Page 23 of Through the Fire
After another pause, he blew out an audible breath. “Not Mr. March. I like how the other two sound when you say them, though. Could I have some time to think about this and get back to you?”
She laughed, a delighted huff that she couldn’t hold back. He was different, yes, but in a surprisingly lovely way, and talking with him was just what she needed after her terrifying experience. “Of course you can. Just let me know when you decide.”
His smile stretched wider, showing off that slight overlap of one tooth. “Thank you. For as pretty as you are, I didn’t expect you to be so nice.”
Kit rarely became flustered, but the unexpected, sideways compliment made her face warm. “Thank you. I actually thought the same thing when we met…well, pretty much the same thing.”
“You did?” His smile widened. “Why?”
Although she knew she should’ve just ended the conversation there and moved on to a more professional topic, her mouth ran ahead of her brain. “Well, look at you.”
Glancing down, he studied his front for a moment before he gave Kit a puzzled look.
“You’re…attractive.” She almost snorted at the understatement. “And you seem very nice.”
“Attractive?” His tone was doubtful as he looked down his front again. “I always thought I was just large and rather hairy.”
Despite her still-warm cheeks, the exchange was making her stomach buzz with excited interest, a feeling she hadn’t experienced for years. “Being large and hairy doesn’t mean you can’t also be handsome. And I think you’re—” What are you doing? Desperate to change topics, she blurted out, “Um, I like your robot.”
He smiled at her again, an ear-to-ear grin, and Kit found herself grinning back. Wes-slash-Wesley March’s smile, it seemed, was dangerously infectious.
Desperate to distract herself, she glanced around the room again, this time noticing more of the gadgets and equipment. That reminded her of the self-opening door that had spooked her when she’d first arrived. “Do you have a camera at the door? Is that how you see who’s there so you can open it remotely?”
“Yes, but after the first visit, I don’t have to open the door. Once I approve you in the system,” Wes explained, “the camera recognizes your facial features and automatically opens the door for you.”
“Huh.” Kit studied Wes, fascinated. “Did you design that?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impressive.”
He gave her his wide, happy smile, and the buzzing in her belly started up again. “The robo-cat, too?”
His eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What?” When she gestured at the little metal creature, his forehead smoothed. “Oh, it’s not a cat… At least, it wasn’t supposed to be. If anything, I was thinking more along the lines of a dog.”
“A dog?” Kit repeated, studying the mini-robot. “It’s awfully small, but then I’m used to bigger dogs. My K9 partner is a hundred pounds.”
Wes’s face lit up. “You’re in the K9 unit? What’s your dog’s specialty?”
“Tracking.” Kit beamed back. He’d hit on the one topic of conversation she could gush about all day. “Justice is a bloodhound, so he’s made for that.”
“It’s so fascinating how acute a dog’s sense of smell is,” Wes said, taking a step closer to her in his excitement. “Humans use sight almost to the detriment of our other senses. Dogs rely on scent over sight, which seems much more efficient. I can’t imagine that smell lies very often—not nearly as much as we’re fooled by what we think we see.”
“Exactly.” Kit shifted closer, nearly giddy to hear someone else—a very pretty someone else, too—bring up her pet topic. So often, people doubted Justice’s reliability because they couldn’t conceive of how an animal could detect something that they couldn’t. “Scent doesn’t lie. Even if someone figured out how to turn invisible, a dog would still know that they were there. We rely so much on our eyes that we miss seeing things that are right in front of us.”
Kit’s radio came to life as a sheriff’s deputy let the dispatcher know he was on duty, bringing Kit back to reality. Here with Wes in his tower, it was easy to forget about the outside world.
Pulling out her phone, she tapped the screen, starting an audio recording before pulling up a blank page on her note-taking app. Turning back toward Wes, she said, “I’m actually here to ask you a few questions about the fire you spotted this morning.” When he nodded, she started getting his personal information. “What’s your middle name?”
“Alden.”
“That’s unusual.” She typed out his full name.
“It used to be, but it’s actually gaining popularity, especially in Hawaii.”
“Really?” she asked, looking up from her phone. “That’s interesting. I wonder if that has anything to do with—”
The dispatcher responded to the deputy on the radio. The interruption reminded her that she needed to finish the interview and get back to canvassing the empty neighborhood, no matter how fascinating Wes was. Clearing her throat, she started again. “Sorry. You’re really easy to talk to.” When he gave her that ridiculously endearing smile of his, she forced herself to focus on taking notes so she wouldn’t be distracted.
