Page 25 of Heat of Justice

It was all Cody said, but her keen blue eyes lingered on her face. Feeling the pressure mounting, Kim reached for her burger and hurried to change the subject.

“You’ve got a slight accent, but I can’t really place it,” she observed. “Where are you from originally?”

“New York City, born and bred.”

“Ah, yes. What made you move over here?”

“Take a guess,” Cody prompted.

chapter 9

“Are you testing me?”

Cody enjoyed the way Kim suddenly fixed her, with a hint of healthy warning in her gaze, a little bit more than she knew she probably should.

“Kinda.” She shrugged and opted for honesty. “Yes.”

Then she watched an even more attractive gathering storm in the lawyer’s dark eyes hover there for another second before Kim shook her head and flashed a smile. Such an attractive shift in the way her emotions played out across her face…

“Fair enough, I suppose,” she said. And without hesitation, added: “I think a woman broke your heart in New York. Badly.”

“Oh, really?” Casually, Cody reached for a fry.

“Yes, really. Am I right?”

“Spot on, actually.”

“Yeah?” Kim appeared surprised enough to laugh, but not for long. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“I’m not laughing at you, but because it was such a lucky guess on my part.”

“You guessed? No psychic trick?”

“Total shot in the dark, yeah. You have an excellent poker face.”

“Cop face. A necessary skill in my trade.”

“Yes. Also, um…” Kim lingered with a thoughtful smile, leading Cody to ask.

“Also, what?”

“I didn’t expect you to confirm a broken heart.”

“Why not?”

The lawyer bit on her lip in slight hesitation, but she never broke eye contact and clearly went with her first answer.

“You strike me more as the kind who would break hearts,” she admitted.

“Oh? And not the other way around? Do I strike you as a heartless womanizer?”

“No, of course not. I mean that you look like… Who would want to…” Apparently struggling to translate her thoughts into words, Kim shrugged in obvious frustration. “Just forget I said anything. I know it’s a silly thing to assume anyway.” She took another bite of her burger, nodded while she chewed, and hit her with a remarkable conclusion: “You are only human, after all.”

Cody had to laugh. “Thanks for noticing, eh!”

Was a compliment buried in this series of odd remarks? It occurred to her that Kim Reed seemed to want to flirt with her almost against her will. As if the impulse to do so kept occurring to her, and was a total surprise every time. Cody herself was no stranger to the feeling. Despite what the woman may think, she was not a serial dater. Also, not against the idea of ever finding herself in a serious relationship again. A part of her, which Cody kept under ruthless control, actually craved it… But since New York, she hadn’t met anyone she was tempted to try with. She decided to share something else, which she rarely did. Her boss, Quinn Wesley, knew about it. So did her partner, Ellie, because being partners was a special kind of relationship, and her side-kick deserved to know a little more than most people. But other than Ellie and Quinn, no one else.

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