him, gave a slight shake of her head. “Like I said, I’m over it. Have been for a very long time. But I still want to know—what brought all this on?”
Eli pushed away his plate. Hungry or not, he wasn’t going to get another bite of food past the cinch-like tightening in his throat.
When he spoke, he was surprised by his own words.
“What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
What the hell? He was scheduled to work that night. And she would probably say she had a hot date. Thanks, but no thanks.
“I’ll be here at Bailey’s,” Brynne said, confused. “The party—” She blinked. “Eli Garrett, are you trying to ask me out?”
He hesitated, then decided he was in too deep to back out now. “Kind of,” he admitted.
“‘Kind of’?” Brynne repeated. “Are you or aren’t you asking me out, Eli?”
He sighed. Interlaced his fingers on the tabletop in front of him. “I am,” he said,
“Then the answer is no,” Brynne said, without rancor.
“No?” It was the reply he’d expected. So why did he feel as if he’d just been kicked in the stomach?
“Yes. I mean, no.” Brynne was smiling now, as though they’d just settled some existential dilemma.
Eli wished the earth would open right up and swallow him whole, but he had his pride, too. “Why not?”
“Why won’t I go out with you?”
He was exasperated now. “No,” he countered. “Why don’t you install a zip line and offer a discount for senior citizens? Of course why won’t you go out with me!”
“A zip line might not be a bad idea,” she said thoughtfully.
“Damn it, Brynne—”
“All right.” She met his gaze calmly, and her tone was matter-of-fact. “I don’t date cops,” she said.
He’d run into that policy before, throughout his career—women who were scared to fall for a man who might get shot in the course of a day’s work, women who disliked any kind of authority, women who only dated men with six-figure incomes. Even a few who had warrants out for their arrest.
“You don’t date cops,” he said, nonplussed.
“That’s what I said.”
“Why not?”
“I have my reasons,” Brynne responded, looking and sounding a little miffed now.
“Would you mind sharing them?”
“Yes, actually,” Brynne said, bristling by this point.
This was not going well.
Damn J.P. and Cord and their bright ideas.
“Fair enough,” Eli said, pushing back his chair. “Can I have the check, please?”
“No,” Brynne said. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“Well, you couldn’t prove that by me,” Eli answered.
“I don’t date police officers,” Brynne reiterated.
“So you said.”
“But I don’t mind having them for friends.”
“Friends? I thought we were friends already.” He paused, made a huffing sound. “I’m not sure where I got that idea, though, now that you mention it.”
Brynne laughed then, and the sound reminded Eli of the merry little bell above the front door. “Will you just dial back your male ego a notch or two and listen to me, please?”
He glared at her. “I am all ears,” he said.
She laughed again. “Your face! When was the last time you asked a woman out and got turned down, Sheriff?”
“About two minutes ago,” he replied.
“And before that, about twenty years, I’m guessing,” Brynne said.
Let her think that. He wasn’t obligated to tell her about the times he’d struck out.
“It’s my turn to ask. What the hell are you getting at?”
Brynne smiled again. “If you want to come to the New Year’s Eve shindig as my friend, and not my date, I wouldn’t mind.”
“That’s generous of you,” Eli said, drawing out the words.
Just then, the little bell over the door jingled, and a flock of high school kids blew in, including Eli’s sixteen-year-old nephew, Eric, and Carly, Cord’s daughter.
They were laughing, teasing each other, pushing and shoving a little.
“Hey, Uncle Eli,” Carly called brightly, unbuttoning the bright red pea jacket she’d gotten for Christmas.
“Hey,” he echoed, his voice hoarse again.
The girl looked so much like Reba had at that age. Fortunately, Carly was a better person than her mother had been, and talented, too. She sang, wrote songs and had built an impressive following on YouTube, though these days she was busy with school and working with animals.
Brynne was out of her chair, smoothing the floral print apron she wore over her slacks and blue blouse, greeting the kids cheerfully and helping them to push several tables together, in order to accommodate the sizable group.
Apparently, more friends were about to join them.
Eli was standing when Carly came toward him, snowflakes nestling in her caramel-colored hair and just beginning to melt.
Facing him, she stood on