His smile was radiant. “I’d love to.”
“You’ll need a suit.”
“Got it covered.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You knew I was gonna ask?”
“I hoped.”
Since she’d freaked out the other night when she nearly spilled the beans that she was in love with him, things had been a little tense between them. Thankfully, Simon was letting her save face by pretending she wanted to slow things down. She didn’t, but she wasn’t sure what else she could do. If they kept to the pace they were going, there was a better-than-good chance she was going to have a broken heart in the very near future.
Not that she would tell him that. She was doing well to remind herself that this was a temporary fling. Simon would be going back to Dallas at some point, and she would likely never see him again.
But she refused to worry about that now.
“You mentioned takin’ a girl to dinner,” she prompted Simon.
“Yes, ma’am. Just name the place.”
“I’m good with the diner if you are.”
“Works for me.”
“Did you walk over?”
“I did. Figured we could take your car. You can drop me off when we’re done.”
Drop him off. Not invite him over.
Yeah, she was pretty sure she’d screwed things up good with him. He wasn’t the type to push, which meant she would have to change the rules if she wanted more. And she did. But playing it safe was the smart thing to do. Right?
Simon waited for her while she finished closing things up. They went out the back door because she’d parked in the one dedicated space in the alley.
“I thought I saw you earlier today,” she said casually, closing the door and starting the car.
He jerked his chin in the direction of the second floor. “I came over with Paige. We worked for a couple of hours.”
Why did the mere mention of Paige cause her stomach to twist into a knot? Simon had already told her nothing had ever happened between them. Yet still, the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head whenever she thought about the two of them together. Especially now that she’d been formally introduced to the woman who worked closely with Simon. Not to mention, the introduction had been made by Archer during theirfast and dirty tour of the townyesterday. That was how he’d described quickly showing Paige the hot spots before they got to work.
While Violet appreciated Archer making the effort, she couldn’t help thinking there was a reason Simon hadn’t done it. Like maybe he didn’t want them to meet.
Not that she would bring it up now.
Instead, she said, “Have y’all started workin’ on the case?”
She pulled out of the alley and turned toward the diner.
“We have. More so organizin’ what Holt found than anything else. I’ve started a list of people I need to talk to in order to get an idea of where Meredith Prescott might’ve gone.”
“You should talk to JJ,” Violet suggested as she pulled into the diner parking lot. “Not until after the wedding, of course, but she’s a good one to go to for the low-down on people in this town.”
“JJ?”
“Jessica James.”
“The woman who works on the task force?”
They got out, meeting at the back of her car. “Yeah. She’s Elana’s boss.”
