Page 32 of Armed ’N’ Ready

Nick’s deep, rumbling laughter came to her, and she paused at the screen door to find him watching her. That was nothing new. In the few days he’d been working at the DPC, she’d caught him tracking her on numerous occasions—to make sure she wasn’t concealing a call from Joe, she assumed. But this time was different. It was subtle, but the way he watched her now wasn’t his usual surveilling-a-suspect demeanor.

Gone was the suspicion and hardness she’d become accustomed to. In its place was an unexpected softness and something else she couldn’t decipher. It was as if—

Don’t be ridiculous. For one incredibly naive, incredibly stupid moment she could swear there’d been a tiny shadow of caring in his eyes.

Maybe she was simply getting to know him in a different light. Yeah, that must be it.

As annoying as it was to admit, he was turning out to be far different from the man she’d first met in the shower. Then, he’d been all hard-ass and taciturn. Now he was just a man she was beginning to like. Another scary-as-hell thought.

What other surprises is the man hiding?

She shook her head and went out the screen door to clear empties and make sure there were no other customers lingering on the deck. The air had cooled somewhat, but it was still a contrast from the air-conditioned interior of the restaurant.

As she reached for an empty glass, a flash of white at the base of a tree inside the dog run caught her attention. Was someone running a dog at this time of night?

She held her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glaring light from inside the cafe. Peering into the darkness, she still couldn’t make out a dog or any definite shape. Whatever was there, though, wasn’t moving. There’d been occasional sightings of an albino deer in the area, but it had yet to make an appearance at the DPC.

As she took a step closer to the railing, the white object took off, then vaulted over the dog fence and disappeared.

Andi’s heart thumped faster. She backed up, nearly tripping over a chair. That wasn’t a dog or a deer. It was a man, she was sure of it.

And he’d been watching her.

Why, she didn’t know, but with everything going on, standing around waiting to find out… Bad idea.

She spun to haul ass back into the café, when something touched her waist. Flinching, she sucked in a quick breath, preparing to let loose with a scream loud enough to wake the dead. At the last second, she bit off the sound.

The cell phone clipped to her waist was vibrating.

A few steps from the door, she yanked the phone from its cradle and stared at the screen.

Joe.

Chapter Eight

Finally, the bar had slowed down, but Nick had been busting his ass mixing drinks and pouring drafts nonstop for the last hour. Good thing, because it kept him from reliving the near-kiss in Andi’s office.

He’d only meant to make a point, but the instant he’d gotten close to her, he’d felt the sparks zapping between them. And when she’d grabbed his waist, he’d felt her touch in every cell of his body. He’d come less than a hair’s breadth from kissing her, and he would have done it, too, if he hadn’t had a moment of clarity about the supreme stupidity of pressing his lips to hers…of raking his fingers through all that thick, blond hair, and—

Across the dining room, Andi flung open the door to the deck. Even from this distance the panic was obvious in her wide eyes. She held up her hand. In it was her pink cell phone. Then she put the phone to her ear.

Myer.

He threw down the coaster he’d been holding, then hustled out from behind the bar. He wanted to run, but that would attract attention and cause others to think there was an emergency. Which there was, but he didn’t want anyone else out there when he listened in on the call.

The screen door creaked as he pushed on it, then he urged Andi outside. Rather than let the door slam behind him, he quietly closed it. Luckily, the deck was empty of customers.

With the phone still pressed to her ear, she jerked her head left and right, looking over the railing toward the dog run, as if she were searching for something. Or someone. He made a mental note to ask her about that.

She glanced at him, and the phone shook in her hand. “Joe? Are you all right?”

He took the phone from her and put the call on speaker.

“I’m fine,” a voice said in a hushed tone.

He made a circling gesture with his finger, indicating she should keep him talking.

She nodded. “Where are you?”