22. Claire
CHAPTER 22
Claire
M y fingers drummed a steady tattoo on the wooden table as I stared out the front window of The Cozy Cup.
Ozzie was late.
Not that I was surprised.
Though I was a little surprised he hadn’t called or texted to tell me he wasn’t coming. He struck me as more considerate than that.
Maybe he wasn’t who I thought he was. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t shown up.
“You going to sit here all morning or are you going to take the coffee to him?”
I glanced up at the sound of Mina’s voice. She held a to-go cup in her hand.
“What?” I frowned.
She held out the cup. “Coffee. For your detective.” With a quick tip of her head, she motioned to the door. “Go. He either stood you up or he forgot.” I told her who I was here to meet when I arrived half an hour ago.
“Either way,” Mina continued, “you can’t let that slide. If he forgot—because, hello, murder investigation—then he could probably use some decent coffee and a break. If he stood you up, it wouldn’t hurt for him to know that’s not cool. Maybe he’ll grovel at your feet and offer to take you to dinner.” She shrugged one shoulder, a naughty smile forming on her face.
I chuckled and took the coffee. “I doubt that will happen, but it will at least let him know I’m not a pushover.”
Mina laughed. “I think he knows that already.”
Grinning, I stood. “Probably.” I slung my purse over my shoulder, then picked up my coffee. “Thanks, Mina. I needed the kick in the pants.”
She cocked out a hip, resting a hand on it as she smiled. “I know. Someone has to make sure you two don’t screw this up.”
Huffing a short laugh, I headed for the door—crutch-free now. My leg still ached, but it was bearable, and I was tired of only having one hand free. “Like you’re one to talk. How’s Ivan?” Mina’s last relationship with Ivan Milanovich ended with a soft fizzle several months ago. They both led busy lives, and Mina said they didn’t have enough chemistry to want to make time for each other.
Mina narrowed her eyes at me, but there was no malice in her expression. Only amusement. “I’m content being single.”
“Who says I’m not?” I tossed her a look as I put my shoulder into the door.
“Me. The pinch to your expression as you spent the last half an hour staring out the window, waiting on Oscar, spoke volumes,” she retorted.
I scowled, unaware I’d been so transparent. “I need to work on my poker face.”
Mina chuckled. “You do that.” She flapped a hand in farewell as I stepped out the door. “Call me later with all the details.”
With a wave of my own, I hurried off to my car. Hopefully, the details would be good ones.
It was a quick drive to the Parker’s Landing police station. I could only hope he was there. It was Saturday. If not, I might go full stalker mode and try to find his house. I knew he lived in my neighborhood, but not which house. Though I could make an educated guess. There were only a couple that had been up for sale recently. Sometimes, being a real estate agent came in handy.
Turning into the visitor section of the department’s lot, I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted Oscar’s truck—both his personal one and the patrol truck he’d driven to meet me Thursday night—in the employee lot beyond the automated barrier. He was here.
I parked near the sidewalk and got out. Salt crunched under my feet as I limped up the concrete path to the door. Someone had shoveled it and laid down salt.
Tucking one coffee cup between my arm and my chest, I tugged on the door and let myself in. The same officer who’d been there the last time I came in looked up.
“Good morning, Ms. Holmes. How can I help you?”
“Is Detective Quartermaine here?”
“He is. I take it he’s not expecting you?”
“Not exactly.”
The man smiled and picked up the phone. “Let me see if he’s free.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
After a short pause, the officer spoke into the receiver. “Detective, Claire Holmes is here to see you.” A moment later, he pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it with a frown. His brown eyes met mine. “He hung up.”
Before I could say anything, a door down the hall opened and Ozzie stepped out, a deep scowl on his handsome face.
Uh-oh . Maybe I really had been stood up.
He crooked a finger.
I glanced at the officer and gave him a wary smile. “Thank you.”
The man raised an eyebrow, looking at Ozzie’s dark expression, then at me. “Good luck, ma’am.”
Filling my lungs, I raised my chin. Ozzie would not intimidate me.
With determined strides, even if they were uneven, I walked toward him. My two different boots made soft thuds on the tile floor, and I wished I’d worn a low heel on my good foot. The sound would add an air of confidence.
Stopping a little over a foot away, I held out the coffee. “Good morning.”
