Ed found her number and called her.
“Hello, you’ve reached Georgina James,” her formal voice came through the phone. “I can’t come to the phone right now but please leave a message.”
“Hello Georgina, this is Ed. If you could call me back, I’d appreciate it.” He ended the call and looked over at Kiesha. “Sorry, I tried.”
“Drat, she’s totally dodging your calls.”
“She’s not dodging my calls. She’s busy. She could have gotten called back to work.”
“But she said she was here for the week.”
He frowned. “Why would she come here for a week? I thought she only came to talk to me about the case we worked on together.”
She gave him a pitying look. “Men. So dense.”
He straightened up. “What does that mean? Why do you think she came here?”
“Not telling you. That would break the bestie code. I’ve got things to do. If she calls, ask her about giving me her phone number then text it to me straight away.”
What the hell was the bestie code?
Before he could ask, Kiesha was gone. He shook his head. He should just concentrate on his work. Women were a mystery to him. Maybe he was just better off on his own.
8
He was an idiot.
What was he doing?
He had take-out on the passenger seat of his truck, getting cold. He’d finally finished his paperwork. So why, instead of heading straight home, was he now sitting in the parking lot of the local motel, staring at her room?
Kiesha had sent him no less than ten texts all day. Each one more frantic than the last. Finally, she’d started making noises about filling out a missing person’s report.
He wanted to tell her that Georgia was long gone. That’s what she did, after all. Made you think that you were special to her then she bailed.
He groaned. He wasn’t here as the guy who’d kissed her. He was here as the sheriff, doing a welfare check. Even though she was likely far away from Wishingbone.
After all, what reason would she have to hang around?
Turning off his truck, he reached back for his jacket and grabbed it. When he climbed out, he hastily donned it.
He already knew what room she was in, having driven her home last night. It had to be his imagination, but he swore he could still smell her scent in his truck.
Fuck, he should just walk away. Get back in his truck and leave.
But she had been frightened last night. She’d tried to hide it, but he’d seen it. And if she was still here and not answering the door . . .
Aw, fuck it.
Welfare check. Just doing his job. Nothing more than that.
Moving to her door, he knocked. There were no lights on. Just as he’d thought. She’d high-tailed it out of here.
Another knock. No answer.
Turning, he headed towards the motel office. Kiesha had to be mistaken about Georgina staying a week. He still didn’t understand why she’d come all the way out here just to ask him about a case when she could have called or emailed.
Made no sense.