Page 14 of Nothing At All

I smirked. “I don’t want you to be friends with her like you were with EmmaLee.”

He fixed me with a chiding look. “I was nineteen.”

Pouting, I moved my lips in a kissing motion. “A baby.”

One of his brows winged upward. “I give you a hard time about guys in your past?”

“No.”

“And it was one time.” A troubled expression drew both brows together, a groove between them. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”

Now I felt bad because he was questioning himself. “You absolutely should have told me, and I’m glad you did. I was only teasing, and I’ll stop.”

“Thank you,” he muttered. The knife sliced off one end of an onion with a vicious swipe. “Feel like enough of a dumbass on the regular without help.”

“You’re not a dumbass. You’re . . . inexperienced.” And this appeared to be the perfect opening to broach the topic of Nicole the heifer who wanted my boyfriend. “Maybe we should talk about Nicole.”

Dicing the onion with swift strokes, he shot a glance up. “Huh? Why?”

“She’s interested and making a play for you.”

“You think?” His dubious gaze back on the cutting board, he gave a slight shake of his head. “Don’t think I’m her type.”

He knew her type? “What’s that?”

His hands paused, his head tilted in his thinking-hard pose. He shrugged. “Don’t know. I mean, I wasn’t really anybody’s type before you.”

“Oh, you were.” I crossed to lean my elbows on the opposite side of the island. “You just didn’t notice.”

“Okay, I didn’t notice then. And I don’t notice Nicole.” He slid the onion to one side and grabbed a bell pepper. “Only woman I notice like that is you.”

Lord, he was sweet, my own personal fluff of cotton candy. “I appreciate that, Dan, but if we’re not careful, her interest could be a problem.”

He stilled completely and laid the knife aside. With his gaze trained on me, he was obviously paying close attention. “Okay. What am I missing?”

That alert expression in his eyes, the set to his features – that was his smart, focused cop look. Its presence made me feel better. He was trying to hear me and understand, not simply paying lip service to my concerns.

“So she might test boundaries to see how committed you are to me or use access to you to–” I swallowed the word worm. “–insert or establish herself in your life.”

He dipped his chin in a slow nod, brow furrowed. “Don’t think she’s done that.”

“Are you giving her rides regularly?” I kept my voice even, nonchalant.

“To work a couple of times.” His eyes darkened, and he dragged his teeth over his bottom lip, troubled. “Didn’t think about it because I’d do that for Chuck’s brothers and it was on my way.”

“If it’s just a ride and she’s not leveraging that, I won’t ask you not to, Dan.” The drive from here to the city complex was maybe five minutes. Maybe less. What damage could she really do in five minutes?

“I won’t if you don’t want me to.” He shifted his shoulders, a tight, miserable shrug. “Don’t want anything to mess with us.”

“What do y’all talk about?”

“We don’t. I mean, she yaps on about stuff, but I kinda tune her out, usually thinking about you.” He lifted a hand, palm up, in punctuation. “Work sometimes, but mainly you.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe pay attention a little so you know if she’s pushing boundaries.”

“Okay.” He grimaced, reaching for the knife again. “I am a dumbass. I should know this shit, and you’re having to put in the work to educate me–”

“Dan.” With a gentle smile, I levered off the cool marble and stepped around the island to wrap an arm about his waist. I lifted my face to kiss his jaw, catching a whiff of aftershave, something he never wore on duty. “I don’t expect you to be perfect, and I appreciate you’re listening and wanting us to be secure. I am secure in you.”