“Tessa, everybody else knows. He’s going to find out somehow, and then he’s going to be extremely pissed that he was kept in the dark.”
“I know my brothers, Luke. Eric doesn’t need to know, and if I can keep it from him, I will. He doesn’t need more stress.”
“And Jamie agrees?”
She stabbed her omelet so viciously that the fork clanged against the plate. “Sure. Why would he want to say anything?”
Another lie. Did she think he couldn’t tell? Sorting truth from lies was half of his damn job.
But he let it go. It was her family, her secret to keep. And hell, maybe Eric wouldn’t want to know. He’d certainly been happy to maintain his ignorance about Tessa’s social life. Boy, her brother had been way off on that one.
Strangely, Luke felt almost nervous around her now. When they got back to the car, he didn’t know whether he should open the car door for her or hit the locks and molest her in the front seat. Both, maybe? She was a nice girl. And she was a wild woman. She was vulnerable, yet she didn’t need him. She was so sunny, but she’d faced more tragedy than he ever would.
This was a dangerous situation. There couldn’t be anything more dangerous than a combination of fascinating personality and smoking-hot sex. Luke had been fooling himself thinking they could see each other casually and he’d be fine. He’d have to hit the brakes on this fast.
But instead of slowing it down, he took her home. He’d pull back soon, though. After this weekend. Or after he solved the case. Soon, but not now.
He opened two beers and handed her one. “Now we’ve reached that critical point where we find out if we have anything in common.”
She perched on one of the kitchen stools. “In what way?”
“Music or a movie? More importantly, which music or movie?”
“And here I thought you were going to show me your handcuffs.”
He started to smile, but there was still something off about her. Something too light, even for Tessa. And earlier, in the shower…she’d been desperate, not happy. “Are you okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
“You’re just acting a little…odd.”
“Jeez, all I did was ask about the handcuffs.”
“Look,” he said with a shrug. “I get it. Girls like handcuffs. That’s not what—”
“What do you mean ‘girls like handcuffs’? How many girls?”
“I just mean that women have brought it up before. Not that I’ve—”
She set the beer down so hard that foam bubbled over the top and slid down the sides.
“Now you’re acting really weird,” he said. “What’s going on?”
She shook her head, then pushed up from the stool and crossed her arms. “I’m just…worried.”
“About what??
??
“Lots of things.”
“Okay. Like what?”
Tessa cleared her throat and tossed her hair back. Luke set down his own beer and braced himself.
“I know we’ve already talked about it, but this thing with Simone—”
“Damn it,” he barked. “I knew I shouldn’t have taken you to the station.”