Gerome stopped beside the table. “Hey, ladies. How are your big brave soldiers doing? That dead girl must have put a real dent in their armor.”
“At least they found her. It’s more than your dad did for the other two missing women.” Maggie stood and slung her laptop bag over her shoulder. “And you’d do well to stop spreading lies about them.”
“Lies?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell people they were dishonorably discharged when they weren’t. Or spread lies about them killing people.”
“They were SEALs, of course they killed people. And I was making an educated guess on the discharge.”
“You’d have to be educated to do that.” She went to step around him, but he sidestepped in front of her, and she almost hit his chest.
“You think you can call me uneducated then run off?”
Polly stepped beside Maggie. “I think it’s time for you to leave, Gerome.”
The guy lifted a brow at Polly. “You’re kicking me out?”
“No. I’m asking you to leave.”
The café door opened, and Ethan stepped in.
Crap.
Gerome turned his head and smirked, like the sight of Ethan excited him. “Oh, hey, sailor boy. You here to save more of Deep River?”
Ethan stood beside her, so close his entire side pressed to hers. “Does Maggie need saving?”
One side of Gerome’s mouth lifted, and when he looked at Maggie again, his gaze swept the length of her body.
Ethan tensed, and she gripped his arm, a silent “I’m fine.” Gerome wanted a reaction out of him, and he shouldn’t give it.
“Guess not,” Gerome finally said. “Not right now, anyway.”
Polly’s employee called to Gerome that his order was up.
The jerk grinned at them. “That’s me. See you all later.”
Ethan didn’t take his eyes off Gerome until the guy disappeared outside. Then he turned to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. He was just being a dick. He’s spreading rumors around town that you and your team were dishonorably discharged.”
“No one with half a brain would believe anything he says,” Ethan growled.
Except it sounded like the girls behind her had.
Polly squeezed her arm. “I’m going to help at the counter.”
Maggie nodded before turning back to Ethan. But when he continued to watch the window, she stepped closer, weaving her arms around his waist. “I missed you.”
Finally, he seemed to give her his full attention. “I think you said that already.”
She frowned. “I did?”
“Mm-hmm. But you can say it again. I missed you too.” Then he lowered his head and kissed her, and in that kiss, she could almost forget. About Gerome. The missing women. And the fact that the killer was still out there.
Almost.
23
