Page 7 of Duty and Desire

I remove my jacket and start to take the seat facing the restaurant but stop when Noah carefully moves me to the bench on the opposite side of the table. He waits until I’m seated before sliding into the booth across from me.

Well, okay then.

“I’m Holly and will be your waitress this morning. Would either of you like coffee or a mimosa while you look this over?” She hands each of us a menu.

“I would love a cup of coffee, please.” I smile at her. She smiles back, then looks at Noah, who asks for the same.

“I’ll be right back.” She takes off, and I tuck my bag and coat into the space next to me, lifting my eyes to Noah and finding him scanning the room.

“So, you want to be a detective?”

At my question, his gaze moves to me, and he relaxes in his seat. “Yeah.” He takes off his hat. “I’ve been working toward it for a while now, but my station is small, so there’s not much turnaround.”

“But something opened up?” I guess, and he nods.

“A week ago, a detective retired, and a spot became available. A few of us applied for the position, so now we have to wait and see who gets chosen.”

“You’ll get it,” I tell him, then lean back when Holly stops at the end of the table to drop off our coffees.

“Do you two need a few more minutes?” she asks.

“Yes, please,” I tell her. She nods before taking off once more. With her gone, I take the tiny pot of creamer she set down, dump some into my cup, then pass it to Noah. “And it sounded like if you don’t get it, you can get that position somewhere else.”

“Except I don’t want to go anywhere else,” he tells me while pushing a container of sugar packets toward me.

“Why not?”

“I love my town, the people here, and the men and women I work with. Not saying there’s anything wrong with Nashville, but I’ve never had a desire to work in the city.”

“I can understand that.”

“Do you miss living near the city?” he asks, and my nose scrunches.

“No. I mean, I miss Starbucks being just a two-minute drive from my house and not having to go so far to get to the grocery store, but I don’t miss the city and its traffic.” I pick up my coffee and take a sip, then grab the menu from where I placed it and start looking it over, figuring I should find something to eat before Holly comes back. “So, what’s good here?”

“Everything,” he says, and I smile at him.

“That’s not helpful.”

“But it’s true,” he replies. I settle on a biscuit breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, and cheese.

And he’s not wrong. It’s delicious. But what is even better is enjoying it while sitting across from him. Because even if the morning started off strange, by the end of breakfast, my nerves have settled, and all the awkwardness from earlier is long gone.

CHAPTER 4

IGNORE IT

Noah

Sitting next to Bridgett in a chair three sizes too small in an office at the car dealership, I listen to Hunter, the loan specialist, explain the limited warranty the car comes with. As he carries on, I glance over at Bridgett and find her looking adorably confused and cute as fuck as she jots down notes on a notepad while nibbling on her bottom lip. When I started thinking of her asadorableandcuteis something I can’t figure out, especially when I just thought of her as Aiden’s stuck-up, bitchy little sister for years.

What I do know is that I need to shake off the urge I have to protect her. Particularly when that urge comes from a place that has nothing to do with her being my best friend’s little sister and everything to do with the fact that she is a beautiful fucking woman who is going through some fucked-up shit.

“What do you think?”

Her question drags me out of my thoughts, and I dip my chin to meet her gaze.

“About what?” I ask as Hunter leaves the small office we have been in for the last forty-five minutes.