“What?”
“You look really pretty today, Aspen.”
“Thank you.” Her brow furrows.
“I talked to the Sheriff this morning about your encounter last night.”
“You did what?” She shrieks. The glare in her eyes sparks golden flames and I can’t help but smile. I like it when she’s sassy and annoyed. Especially at me.
“I told the Sheriff what happened at your house last night. It would have been more helpful if I had a name for the guy but at least I got a chance to warn him to keep an eye on your house for any strange activity.”
She huffs and sits back in the seat. “I didn’t ask you to do that. I didn’t ask you to do a damn thing except go home.”
Grinning, I wink at her. “If I waited for a woman to ask me to do something, I’d be waiting a long time. Women are a mystery. And sometimes they tend to be a bit self-destructive.”
She sits up and glares at me. “You are an arrogant son of a gun.”
Snorting, I smirk at her. “I’ve been called worse, Red. I’ve been called a helluva lot worse.”
“I don’t need people spying on me all the time. I promise the people that are in my groups anonymity. I definitely don’t want other strangers standing around and scaring them away.”
“The police around here aren’t strangers. You most likely know every last one of them.”
“That’s not the point. The point is that the people around me want to talk to me and the group but they don’t want others judging them for needing my help.”
“Your group is grief counseling, right?”
“Yes.” Her reply is blunt and her dazzling eyes look away from me. Judging by the way her whole body has tightened, her shoulders so far up towards her ears that you can barely tell where they end and her chin begins.
I sit back and study her. Her arms are crossed and my own almost cross from the sight of her full breasts pushed up over the top of her low-cut emerald green sweater.
“I can tell that you don’t want to talk about things like your own past that I would imagine were part of what helped you make the decision about your job. I can deal with anything you want to talk to me about. But I’m also willing to wait until you want to tell me.”
She huffs and smirks. “That’s not going to happen.”
“We’ll see. I’m a patient man, Red. I’m in this for the long haul.”
Her eyes roll and that full mouth of hers tilts. “You don’t do the long haul. I’ve heard about you. I don’t know what you thinkyou’re going to get out of helping me but I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling.”
“We’ll see, Red. We’ll see. For now…I’ve got to go to work but I’m going on a hike this afternoon and I think you should come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because it gets you away from that crazy idiot and it gets you out of the house.”
“What about the storm that’s moving in?”
I glance out the window at the watery sunlight. “There’s supposed to be a brief window today and we should be able to get up the mountain a little and get some exercise before it hits.”
“You know, you’re kind of an annoying man.”
Chuckling, I shoot her a smile. “I’ve heard worse. C’mon, Red. Live a little. It won’t hurt to spend a little time away from this place, out in the fresh air.”
“It’s with you.”
“I don’t bite….much.’
Her huff and the way she bites her lip has my dick pushing against my pants again but not by one iota do I let her know what’s going on. The woman’s flighty as hell. If I do what I want to do and drag her out of here, she’s gonna move to another country to get away from me.
