Was he for real? Maybe he thought he could divert the attention from himself. “That’s my neighbor, Tommy, and he was only trying to help. He didn’t assault anyone.”
“Name’s Bob Hagan. Now that the police are here, I’ll take myself off.”
“Thank you, Bob,” I called to him. He raised a hand in acknowledgment as he walked away.
Not knowing when to quit, Chad started arguing with the officer.
“What’s his name?” Tommy asked, ignoring Chad.
“Chad Perrine. My ex-boyfriend.”
“Mr. Perrine, you have two choices,” said a voice from behind me that sounded familiar. “You can leave now, or you can spend the night in jail.”
I swung my head around and looked into the eyes of Dylan Conrad. Why was he here?
“I knew you were fucking him,” Chad the Even Bigger Idiot said.
I refused to respond to that absurd statement. “Why is he here?” I asked Tommy, eyeing Dylan.
“He’s our new chief of police, and he’s riding along with me tonight.”
That’s where I’d heard the name, from people at the bar talking about the big-city cop the town had hired. So he wasn’t a tourist that I’d probably never see again. My stomach gave a flutter of excitement at that news.
To keep from adding to Chad’s suspicions, I tore my gaze away from Dylan’s. “I’m thinking you should choose door number one and go home, Chad. Your father won’t appreciate having to drive here from Asheville to bail you out.”
That got his attention. His dad owned the brokerage firm where Chad worked. I’d met the man once and had the impression he was cold and ruthless.
“It was just a silly misunderstanding,” Chad said, but resentment radiated from him as he leveled his gaze on the new police chief. “I’m leaving. Talk to you tomorrow, babe.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” His lips thinned at that, but he headed for his car. The two cops and I watched him until he drove away. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“Wait for me in the car,” Dylan said to Tommy. When we were alone, concerned eyes searched mine. “You okay?”
“As long as I never hear from him again, I am.” Why did this man have to be so gorgeous?
“Want to put a restraining order on him?”
“No, I don’t think he’ll bother me again.” I wasn’t so sure of that, but a restraining order seemed harsh, at least at this point. If Chad decided to cause me more trouble, I’d consider it.
He reached over and tucked a loose curl of hair behind my ear. I froze. Those whiskey-colored eyes captured mine, and I had the wild idea that he was going to kiss me.
Instead he reached into his back pocket and removed his wallet, taking out a card. “My cell number’s on here. If he gives you any more trouble, call me.”
When I stood there like a statue while my brain tried to start up again, he picked up my hand and closed my fingers around the card.
“See you around, Red.” He chuckled as he walked away.
That low chuckle said he knew exactly what was going through my mind. When he reached the door of the cruiser, he paused and shot me one of those killer smiles, accompanied by a wink, across the roof before disappearing inside.
I expected them to drive away, but the car didn’t move, and after a few seconds it dawned on me that they were waiting for me to go inside. Right, I would do just that. Spinning on my heels, I left, not giving them a good-bye wave. As soon as I walked inside, locking the door behind me, my cell started ringing. Chad’s name came up on the screen, and I let it go to voice mail. Pulling up my contacts, I deleted his name and blocked his phone number, then deleted the message without listening to it.
No doubt Chad thought this was just a little bump in our relationship, but when I’m done with someone, I don’t mess around. A quick peek out the window and I saw that the police car was gone.
Was I imagining Dylan was giving off signals that he was interested in me, or was he just a nice cop doing his job? Didn’t really matter either way because I had a vow to my sister to keep, even if being near him made my heart do that pitter-patter thingy.
I needed some girl talk with my bestie. “Hey,” I said when Autumn answered her phone. “You free for some girl time tomorrow?”
Autumn Archer, Savannah Graham, and I had been tight ever since first grade. Savannah was in New York now, fulfilling her dream of becoming a supermodel, otherwise I would have included her, too. Autumn’s fiancé owned a car dealership, and since Saturdays were a busy day for him, I knew she’d be free.
