Page 74 of Capture My Heart

She turned her cheek towards him. “I’ll survive, too.”

“And your shirt?”

“It’s soaking now.”

“That’s good. I got a beer in the fridge if you want to grab one.”

“Thanks.” She pulled two out and handed him one. “After today I could use it.”

She motioned to the salad. “I thought we were ordering from Gardiner’s?”

“I changed my mind. We can fight the war on drugs tomorrow. We deserve a night off.”

She cut her gaze to him then nodded. “So, what’s on the menu?”

“Steaks.”

“I’m a vegetarian.”

He would have believed her had he not seen her eat meat at the bar, her mom’s, and the Petersons place. “Is that so? Well, you’ll have to wrestle Stinky for his portion of the salad.”

She laughed. “Fine, I like my steak medium rare.”

“Coming right up.”

She wandered into the living room, surveyed his photos, and took in every piece of his life that was on display.

“These must be your parents.” She pointed to a photo from Brie’s graduation. “Your dad is a cop.”

“Yes, MP, retired. They’re on a cruise of Europe.” He watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her hips swayed as she meandered from one photo to another. Relaxed. He hadn’t seen her that way before. He liked it.

“Cop family. We have that in common.”

“Oh, we have a lot in common.” He wasn’t sure how much to say, but she should know that he understands her relationship with Tommy. “Brie got addicted to prescription painkillers in high school. She’s clean now but it wasn’t an easy road.”

He could see her processing this information, internally debating how to respond.

She took a swig of her beer. “Thanks for telling me.”

She turned back to the photos. “I can’t believe I didn’t see the family resemblance between you two.”

“The Fenley nose.” He shook his head.

“The chin, too.”

He whipped around. “What’s wrong with my chin?”

“Nothing. You both have a cute cleft.”

His brow jacked up. “So, you like my chin?”

She looked to the right before answering. “It’s alright.”

Liar. He could read her so easily now. Setting the salad aside, he wiped his hands on the towel then looked her square in the eyes. “Did you have anything to do with the death of Warden Richard Finden?”

She startled then answered immediately. “No.”

She was telling the truth. “Okay.”