Taking a risk, she asked, “What did you need Dominic for the other night, if you don’t mind me asking? You know, the night when you came to my house.”
“Just needed to talk to him about something. Nothing serious.”
That wasn’t good enough. “He said he tends to help people a lot in Tolstone.”
A strange, knowing smile curved over his lips. “Yes, he does. A true Samaritan.”
“He doesn’t seem to think so.” She crossed her fingers that she wasn’t about to stir a hornet’s nest. “We were talking yesterday, and he mentioned he was pretty fed up with all of it. I hate to say it, but aren’t the police supposed to help with some of those things? I mean, he makes it sound like he’s the mayor or something.”
Officer Spradley’s smile wilted. “His particular… brand of help is more than what I or the rest of the department can do. He’s kind of an honorary deputy, but it’s hard to explain.”
Did this special “brand” of help have anything to do with the golden eyes?
Erica still wasn’t satisfied with his answer, and a bit of righteous indignation came up to rear its ugly head in defense of a guy she shouldn’t have cared so deeply for. “Maybe you and your department need to step up your game instead of relying on a civilian, honorary or not, to solve your problems.”
Much to her surprise, Officer Spradley laughed. A booming, warm sound that, just like the song, seemed familiar and yet totally new.
As they pulled into Tolstone Auto Repair, he said, “I’ll see what I can do. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Dominic lately?”
Erica shrugged. “He’s come over to the house a couple of times and helped out with my business a bit. That’s all…”
“Are you two seeing each other?”
Shocked by his question, she turned to him with her head tipped. “What?”
He fumbled with his words, as if he had said too much. “It’s none of my business. I’m sorry.”
Officer Spradley parked the car and climbed out after snatching up the alternator from the floorboards in front of his seat. Too stunned to move right away, she watched him step around to the curb.
Had someone seen them last night? Did they do something at the festival to make everyone think they were dating? Or was it just a rumor spreading around? Erica forced herself back into the present and hurried to catch up with the cop.
“I’m sorry for snapping,” she said as they approached the front door to the office. “That was just a pretty left-field question.”
Officer Spradley wouldn’t even look at her as he opened the glass door for her, letting out a gust of cold air conditioning. “And like I said, it’s none of my business.”
“We’re not dating. So, if anyone is going around saying that we are, can you tell them otherwise?”
At this, the cop froze again, door in one hand as he took off his sunglasses with the other and stared at her with such concentration as if he were searching for the truth in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
She barked a laugh. “I would know if I was dating anyone.”
Erica walked into the empty waiting area of the office. No attendant stood behind the counter to greet them. All over the walls were posters of car models, tire rim sizing charts, and cautionary warnings about keeping up with regular maintenance of a vehicle before something catastrophic happened to a customer’s engine.
When the door closed behind them, another door that led out to the garage bays opened. The sound of a growling air compressor followed a man dressed in a blue button-down shirt that was undone to show a stained white tank top. The sewn-on name tag on his uniform shirt readGage, and he was just as muscled as Dominic, but in her opinion, not nearly as handsome, especially with his stubbled cheeks marked by dark oil.
A paisley bandana held back his dark hair and offset a pair of light green eyes. This mechanic looked like a total bad boy. Everything from the devilish spark in his eye to the tribal tattoos on his forearms to the way he swaggered toward them would have made her sixteen-year-old self turn into a squealing pile of mush. Good thing she wasn’t so immature not to see that wild didn’t always mean fun.
He grinned at the sight of her, but that smile dropped when he saw Officer Spradley.
“Hey, Cole. Alternator trouble?”
Officer Spradley set the part on the counter with a heavy thud, and Gage came over to inspect it. “Miss Barrett’s car just quit on her outside of town. We tried to jump it, but it wouldn’t turn over.”
The mechanic picked up the alternator with one hand as easily as the cop had. He looked it over and nodded. “Yeah, it could be dead. Let me go run a check on it. Shouldn’t take too long.”
Erica stepped up, seeing that she needed to take some initiative before it was too late. “If it is dead, how much for a new one?”
Gage was about to reply when Officer Spradley interrupted. “Don’t you worry about the costs. I’ve got it.”
