“Instinct. I felt that he wasn’t working alone. Pure instinct.” She was the only one who’d thought that. The other FBI agents, the other profiler, her ex-boyfriend…they’d all thought she was off her game from the ordeal. She wasn’t. Well, probably.
Seth chewed and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Do you have good instincts?”
“Usually.” She sampled the fries. Excellent.
“Do you think I killed Ruby?”
She stopped eating, his gaze capturing hers. Centering herself, she opened all her senses, even the ones she didn’t fully understand. Several deep breaths calmed her internally, and she studied him.
Blue eyes of many shades studied her back.
“No.” But the word came out as more of a question. Her gut feeling was that he hadn’t killed Ruby. But her gut might be influenced by both her newfound insecurity as well as the need for him to be innocent of the crime. How could she be so attracted to a suspect? “I’ve been wrong before.”
Seth finished his sandwich.
Without thinking, Mia slid her unfinished half across the table. She was stuffed.
He stared at the meal for a moment before slowly picking up the sandwich. “I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
Her breath caught. “You don’t have one now.”
His smile flashed a dimple that had been hidden. “I know. But the whole sharing of the meal thing…I’ve never done that.”
She swallowed, her heart speeding up. Something about the hint of vulnerability in the dangerous guy screwed her up inside. She wasn’t here to save him. “You know it can’t happen between us, Seth.”
His gaze traveled from the sandwich back to her eyes. Challenge darkened those dangerous blues. “Whatcan’t happen?”
Oh, he was not putting her on the spot like that. “Don’t play dumb.”
“I won’t play dumb if you don’t make stupid statements you can’t back up.” He took a manly sized bite of the thick meal.
“Stupid?” Her long-dormant temper began to stir. “You’re calling me stupid?”
He lifted an eyebrow and finished swallowing. “No. You’re smart. That statement was stupid.”
Being caught off guard never sat well with her. “Were you the father of Ruby’s baby?”
“No. If Ruby was pregnant, I wasn’t the father. I never slept with her.”
“What about Erik?”
“I haven’t slept with him either.”
Funny—and great deflection. It took more of an effort than Mia liked to keep from grinning. “Did he impregnate Ruby?”
“Ask Erik.” Seth’s mouth tightened into a forbidding line.
A chill swept across Mia’s skin. “You having problems with your brother?”
“Define problems.” The man didn’t blink as he finished devouring the sandwich.
“Youdefine problems.”
“No.”
Well, that wasn’t a lie. “I don’t find you very cooperative.”
“As long as you find me.” His grin failed to make him seem any less dangerous. It was doubtful that anything could soften the man. “Speaking of which, are you dating anybody, Mia Stone?”
