Page 29 of Take a Hike
“But, Chief—”
“Go.” Early’s firm tone cut Chase off, and the ginger slunkaway, presumably to start his inventory. Charlie couldn’t hold back a smirk. That had been very satisfying to watch. Turning back to Kieran, the chief muttered, “We need to get caffeine into everyone. Maybe one of the medics can set it up on an IV drip. You get your meeting finished, or do you need my office for a while longer?”
“We’re done.” Even though he was talking to his boss, Kieran still sounded as cranky as ever, although he did add a grudging, “Thanks.”
The chief just grinned. “At least you’re always the same, coffee or no coffee. Enjoy your days off then.” He greeted Fifi and Bennett before turning to Charlie. He gave her a friendly—albeit assessing—look as he held out his hand to shake. “You must be Felicity’s sister—Charlie, is it?”
“It is.” Once again, she was impressed by the efficiency of the small-town gossip pipeline. “And you must be Fire Chief Early, who very kindly let us have this satellite murder club meeting in your office.”
Although he blinked at the murder club reference, he quickly recovered, grinning at her. “The very one. Let me know if I can be of any help.”
“Will do.” In fact, she could check his helpfulness levels right at this very moment. “Any idea who locked us in the coffee shop and turned it into an oversized smoker grill?”
“Nope,” the chief said. “My part is to figure out the origins and causes of fires. The coffee shop was definitely arson—and an obvious one at that—so I left the rest of the investigation up to the sheriff. She’s the one to ask.”
“Yeahhh…” Charlie drew out the word as she headed for the door. “We’ll consider asking the sheriff plan B—or maybe plan F or G. We’re not her favorite people.”
“She likes me just fine,” Kieran said smugly.
Did he just make a joke?Charlie was struck silent for a whole three seconds before she huffed a laugh. “Well, sure she does,” she said once she’d recovered. “She has eyeballs, doesn’t she?”
“What does that mean?”
“Good to meet you, Chief,” she said over her shoulder as they left his office. “If I ever need to know the origin and cause of a fire, you’ll be the first one I’ll come to.”
“Thanks?”
As Fifi and Bennett said goodbye to Early, Charlie returned her attention Kieran, still slightly in shock that Kieran was actually joking around with her. It was a bit like bantering with a shark—she was well aware that at any moment, he could bite her head clean off—but that knowledge just gave the whole conversation an exhilarating edge. “It means that your face and body are extremely…likable.”
Especially at this moment, when his scowl had lightened into something close to astonishment and he had a very adorable bit of side-eye happening, but Charlie wasn’t about to say that part out loud. She was already calling him hot.
“Are you calling me hot?”
“See, your surprise at that just adds to your appeal,” she said.
“But that’s just illogical.”
He’d managed to lose her, and Charlie didn’t like that. She prided herself on her ability to banter with the best of them.“Your hotness is illogical?”
“No, that the sheriff likes me because of my…alleged hotness.” He sounded like he choked a bit on the last two words. “If that were true, she’dreallylike you, and from what I’ve seen, she can’t stand you.”
“Awe, Kiki.” She stopped in the middle of the parking lot. Somehow, she hadn’t noticed their walk through the hostile firefighters and out of the station. Kieran was apparently a master distractor. “Are you calling me hot?”
He winced at the nickname but didn’t protest out loud, which was a bit disappointing. Charlie prided herself on choosing nicknames that people loathed. Instead, he snorted and gave her a look of disdain. “You know you’re gorgeous.”
“I do?” She had a twin, so she knew she was cute from staring at Cara’s face her whole life, but she’d never considered that she fell intogorgeousterritory. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.Adorable, maybe, when my dimples are showing, but—”
“Stunning,” he interrupted. When she stared at him, once again shocked into silence, his cheekbones reddened. “You’re stunning when your…” He coughed, dropping her gaze as his scowl reemerged, and the rest of his words sounded like they came out through gritted teeth. “When your…dimples are showing.”
She was straight flummoxed by that, so much that she couldn’t think of anything to say. She’d always thought of herself as strong and smart and maybe a little too brave, but she’d never even considered the idea that anyone would find herstunningorgorgeous. After opening and closing her mouth soundlessly a couple of times, she was a little relieved when Fifi and Bennettcaught up with them.
“What’s going on?” Fifi asked, looking between Kieran and Charlie with her eyes alight with avid curiosity.
“Hmm?” Charlie non-answered before tearing her gaze away from Kieran’s grumpy face, which looked impossibly more attractive when he blushed. “Oh, nothing much. Just discussing where to go from here.”
From Fifi’s narrowed eyes, she knew that for the lie it was, but Charlie held her innocent look until her sister gave an annoyed huff. “Fine. I’ll get it out of you later. Right now, Bennett and I are going to meet Lou and the coroner at the Simpson Bar, see if she can tell us anything about Cobra’s remains.”
“Be careful,” Charlie said.
