He nodded toward the line of cubbies down the hall, where Delia was shrugging on her coat. “I was glad to. She’s a great kid.” It was generous of him to say so after she’d called him an asshole a month ago, repeating her father’s low opinion of Nick after Delia told him we were dating. Which we weren’t. Not technically. Not unless you counted making out like jackrabbits in the front seat of his cruiser during a stakeout.
My neck grew slightly sweaty at the memory.
Nick’s blush suggested maybe he was remembering the same thing.
Joey slapped a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I’m going outside to grab a smoke. I’ll wait for you in the car.” He smiled at me around his toothpick. “Nice to finally meet you, Finlay. Don’t be too tough on him, huh?” With a wink, he melted into the crowd.
I waited through a series of awkward pauses as a few of the fathers who’d been Career Day guests stopped to shake Nick’s hand. Some of the moms patted his arm, their fingers resting a moment too long on his biceps as they thanked him for coming.
“You really were great in there,” I said when his line of fans had finally dwindled. “It meant a lot to Delia. I’m grateful.”
He tipped his head. “Grateful enough to let me call you sometime?”
I glanced at the cluster of moms by the cubbies who were pretending not to eavesdrop as they wrangled their children into coats.
“Sorry, that was out of line,” he said, turning his back to them. “I just thought maybe we could catch up.” He fidgeted with his helmet, palming it in the broad stretch of his hand. A hand that had felt really good cupping my backside in his car a month ago. “You could call it research, if you want. You know, ask me questions about your book.” Nick looked around and lowered his voice. “I read that one you signed for Pete in the lab. He let me borrow it under threat of bodily harm if I didn’t return it. It was pretty good.”
I struggled to remember which of my novels the young forensic tech had asked me to sign. A vision of the half-nude cover model hit me, and I nearly swallowed my tongue as I remembered a few of the scenes in the book. “Oh, god. You read that?”
Amusement simmered in the low heat of his smile. “Georgia says you’re working on a new one. I’d love to hear about it.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’m sort of—” A kid stumbled into the back of Nick’s legs, knocking him a step closer to me. The enticing aromas of coffee and spearmint tangled with the spice of his aftershave. If I closed my eyes, I’d probably smell the upholstery of his car. My mouth went dry. “Sure. Okay.”
His dark eyes lit as he backed toward the exit, navigating the crowded hall without tearing his gaze from me. Or maybe people just naturally parted for him. “Tell Delia I had fun today. I’ll call you.” He sank his teeth into his lip to hide his grin as he turned and slipped out the door.
CHAPTER 10
My breath came back to me in a rush. What had I done? Had I seriously just agreed to go to dinner with Nick? When he called—if he called—I would just have to explain that I’d made a mistake. Clearly, I’d been impaired when I’d made that decision. I couldn’t possibly be expected to think straight when he’d been standing so close.
I turned for Delia’s cubby, the hair on the back of my neck rising when I spotted a woman crouching beside my daughter. Her straight blond hair curtained her face, but I was sure she wasn’t a teacher at the school, and she didn’t resemble any of the moms I knew in passing. I maneuvered toward them, stepping around the last of the lingering children, picking up my pace as I caught a glimpse of a cell phone held between them. They both waved to someone on the screen.
“What’s going on here?” The woman jerked upright, her hand landing protectively on Delia’s as she spun around. She lowered her phone and pressed it to her thigh.
But not before I recognized the face on the screen.
“Hello?” Theresa’s voice grew impatient, muffled by the woman’s leg. “I can’t see anything, Aimee. Are you even there? I told you, I don’t care about some stupid Career Day.” A heavy sigh burst from the phone. “If you can hear me, just come over. General Hospital starts in an hour and I need you to stop by Harris Teeter; we’re out of Ben and Jerry’s—”
Theresa’s best friend, Aimee Reynolds, stared back at me, wide-eyed and guilty as she thumbed off her phone. I reached for my daughter and gently pulled her to me.