said as she set their plates down on the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“We’re good.” Colin looked over at Emily and she nodded her agreement.
“Okie dokie.” The waitress grabbed a nearby glass coffee pot, refilled Colin’s coffee cup, and moved on to another table.
“I still can’t believe that Delia McCall hired you with practically no experience.” Colin took another drink of his black coffee. “What was she thinking?”
“Oh, come on now, it wasn’t that big of a stretch.” She buttered her french toast and licked her finger. “I wasn’t a complete newbie, I did have some experience. Evan just didn’t like it known around town, for my own protection.”
“Okay, okay,” he surrendered, briefly raising both his hands slightly. “You’re right, but I didn’t know that then.”
Emily picked up the small metal pitcher to drench her french toast in maple syrup.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this and give you a big head, but I was really impressed with how you handled Delia’s murder case.”
“You were?” Emily arched an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by her getting a big head.
“I was. But I have to say, what totally hooked me was that thing you did in New York City.”
“What thing was that?”
“When I flew to New York City to interrogate that suspect in Delia’s case—you know, that Russian mobster—and you showed up there, too, going all Charlie’s Angels on me.”
Charlie’s Angels? Emily wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that either. The title conjured up visions of beautiful women with kick-ass moves and guns blazing. “That hooked you? Why?” As she recalled, he’d looked none too pleased with her at the time.
“Well, I wasn’t very happy with you at first, because I specifically told you to stay in Paradise Valley,” he replied, then took another gulp of coffee, “but you didn’t listen.”
“Get to the good part.”
“Well, that day you showed me you were the kind of woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer, you wouldn’t give up, and I kinda liked that.”
“You did?” She was surprised, yet pleased, at his comments. She smiled to herself as she stuck another bite of french toast in her mouth.
“It was actually pretty hot the way you marched into the detective’s area at the station, with your wild mane of blonde hair and your tight jeans, demanding to be in on the questioning.”
“I didn’t realize I came across that way.” She grimaced. “My hair’s not usually wild. It must have been from sleeping on the plane.” She ran her fingers through her hair as she visualized what she must have looked like. “Is that why your New York detective friend dubbed me the smokin’ hot lady PI?”
Colin laughed at the description. “Could be, but I had to agree with him.” He grinned and nodded at her as he cut into his omelet and took a bite. “You did look pretty hot.”
Emily looked down and blushed, taking a sip of her water. She hadn’t realized she appeared in such a brash way. When she looked up, she caught Colin still grinning at her.
They dug into their breakfasts and reminisced about the cases they had worked together and how their relationship had grown. Before long, their food was nearly gone and it was almost time for him to shove off.
“So, tell me, when did you realize you were in love with me?” Emily swirled the last little piece of french toast around in the pool of syrup on her plate.
“The night Ricardo Vega’s murderer almost shot you. I knew I couldn’t live without you.”
Emily thought back to that night and how Colin had been so terrified of losing her. She recalled him describing how he had lost his fiancée a couple of years before, shot in the line of duty, and how he had tried to fight against his feelings for Emily because of her dangerous job as a private eye.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said. “When did you realize you were in love with me?”
She looked down at her watch. “Oh, my gosh, look at the time. You’d better take me home now so you can get on the road. You have a long drive ahead of you.”
“No fair.” Colin cast her a quizzical frown.
Emily considered telling him it was from their first kiss, when her knees went weak and his touch sent tingles shooting throughout her body, but that was lust more than love.
But then there had been the multitude of suspicions and questions flying around in her head as