I glanced between him and the cookie.

“Are you always so suspicious? Here.” He took the cookie, broke it in half, shoved some in his mouth, and set the other half back in front of me.

I picked it up and took a bite. My teeth sank into a perfect combination of chewy and crumbly. The chocolate chips were still a little warm and melty.

“Wow. This is really good.”

He licked the corner of his mouth and I was too mesmerized by the sight of his tongue on his lip to realize he was, consciously or unconsciously, signaling that I had chocolate on my face. Until he reached over and swiped it with his thumb.

His sudden touch surprised me so much I gasped.

Then he put his thumb in his mouth and sucked off the chocolate.

It was moments like this that made me question the power of the brain body connection—or at least question which direction it ran. Was my brain in charge of my body, or the other way around? Because right now, my body was telling my brain things that were very bad.

So very, very bad.

Flee, Skylar. Run like the wind. Save yourself.

I stood abruptly and grabbed a paper towel off the roll. “Do you need one?”

“Sure.”

I didn’t know why I was so flustered. I told myself—firmly—to get it together, and handed him a paper towel.

“Thanks.”

For a second, I contemplated whether I should sit down again. A part of me wished he’d go. He made me jumpy and that smile of his was a deadly weapon.

But another part of me—a big part, if I was being honest—did want to sit down. Wanted to hear him talk and gaze at him in all his hot firefighter glory.

A firefighter. I’d never written about a firefighter before. His nemesis could be a serial arsonist and when a string of seemingly unrelated fires turn deadly—

I gasped. Again. Not because Gavin had interrupted my thoughts. He was just sitting there, casually watching me. Patient. Like he wasn’t annoyed that my attention had just wandered for who knew how long.

“Sorry.” I sat down.

“That’s okay. Still thinking about bodies in beaver dams, or was that something new?”

I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Something new. I was thinking about how you’re a firefighter.” I left out hot deliberately. “And how I’ve never written about a firefighter before.”

“But where’s the story?”

“Well… maybe there’s an arsonist. And the firefighter wants to help catch him. Or her, although I think arsonists are statistically more likely to be male.”

“What if the firefighter is the arsonist?”

“That could be an interesting twist. Although it changes the dynamic of the story. Does the reader know he’s the arsonist? Or is that slowly revealed throughout the course of the book?”

“What if the firefighter arsonist is friends with a detective who’s on the case? And the detective has to face the reality that he’s investigating his friend.”

“Arson and betrayal. That’s definitely compelling.”

“Too dark?”

“I write about serial killers. Too dark isn’t really an issue.”

“Fair enough. Well, if you need to do any research on firefighters, I’m your guy. Although I guess you could just talk to your dad.”

“Speaking of my dad, did he send you here?”

“Nope.” His lips popped on the P. “But I did tell him I was coming. He’s totally on board.”

“On board with what?”

“With me being your first friend in Tilikum.”

“That’s why you brought me a cookie?”

“Cookies are a great way to make friends.”

I laughed. “True.”

“Here’s the thing. You’re new in town and you could use someone to show you around. Introduce you to people, help you navigate the ins and outs of life in Tilikum.”

“Could I?”

“Definitely. And I’m the perfect guy for the job.”

“And why is that?”

“Who else has tons of time on his hands, knows pretty much everyone, and is also super fun to hang out with?”

“I don’t know. I’m new in town.”

“Exactly.”

“So… you want to be friends because you’re bored?”

His brow furrowed. Nothing sexy about that expression. Nope. Not at all.

Liar.

“What makes you think I’m bored?”

“Aren’t you? I assume you’re on leave until your leg heals.”

“Yeah. And, you’re right, I am bored. Although not right now. I haven’t been bored since I got here. And that’s not the reason I want to be friends.”

“Why do you want to be friends?”

“Because you’re interesting and cool to hang out with. And, okay, I do need something to do and showing you around Tilikum sounds fun.”

This made me nervous. Gavin Bailey made me nervous. He was trouble. I could feel it.

“I’m sure you’re really nice. But no matter what my dad told you, I’m fine. I don’t need someone to take me under their wing and show me around town. I can find my way on my own.”

“But that won’t be nearly as much fun.”

That half smile and those dimples hinted at all kinds of fun.

Trouble. This one was trouble, Skylar. Dad even said so.

“My friend Ginny is coming to town soon. She’ll be staying for a while.”

“So?”

“So then I’ll have a friend in town.”

“She’ll be even newer than you are. That’s just the blind leading the blind.”

I laughed. “It’s not like this is high school and I’m going to forget how to find my locker or where to go for third period math.”

“No, it’s worse. It’s adulthood.”

“Are you one of those people who loved high school?”

He scowled. “God, no. I hated high school.”

“Really? You weren’t the popular football captain or something?”

“No, I was. But I still hated it.”

I didn’t know why I found that so fascinating. But I did. “I doubt it will surprise you that I was the mousy shy girl who never talked.”

“That does surprise me, actually.”

“I was. We wouldn’t have been friends.”

“That’s okay.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re friends now.”

“Are we?”

“Yeah.” He smiled, like something he was thinking amused him. “Don’t think, just answer fast. Do you want to be my friend?”

“Yes.” I blinked in surprise.

He pointed at me. “See? Told you.”

I laughed. “How do I know this isn’t all a ploy to get in my pants?”

“Man, I really want to be offended by that, but it’s a fair question. I’m good at ploys to get in a girl’s pants. But that’s not what I’m doing. I even promised your dad.”

Promised my dad? That was interesting. Promised him what? That he wouldn’t try to get in my pants? That he had no intention of dating me? It made sense, in a way. Dad was Gavin’s boss. He’d want to tread carefully where his boss’s daughter was concerned.