Page 37 of Hidden Hero

His attention immediately snapped to her. “Was she threatening?”

She had just taken a bite of her sandwich when she patted his leg as she chewed and swallowed. “Down, boy,” she said. “The wife was upset, and understandably so. Of course, she threatened my job and to sue the hospital, but there was nothing personal in her attack against me.”

He still didn’t like the idea of her being threatened. It wasn’t that he thought Cora was incapable of taking care of herself, but he found that he wanted to be the one to do so if it was needed. Of course, the odds of him being around when she was threatened were minimal, so his mind jumped to the next solution. “Do you have security close by when you meet with family?”

“Jeremy! I’m hardly threatened on a daily basis!”

“Well, I don’t really know about that aspect of your job. I mean, I understand the basics of an autopsy and being in charge of a crime scene and morgue, but when I’ve seen you talk to someone, it’s been comforting. Now that I think about it, I realize that many family members aren’t happy with whatever you have to tell them, and in their state of mind, they could turn that unhappiness on to you.”

She hefted her shoulders and nodded. “You’re right. And a lot of times that happens. But not in a physical way. I usually get tears, or the ‘How dare you?’ or the ‘What did you do to my loved one?’ kind of questions. Of course, like today, when I’ve made a judgment to do a postmortem because of the possibility of foul play or a suspicious death, loved ones may not be happy with me. I do have another person close by. My intern, David, had left when Dan came by.”

“Dr. Dan seemed very familiar to you. Can I ask if you two dated?”

Her smile was soft. “We went out to dinner a couple of times when I first came to the Shore. But it was easy to see that we were nothing more than friends.”

His brow furrowed as he battled once again with the unfamiliar jealousy. “So I take it you weren’t friends with potential?”

By now, she had finished her sandwich and neatly folded the waxed paper wrapping it had come in. Shaking her head, she held his gaze. “We were always just friends, and that was it.”

“Good.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly as though she were ready to ask a question, but she shook her head and remained quiet. He wanted to know what was on her mind, but right now, considering he was dealing with newly felt emotions, he thought it was best not to push her.

They finished their bag of chips, then shared the extra-large brownie with chocolate-peppermint icing. By the time they finished, she had a tiny smudge of chocolate icing on the corner of her mouth. His gaze zeroed in on the dab, and he wanted nothing more than to lean closer, kiss it off, and let his tongue taste the chocolate on her lips.

She lifted her hand to her face. “You’re staring at my mouth. Do I have icing on it?”

He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s right here.” He used his finger to wipe off the chocolate gently. Then instead of grabbing a napkin, he popped the end of his finger into his mouth and smirked as her eyes widened.

“Damn, Jeremy,” she said, turning her head and casting a gaze around the patio. By now, it was almost empty, and she seemed to breathe easier when she realized no one was paying any attention to them.

“Well, friends would take care of each other, right? What kind of friend would I be if I let you walk back into work with chocolate on your mouth?”

Laughter bubbled forth from her lips, and he enjoyed the sound, knowing he’d like to hear it more often. She stood and sighed. “I hate to end ourfriendlylunch, but I have to get back to work.”

Standing, he took the trash from her and tossed it into the nearby receptacle. “Me, too. Pete’s waiting on me.” They returned to the hospital lobby, where he reached down and squeezed her hand. “See you soon, Cora. I’ll text or call when you get off work.”

She hesitated for only a second before smiling once again. Nodding, she returned the squeeze, then waved as he turned to head out to the parking lot.

16

Jeremy hustled back to the station, where Pete waited for him. “Sorry, man,” he apologized as he walked over to several detectives standing around.

His partner waggled his eyebrows. “You meet up with Cora?”

“Whoa, this is news,” Mark said with a grin.

Brad swung his head around. “Who knew you’d go for the?—”

“What? Go for thewhat?” Jeremy barked. The last thing he would tolerate was someone making fun of Cora’s job.

Brad’s eyes widened as his chin jerked back. As Jeremy looked around, the others shared the same wide-eyed look. “Um, chill out, man. I was going to say that who knew you’d go for the quiet one.”

“Oh. Sorry… fuck. Brad, I’m sorry.” He grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed as he felt his cheeks heat. “I have no idea why I jumped down your throat. God knows, I used to try to get a rise out of her when referring to her job.”

“You’re dating Cora?” Elizabeth Perez, another detective in the county, walked over, her smile warm with approval.

He quickly shook his head. “No, no. We’re not dating. We’re just friends. Yeah… friends. You know… like… um…” He stopped blabbering as a blush hit his face, and he swallowed deeply.

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