Page 3 of Catch Him

Sinead wasn’t exactly clear what he was asking her. “I’m a police officer.”

“Yes, I’m aware. The gun, the badge, it’s all rather threatening even if it does come in a pint-sized package.”

Sinead was hardly pint-sized, but given that he was probably an inch or two over six feet, she imagined her five-foot-four stature wasn’t all that intimidating to him. “David,” she said, feeling a little silly using his name. “I’m trying to point out that coming here is my job. I’ve cleared you as a suspect for B&E. You don’t owe me anything for that.”

This time his smile was more of a smolder. “Yes, I’m aware. But I’ve decided you are as cute as a button and I don’t see a wedding ring. I’m new to this city. Don’t know a single soul, as my only mate is now currently on the other side of the world, and I thought maybe we could share company. Over, say, dinner?”

Sinead’s jaw nearly dropped. She was on a call. He had been, upon her arrival, a suspect. And he was way too handsome. Handsome men like him made her nervous. So of course she did the opposite of what made sense.

“Uh, okay.”

He made a little fist pump in the air. “Yes! Success. Does tomorrow work?”

It did. She was off work the next two days. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “If you’ll put your name and number in there, I’ll ring you tomorrow and we can settle on a time.”

Sinead took the phone with a sense of surrealism. Was this actually happening? She took a call that led to her meeting David, the most attractive man she’d ever seen. Now she was going on a date with him.

“This doesn’t really happen to me,” she muttered, staring down at the phone in her hand.

“What’s that? You’re saying you don’t normally date the people you come to arrest in the middle of the night?”

This time she laughed. “No, it happens very infrequently that I’m willing to have dinner with suspected criminals.”

“This will be a first, then.”

Smiling, Sinead typed her name and number into his phone as a contact. Maybe she would hear from him again, maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe this was just his thing, to be handsome and charming. His phone was probably full of women’s names and numbers he’d collected over the years.

Sucker that she was, she added hers to the list.

Better than Charlie Hunnam handsome. There was no woman who could resist that.

“Goodnight. And remember to get your friend to give you the correct security code as soon as possible.”

“Will do. Goodnight Sinead. See you tomorrow.”

“Yep,” she said, still not convinced she would ever hear from him again. She walked back outside the house and to her cruiser. When she pulled out of the driveway, she noticed he was still standing in the front doorway, watching her retreat. He lifted his hand in a casual send-off wave, and ridiculously she waved back.