Page 22 of Sighs By the Sea

Me: What are you doing now?

Sexy Jailbait: Sipping my coffee and daydreaming of someone. And you?

My grin is immediate. Grayson is daydreaming about me. Me! The warmth is building between my legs, as if our kiss happened ten seconds ago and not eight days. My skin tingles with anticipation, and I can't help but imagine what it would feel like to kiss him again. I use my phone to snap a photo of my half-eaten donut on my desk.

Sexy Jailbait: Typical cop. Is that the top or bottom of your food pyramid?

I laugh at that. Maybe some stereotypes are okay. I certainly couldn't live without my donuts.

Me: It IS my food pyramid.

To my surprise, no dots appear. I set the phone down and sigh. Whatever Harry asked me to do, I’ve already half-forgotten. Talking to Grayson is fun, real fun. I close my eyes. “He’s a convicted criminal, Maggie.” It takes several times of repeating the words under my breath until I’m calmed down.

But a moment later, my phone rings. “Maggie, you cannot eat just donuts,” Grayson’s voice is smooth and calm, but there’s a hint of amusement beneath his words.

“Not everyone can cook delicious pasta from scratch,” I say, leaning back in my chair.

“Everyone can learn, Detective.”

“And are you offering to teach me, Mr. Cardenas?” The thrill of hearing his voice and the playful flirting is doing strange things to my stomach. Or maybe it's the four donuts I've smashed since Harry left.

He’s quiet for a moment, possibly debating. When he speaks again, the teasing lilt in his voice is gone. “I hear YouTube can be quite an effective learning tool.” Before I can say anything back, he’s clearing his throat. It seems that whatever flirting we had done is gone. “I have information.”

My eyebrows rise. “And?”

“I can be in LA in two hours.”

“You can’t just tell me now?”

A low chuckle fills the phone, and warmth spreads through my body. Ugh. Just strip me down and spank me already. “Surely you understand the need for utmost discretion. I would prefer these things to be spoken about in person.”

I exhale loudly. Working late. Again. My poor gaming squad will miss me at our nightly session. “That’s fine, Mr. Cardenas.”

“Lovely. And Maggie? Let’s leave bad guys at home this time. I wasn’t a fan of you getting hurt.”

I start twirling my hair, my teeth biting into my bottom lip. “I was only grazed, Mr. Cardenas. And I seem to remember that you were perfectly fine.”

That earns me a small snicker. “Indeed. I’ll be there around seven.”

We say our goodbyes, and I set my phone down. I bite onto my own knuckle, trying to suppress the smile that’s only growing on my face. My heart is pounding with excitement, and I can't help but feel a flutter of anticipation for our meeting.

When Harry comes back a little later, I’m filing some papers away. He sits on my desk.

“Any luck?”

“I’m seeing him tonight.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Really? In what respect, Detective?”

“Just a meeting, Harry.”

“Mmhmm.” He gives me a pointed look that seems to dissect all the swirling confused feelings immediately. “Maybe your job is helping your dating life for once.”

“Hardly. The guy’s a criminal. No, I’m just doing my job. It’s not a date.” Because to hope for anything else would be ridiculous. We're playing some sort of strange game. We kissed. BFD, right? People do that all the time. I turned him down for drinks, and now we're toeing this line. Flirt, pull back, flirt, pull back. It's a bit dizzying.

Harry clicks his tongue. “Criminal? Interesting. I’ve read his file. Didn’t seem like he was happy doing his family’s bidding. Look what they did to his wife.”

I’ve read the file. Hell, I put most of it together. “His wife is missing. I hardly blame the girl if she ran away.”

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