His smile was full of amusement. “I know you’re a cop, and I’m glad you can shoot. But, sweetheart, do you really think I’d let you step between me and some pissed-off guy? Ever?”
“Yes.” Exasperation drew out the word on a hiss. She settled her stance. They needed to understand each other. “It’s my job. Period.”
“No.” His jaw firmed as his thumb brushed the now-purpling bruise on her cheekbone.
The man didn’t understand anything. “Yes.” Okay, now they were resorting to playground jargon. “If you can’t handle it, I’ll go see the Fulsomes by myself.”
“They won’t see you unless I pave the way.” Quick as a whip, Seth grabbed her waist and lifted her into the truck. “You’re with me right now, Mia, which means I protect you. Deal with it.” The door slammed shut with an irritating echo.
Exasperation had her wanting to lock the doors out of principle. They’d devolved to the Middle Ages in Lost Lake. While oddly sweet, his attitude was totally inappropriate and needed a serious adjustment. Now. If he were anyone else, she’d just take him to the ground and immobilize him. But last time she’d tried to cuff Seth, she’d ended up on her back on a cold sidewalk—darn his military training.
His door opened, and he settled himself in the driver’s seat, firing the ignition.
“You need to listen.” Mia fastened her seat belt.
He blew out a sigh and drove onto the main lake road. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to treat me like a cop,” she said evenly.
“If I treated you like a cop, I wouldn’t be talking to you, dancing with you, or taking you anywhere—especially to the mine.” He drove easily on the country road.
His implacable profile tempted her to punch him in the nose. Even so, she could understand why he didn’t like cops. “I read the file on the earlier killings, and I get why you don’t like the police. But I’m different.”
“That’s my point.”
So much for being reasonable. “Okay, let’s try this. If you get in my way, I’ll arrest you for impeding an ongoing investigation,” she said.
“Okay.”
She would have to arrest him—she just knew it. “You’re impossible.”
He flicked on the heater. “On that note, and considering I’m no longer a suspect, how about we go on that date we’ve been avoiding?”
“Date?” Heat spiraled down her torso. “What date?”
He glanced her way, the deep intensity of his eyes mesmerizing. “Dinner at a restaurant before I take you home, spread you out on my bed, and feast until my name is the only sound on your lips.”
Fire slammed into her abdomen, and her head jerked back. “What iswrongwith you?”
His shoulder lifted before he concentrated on the winding road once more. “I’m not good with subtlety or games.”
“No kidding.”
“When we danced, you felt it as much as I did. We may be temporary, and this truce between us short-lived, but I want you. There’s something here, and I don’t want to always wonder.” He rubbed his chin. “I like you, Mia. Not just because you’re beautiful and delicate, but because you’re also smart and way too gutsy.”
She choked, trying not to appreciate that he found her beautiful. “Is that all?”
“No. You’re as lost as I am,” he said softly.
She stilled. The truth of that quiet statement shot her vulnerability front and center. “You’re courting pain—for us both.”
“I know.” He drove the truck past town to the east. “But life is full of pain. You’d make the hurt worth it.”
His matter-of-fact tone made something ache in her solar plexus. She reached out and rubbed her hand down his muscled arm. “Life doesn’t have to be full of pain. It really doesn’t.”
His eyes turned velvet soft. “Prove it.”
She dropped her hand. That was the problem, now, wasn’t it? Shecouldn’tprove it. “I’ll think about the date.”
