“No.”
“Why’s that?” She tilts her head.
“It’s none of their business.”
“Just like it’s none of Mark’s business,” she counters.
Fuck, she has a point.
“Are you going to get fired and lose your income if Austin and Chance have an issue with us being together, even though you know I’ve already told them I don’t think any of you had anything to do with the murder?”
I open my mouth. Close it.
“Just as I thought.” She spins around, walks away, and then looks over her shoulder. “Let me know when you get your head out of your ass.” Those words are tossed over her shoulder.
Fuck. Me.
“Wait.”
She stills but doesn’t turn.
“You’re right. I am an asshole.” I approach her slowly. With the same caution as one would take when trying to touch a wildcat, I put my hands on Sadie’s hips, lean down, and kiss her shoulder.
She turns in the circle of my arms. “What set you off?”
I reach up and stroke her sleek hair. “My mother changes men at the same pace most people change their sheets. She’s a shitty example of being in a solid relationship. So I don’t do them. I’ve been with women, but they know the score. One and done.”
“I wasn’t asking for a ring, Miles.”
I shake my head. “This is different. Hell, I have no idea what it is about you that drives me fucking nuts. That makes me want to sink myself balls deep in you and stay there forever.”
Her cheeks flush at my bold words.
I sigh. “When you didn’t tell Peterson about us, I figured it didn’t mean anything. Thatwedidn’t. That your feelings didn’t match mine.”
She drops her gaze to my chest and settles a hand over my heart. “I don’tknowhow you’re feeling.”
“I thought I made myself pretty clear. At the restaurant. At your apartment.”
She shakes her head.
“Fine.” I tip her chin up with my fingers. “I want more with you, Sadie. I want to see where this goes. I’m into you. Into trying for an ‘us.’”
She blinks and a smile turns up the corner of her mouth. “Okay.”
I can’t help but smile in return. “Okay?”
“Okay. Mark knows about us. He says he won’t tell anyone, but I can’t say he will make it easy for me.”
I frown. Thinking about the annoying fucker makes my muscles twitch. “I can handle him.”
“I can’t lose my job,” she says. “While I don’t think it’s fair, the fact that we evenlikeeach other makes it a possibility—”
“Welikeeach other?” I let a smirk spread across my face.
“But this case could be in jeopardy if I ever have to testify. It’s not about you and me. It’s about the law. I don’t want someone to go free solely because of a conflict of interest.”
“I get it.”