the window and they were gone.
Brett did go home and shower, then drove around by the hotels again, down some of the side streets, and past a few of the restaurants. No sign of the Civic or Kurt.
He’d just turned off Graemsay when his phone rang and Ellie’s name popped up on his media display. Hitting the Answer button, and hoping to hell there weren’t any other cops around, he cranked a U-turn in the middle of the intersection and headed back the way he’d just come.
“Is he there?”
“Hello to you, too,” she said, the smirk coming through the line. “And no.”
And just like that, his grip on the wheel loosened. “Good. What’s up?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Poncherello. That’s the second time you’ve driven by my house in the last half hour, and I can only deal with one stalker at a time if you don’t mind.”
Brett eased the truck to a stop on the side of the road, parallel to her house, and stared out the passenger window to where she stood in the doorway, freshly showered and looking entirely too good in that long blue skirt and faded denim jacket.
It took him a second to remember how to swallow.
“I was in the area,” he said, sounding pathetic even to himself.
She didn’t say anything for a while, just leaned against the door frame with her phone pressed up against her ear, watching him watch her.
“You going to Jayne’s for dinner?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
She pulled the phone away from her ear and shook it back and forth. “We’re a couple now, remember? We get invited to things together.”
“Need a ride?”
“That’d be nice, since some dipwad of a cop took my license.” She ended the call, pulled the door shut, and checked to make sure it was locked before climbing in on the passenger side.
“Dipwad?”
“Sorry,” she said, smirking as she tugged her hair out from where it was stuck in the seat belt. “But if I don’t throw one of those in there every once in a while, I might forget how much I can’t stand you, and then where will I be when this is all over?”
Did his heart just skip a beat? No. Shit like that only happened in those chick books Regan read. But there was something in Ellie’s teasing smile, something in the way her eyes softened to velvet when she looked at him, that sent a jolt right through him and forced him to swallow a couple of times before he could speak.
“Nice,” he finally said, nodding. “Good. Way to plan ahead.”
She tapped the side of her head and winked conspiratorially. “Always thinking, Ponch.”
Damn—it happened again! Maybe he should go see a cardiologist.
“So,” she said, finally settled back in her seat. “Did you boys have a nice chat after I left?”
“Carter had a few things to say.”
“I’m sure.”
Brett shrugged, trying not to look directly at her. “Told me about their run-in with Kurt.”
“Lovely.”
“You sure he’s never been here before?”
“As far as I know, this is the first time he’s ever been this far west. Why?”
“I don’t know; there’s something about him.”
“Oh yeah, Maya mentioned you were both in The Stalk Market at the same time.” She tipped him a sideways look and laughed quietly. “Not that it’s really any of my business, but since I’m supposed to be the love of your life, I think it’s only fair that I know who you’re sending flowers to. If I’m going to need to scratch some chick’s eyes out, I’d like to get it over with before I waste good money on a manicure.”
“Right,” he scoffed. “As much as we all enjoy a good catfight, you can save your nails and the eye scratching; the flowers were for my mom.”
“Aww, Ponch, you really are a good boy, aren’t you?” There was only a hint of teasing in her smile. “Birthday?”
“No,” he answered slowly. “The twenty-first is the day Rosie died, so every year I send Mom flowers, a mix of both their favorites.”
“Sorry.” Her voice was soft, but her touch was softer when she rested her hand on his forearm. “I keep dragging you back there, don’t I?”
“It’s fine.” And for the first time in almost twenty years, he actually believed that. Not many people asked about his sister anymore; the only thing Kerri had ever asked was how the twin connection changed if one of them died.
He should have known right there that she wasn’t the one for him.
“The ironic thing is, I was