Page 47 of Tough as Steele

She took a long breath and let it out slowly. “Not at all.”

“And what do you think about it?” Okay, he must not feel vulnerable enough. Apparently he wanted more. Maybe it was sleep deprivation. Nah. He’d lost a whole lot more sleep in the SEALs and could function at top-notch. This was all about issues he’d never gotten over.

“I honestly don’t know.” She caught her full lower lip between her teeth.

He wanted to free it and kiss her. Right there in a dead man’s house. Crazy.

“I mean, I’m attracted to you,” she said. “You’re a fine looking man. What woman wouldn’t be? But I just got out of a relationship, and I’m not interested in another one. And even if I was, my brother’s loss taught me how fast you can lose the people you love, and I’d never date a law enforcement officer for that very reason.”

“Who said anything about a relationship?”

She stared at him, and he could almost see her thoughts racing through her brain. “I’m also not interested in casual sex.”

“Didn’t say that either. Just going on record as saying I like having you around.”

“Why no relationships for you?” she asked, surprising him that she continued the conversation.

He considered moving on, but she’d been upfront with him so far, and he owed her the same thing. “SEALs often have a hard time with relationships. We’re gone so much of the time, and those deployments carry a heavy danger factor. Most women can’t handle that. And I saw it from the woman’s side, too, when I watched what my mother went through when my dad deployed. I could never put a woman through the worry or the loss that my mom experienced.”

“But you’re not a SEAL anymore.”

“Right, I’m not. But I’m a law enforcement officer, and the job carries similar risks.”

“Yeah,” she said, sounding sad. “Which is why I try to avoid dating cops.”

There was a finality to her tone that stabbed him in the gut, and he didn’t want to keep the conversation going and make it worse. He pointed at the door. “We should get moving.”

She held his gaze for a long, painful moment, then marched out of the room, and he exhaled a cyclone of air. He’d made a fool of himself. Acted like some lovestruck teen instead of a professional detective partnering with another professional. At least he hadn’t followed his desires and kissed her. That really would’ve been crossing a line he wasn’t ready to step over. And yet, maybe he was.

With her.

“Figure it out, man,” he whispered to himself as he headed for the door. “Or you’re going to forget why you’re here.”

Find Mimi.That was all that mattered. Not the fine form of a woman leading him down the hallway and toward crossing that line between professional and personal.

He managed to hold the line through the remaining rooms and the drive to a fast food joint to grab some coffee and breakfast to eat on the way back to Mimi’s house. Eating and the rich black coffee in a monster-size cup kept his attention for most of the drive, but then to keep it at bay, he took deep breaths on the way to Mimi’s porch, where he opened the door and stood back to let Londyn enter first.

She stepped past her guard, giving him a smile.

Patrick dangled a set of keys in front of Nate. “Your fresh vehicle was delivered. Parked out front, and you’re supposed to text your LT when the one you’re driving is ready to be picked up.”

Nate nodded his thanks and texted his lieutenant as Londyn waited for him in the lobby. When he stowed his phone and joined her, her smile evaporated. He couldn’t be sure what she saw that bothered her. Hopefully, it wasn’t his declaration of interest in her, as she had plenty of time in the car to give him an earful on that. If he had to guess, he figured she didn’t want him opening the door for her and treating her like a woman instead of a fellow detective. He was a gentleman at heart and respected women, and he had an odd desire to show her that.

On the job, most female officers didn’t want special treatment, and he often ignored those instincts. From what he’d observed of Londyn so far, she seemed to be mixed on that. Just like her personality was mixed. She could be tough. He’d seen that. And soft too. A well-rounded person who seemed to have strong intuitive skills. In other words, a solid detective but an equally confident woman. And crazy attractive and enticing. Thoughts he needed to stow.

“I want to check in with Sierra before we do anything.” He pointed at the stairwell, as he assumed she would be in Mimi’s room.

Londyn charged up the stairs, and they found Randy and Sierra standing near the door with what looked like a boxy camera mounted on a tripod. She faced them, but the thing on top continued to move in a slow motion.

“Whatisthat thing?” Nate asked.

“A 3D scanner.”

“It’s so cool.” Randy’s voice was alight with excitement. “Wish we had one. It uses lasers to scan the crime scene and create a 3D rendering that’s uploaded to a computer. In addition to the pictures, it captures measurements, so the model is scaled.”

“He’s right,” Sierra said. “It’s a great way for a DA to show the crime scene to a jury or for you guys to look at it to refresh your memory. I like to do this before I process anything at major scenes, along with taking all of my scene photos. I’ll get started on the room as soon as the scan is complete.”

“She has all the cool toys.” Randy grinned. “She might even let me use some of them.”

---