“What time is the inspection?” he asked.
“Ten o’clock.” She lifted the spare tire off the ground and rolled it closer to him.
Pulling the flat tire off, he set it out of the way and took the new tire from her. “And you’re going in now so you can freak out there instead of here?”
“No. I told Elba I would help her out in the cafe this morning so she could train her new waitress.”
“Have you guys known each other a while?”
“Almost fifteen years. We were roommates at our first assignment.”
“Where was that?”
“Las Vegas, Nevada.”
He finger-tightened the nuts and picked up the tire iron. “That must have been a blast.”
She held the tire still while he spun the nuts as much as he could with the tire still lifted. “Not really. We were only nineteen so our partying options were limited.”
Tossing the tire iron to the side, he eased the jack down and tightened the lug nuts more. “Good as new.”
“Thank you. Hopefully it didn’t completely ruin your morning.”
He gathered up the tools and jack and placed them in the storage bag, returning it to the back of her car. He moved as close as he could to her. “I don’t mind helping.”
Her gaze dropped. “Do you…uh…tire fix?”
Damn, she was adorable. “You mean where can you take your tire to get it fixed?”
“Um, yes. That.”
“I’ll take it in for you and get it patched.”
Her gaze darted up to his. “You don’t have to do that. You already changed it for me.”
He gave in and twisted one long curl around his finger. It was as soft as it looked. Her breath caught in her throat and she swallowed hard, staring at his finger out of the corner of her eye as he dragged it down the curl.
“You can treat me to dinner.”
“Huh?”
He released the curl and it bounced back into position. “In exchange for taking your tire to get fixed, you can treat me to dinner.”
“Oh.”
It came out breathy and he wanted to hear it under different circumstances. To feel that soft exhalation against his cheek.
“Okay.”
“Okay. Good luck today, Zoe.” He winked and took a few steps back. Leaning down, he hefted the tire onto his shoulder and strode across the lawn.
“Thank you,” she called out.
“You’re welcome.” He grinned and tossed the tire into the back of his truck. He waved back at Zoe, still standing beside her car and went inside to take a shower. He wasn’t going to get his run in, but for once he wasn’t upset about the disruption to his schedule.
* * *
Tim glancedover his notes for Kevin’s training report. He was glad he had nothing but good things to say about his performance. That wasn’t always the case and he enjoyed writing positive reports a hell of a lot better than negative ones. Kevin was going to be a good cop and a good addition to the force. He just hoped he got some of his personal issues figured out. Not that he’d put that in his report—Kevin had shared a lot of information with him after they’d left the Cafe the other day and he wouldn’t betray his confidence—but he’d be a better cop overall if he didn’t have those things hanging over his head.
