Page 19 of Fall Into Temptation
“I’m going to kill that Anthony,” Eva grumbled. “I’ll have the Belgian triple please.”
“Stout for me,” Donovan said, handing Lila the menu.
“Any snacks?” she asked. “It’s been a slow night because of the meeting you called, so you should probably order food so you have to tip me more.”
Eva laughed and eyed Donovan. “I know it’s late, but I wouldn’t say no to nachos.”
“Nachos and the beer cheese soup,” he ordered. “Two spoons, please.”
Lila winked at them. “You got it. Be right back with your drinks.”
They sat staring at each other in silence for a moment.
“Sooo,” Eva began, propping her chin on her hand.
“Sooo.” He was nervous, and that was ridiculous. It was just a casual date. He could do this and not end up marrying the girl if he didn’t want to.
“What made you decide to be a cop?” she asked.
Okay. They were playing getting to know you. He could do that.Keep it casual, he reminded himself. Don’t mention marriage and white picket fences.Don’t do it.
“My mom was sheriff here for twenty years.”
“No, kidding? Really?” Eva’s eyes danced. They were lighter than her sisters’, more hazel than green. He couldn’t seem to look away from them.
“Yeah. Mom was sheriff, and Dad was fire chief.”
“Wow. So, public service is in the blood?”
He nodded. “How about you? A technical writer, right? How did you get into that?”
Eva waved a hand. “It’s what happens when a creative writing major can’t land a six-figure book deal right out of college. We take whatever job that comes along involving writing words. It’s nothing like what you do. I mean, you would put your life on the line to stand between your town and whatever danger is out there, right?”
Donovan ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I mean, that’s part of the job.”
“Part of the job?” she grinned. “You realize to us civilians that sounds insanely heroic. Your job requires you to put yourself in danger.”
“There’s not a lot of danger in Blue Moon,” he pointed out. He didn’t want Eva thinking he was something he wasn’t.
“Still. Bad things happen everywhere, and you’re one of the people who stops those bad things. What is it in a person’s character that makes that an acceptable risk? Are you less selfish than the rest of us?”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t take a bullet for someone?” Donovan asked, skirting her question.
“Sure, I would. But it’s a select few on the bullet-taking-for list.”
Lila returned with the drinks and napkins and then bustled off again into the thickening crowd.
“What about a stranger?” he pressed.
“I’d like to think I’d be brave and selfless and heroic, but how can anyone know how they’d react in a dangerous situation? That’s what training is for, right?”
Donovan picked up his beer, sipped. “Yeah. The training is so ingrained that it becomes reflex. You don’t have to fight your instincts. You just act.”
“Wow.” She took a contemplative taste of her beer and then switched glasses with him. “Mind sharing?”
“I don’t mind.” He drank from her glass, watching her. She closed her eyes and made an “mmm” noise. When they switched back, his fingers lingered over hers, or hers under his, and their gazes met.
She was the first to pull her hand away. “So, you got into this line of work because it’s what your family does. What do you think you’d be doing if your mom hadn’t been sheriff?”
