His dark tone made me swallow my comments for a moment.
Before I could say anything, he led me to a bench in the entryway and had me sit. To my surprise, he knelt and took off my shoes. His proximity made me flush, so to distract myself I studied his house. Sunken living room with couches and a TV. Carpet looked new. So did the hardwood floors. Everything was clean, if a little sparse.
“Nice place,” I said.
“Thank you.”
He’d bought this house while I was in college. Cole always so serious and ahead of his time. Lifeguard at fifteen. Police academy at eighteen. Elected sheriff before thirty.
The house was probably just part of the plan. A white picket fence, a wife and two point five kids were probably next on his to-do list.
I studied the gorgeous wood floors, feeling suddenly out of place.
“You still haven’t told me why I’m here.”
He stood, and kept his eyes on me as he took off his badge and his belt. The sight of his gun made me stifle a gasp.
“Let’s get you cleaned up first.” He turned on bare feet.
I didn’t move. After a few steps, he realized I wasn’t following. “Regina, come on.”
“Is this where you take all your perps?”
“I’m off duty. You aren’t a perp.”
But I was. He didn’t even know how much. “Then what am I doing here?”
He saw the worry in my face, because he sighed and motioned to the couch. “Sit.” Even without his badge and in bare feet, he was still the picture of authority. Under different circumstances, I’d enjoy teasing the seriousness in his hazel eyes.
“Regina,” he warned.
I gulped but held my ground. “I’d rather stand. Are you going to read me my rights?”
“Do you want me to?”
“What is this, Cole?”
“Sheriff Townsend.”
“Whatever. I’ve known you all my life,” I said.
“That’s why you’re here. Sit down, Regina.” I did and regretted it when he towered over me, a stern teacher chastising a naughty schoolgirl. The sheriff and the town screw up. “You’re in a load of trouble.”
I nodded. I couldn’t refute that.
“Getting drunk, leaving the bar with Benny-whose record isn’t pretty, trespassing on private property?—”
“Getting drunk isn’t a crime.” Neither was getting into a car with Benny from the bar, even if he did have a criminal record. I wondered why Cole included that in my list of sins.
At least he hadn’t found out about the weed.
“Then there’s this.” He dangled the baggie of pot in front of my face. Benny must’ve flung it out of his car when he was gone. Or, more likely, it fell out in his haste to get away. Just my luck.
“That was Benny’s.”
He kept glaring at me. I squirmed.
“I just smoked a little for nerves. I’ve never done it before.”
