Chapter Six
An imaginary swarm of butterflies took up residence in her belly.
So that’s what it felt like…
Elle had often written about it in her books but had never experienced the phenomenon. She actually thought it was just a fictitious description.
Who knew it was real? Not her.
Until now.
“Ah, it looks like Elle’s clueless hot cop menu item just walked in,” Faith stated, digging her fork into her slice of cheesecake.
Despite having resided in the Poconos for almost a year, Elle rarely saw Jeremy out of uniform. An image of him naked in her dreams flashed through her head and sent heat slicing through the butterflies in her belly.
She hadn’t meant out of uniform in that way. Giving herself a mental shake, she forced the images out of her head and concentrated on what her eyes could see.
The jeans hugging Jeremy’s hips had well-worn creases in all the right places, and his gray T-shirt stretched across his wide shoulders and defined chest, causing her heart to skip a beat.
Damn, he was sexy, and hot, and human, and…mad?
He strode to the bar, sat on a corner stool, and nodded to Nico, who shoved a beer toward him, then he pinned her with a steely gaze.
The butterflies nosedived in Elle’s belly, while her chest tightened.
What was his problem?
“Ut oh, he came with attitude,” Faith said, unnecessarily.
Jenna twisted to glance at her brother then turned back around. “Did you two have a fight or something today?”
She ripped her gaze from him to look at Jenna. “No. Today was our first amicable day.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Sophia said, before sipping her wine. Since her fiancé was her designated driver, she was the only one drinking alcohol tonight. “He may not know how to handle it.”
Faith nodded.
“So, nothing strange happened?” Jenna asked, scooping out a spoonful of her limoncello mouse.
Elle snorted. “Just the opposite. It was strange. Guess he saved his attitude for tonight.”
She glanced over at him again, and her pulse kicked up. He was still watching her with annoyance bunching his brow, but when Evie arrived and slid a pizza pie between him and Scott on the bar, it effectively broke their gazes.
She blew out a breath and stared at her tiramisu.
“Do you want to switch seats with me?” Sophia asked. “I don’t mind. I enjoy looking at my fiancé.”
It would give her friend a clear view of Ryder, who sat on the other side of Scott, but moving would show weakness, and she wasn’t weak. Stupid maybe, when it came to the exasperating guy, but not weak.
Elle shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m good. He’s the one with the problem, not me.”
Faith slapped the table. “Amen!”
The smiling woman held up her hand to Elle for a high five. Then Jenna got in on it, followed by Sophia.
All the men at the bar stopped what they were doing to stare at them.
One of the ones she didn’t recognize smiled at them and raised his glass before turning to say something to Nico.
She had to assume the guy had wanted to buy them drinks, but Nico’s reply had him dropping money on the counter and scurrying from the restaurant.
“And that’s why Jenna and I have a tough time getting a date around here,” Faith muttered, stabbing her remaining piece of cheesecake with her fork.
“I’m tempted to join my sister in Texas.
Piper was there less than a month and snagged herself a former Navy jet pilot and got herself some top gun action. I can’t even get a nibble around here.”
Faith’s sister was a talented artist, and Elle had been lucky enough to purchase one of her local landscape paintings before she moved to Texas to open a gallery.
Jenna huffed. “You and me both.”
Elle glanced at Jeremy. His pizza was gone and so was half of his beer. Maybe a full belly would curb some of his attitude. Probably not. She’d wager a bet he was born with it. And she had no trouble envisioning Officer Mercer running background checks on any man who even looked at Jenna.
But he wasn’t looking at Jenna now. No, his gaze flicked to her again, and she got the impression it was going to take more than a few slices of pizza and a beer to lighten his mood.
What was his problem?
Elle held Jeremy’s steely gaze with one of her own. So much for that short-lived miracle. Officer Mercer was back. Apparently, she’d done something to tick the guy off, without being near him.
Too bad.
And too bad for her, he still managed to look sexy, all brooding and annoyed. His irritation was on the rise again, too, if the flash in his eyes was anything to go by.
Time to leave. She’d have to put up with Officer Grumpy all day tomorrow, but tonight, she still had a few hours of peace left to enjoy.
“Think it’s time I called it a night,” she said, rising to her feet. “I’ll settle my bill with Evie on the way out.”
