Page 616 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

He smiled humorlessly. “I guess you’re worth it.”

The joke went over Sydney’s head. She was still reeling, but he didn’t look nearly as affected by all this as she was. “How? Where—where did you come from? And where did you learn to fight like that?”

Rather than answering, he started jogging. “Come on. I left my car up atBrewster’s.”

“Brewster’s?”

“Yeah,Brewster’s Gym.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that place.”

She had to lengthen her stride to keep up with him. “You never answered my question,” she said between breaths.

“We’ll jog now and talk later. It’s getting dark, and I don’t want to be out here if those idiots decide to go and get their guns.”

Her eyes widened. She looked sideways at him to see if he were serious. The smile on his face let her know he was teasing.

When they reached his car, he insisted on taking her home. She didn’t argue. He opened the door for her.

“Ouch, that must’ve hurt.”

“What?”

He touched the scar on her right arm, and she realized that her sleeve had ridden up.

She tugged at her shirt. “I got burned when I was little. I pulled a pan of boiling water off the stove.”

He shook his head. “You’re lucky. It could’ve been much worse, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I’m really lucky,” she said under her breath as he closed the door.

A moment later he started the engine.

“Okay, I want to know how you ended up at the park.”

“I was getting a workout when I saw you jog by. You were keeping a pretty good pace, so I thought I’d see if I could catch up with my favorite co-worker.”

“It sure took you long enough.”

He laughed easily. “Oh, Syd, you’re some piece of work.”

She knew his remark was meant as a compliment, and it sent a warm glow rushing over her. She glanced at his handsome face and then looked away. First he was her accuser and now her rescuer. There were times when she hated him and then there were other times … No, she wouldn’t let herself get caught up in the moment and make another dumb mistake. She’d learned that the hard way from Adam.

“Well, here we are,” he said, pulling into her driveway. He lifted his sore hand off the steering wheel and clenched it. “I’mafraid you were right. I’m gonna have a nice little souvenir to show off tomorrow. It’s already turning purple.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Didn’t your mama ever tell you not to go jogging alone?”

She laughed. “Is that an invitation?”

“Maybe.”

He turned his face towards her. His nearness caused her pulse to jump.

Did he feel the same attraction she did every time they were in the same room? She willed herself to think of Kendall.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?”

---