He waved his left hand in the air. “I lost my wife in a car accident a couple years ago.”

“Oh, damn. I’m so sorry.”

“No, no . . . I didn’t tell you that to gain sympathy. I just don’t want you to think I’m a complete jerk. The idea of dating makes me a little sick. I haven’t done it in years.”

She looked at his ring. “Well, the first thing you might wanna do is take the ring off.”

He faked a laugh. “I probably don’t want to date anyone where a ring isn’t a deterrent.”

She laughed. “That’s a special kind of ugly when a ring is a turn-on.”

“You’re right. So a dating app, huh?”

By now she was turned around in her seat and no longer watching the door.

“It’s a way to break the ice. But you might ask a friend to help with a profile. A good-looking widower who dresses nice is the first profile a woman will think is fake.”

He made sure his smile was slow, and he met her eyes. She was too short, too curvy, and completely too independent. “People do that?”

“Men trying to scam women out of money. Shitty people are everywhere. Like the one who stood me up.”

Desmond lifted his drink. “His loss.”

She smiled back. Touched her glass to his. “I’m Grace, by the way.”

“Dylan. It’s nice to meet you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

There were many perks of being a firefighter. The public loved you, kids adored you, women hit on you . . . and the police respected you. And in Matt’s case, his station was often a lunch and pit stop for the local sheriffs when they were out on patrol. Add to that his father was retired law enforcement, and Matt never worried about getting a ticket in town.

Right now he was looking up at a uniformed friend, who tossed him a ziplock bag filled with Erin’s brake lines.

“That was fast.”

“It took Pete less than five minutes.”

Draped in a utility belt filled with cuffs, a Taser, a radio, a gun, and everything else a cop needed to stay alive while at work, Ty made a lot of noise as he took a seat opposite him. It was the end of both their shifts. Matt had given Ty the hoses the previous night before going to bed. He must have had whoever Pete was looking at it late.

“The verdict? There’s a logical explanation, right?”

“Yeah. Sure . . . Who’d your ol’ lady piss off?”

Matt’s stomach fell. “What?”

Ty stuck his hand inside the bag and removed one of the lines. “Pete took one look and said foul play. See here?” He pointed at the cut. “If this were worn, it wouldn’t have dissected the threads of the tube like this. This is a vertical cut across the threads. Just to make sure, he looked under the scope. The image was clean. Nothing frayed. Nothing the road could re-create with hitting it in just the right spot.”

“Jesus.”

“Sharp knife and a grudge can do a shitload of harm. Whoever did this was dedicated. The placement isn’t the easiest to get to.”

Matt stood and ran a hand through his hair. “She was right.”

“Any idea who did this?”

“Yes . . . no. She knows.” All Matt had was a first name.

“In the right court, this could go down as attempted murder.”

Matt started to pace. “Son of a bitch.” He looked at his friend. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“Do you think he’ll do this again?”

The visceral fear Erin was just starting to shake moved into his veins and took up residence. “She’s still breathing.”

Ty sat back, crossed his arms over his chest. “If I were you, I’d get a tail on this guy and catch him in the act. And I’d keep my lady close.”

Matt raised his arms at the station surrounding them. “When I’m at work?”

“Family, friends . . . I’m happy to take a shift.”

Where was Erin now? Home . . . she hadn’t rented a car. He was grateful now that she hadn’t.

Ty shook his hand and left with the promise of taking an extra swing through Erin’s neighborhood.

Matt was an hour away from his shift change. They were drinking coffee and praying they didn’t get a run. Matt was doubling the call to fate to let him off on time.

Erin was going to run. He had an hour to find a way to make her stay.

The sun woke her early. Or maybe it was because Matt hadn’t slept over. She slept better with him by her side, and she wasn’t sure if it was because he exhausted her before they fell asleep, or if she simply felt safer with him there.

Both, she decided.

She padded around her small home and made a cup of coffee. Because the night had cooled off, the windows were open to let the air in. Jasmine bloomed in a hedge outside her kitchen and added a fragrant scent to the air.

After turning on her radio, and overfilling her coffee with cream, she walked outside in her nightgown and sat under the pergola by the pool. She loved the open space and quiet mornings before the world woke up. Funny, she’d lived on large properties before. Estates with manicured lawns and help, but none were this peaceful.

Her father’s home was lacking emotion, and her marital home was a giant nerve she tiptoed around.

This home, the one she was making for herself, she was finding herself. She really hoped nothing was going to mess that up.

From down the street, she heard the roar of Matt’s motorcycle and stayed in the chaise she was perched on as he drove up.

She crossed her legs at her ankles and hiked her nightgown up above her knees.

He took his helmet off, placed it on his handlebars, and turned her way.

The smile she was expecting wasn’t quite as wide as she’d hoped. “Did we have a morning date?” she asked.

Now his grin grew and his eyes traveled her body from head to toe. “If this is your morning look when I’m not around, then count on me every day.”

He sauntered her way, dropped his hands on both sides of her hips, and leaned in for a kiss.

“Mmmm, good morning to you, too,” she hummed.

He pulled back, placed a hand on her cheek, and kissed her again. This time with an open mouth and a sigh of his own.

When he’d drunk his fill, he straddled her chair and placed her feet over one of his thighs.

“Did you want some coffee?” she asked.

“No. I had some at the station.”

He stroked her leg and slowly lost his smile.

Much as she tried to keep the one he’d placed on her lips just by being there, she felt the air shifting. “What is it? Did you have a bad night at work?”

He shook his head.

She sat forward, put her coffee aside. “What is it, Matt?”

Twice he opened his mouth to talk, twice he shook his head.

“I need to tell you something, but I need something from you first.”

Erin was having a hard time getting a read on him. “If you were the girl, I’d swear you were going to tell me you’re pregnant.”

That had him grinning.

“Do you trust me?”

“You know I do.”

He waved a hand between them. “Do you think we have a good thing going here? Like maybe we have a future?”