Date Next Door

“I think we’ve done our share of socializing tonight, don’t you?” Joel asked with a quick glance around the room that let her know he was as aware of their audience as she was. “I think we can politely leave after this dance.”

While the event hadn’t been as dull or as awkward as she had feared, it was with great relief that Nic seized on his offer of escape. “Absolutely. Other people are already leaving. It won’t look at all odd if we call it a night.”

He seemed pleased that she had agreed. When the music ended, he turned with her toward their table, keeping a hand lightly at the small of her back as they moved across the clearing dance floor.

They said their good-nights quickly, promising to see most of his friends the next morning at the farewell breakfast. Without giving Heidi a chance to detain them, they slipped out, barely escaping the Watson twins, who had been weaving in their direction.

Nic noticed that Joel didn’t turn in the direction of his parents’ house when he left the resort, but she didn’t comment. Maybe he just needed to take the scenic route and unwind a little before he went back. She suspected he wasn’t really looking forward to telling his parents about the scholarship, probably expecting an overly emotional response from his mother.

The car radio was turned off, and it was very quiet within his father’s big sedan. The silence was actually nice for a little while, in contrast to the noise of the party, but eventually Nic felt the urge to say something. She glanced his way, studying his profile in the shadows of the car. The dim green lights from the dashboard did little to reveal his expression to her. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

“For the most part. What did Jimmy give you when we were leaving?”

She hadn’t thought he’d noticed the quick exchange. Not that she was trying to hide anything from him, of course, but she hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of it. “He gave me his home number. You know, just in case anything ever comes up when I might need a professional contact in Memphis.”

“And why would you need that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted with a shrug. “But it could happen.”

“He was hitting on you.”

She sighed. “He wasn’t hitting on me. It was just a professional courtesy.”

“You exchange phone numbers with every cop you meet?”

“Well, no, but…”

“He was hitting on you.”

Her sigh was louder this time. “He was not hitting on me.”

Joel didn’t respond that time, but something about his silence made his skepticism clear.

Shaking her head, Nic looked out the window. He was driving along the lake road, and the water looked beautiful with the half-moon reflected across it. On the other side of the lake lay the resort they’d just left. Lights burned in multiple windows, but they were too far away now to tell how many people were still moving around inside the ballroom.

Joel turned onto a side road marked by a sign that pointed out a boat launch area ahead. The gravel road wound through a stand of trees, which made it all the darker inside the quiet car. Joel followed the road to an empty parking lot beside the launch ramp and drove into a parking space facing the lake. Without a word, he turned off the headlights and then the engine, leaving them in darkness and silence.

Had he been anyone else, she might have thought he’d brought her to this secluded, scenic spot for a quick grab-and-grope session. As it was, she figured he was just stalling before going back to his parents’ house.

She could be a good friend now, let him talk about his feelings, give him a bracing pat on the back, if necessary. And she wouldn’t be at all disappointed about the lack of grabbing and groping during that talk, she vowed.

She gave him time to begin the conversation in his own way. Braced for Heather’s name, she was dumbfounded when he said, “Jimmy’s a pretty nice guy, but I’ve heard rumors that he’s been married twice.”

“We’re still talking about Jimmy?” She shook her head in bemusement. “Why?”

“Just thought you should know.”

“Joel, I keep telling you there’s nothing between Jimmy and me. Why on earth do you keep obsessing about him?”

He turned then, and his face was barely discernible in the deep shadows lightened only by the pale moonlight. “I don’t know,” he admitted after a minute. “First it was Heidi trying to fix you up. And then you and Jimmy got along so well. And then he gave you his number….”

“He was just being friendly. We had a few things in common—we’re both cops and we were the only two people at the table without advanced degrees—but that was the extent of it. I doubt that I’ll ever hear from him again. But even if he was hitting on me—which he wasn’t—I’m a big girl, Joel. I can tell a guy no if I’m not interested. And I can say yes when I am without needing any brotherly warnings or advice.”

“Brotherly?” He sounded thoughtful as he repeated the word. “You think I’m being brotherly?”

“Well, maybe buddy-ly,” she said with a chuckle at her own bad joke. “But it isn’t necessary, Joel. I’m perfectly capable of—”

“Of knowing when someone’s interested in you?” he cut in. “Of being aware when a man wants more from you than friendship?”