“It was just dinner,” he lied, laughing. “I have no ulterior motives. But apparently, my friend Dal does.”
“I was just thinking that,” she said through her teeth.
“You remember that,” he said, wagging a finger at her. “Water is the most important resource we have in this part of Colorado.”
“At least I know where his mind is. I won’t listen to any more of his helpful advice about you,” she promised, laughing softly. “And I’m truly sorry about the perfume. And the long speech about liberals.” She paused. “Actually, I voted for the conservative candidate myself. Most of us in law enforcement aren’t with the liberal agenda. We’re mostly patriotic and on the side of constitutional law.”
“Me too.”
He got out and opened her door, taking her arm as he helped her over a mound of snow and up onto her porch.
“I had fun,” he said.
“So did I. The food was great.”
“We’ll do this again. Okay?”
She smiled. “Okay.”
He bent and brushed his mouth gently over hers. “Sleep well.”
He was gone before she could decide whether or not she liked kissing him. There hadn’t been a spark, he didn’t make her heart race. But it was early days. Now that she understood why Dal Blake had tried to sabotage the relationship before it began, she’d be on her guard. She and her boss could really get to know each other. She was looking forward to it.
She undressed and pulled on the long yellow granny gown she liked to sleep in, brushing out her hair after she removed her makeup. Jeff was so nice. She really liked him.
Her cell phone rang with theSherlocktheme. She loved the series on PBS. She pressed the answer button. “Hello?”
“How’d the date go?” Dal drawled.
“Very badly, thanks to you!” she shot back. “How could you?”
“Jeff’s a good sport, even if you aren’t,” he mused.
“He has allergies! How could you tell me that he liked heavy perfume?”
“He’s got allergy medicine,” he said easily.
“It was mean!”
“So I’m mean,” he replied. “At least you know now how badly he wants that ranch, don’t you? He didn’t say a thing about the heavy perfume and the liberal pep talk, did he?”
His tone was hard, firm. She hated him because he was right. Jeff hadn’t been honest until she forced him to be. She knew that Dal, in his place, would have complained immediately about the perfume, and he’d have gone after her hammer and tongs about her improvised liberal opinions. Whatever else he was, he was honest.
“I don’t care . . .” She paused. There was a loud meow from behind her.
She turned, phone in hand, as Jarvis walked into the bedroom as if he owned it and started purring and rubbing up against her legs through the gown. “Your cat’s here!” she muttered.
“Nail the dog door shut,” he suggested sarcastically.
“I can’t! Snow wouldn’t be able to get out when she needed to use the bathroom!”
“Speaking of Snow, guess where she is?”
She drew in a breath. “Well, that’s just great! I’ll put on a coat and bring your cat to you!”
“No need. I’ll drive Snow down and meet you at the front door.”
She bit her tongue trying not to make a snide remark. She didn’t want to have to go out in the knee-deep snow in her gown and a coat. “All right. Thanks,” she added grudgingly.