“I doubt it was an accident.”
“She claims it was.”
I know different.
“This combined with the other assault report filed, she’s in serious trouble. I’m going to need you to come in tomorrow to sign some papers.”
“What time?”
“It’s my day off, so just text me when you plan to come, and I’ll meet you here.”
“Are you sure? It’s your day off.” I look up at Cooke, whose expression has turned from a frown to downright stormy.
“It’s not a problem, Quinn. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks, Gage. Bye.”
I press End and look up at Cooke. I’m going to ignore the flaring nostrils for just a second. “Kara is the one who ran over my scooter. Her car had my paint on it, and my helmet was caught up underneath it.” My poor helmet.
“So, you call the police officer Gage?”
That’s what he took from that. “He’s nice. A friend.”
Cooke runs his palm over his face, then through his hair. “You have a lot of friends.”
I smile because it’s a nice thing to say, but by the look on his face, he didn’t mean it like that. “I do.”
“Men friends.”
“I have both. Male and female friends.”
“Are you sure they only want to be friends?”
I snort. “Well, yeah. Nobody wants to be more than that withme.”
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
I roll my eyes to keep myself from tearing up. God, this is embarrassing. “Guys don’t like me… like that.” I shrug. “I get it. I’m not attractive to you… them.”
“Quinn,” he says softly, his face changing from cranky to something much gentler. He steps closer to me, bringing his finger up to touch me right below my chin… chins. “Love.” With slight pressure, he pushes my face upward. “You’re bloody beautiful.” Then he does that thing I wished he’d do earlier. He kisses me. I close my eyes so I can really concentrate. His kiss is soft. Sweet. It’s just a brush of his lips over mine. I’d love to savor it, but it’s over before it started.
I open my eyes. He’s still so close, I can see the color of his irises. They’re light brown, almost the color of his hair, but there are flecks of gray and green in them too. They’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before. “You have really pretty eyes.”
Cooke chuckles. “So do you. They’re as blue as an azure sea.”
“That blue, huh?” I giggle because I have no idea what that is. I’m definitely going to google “azure sea” the first chance I get.
“Aye. That blue.”
He hasn’t moved. He’s still an inch from me. What should I do? Should I kiss him? Should I wrap my arms around him and drag him down to my twin mattress? I start to laugh at that notion just as he moves back and away from me. “Let’s go get a bite. I’m starving.”
Refusing to overthink the kiss or anything that just happened, I make my way toward the stairs. “I’d offer to cook for you, but all I have here is stale bread and ramen noodles.” I turn my head, adding, “Trust me, you don’t want that.” Continuing down the steps, I say, “So, I’m going to let you buy me dinner.”
“It would be my honor, Q.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Best pizza ever,” I say with my mouth only half full. I was able to get a to-go order in to Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company before they closed. I’ve never had it before due to the price, but I’ve always heard good things. And wow, it’s so good. “Do you like it?”
