I take a bite of the pancake and say the first thing that comes to mind. “So you dated Mrs. Carter?”
He sits down next to me, fitting my legsbetween his. “In high school. Do you wanna know how many years ago that was?”
I take another bite of the pancake to avoid looking at him. I'm trying to make it like I’m joking. There’s no need for him to know that I’m really jealous.
I glance at him and let my gaze travel down his body and back up again. “She’s divorced now. Did she tell you that?”
He shrugs. “She mentioned it.”
I clear my throat. “What else did she mention?”
His hand goes to my thigh. “Just ask me whatever you’re thinking in that pretty little head of yours.”
I set my fork down and look at him. “Fine. Did she ask you out?”
He smiles. “Are you jealous, Lindsey?”
I can feel the heat rise in my face, but I try to explain my way out of it. “No, but I mean, if we’re supposed to be having some kind of fake relationship, people aren’t going to believe it if you start making booty calls to the school.”
He laughs with his whole chest and only stops laughing when he sees I haven’t joined in. “You’re serious.”
I shrug and look back at my plate.
He turns my stool so I’m facing him. “Yes, she asked me out. But I told her that I’m in a relationship with you.”
I roll my eyes, pull from his hold, and look down at the food in front of me. “This is really good. Where did you learn to cook?”
“Don’t be too impressed. I can make pancakes, spaghetti, grill most anything, but that’s about it.” He clears his throat. “My mom and dad taught me. You and Eli will meet them when they come back.”
I finally look at him. “Come back from where?”
He settles into his seat. “Well, since they’ve retired, they travel a lot. That may change now that—” He stops, and I can’t help thinking that he’s wondering if his parents will accept Eli as a grandchild. “What do you want to do today?”
I take another bite of the pancake and then get up to start straightening the kitchen. “Well, I’m going to go out and try and find some work. Usually I have spring pictures at the schools, but they froze my contract. They said something about budget cuts, but I know there’smore to it.”
He scratches his hand across his face. “I thought we talked about this. You were going to focus on Eli and not worry about work for awhile.”
I stop what I’m doing and stare up at him. “I have to work.”
He nods in understanding. “I know you want to work, and I want you to do whatever you want to do, but I want you to wait until I have this handled with the Davenports.”
I eye him suspiciously. “What are you not telling me?”
He puts his hands on his hips. “Zach and Logan are looking into the Davenports, but I also had them look into Tammy’s car accident.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. “And…”
He runs his hand across his beard. “Well, the report says she ran off the road, but when Logan inspected the car, he found that the brake line had been cut.”
My mouth drops open, and my hand flies to my chest. “What?”
He walks toward me with slow movements. “Yeah. They are still looking into it, but it looks like it wasn’t an accident.”
I shake my head slowly. “But… how… why?”
He puts his hands on my shoulders. “I dunno, but we’re looking into it, and until we figure it out, I want you to stick with me.”
I’m in shock, trying to make sense of all this. “But Eli?”
