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The chief’s brows rose. “Is that so? Well, Del must approve of you if she just took the blame for all of this. Hmm, not sure if that’s a good sign or not.”
“Oh, Dad.”
The chief broke into a hearty chuckle. “I’m just busting his chops, MiMi. Besides, you know I love seeing Earl flustered. There’s been a friendly rivalry between the fire and police departments since long before my time at the station.”
“Men,” Mia said with a shake of her head.
“Well, we got him pretty good tonight, I’m afraid,” Alex said. “For a moment there, I thought I was going to have to call my folks and ask them to wire over bail money.”
“Eh, Earl wouldn’t have arrested you. That would have led to too much paperwork afterward.”
Whatever his reason for turning the other cheek, Alex was relieved.
“Even so, I’m glad you got here when you did,” Mia said. “He wouldn’t dare cuff us with you present.”
“Not if he knows what’s good for him, anyway.” The chief winked.
“Right? Listen, I need to get Brooklyn home because I’m about ninety-nine percent sure she’s still got homework to do.” She stepped forward to reach up and give her father a tight hug. “Love ya.”
“Love you, too.” He kissed the top of her head and held her a moment longer before meeting Alex’s gaze. “And you, Alex? Where are you headed tonight?”
Nothing like being direct. “My hotel, over in Warsaw. I got into the area late and didn’t relish driving back to Indy tonight. This way, I can spend a little more time with Mia and Brooklyn tomorrow before heading back.”
“Very good. Though, I wouldn’t stay too long tomorrow if I were you,” the chief warned. “There’s a snowstorm brewing out west. Weatherman’s saying if it hits, we could see some significant snowfall.”
Shoot, maybe Alex should have driven his Rover tonight. He’d been worried about bringing it back into town so soon and drove his Camaro instead. It got him here faster but didn’t handle well in the snow. He’d skidded and slipped a little coming into town tonight, not having known the snow had hit up here. Indy was dry as a bone when he left home.
“The channel you watch is all doom and gloom,” Mia said. “They were predicting a foot and a half yesterday, and what’d we get, four inches?”
“You know what I always tell you—proceed with caution on things you can’t predict.” The chief’s gaze shifted to Alex.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chief.
“We’ll be fine,” Mia said. She pecked a kiss on his cheek then returned to Alex’s side and wove an arm through his. “’Night, Dad.”
“Night, kiddo. And nice meeting you, Alex. Safe travels back to Indy tomorrow.”
Mia motioned for Brooklyn, and the trio made their way to her little white Pontiac Vibe. Despite beaming Deputy Earl in the head with a snowball and having her father appear unexpectedly on the scene, Mia was all smiles.
“We totally would have won if Deputy Brice hadn’t showed up,” Brooklyn insisted. “But why did you keep throwing snowballs after Aunt Del shut off the lights?”
“How were we supposed to know what that meant?” Mia said. “I thought she was just trying to distract us. You know your aunt doesn’t always play fair.”
“True.” Brooklyn extended a fist to Alex. “Awesome idea, Alex. This was way more fun than my chemistry homework.”
“Which you will be heading straight home to finish, young lady.” Mia waited until Brooklyn climbed into her car with a groan before pulling Alex in close for a fast kiss. “Are you sure you want to waste money on a hotel room? You know I have a spare bedroom at my place.”
Alex glanced back to make sure they were out of the chief’s line of sight, then slid his hands around her waist. “I appreciate the offer—just not so sure that’s such a good idea.”
“Oh.” Mia’s face fell.
Damn, that wasn’t the look he wanted to leave her with tonight.
“It’s not because I don’t want to stay at your place,” he whispered. “I’m just not sure if I can behave myself a third night in less than a week. That’s a lot of temptation to resist, and I’m not as strong as you might think.”
A grin tugged at her lips. Much better.
“Besides, I have a feeling the chief wouldn’t appreciate my car being outside your place tonight after I told him it wouldn’t be.”
