Page 71 of Hold Your Breath
“No!” Grabbing a plastic coffee stirrer, she tossed it at him. Although it fluttered down harmlessly between them, Derek ducked as if she’d hurled a pot of hot coffee at him. “Not yet.”
His eyes widened as he sat up straight, and she instantly regretted letting the words slip. “So, there’s a plan to knock boots in the future then? Theimmediatefuture?”
As hot as her cheeks were, she knew her face had to be bright red. She lifted her hands to cover them, closing her eyes with an embarrassed groan. The sound of the sleigh bells made her eyes pop open again.
When Callum walked into the shop, she held back another groan at Derek’s delighted grin. Callum raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“Hi?” she said, not sure why she raised her voice in question.
“Hi.” Looking hard at Derek—who looked ready to burst into gales of laughter—Callum hesitated, then abruptly crossed the shop until he stood in front of her. Before she had any inkling of his intent, he leaned in and kissed her. It was short but hard, leaving her staring at him with startled eyes and tingling lips.
He turned toward Derek, although he stayed so close to her that he would just need to move a half inch for them to be touching. Lou blinked. How had they gone from three abbreviated kisses to full-on PDA?
“Derek.” Callum lifted his chin in greeting.
“Hey, Cal.” Derek’s beaming smile did not dim at all at the other man’s cool welcome. He opened his mouth to say something else, but whatever outrageous thing that was going to emerge was cut off by the sheriff’s entrance.
“Rob!” Lou knew she sounded much too excited to see him, but she was dreading Derek’s next quip. Whatever he was going to say, it was guaranteed to be embarrassing.
“Lou.” Rob took her overeager greeting in stride. “Is now a good time to finish our discussion?”
“Sure.” The shop was empty except for the four of them. “See you later, Derek?”
“You know it.” His grin was still in place as he stood. “We have a discussion of our own to finish.”
“No, we don’t,” she said quickly—too quickly, judging by the way Callum’s head snapped around. Grimacing, she mouthed, “I’ll explain later,” at Cal, who, after a stiff pause, nodded. Derek was practically chortling as he pushed open the door, exiting the shop with a final wave. Sighing, Lou poured Cal’s coffee into a to-go cup.
The sheriff eyed Callum, who returned his stare for a long second before turning to Lou and trading the coffee for a five-dollar bill.
“I’d better get back,” he said reluctantly. When he leaned in this time, Lou was prepared, turning her face so his lips met her cheek instead of her mouth. She met his glower with a stern look of her own. PDAs required a prior discussion and agreement by both involved parties. He couldn’t just go throwing his testosterone around because there were other males lurking nearby.
His irritated look slipped into his usual expressionless mien as he turned toward the sheriff.
“See you, Rob,” he said before moving toward the door. “I’ll talk to you later, Lou.” That short statement was filled with all sorts of implications. She just smiled at him, although she probably looked like a pissed-off tiger with the way her teeth were set. His mouth softened into a barely there smirk right before he stalked out of the shop.
“It’s getting serious, then? The two of you?” Rob asked, bringing her attention off the door and back to the sheriff’s curious face.
“Is it Ask-Lou-About-Her-Relationships day or something?” she snapped, but immediately softened. “Sorry. Long day. Long week, actually.”
“My fault,” he said. “None of my business. I’d just been considering… Never mind.” His voice turned brisk, and her curiosity ramped up to cat-killing levels. “I just had a couple more questions for you.”
Rob covered some of the same ground they’d been over before, about Lou’s relationship with Brent. She snorted a laugh.
“Guess itisAsk-Lou-About-Her-Relationships day,” she explained, when Rob raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Never mind. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but my parents were so happy when I started dating Brent that I just went along with it. When I was in college, I’d try to end things with him, but he’d get really angry.”
Rob frowned. “Was he abusive?”
“Not physically.” She dropped her eyes to the counter. “He’d yell and threaten and throw things, but he never hit me. It was scary, though, and my parents would always push me to take him back, so it was just easier to be officially together and avoid him as much as possible.” Lou cringed at how spineless she’d been. “I’d even find excuses to skip the twice-a-year family trip to Barbados because my parents invited him along.” When Rob looked surprised—well, as surprised as the sheriff ever allowed himself to look—she nodded. “I know. Mom and Dad love this guy—probably more than me at this point. But I got to where I didn’t want to be around him, to the point of giving up opportunities to scuba dive.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “You’ll get plenty of chances now that you’re on the dive team.”
“Yeah,cold-water diving.” Lou made a face. “Somehow, it’s just not as fun as diving in a bikini with the tropical fish.”
That brought an actual smile. “Guess not.”
Afraid that her complaint made her sound like a spoiled princess, she hurried to add, “The dive team is awesome, though. Helping to save people’s lives is in a whole other realm than paddling around, looking at sea life. It’s worth the cold.”
“I get that,” he said seriously. “That’s why I do this job.”
