Page 30 of Kiss of Deceit

“We wandered off the trail,” I said smoothly. “We’ll head back to town.”

“Kole?”

“Yeah, Brett. See you at happy hour tomorrow.”

Brett sighed. “Just get out of here.”

Dani was already stalking toward the trees, giving me a wide berth. Brett stayed near the fence with the flashlight on us until I followed her, and we were concealed by the shadows.

“Go away,” she bit out as she rushed forward.

“We’re going to the same place.”

I nearly ran into her when she abruptly spun around to face me, jabbing a finger into my chest.

“I don’t trust you,” she hissed vehemently. “I don’t care if we live together. Find a different way home.”

I studied her, keeping my voice calm. “I don’t think you trust anyone. I’m no different.”

“You know nothing about me.” She withdrew her hand but stayed close enough I could see her features. “Why were you following me?”

“The truth?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, please lie to me.”

Her words reminded me of the night she dropped her towel in front of me. Did she believe the worst of everyone? That people just lied?

“With your job, you should know when I’m lying.”

Her gaze locked on mine, not looking surprised. She’d never told me where she was working, but it had been easy to find out. I knew she was at the sheriff’s station since the second day she was here.

“You study human behavior for your job, don’t you?” I asked, cocking my head.

“I studycriminalbehavior,” she tossed back. “Should I be analyzing you, Kole? Do you have stalker tendencies?”

I chuckled roughly. “I know one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“The reason I followed you tonight…I can’t get you out of my fucking head. But you already know that.”

She went still, only her chest moving as she sucked in shallow breaths. She took a large step back, and I followed, causing a scowl to appear on her lips as she attempted to create space between us.

“Am I lying, Dani?” I asked her roughly. “Am I following you for my own selfish desires? Or do you think I’m a danger to you?”

“I think people in this town are keeping secrets,” she snapped, changing the subject.

“Secrets like what?”

“Why is there a security fence and people patrolling if this is just a box factory?” She cocked her head. “Why is no oneinvestigating when knives were stolen? Why aren’t there any kids in this town?”

With her working at the police station, I should have known she would hear about the robbery at the butcher shop. But she was asking too many questions.

“You were the first one at the butcher shop,” she said, surprising me. “According to the report, Jerry went to you before Harry.”

“People here expect me to help,” I ground out. “You need to mind your own business.”

“Crime in this town is my business,” she shot back. “Yet, no one told me about it until I overheard Harry and found the report on my own. There’s no investigation happening. No bringing in people to question. Why?”