Elle gave them each a hug, then walked around the other side of the tables so she wouldn’t have to pass the bar and the sexy man with the steel-blue gaze.
She stopped by the register to pay her bill, and although she wanted to cover the entire check, Elle knew the ladies would read her the riot act.
Because it had happened on their first dinner out. Her friends were independent, and Elle respected that, and never tried to pick up the tab again.
But she did pick up her pace.
Above, the sky was awash with streaks of pink and orange melting into deepening shades of indigo as the sun went down behind the mountains in the distance.
The parking lot underwent a subtle transformation with the sunlight softening into a warm golden hue.
Streetlights flickered to life and their soft, amber light danced across the parked vehicles, creating an inviting ambiance in the gathering dusk.
A perfect night to unwind in the hot tub.
“Elle!” Jeremy called from behind. “Wait up. I want to talk to you.”
Her heart rocked a second before her feet stopped. She could count on one hand how many times he’d addressed her by her first name, and the first three fingers didn’t count.
It instantly put them on a friendly level. An intimate one. Kind of like the pull she’d felt in his car earlier that day. She got the impression he’d felt it too.
Was that what he wanted to discuss?
Then why had he been glaring at her all night?
A weird fluttering commenced in her chest.
He caught up to her and frowned. “Why are you walking to your car by yourself in the dark?”
So much for friendly. His words weren’t the problem, his officious tone ruined it.
“It’s still twilight, Officer Mercer,” she replied.
It was smarter to think of Jeremy as a cop.
An authority figure—a handsome, irritating one.
But the problem was that she knew there was more to the man, much more.
Sure, he was tough, righteous, and impenetrable, but she’d also caught flashes of his human side, like the way he’d treated the owner of the sporting goods store with respect and patience today.
She liked that Jeremy a lot. Too much.
“Been doing it for years,” she added for good measure. They walked on in silence, and she waited for his tirade, but when it still hadn’t come by the time they reached her car, she turned to him and lifted her chin. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Not a blink. Not even a shrug. He kept regarding her closely.
“Officer Mercer,” she said. “I’m going to need you to use your words. I can’t read minds.”
Especially his.
The very corner of his mouth turned up slightly. It knocked her off balance a little. A lot. The guy ran hot and cold so often, he drove her nuts. She couldn’t even remember which temperature they were currently on.
“Where did you go when I left you today?”
She blinked. “To my cabin. Why?”
“You sure?”
His absurd question deserved an absurd answer. She lifted a brow. “Yeah, pretty sure because I was with me the entire time.”
His jaw cracked from his clenched teeth. “Don’t get cute.”
She snorted. “Too late.”
Probably poking the bear was dumb and maybe too much, because the pulse in his neck was jumping now.
Elle sighed and shook her head as she leaned her back against her car door.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re accusing me of, Officer Mercer, but there’s definitely an accusation in your tone,” she said, admittedly a little hurt by it.
“After you left, I went to my cabin and added my notes to a Word document, then actually wrote for a bit. Both will be time stamped, so if you don’t believe me, then follow me to my cabin and you can see it with your own eyes. ”
His eyes narrowed, and his steel gaze bore into hers for a few beats. “Why did you leave my car?”
The guy was like a pinball machine. She could hardly keep pace with his thought process.
Elle shrugged. “I left so you would do your job.”
“But why? You never cared about that before,” he said. “Are you sure you didn’t go back to question anyone?”
She jerked her chin up. “Is that what this is about? You think I would do that without you?” She shook her head at his silence. “The reason I’m shadowing is to observe you in action, not me.”
“You have to admit, it was out of character for you to remove yourself from the action and encourage me to do my job without you around to observe.”
Now she was the one clenching her teeth, and she had to force herself to calm down. That was when she realized he was speaking the truth.
“You’re right. It was out of character.” She exhaled. “I just didn’t want to see you suppressing the cop in you to keep me out of harm’s way anymore. I felt bad. I wanted you to do what you wanted to do. Next time, my butt will remain in the seat, and you can decide your own fate.”
As soon as the words left her lips, Elle sucked in a breath then released it, along with all the fight in her. “Look, I don’t think I need to apologize but I will if it means we can drop this conversation and I can go home.”
Home…
Since when was the cabin her home?
She stared into an amazing set of impassive blue eyes and her heart squeezed.
Why? She had no freaking idea.