“Thanks, Trevor. You’re the best,” his sister Kennedy said to him a few hours later.

“I’m only the best when you need a man around.”

She pinched and kissed his cheek. “Yep. You and Dad taught me to survive on my own. I don’t need a man for anything as long as I’ve got a supply of batteries.”

He winced. “Too much information, Kennedy!”

All she did was giggle at him. “For being my savior tonight, I’m going to treat you to dinner.”

“Sweet. What are you cooking?”

This time she laughed. “Here you go,” she said, slapping money in his hand. “The usual. I already placed the order.”

Ten minutes later, he found himself pulling into the old pizza joint, the only one his sister would order from. He could have walked from her house, but decided the pizza would be cold by the time he got back with as often as he was normally stopped by locals.

“Long time no see.”

He knew that voice. The voice of the woman that had been occupying too much of his brain matter lately.

“Getting dinner too?” he asked Riley.

“Looks it. You’re not following me, are you?” she asked him.

There was laughter in her eyes, but something else underlying. He’d seen it earlier when she pulled into her driveway and saw his vehicle there. Then again when he reached for her hair. It wasn’t strong, just faint, but enough to be on his radar. Skittish wasn’t the word he was thinking of, but neither was fear. Just something…off.

“You have to thank my sister for this coincidence. I’ve been fixing a leaky pipe under her sink and my payment is dinner. She placed the order without my knowledge.”

“Must be the night for sisters and their brothers,” she said. There was nothing but happiness on her face now. A big welcoming smile, a touch of teasing, maybe even flirting if he let his mind go there. It really wanted to go there.

“Bringing home dinner for Max’s family?”

“Yeah. I wanted to give Quinn a break from cooking for three adults and three kids.”

“Three?” he asked.

“She had a baby a few weeks ago.”

He hadn’t known that. He didn’t keep up on all the local gossip. If people kept their noses clean, he was glad not to know a thing about them. “So you have another…”

“Niece. Jocelyn.”

“Bet you’re looking forward to moving into your own place soon.”

“I sure am. I love my brother and his kids, but I’m not used to the noise. The baby is actually the quietest kid in the house.”

He laughed. “I’m sure. I have two younger sisters. They went at it like cats and dogs more times than I care to admit. And when they were fed up with each other, they turned on me.”

“Somehow I don’t see anyone getting the upper hand on you,” she said, smiling. Then she angled her head at him, lifted her hand and brought it to his face, running it down his cheek quickly. There was no denying the spark he felt and unless he was mistaken—which he very rarely was—she felt it too. Definitely flirting. “Sorry. You had some grease on your cheek.”

“Thanks,” he said, keeping his voice cool. It wasn’t just a spark he felt, but a shitload of sizzle sounding in the air. “Did you pick out your paint colors yet?”

“I just came from the hardware store.” She reached into her purse and pulled out several shades of gray, blue and green. All light, muted colors. Calming colors.

“Now you just need to decide.”

“That will be the hard part, but I’m hoping Quinn will help me out tonight. She hasn’t seen the place yet, and I thought maybe I could convince her to go for a ride and look at these swatches with me.”

“You should have gotten a few of those sample cans so you could paint some spots to see how it dries.”

“Already one step ahead of you.”

She was grinning at him still and he couldn’t help it, the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “How about dinner?”

She looked around the pizza joint they were both standing in, waiting for their names to be called. “I think we’ve got that all covered for the night.”

He laughed. “Another night.”

Her smile dropped, and he wondered what he’d said to cause that reaction. “It’s probably not a good idea.”

What was he missing here? “I didn’t know doctor-patient issues pertained to dentists.”

“They pertain to everyone, but in this case, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. Sorry if I’ve given you mixed signals. That wasn’t my intention.”

“What was your intention?” he asked. His tone hadn’t changed at all from five minutes ago, but he was dying to know what he misread.

“I don’t know. I guess you’re the first person I’ve really relaxed around besides my family since I’ve been here. When you’re tense all the time and find a little outlet, it’s easy to lose yourself. So I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“Hamilton,” they both heard.

“That’s me,” she said, giving him a polite little smile, then walking away.

She couldn’t drop that little bombshell on him and then think he wasn’t going to pursue it some more. Nope, not happening.

What was going to happen was he was going to find a way to get her to drop that guard of hers some more. Maybe next time, he’d have better luck convincing her to relax in private.

 

***

 

Riley was in her car driving to Max’s house when she groaned out loud. Once wasn’t enough, so she did it again, then banged her fist on the steering wheel.

What was wrong with her?

The last thing she needed was a man around her right now.

The last thing she wanted was one.

Well, that was a complete lie. She was honest enough with herself to admit that.

There was a part of her that wanted Trevor desperately. A female part that craved a man’s hands on her. That wanted to be held and held tight. She’d bet when he held on, he didn’t let go unless he was pried off with a crowbar. Maybe not even then. And though that thought should scare her silly, it actually comforted her more.

What she told him was true. She had too much on her plate right now. Too many things to do, too many changes going on, and she needed time.

Time to figure out what the hell happened to her in the past year.

How she lost the person she was. How she let herself fall down a hole and be someone that no one would have ever expected or imagined. How her life changed so drastically from what she’d always envisioned.

But it’d been so long since she’d flirted with a guy. Since one flirted back with her. Since she could smile at someone and not worry about any backlash. Without wondering if there’d be consequences for it.

Since she could just be herself.

She wanted to be the person she was before. She wanted to find that woman again.

One that was confident, not just in her job, but in her life.

She thought she was finding it here in the past few weeks. She supposed being asked out by the chief of police was proof enough.

And she so desperately wanted to say yes to him. But she couldn’t.

Not yet.

Not now.

Not until she knew things were settled down and she was in the clear, that her priorities were back in order.

Maybe someday.

Hopefully sooner than later.