TWENTY
After checking in to their ridiculously priced hotel in downtown Boston, Nathan sat across from Erin at Biryani’s Italian Restaurant a couple of blocks down. He’d opted for a hotel with more security. The price was worth it.
The restaurant afforded a good view of the street with tables near the window, but under the circumstances, he wouldn’t make them an easy target and chose to sit at a small booth in the back corner. He wished, too, that the circumstances of their dinner together were altogether different.
Just two old friends catching up would be preferable to this scenario.
Then again, he wasn’t sure he could ever think of Erin as nothing more than a friend. They had too much history. Too many shared memories. Even now her soft smile captured his heart, making him wish for so much more with her. A second chance.
That would never happen, but what did he know? He couldn’t have predicted these circumstances under which he would find himself eating at a fancy restaurant with Dr. Erin Larson again.
But this was not a date.
She skimmed the menu, and her gaze flicked up. Tonight her ever-changing blue-green eyes were a little greener. The lighting and the earth tones must have something to do with it. But he had a feeling her changing eyes—a color he could never quite pin down—were a mere reflection of Erin. She was hard to read, hard to pin down, maybe even hard to truly know.
But he didn’t want to think about their past and focused again on her eyes. Gorgeous eyes that had always drawn him in. At the sudden pounding of his traitorous heart, he perused his own menu.
A thought hit him. “You know, we could just get out of here and grab some bags of Cheetos. I saw a small grocer across the street.”
Erin peered at him over the top of her menu. “Maybe later.”
Dressed in a white shirt and black pants, their waiter, Sergio, approached to take their orders. Nathan asked for a steak—rib eye, medium, and a side of pasta.
Erin snapped her menu closed and asked for a burger.
The dark-haired Sergio arched a brow. “We don’t have burgers.”
“It’s on the kids’ menu.” Erin offered her most brilliant smile. “And I want a burger.”
Sergio returned her smile, his attempt to cover a sigh, then nodded and left.
Erin slipped a hand over her lips, then dropped it. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I’m not embarrassed.”
“Oh, right. This isn’t a date.” She shifted forward and twisted her mouth up. “But it’s like an alternaht universe—you, me, sitting hee-ah in a fancy Boston restuh-raunt togetheh. It’s just wee-ud.”
“That’s a great Boston accent, by the way. You’re a natural.”
“Thanks.” A soft laugh escaped her lips as she sat back.
He loved her laugh. She was cute, so cute. So beautiful. Great sense of humor. The remnants of his past love for her stirred. He had kicked dust over them, but he would need to do more than kick. He needed a big shovel to bury them much deeper if they stirred up so easily.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, even in the midst of their private investigative excursion—because he couldn’t really call it an investigation. Either way—investigation, excursion—it was quickly turning into a predicament. “We have to get what we need and get out. Dad wasn’t supposed to be working on this case that almost got him killed.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’m not too proud to admit I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have brought you into this.”
“Lives are at stake.”
What lives, Dad? Well, besides yours.
And Erin’s. And if he counted the Seattle incident, if she had been targeted, she could be in double the danger. He stared at the flickering candle in the middle of the table. When he decided to head this way to get a few answers, it seemed straightforward. He wanted to stick to the straight and narrow and be a good, upstanding cop. Never disobey a directive.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He could probably kiss that promotion to sergeant goodbye. Nathan wasn’t promotion material, as things stood right now. Would Dad be disappointed? Well, if he ever woke up. And would he even care?
“You can’t afford to expend energy on regrets.” Erin’s words pulled him back to the moment. “I’m here. We’re here. Move on. Go forward.”
“Fine. If you go with me tonight, that means on the flight back to Montana you’re telling me about everything that happened in Seattle.”
Her lips turned downward. “That kind of seemed out of nowhere.”