Page 111 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
One “Hmm” seemed okay. The second seemed suspicious. I was operating within a very tight loophole here, and I hoped he wasn’t about to figure it out. If he asked me the right question, my loyalty to Nico would be put to the test.
A cold trickle of sweat slipped down my back.
Officer Cox tucked his pen into the shirt pocket of his uniform and from it withdrew his card, which he handed to me. I took it, trying not to let my fingers tremble.
“You’re attracting a lot of attention, Miss Reid. You’ve been in the tabloids, you’ve been tagged as a person of interest by the paparazzi, and you’ve been in a very popular music video.” A faint hint of a blush colored his cheeks. “Nice job in the video, by the way.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“The guys down at the station think you look like a brunette Anna Nicole Smith.”
He’d obviously said it without thinking, because his blush deepened, and he stammered when he spoke next. “M-my point is that there are a lot of crazy people out there. People who can become obsessive. When you’re a celebrity, you’re also a target.”
I was a celebrity now? How awful.
“So just be careful. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be in touch.”
He turned to walk away, and I felt as if my knees would buckle from relief. Until he turned around again.
With a sideways glance at Barney, he drew nearer. “Would you mind if I asked you one more question?”
I had the fleeting, horrible thought he was going to ask me for my autograph.
“Has Chloe . . . well, she uh . . . I don’t know. Things started out so well, but now it seems like she’s backing off. And I can’t figure out why. I know you’re her best friend and all, and I thought maybe you would know what the problem is.” He looked sheepishly at his boots.
I breathed, “Oh, Officer Cox—”
“Eric. Please, call me Eric.”
Over his shoulder, Barney stared at us in confusion. He obviously didn’t know that the good officer and I shared a friend in common.
“Uh, well, Eric.” I cleared my throat. How the hell was I going to tell him? No, I couldn’t. This was unbelievable.
When I hesitated, he glanced up and saw the look on my face. His own went beet red.
“Shoot. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t put you in this position. Forget I said anything, this was really dumb of me—”
“Promise me you won’t tell Chloe.” I reached out and touched his arm.
His brows drew together. “Well, Miss Reid—”
“Kat, please.”
“Okay, Kat. I want to know, but I won’t lie to Chloe. And if what you’re going to tell me is something I’m going to need to talk to her about, I can’t promise I won’t tell her.”
Shit. Of course not. Black/white, lies/truth, deceit/disclosure. The universe was trying to tell me something today.
But if I were in his shoes, I’d want to know. He was a good man. I could see he really cared for Chloe. And from what she’d told me, she cared for him, too. Except for this one little thing.
“Have you ever had a massage?” I blurted.
Eric blinked, taken aback. “Like a happy ending thing, is that what you mean?”
“No! Oh, God, sorry, no I mean a real massage. Like a sports massage.”
Relieved I wasn’t going in a weird direction, Eric relaxed. “Yeah, of course. I used to play football in college. Got sports massages all the time, helps with muscle recovery.”
“Okay, good. And you know how, sometimes when you’re getting a massage, the masseur can go a little overboard, get a little too . . . er . . . enthusiastic, and it winds up hurting more than it feels good?”
