Kate was almost fuming at him.
He lifted his hands in surrender. “I didn’t do anything. I promise, Sergeant.”
Pilar got to her feet. “What happened, Crois?”
“I went to the fire station this morning to see if Harmony was there.”
Pilar smiled a little and leaned her hip against the table. “And I’m guessing she was.”
He smiled, ear to ear. “Yes, she was there. And while I was trying to get her to agree to go out to dinner with me, her partner showed up with Rock and two other guys.”
Pilar tipped her head to the side and Kate filled in the gaps. “Halo and Mats.”
“Ah…” Pilar nodded and smiled. “That’s a pretty good audience.”
Crois looked at his partner. “Hey. You’re not helping, Bravo.”
Kate poked him in the chest. “Don’t pass this off on your partner. I just want to know if you’re going to be respectful.”
Crois folded his hands over his heart. “Ouch. I might like to flirt, but I’m not an ass.”
“Is that what this is? Flirting?”
He turned to look at Pilar.
“Because,” she continued, “if that’s what this is, I’ll kick your ass.”
“I’m flirting with Harmony because I’m interested in her, Pilar. This isn’t just about playing. I just… I want to spend time with her outside of work. I think… no, I know she’s amazing.”
“You’ve known her for a while now,” Pilar shook her head. “What’s different now?”
Kate smiled and then gestured at him with a hand. “I doubt it’s because she saw the social media posts about you.”
Crois shrugged. “This is all because of how I feel. Maybe it was because of the call the other day, at least for me. I’ve seen her work before. At accident scenes and other calls, but now… things are different. I think,” he wasn’t sure about it before, but under the microscope of Kate and Pilar’s concern, he finally feltlike he could put a name to it, “I know that I’m different. I want to get to know her more. And let her get to know me.”
Kate gave him a suspicious look. “Harmony’s a country girl at heart, Crois.”
“I’m not much of a big city boy myself. I came from Cajun country.”
Kate let out a slow exhale and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Look, I’ve just asked her out to dinner-”
“And she said?”
He looked at Pilar and saw a curious look in her eyes.
“She said no to dinner because she’s on an overnight shift, but she said she’ll be done in the morning, so I said I’d pick her up for breakfast when she’s done with her shift.”
Pilar and Kate turned to look at each other and Crois watched as they carried on what was likely a whole conversation without a word.
It had to something on the X chromosome.
He wouldn’t be able to understand a word.
Maybe he’d ask Harmony about it at breakfast.
Or was inquiring about the mysteries of women a second date thing?
