I knew what she meant, and she was right. I didn’t want her to feel bad about her comments though.
“I get it, it’s fine,” I told her, reaching for her hands that she was twisting in her lap, but she pulled them away at the last second, causing my hand to land on her thigh.
Her skin was burning under my touch. The palm of my hand was on her shorts, but my fingers brushed against her incredibly soft skin, and I found myself wanting to run my hands over more of it.
I lifted my hand off her leg quickly, putting it back on thesteering wheel.
“Let’s go grab you some more stuff,” I told her, driving the car over to her unit. “You can give Sarge a treat while we’re there.”
“Or two,” she said, grinning. “Maybe three.”
“Well, how else do I get to know you?” she asked while we were sitting in my living room after eating dinner that night.
We had been back at my place for two hours now after grabbing her stuff from her apartment and coming back to my place.
“You don’t,” I told her matter-of-factly.
She sighed loudly. “Why not? What’s so wrong with me wanting to get to know you, Hector?”
“Because getting to know me complicates things,” I grumbled.
If she got to know me, then I would get to know her, which would make me like her more and make her harder to walk away from. I needed her to keep a distance from me so I could keep this platonic.
She had tried asking me questions about myself at her apartment, on the drive home, and again at dinner—all of which I deftly avoided.
She threw her hands up in frustration and got up from her seat. “I’m gonna go pack and stay with a friend.”
“You don’t want to stay here?” I asked, now suddenly panicked that she wanted to leave.
I knew it was for the best, but it also didn’t sit well with me.
“You don’twantme to be here,” she said, sounding exasperated. “I’m making things weird andcomplicated.”
She was throwing my own words back at me, and I felt like even more of a dick than I already was.
Before she could fully retreat, she turned to face me. “Why?”
“Why, what?” I asked, a bit confused.
“Why does it make things complicated if we get to know each other?”
I paused, wondering how honest to be with her. But I realized that if I was going to get through to her—to where she really understood me—I needed to be completely honest. “Because a woman like you is impossible to walk away from. You’re gorgeous, funny, smart, friendly, and you make the people around you better. I’m none of those things.”
For a few moments she stared at me, her eyes wide with shock.
“You think I’m all those things?” she asked quietly.
I didn’t respond but chose to stay where I was, silently staring at her.
“Hector, I’ve had the hots for you since the day I first saw you, but you were always grumpy and moody around me. I assumed you hated me for some reason. I had no idea you felt that way about me.”
I did not need to hear her say she had the hots for me.Focus on the latter points.
“I was moody around you because you were off-limits,” I explained, hoping she would understand. “You’re the sister of someone we were investigating who also had a hit out on her.”
“Okay, but that’s over now,” she shot back.
“You’re off-limits now because of this investigation with Lake Echo.”
