“Please.” She grinned. “You had me at ‘intense.’ I’d love to learn from whoever trained you and Dancer. Your partnership is impressive.”
She’d never had that with anyone. Or even owned a pet. Too much responsibility. On both counts.
“Having the right partner makes all the difference. I’d be happy to help you get started, go through some basics together. Show you the ropes.”
“That would be fabulous.”
They’d gone from zero to sixty in nothing flat. She should be backing way up, playing this nonchalant, aloof. Something other than sitting here grinning at this man who had just volunteered to spend alotof time with her.
Noah made it sound like fun. That was a neat trick.
Sabrina glanced around, suddenly realizing the restaurant had emptied while they’d been lost in conversation. Only one other table remained occupied, and the servers were starting to give them pointed looks.
“I think we’re about to get kicked out,” she said with a laugh.
Noah checked his watch and his eyebrows shot up. “We’ve been here three hours.”
“Flew by.” She wasn’t ready for the evening to end. Not when every moment with Noah felt like discovering a new section of the wilderness she’d never explored, each turn revealing something more intriguing than the last.
Their server appeared, smile strained. “We’ll be closing in five minutes.”
“Message received.” Noah handed over his credit card and focused on Sabrina once the server left to close out their tab. “Care to continue this conversation somewhere else?”
The invitation hung between them, loaded with possibility. Any other time, with any other guy, Sabrina would have called it a night. Better to leave them wanting more, that was her usual strategy.
But nothing about Noah felt usual.
“There’s a nice walking trail around the pond across the street,” she found herself saying. “Unless you’re scared of the cold?”
His answering grin held a challenge. “I can handle it.”
The man was singing her tune, all right, but she wasn’t sure she could trust the feelings flooding every inch of her body. Yeah, it had been a while, and frankly, she’d never hesitated to jump right into something, even if she didn’t know exactly where she was going to land.
Minutes later, they strolled along the moonlit path, shoulders brushing. The night air held a bite of cold that made Sabrina glad she’d worn boots instead of heels.
“You know what I think?” Noah’s voice broke the comfortable silence.
“About the case or about this?” Whateverthiswas.
“Both.” He caught her hand, pulling her to a stop. “I think we make a good team. And I don’t know about you, but I’m nowhere near done with this date.”
CHAPTER 6
Sabrina in a uniform took his breath away, but Sabrina in that deep blue dress with her eyes sparkling counted as a near religious experience. Because he’d put that expression on her face. Several times, actually.
It wasn’t just that he considered her a knockout, though she was. Incredibly beautiful with a wild edge that matched the reasons a sunrise over the mountain put an ache in his chest. There was something else about this woman that had hooked him instantly. Intelligence. Fierceness. Apresencethat said she never did things halfway.
They were the same.
How baffling to realize this late in his life that the perfect woman for him wasn’t his opposite but his complement.
That might have been something he should have figured out a long time ago. It explained why all of his other relationships had fizzled after a few months. They’d all been, well, boring.
Sabrina, on the other hand, she exhilarated him. Constantly. He’d never been so tempted to back a woman into his truck and see how hot he could make her burn.
Except he hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her he wanted to save something for later. Much later. He did like anticipation as an appetizer.
And judging by the glimmer in her gaze, he wasn’t alone.
