Page 12 of Ever With Me

The internal cringe made her want to run away.

“Where are you heading after this?” Dan was saying to Brooks. The blond, blue-eyed officer was taller than Brooks—who was tall himself—but the Klein brothers were known for their stature.

“My buddy has a place somewhere around here.” A tired expression crossed Brooks’s face. “But I haven’t been able to get a call out to him.”

“I can take you there if you like,” Dan offered, his gaze flicking to Maddie momentarily. “My wife and I also run a B&B, though, if you need a place to crash.”

“I think he already found that here,” Maddie quipped before she could stop herself.

Both men looked at her, and she smiled. “Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Too soon?”

Is that a hint of a smile on Brooks’s lips?

Brooks turned his attention back to Dan, hesitating. “Uh, thanks for the offer, Officer, but I’m good. I’ll figure it out.”

Maddie studied his handsome face. There was that desire to stay away from the police again, too. And the fact that he’d referred to Dan as “officer” meant he viewed Dan that way, even if Dan wasn’t wearing a uniform or on duty.

Why does he not like cops?

“Need anything else, Maddie?” Dan asked. His gaze traversed the damaged displays. “Looks like you’re going to need a few sets of hands to clean all this up.”

“It’s fine. I’ll put a sign on the door that we’re opening late and try to get ahold of a few people scheduled to come in this morning. Hopefully, we can get it all done.”

She almost regretted not asking Dan to stay and help. Moments after he’d walked out the door, the awkwardness of Brooks’s presence flooded her. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, feeling the weight of his proximity even though he was at least an arm's length away. “So . . . um, do you want me to call you a ride or something?”

Brooks didn’t answer, bending over and picking up the stem of a shattered, hand-painted wineglass. Grace Wagner would cry if she saw her gorgeous creations broken on the floor. They’d just put the fall collection on display a week ago. “Actually, I’d like to help you clean this up if you don’t mind.”

What now?

Brooks Kent wanted to help her clean?

Unexpectedly nice as he might intend that to be, she just wanted him gone already so she could crawl into bed and try to salvage a couple of hours of sleep.

“Um—no, you don’t have to do that,” she said flatly and snatched the stem from his hand.

Reflexively, he closed his hand around the stem as she pulled.

A bright burst of blood came from his palm, and he drew his hand back. “Christ!”

Oh shit.She gasped, dropping the stem to the floor, where it cracked into several pieces. “Oh my God, are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

He sucked in through his teeth, a hint of irritation on his face. “Consider this the cherry on top of the best night of my life. I’m just thankful I chose to come to this hellhole over a week in the Maldives.”

Arrogant son of a bitch.She glared at him. “You don’t have to be an asshole about it.”

“Sorry,” he said in a voice that was anything but.

She rubbed her temples, which throbbed with exhaustion. “Follow me,” she grumbled. She couldn’t believe she was considering taking him upstairs to her apartment, but she’d stashed the first-aid kit up there—and he could sit down more comfortably in her living room.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Upstairs. I have an apartment up there. I’ll clean that up for you.”

He clenched his fingers into a fist. “You don’t have to do that.” Blood dripped down to his wrist.

“Actually, I do. Or at least give you the first-aid kit. Iamsorry, believe it or not.”

He opened his mouth but then said nothing as though thinking better of it. “Lead the way.”

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