Page 44 of Safe With Me

Ted wasn’t keeping me away from a good time now.

My stupid overactive conscience was doing that.

Mike and I were still friends—friends who texted throughout the day and took long walks through our neighborhood on random nights during the week. It was so easy to be with him, and although I should have limited the time we spent together, itfelt too good to stop. I had tons of furniture bookmarked on my laptop, not really wanting or needing any of it. I was shopping for an excuse to call the local handyman.

“There you are.”

As if I’d conjured him up, Mike, in his police uniform, leaned against the railing.

“Here she is,” Terry sang, smiling as she looked between us.

“I texted you before I left the station.” Something I didn’t like pulled at Mike’s features. The usual curve of his lips had flattened into a hard line.

“My phone is inside, I’m sorry. Is something wrong?”

“I know it’s a lousy night, but would you mind going to the bar with me? It’s been a long day, and I didn’t want to drink alone.” He shot me a small smile. “Even though you’re already ahead of me.”

“I’ve only had a few sips.” I raised the can. “We can go if you want. Just let me change.”

“Same. I need to not be a cop for a couple of hours. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes?”

“Sure,” I said, the wide smiles of Kathy and Terry obvious even in my periphery.

I hesitated to look up after Mike left.

“Happy? I’m going to the local bar on a Wednesday night with my cop friend,” I told Terry, nodding toward the path of Mike’s departure.

“Friend,” Terry huffed and took the can from my hand. “If you miss how he looks at you, you may want to get some glasses.” She waved her hand. “Go change. Poor kid sounds like he had a long day. Pick something with cleavage.”

“Leave the stretch pants on, though,” Kathy said, angling her head. “It’s chilly, and your legs are nice and shapely.”

Nothing like being pimped out by your landladies.

“I’ll take that into consideration. As always, thanks for inviting me out here.”

I smiled, shaking my head at their elated grins as I jogged to my apartment to change.

I made it out in less than fifteen minutes, and Mike was parked on the street by my side entrance. Picking a shirt thatdidn’thave cleavage had gotten into my head and almost made me late. I’d switched my leggings for jeans and grabbed a sweater on my way out, trying not to look like a bum or too enticing.

Not that enticing mattered since we were friends—or at least it shouldn’t have mattered.

It was unnerving how each time I’d said or thought the word when it came to Mike, the less true it sounded.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I stepped into the car.

“Yeah,” he said after a long minute, and he pulled away from the curb. “Sorry I interrupted your night.”

“I was drinking on the porch with my landladies. I don’t exactly have a swinging social life here.”

A hint of a smile played on Mike’s lips.

“Instead of the bar, how about we go to the bar and grill by the exit? They have good wings and not as many regulars to be in our business.”

“Sure, whatever you want.”

I examined Mike as he drove, the inside of his truck quiet other than the engine and tick of the turn signal. We pulled into the parking lot and he, again, draped his hand on the small of my back to lead me inside.

Why was that such an intimate thing? Maybe because, from Mike, the simple touch came with an electric charge.

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