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Connor took a step closer, crowding me against the same damn wall where he’d pushed me before. His eyes were locked onto mine, and I could feel the heat radiating off him. “Why did you walk this way?” he asked, his voice low and knowing.
I frowned, not liking where this was going. “I’m going to my office.”
“But there are quicker ways,” he countered, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Maybe you chose this way because it’s private, and you wanted me to follow you … and kiss you.”
“You’re not making any sense,” I muttered, though the words felt weak even as they left my mouth.
Had I walked this way so I could have privacy to confront him?
Or kiss him?
Probably a mix of both.
Connor braced both hands on the wall on either sideof me, leaning in until our noses almost touched. Then, with a grin, he bopped my nose with his, the gesture so ridiculous it threw me off-balance.
He stepped back, rearranging his pants, his eyes still smoldering. “You doing all that sheriff stuff makes me hot,” he said, his voice laced with a teasing edge that made my blood heat.
Before I could respond, a voice called out from behind us. “Hi, Uncle Neil!”
I turned to see Jason, my nephew, gamer extraordinaire, moody teenager, along with his equally moody friend, Benny. “Is everything okay?”
“Aww shucks, Sheriff, there’s trouble at the mine,” Benny announced in his best impersonation of a cowboy—little shit.
Connor raised an eyebrow, glancing at me. “Wait. We have mines?”
I rolled my eyes, trying to rein in the simmering frustration at Connor being here, and now Jason’s idiot friend who thought impersonating a sheriff out of a western was funny. “No, we don’t have mines.”
“He’s just kidding,” Jason said, elbowing his friend.
“What are you doing in town on a school day?” I asked, slipping into cop mode.
“Study leave,” Jason said, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I knew that was a pile of lies.
“Shouldn’t youbestudying, then?” I asked Jason.
“He’s all yours,” Benny muttered to Jason, then slipped past us before I could stop him.
Jason half-waved at Connor. “Hi, Connor.”
“Hey back,” Connor answered. “What are yousupposed to be studying?” he asked, leaning against the wall with that easy, confident air he always had.
Jason let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I finished all my stuff for today.”
“It’s early.”
“I started even earlier.” I could see Jason’s familiar stubborn expression. “Anyway, Mom wants me to work on college applications.” He tilted his chin as if that got him out of the not-studying thing we had going on here.
“So, you should probably be doing that?”
Jason examined his nails, then forced his hands into the pockets of his slouchy jeans. “I’m just having a break.”
“Your mom wouldn’t?—”
“Which college?” Connor interrupted, his tone casual, but I could tell he was genuinely curious, so I didn’t scowl too hard.
“I don’t know yet,” Jason admitted, his shoulders slumping.
Connor tilted his head, studying the kid. “What do you like doing?”
