Page 19 of Wine and Research
A perfect night to unwind in the hot tub.
“Elle!” Jeremy called from behind. “Wait up. I want to talk to you.”
Her heart rocked a second before her feet stopped. She could count on one hand how many times he’d addressed her by her first name, and the first three fingers didn’t count.
It instantly put them on a friendly level. An intimate one. Kind of like the pull she’d felt in his car earlier that day. She got the impression he’d felt it too.
Was that what he wanted to discuss?
Then why had he been glaring at her all night?
A weird fluttering commenced in her chest.
He caught up to her and frowned. “Why are you walking to your car by yourself in the dark?”
So much for friendly. His words weren’t the problem, his officious tone ruined it.
“It’s still twilight, Officer Mercer,” she replied.
It was smarter to think of Jeremy as a cop. An authority figure—a handsome, irritating one. But the problem was that she knew there was more to the man, much more. Sure, he was tough, righteous, and impenetrable, but she’d also caught flashes of his human side, like the way he’d treated the owner of the sporting goods store with respect and patience today.
She likedthatJeremy a lot. Too much.
“Been doing it for years,” she added for good measure. They walked on in silence, and she waited for his tirade, but when it still hadn’t come by the time they reached her car, she turned to him and lifted her chin. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Not a blink. Not even a shrug. He kept regarding her closely.
“Officer Mercer,” she said. “I’m going to need you to use your words. I can’t read minds.”
Especially his.
The very corner of his mouth turned up slightly. It knocked her off balance a little. A lot. The guy ran hot and cold so often, he drove her nuts. She couldn’t even remember which temperature they were currently on.
“Where did you go when I left you today?”
She blinked. “To my cabin. Why?”
“You sure?”
His absurd question deserved an absurd answer. She lifted a brow. “Yeah, pretty sure because I was with me the entire time.”
His jaw cracked from his clenched teeth. “Don’t get cute.”
She snorted. “Too late.”
Probably poking the bear was dumb and maybe too much, because the pulse in his neck was jumping now.
Elle sighed and shook her head as she leaned her back against her car door. “Look, I don’t know what you’re accusing me of, Officer Mercer, but there’s definitely an accusation in your tone,” she said, admittedly a little hurt by it. “After you left, I went to my cabin and added my notes to a Word document, then actually wrote for a bit. Both will be time stamped, so if you don’t believe me, then follow me to my cabin and you can see it with your own eyes.”
His eyes narrowed, and his steel gaze bore into hers for a few beats. “Why did you leave my car?”
The guy was like a pinball machine. She could hardly keep pace with his thought process.
Elle shrugged. “I left so you would do your job.”
“But why? You never cared about that before,” he said. “Are you sure you didn’t go back to question anyone?”
She jerked her chin up. “Is that what this is about? You think I would do that without you?” She shook her head at his silence. “The reason I’m shadowing is to observeyouin action, not me.”