His dark eyes held mine for several heartbeats before he reached out and took the drink. With a quick tip of his head, he motioned me into his office.
Not missing a beat, I walked in, head held high. He followed me in and closed the door as I turned to look at him.
Dark gaze fixed on me, he moved around the desk to his chair. “Why are you here, Claire?”
“We had a date, remember?” I knew I was pushing it, calling it a date. Especially when he hadn’t even agreed to meet me. He hadn’t disagreed, either, though.
One perfect black eyebrow shot up. “A date, huh?”
I walked around and perched on the corner of his desk. “That’s probably what it should be, don’t you think? After Thursday evening?”
He sat back with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Claire, I don’t really have time to discuss this. I have?—”
“A murder to solve.” I waved a hand as I cut him off. “I know. And I’m not asking you to forget about your case. Just take a break.”
He lifted the coffee and took a sip. “Seems I don’t have a choice.”
I rolled my eyes. “Stop with the passive-aggressive stuff. If you don’t want me here, just say so.” My heart lodged in my throat, but I was proud of myself. The words had come out with confidence.
Ozzie blew out a quick breath and sat up. “It’s not that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Dammit, Claire. It’s… complicated.”
“It’s really not, Ozzie,” I said quietly. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel. What I want. The whole reason I asked to meet you for coffee this morning was so we could discuss whether to move forward with this.” I wagged a finger between us.
“I realize that. It’s just not that simple. I…” He trailed off, looking away for several moments, deep in thought. When his gaze met mine again, the guard he’d thrown up when I arrived was down.
“You know I’m attracted to you. I can’t deny that, and I don’t want to. But until this case is solved, we can’t do anything about it.”
I raised my cup, taking a drink to hide the disappointment flattening my mouth.
“It’s probably best if we don’t see each other unless it’s for official purposes,” he continued.
“And what if you never solve this case?” Because the way things were looking, that was a distinct possibility. He didn’t have many leads that I knew of.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.”
I hummed, not liking that answer.
Suddenly, he rose, looming over me.
I gripped the desk with my free hand and stared at him with wide eyes.
“Trust me, Claire. This isn’t easy for me, either. I’ve done little but dream every night about what it would be like to finish what we started. But I can’t jeopardize my investigation or my career.”
He was so close, I could see those gold flecks in his eyes again.
“Think of it this way; I have some powerful motivation to close this case.”
A smile toyed with my lips. “I guess so.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. Fire leaped to life in his eyes.
An answering burn ignited in my belly. I understood where he was coming from. It didn’t mean I liked it, but I understood it. To me, it wasn’t a big deal. I was a minor player in his investigation. But apparently, it was a bigger issue than I thought.
So, I vowed not to push it.
Because, like it or not, if I wanted a relationship with this man and not just a quick roll between the sheets, I had to respect his boundaries.
Even if my body was currently attempting to shove my rational side into the vault again.
Staving off the urge to wrap my arms around his neck and haul him in for a fierce kiss took every degree of willpower I had, though, and kept me rooted to my spot on his desk.
He seemed to be in the same boat. Fire still blazed in his eyes.
“You should get back to work,” I said, barely above a whisper.
“I should.” He leaned closer, his voice low.
I swallowed, my eyes dropping to his mouth. I thought we weren’t doing this. Why were we doing this? “I should go.”
“You should.”
His warm breath puffed against my lips. It was enough to send prickles over my scalp and racing down my spine. My eyelids fluttered closed.
The warm, firm press of his mouth to mine sent the prickles everywhere. I let go of the desk to clutch the hair at the nape of his neck.
It was a brief kiss, but it packed a punch. After just a couple of seconds, he lifted his head. I opened my eyes to stare into his as my lungs fought for air. He’d sent it all scattering to the wind.
Slowly, he eased back and offered me a hand, helping me off the desk.
“Go home, Claire. Let me do my job.” The words were harsh, but his tone wasn’t. It pleaded with me to be patient.
I pressed my lips together, tasting him there, and nodded. “Work fast, Detective.”
Forcing my legs to function, I spun and hurried out of his office as fast as my broken leg would let me. Another vow echoed through my mind. One to avoid him as much as possible until this case was over. I wasn’t sure I could handle walking away again.