Page 26 of Bachelor Cop Finally Caught? (Hot off the Press! 2)

“Why would she think that?”

“Well…you know. I’m B.J.’s friend. I’ve known her since she was a kid. I wouldn’t want her to think of me as an overprotective older brother.”

“You think Lindsey regards you as a brother?”

Dan couldn’t quite read Riley’s expression. “Maybe not as a brother. Certainly as her brother’s contemporary.”

“Hmm.” Riley stuffed his mouth with fries again.

Dan set

his fork down. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Swallowing, Riley took a drink of his cola before asking, “What does what mean?”

“How do you think Lindsey thinks of me?”

Riley looked across the room again. “I guess you’d have to ask her that.”

Which, of course, was something Dan had been carefully avoiding. Unable to resist any longer, he glanced over his shoulder.

The first thing he noticed was Lindsey laughing in a way he hadn’t seen her laugh in quite a while. She looked as if she were having a wonderful time. That observation shouldn’t be so disturbing to him.

His second realization was that she looked great. There was nothing overtly revealing about her outfit—a long-sleeved maroon T-shirt and khaki cargo pants—but the garments fit snugly enough to show off her slender, healthy figure.

The third thing he noticed—the one that made his frown deepen to a scowl—was that cowboy Bo was standing very close to her, one arm around her waist as he used his other to coach her in her bowling form.

“Looks like she’s getting some private bowling lessons,” Riley murmured, his tone as bland as his expression.

“It’s disgusting. The guy’s crawling all over her.”

“Strictly an older-brother-type observation, I take it?”

The truth was, Dan wasn’t feeling particularly fraternal just then. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, exactly—other than a simmering urge to personally remove Bo’s hands from Lindsey’s derriere.

Instead, he forced himself to turn back to his food. He noticed that Riley seemed to be watching him rather closely. “What?” he asked curtly.

Riley grinned and plucked a dripping French fry from the pile on his plate. “Not a thing, Chief. Not a thing.”

Dan glared down at his own half-empty plate, his appetite gone. Damn. Now he was getting indigestion.

All in all, this had been a hell of a day.

Even though she assured him it wasn’t necessary, Bo walked Lindsey to her door that evening. Trying to keep it casual, she gave him a breezy smile. “Well, I didn’t bowl as badly as I thought I would, considering how long it’s been.”

“Not bad at all,” he acknowledged graciously, as if he hadn’t completely stomped her in both the games they had played.

“I had a very nice time.”

“So did I. We should go out again sometime.”

“Sure. We’ll do that.” She kept the answer deliberately vague. She really had enjoyed the evening, and wouldn’t mind seeing Bo again. Someday. Maybe. But she didn’t want to give him the impression that she was interested in anything more than friendship at this point.

Bo stood by while she unlocked her front door. She was relieved that he didn’t seem to expect an invitation inside. Instead, he gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, then stepped back. “See ya, Lindsey.”

“See ya, Bo.”

She watched him lope to his truck, and then she turned and entered her house. Her smile faded almost as soon as she closed the door behind her.

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