Page 63 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“So, what about this drink?” she asks, sealing the metal door shut and walking to her desk to jot down something.

“This case is taking all of my time… Let’s get together afterwards.”

“Where’s the nerdy one?”

“Aaden?”

She looks up and nods, her eyes sparkling.

“He’s working the case. Would you like his number?” I wiggle my eyebrows, and she blushes. The badass coroner and the badass analyst—what a combination. They could make quite the power couple. I wonder if Aaden will have the balls to make a move… I’ll just have to give him a little encouragement.

She fishes through a drawer, writes on a business card, and hands it to me. “He can have mine. If he’s interested, get him to call me.”

I take the card and flip it over. She’s written in loopy handwriting.‘Call me, E’.I shove it in my jacket pocket. “He’s shy, Emi. You might need to make the first move.”

She shrugs. “I’ve given him my card. Ball’s in his court. A girl needs to feel wanted, too.”

She envelops me in a hug. “How about your love life?”

Zee clears his throat, stifling a laugh. I send a glare his way. “Nonexistent.”

She sighs and flips my ponytail over my shoulder. “I find it hard to believe no one is interested, Natia. It’s more likely you are chasing them off before they’ve even begun.”

“She’s not been very successful with the latest one,” Zee mutters as John’s caterpillar eyebrows shoot up.

Shaking my head, I huff. “He’ll get the message, even if I have to stab him in the heart to make my point.”

“Man problems?” John asks, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. “Anything I need to intervene with?”

“Not unless you call being an arrogant ass a crime.”

He laughs. “If it was, I would have very few colleagues.”

“Shame, I think I would like to see him hauled away in handcuffs.”

Zee laughs. “I’m starting to see a theme, along with your choice in bedroom music.”

Emi and John’s eyes pop open wide. “I’ll be sure to pass on your number,” I mumble to Emi.

Chapter Twenty-One

Archan

Unknown origin.

Jed waves his flashing phone in my face and grins. “She called me instead of you.”

I lean back in my leather chair and steeple my hands. “Put it on speaker.”

“Hi, Smoothie, time for an update.” Natia sounds nervous—probably because of her inebriated antics from last night. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl to get drunk often, too much of a control freak—like me.

“Hey, sexy, wearing any clothes today?” Jed chirps, winking at me. Unaware of last night, Zac frowns as I punch Jed in the arm.

“What have you learned?” I demand, glaring at Jed, whose permanent grin gets wider.

A long pause. “Mary died from a myocardial infarction—”

“That’s it? An unexplained heart attack?”

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