Beaufort, South Carolina
March 27
Steady sat on the couch, one long arm stretched across the back, ankle over knee. Nathan and Emily’s renovated Victorian was just a few blocks from Twitch’s bungalow, and Emily had insisted Twitch stay with them for the next few days while they hopefully caught the intruder. Steady watched Emily and Very cluck and flutter around Twitch like two mother hens. Emily was setting a mug of tea and a plate of cookies on the table next to where Twitch was ensconced in an easy chair. Very was tucking a blanket around her small shoulders. Steady sipped his coffee and rested the mug on his thigh.
Very turned to him and eyed his form. Her bright pink hair was in a messy pile on her head. Even in a faded University of Virginia T-shirt and torn jeans, she looked hot. Her feet were bare—the flip flops she had worn were askew by the front door—and her toes were painted the same fuschia as her locks. He peered at her feet; she had a toe ring. Damn, every time he looked at this woman, he found some sexy surprise.
“You doing okay there, chief?”
Steady snapped out of his haze and brought his eyes up to Very’s face. “Hmm?”
“Are you comfortable? Can I bring you something? A hot towel? A cheese plate?” Very asked, batting her lashes.
God, this woman. Do you just speak every thought that flits through your mind?
“Pretty much. My lack of internal editing is equal parts troublesome and endearing.” She winked at him.
Had he said that out loud?
Setting the mug on the coffee table, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees.
“Well, to answer your initial question, yes, I’m quite comfortable. After,” he rotated his wrist to check his G Shock watch, “completing an op, flying all night to get back here, then, six hours and change of interviewing Twitch’s neighbors, overseeing evidence gathering, and checking any available security video, this lovely sofa and hot cuppa joe hit the spot.”
He watched her process his echoed sarcasm. Then Very did something Steady never imagined her doing. Ever. She blushed. Her face went as pink as her hair, and she knew it too. With a quick about-face, Very retreated to the kitchen. When she returned, she was holding a fresh mug of coffee. She set it down and swapped out his old one.
“Sorry,” she murmured, leaning over him. “I’m upset, and when I get upset, I turn into kind of a bitch.”
He couldn’t resist tucking a loose pink tress behind her ear. “You wanna make it up to me?” he asked with a lascivious grin.
She shot up like an admiral had just entered the room. “Are you seriously hitting on me? Now?”
Steady just shrugged and sipped the fresh coffee. “What can I say? I’m calm in a crisis.”
Very looked down at him, a slender finger tapping her lips. “It’s a shame I’m not the least bit attracted to you, considering your proximity as my next-door neighbor.”
Steady noticed her nipples beading under her T-shirt. Interesting. She noticed him noticing but made no move to hide. He stood. Very was tall, but Steady had a good seven inches on her. “Yeah, that’s a real shame. I mean, just picture the convenience of having expert stud services just a stone’s throw away. I run the hundred-yard dash in just under twelve seconds. Factoring in the sand, I could be at your door in half a minute.”
She beckoned him closer with a curled finger. With his face a breath away, she whispered, “You have no shot.”
Staying right where he was, he grinned, his cheek brushing hers. “I beg to differ.”
Very pulled back and mouthed no shot.
Steady rubbed the hem of her T-shirt between his fingers. “Just think about it. You strike me as a woman who needs to be handled. I’m up to the task.”
“Keep it up, buddy, and the way I strike you won’t be metaphorical. It’ll be knee to nads.”
“Easy there, tiger,” he murmured.
She gripped the front of his shirt in her fist. “And if I seem turned on right now, it’s because I was fantasizing about your friend, Chat. He’s more up my alley: the strong silent type.”
Steady shot back like he’d been tased. Her smug expression telling him in no uncertain terms who had won the who-can-push-whose-buttons-better battle.
“You know what? Good,” Steady bellowed. “Thank God you’re not interested because, lady, you are ten pounds of crazy in a five-pound package.”
“And you are the most arrogant, cocksure, smug asshole I’ve ever come across!” she shouted back.
“Those all mean the same fucking thing!”
“Good! It bears repeating!”
In the silence that followed, Steady and Very broke their face-off, simultaneously turning their heads. Emily, Twitch, and now Maggie Bishop and Evan, all stared at them with looks that ranged from horrified to amused. Upstairs a baby started to cry.
It was Steady’s turn to blush. Feeling his face heat, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch and called over his shoulder. “I’m gonna head over to Joe’s and meet the guys. Twitch, give me a call if you need anything.” Without waiting for a reply, he charged out of the house.