful brown eyes of hers swimming with uncertainty as she chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
Finally, she spoke. “No. Thank you, but you don’t have to do that. It’s fine.” She hooked her large purse over her shoulder, then, with Churro still cradled in her arm like a defensive shield, she grabbed her coffee and followed me back to my table.
She scooted onto the bench opposite me and bent forward to deposit Churro in the portable dog bed I’d set up beneath the table. She sat up straighter, clasping her hands tightly in front of her as that warm dark gaze bounced around anxiously.
“I see you’ve still got the dog.”
I sat back in my seat. I would have been lying if I said I wasn’t pleased to get this time with her, even if it made me an asshole because of how uncomfortable she clearly was.
“Yeah, I think I was kidding myself when I said I didn’t intend to keep her.”
One corner of Lyric’s mouth hooked up in a grin before she caught herself and straightened it back out. “I could have told you that the day you pulled me over for speeding.”
I couldn’t help but grin at how salty she was about that. “Speaking of, you still haven’t paid that ticket.”
She let out a harrumph, causing her chest to rise and fall, making those incredible tits bounce. Her eyes flared, fire igniting deep within their depths, and I didn’t bother holding back my grin at the sight of it. I much preferred the fire to the icy indifference or pain. In fact, that fire made my dick hard as a steel rod in a matter of seconds.
Christ, my body was as out of control as it had been when I was a young teenager.
The muscle in her jaw clenched as she ground her teeth together. “I’ll get around to it. There’s still time.” Her lips curled up into a smile that was actually a little scary. “But thanks for the reminder,” she said, not a single ounce of sincerity in her words.
There was something detrimentally wrong with me that I found that threatening look to be hot, that it made my dick stand at attention. Christ, I needed to get a hold of myself already. The last thing I needed was an erection in the middle of a family diner.
“Any time. You need any more information, it’s on the bottom of your ticket.”
I could have sworn she growled, and damn it, it was cute as hell. She took a sip of coffee, glaring at me over the rim the whole time. “You could have just let me off with a warning.”
I flashed her a winning smile. “If I had, what kind of law enforcer would I be?”
She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Always a freaking hero,” she muttered.
That last word was like being dunked in an ice bath. Was I really a hero anymore?
Her cellphone rang, piercing into that unpleasant thought, and she ripped those beautiful eyes away to rifle through her purse. She pulled it out and looked at the screen before jabbing the button on the side to silence it and dropping it back into the confines of her oversized purse.
Curiosity jabbed at me. Who was calling her? Was it a friend? Or maybe... another man? Had she moved on from our night together? Was she seeing someone else already? And why the fuck did the thought of that make my gut feel like I’d just downed a carton of spoiled Chinese takeout? “You can get that if you need to.”
“It’s fine. Just an unknown number. They’ve been happening more often lately.”
I had no business feeling relief that it was just one of those annoying-as-fuck spam calls instead of an actual person, but I did. God, I was a fucking mess where this woman was concerned.
I knew my actions were a contradiction to what I’d said the morning after we’d slept together, but every time she walked into a room, it was as though an invisible tether formed between us, pulling taut and making it impossible to keep my distance.
“You have a little something just...” I leaned across the table, plucking what looked like a ball of fluff from her silky hair. I briefly let my fingers skim the slope of her neck before pulling away.
Her cheeks flushed red as she snatched the fuzz ball from my fingers and dropped it onto the ground. “Oh, sorry. That’s embarrassing. It’s puppy fur. I thought I brushed it all off. Guess I missed that.”
I arched my brow in question. “Puppy fur?”
