“And I hope you wouldn’t if you did.” Spencer frowned at her.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Dani said, wrapping her arms around herself. “I won’t be taken in by a smooth-talking man again.”
“Good.” Spencer patted her shoulder. “You need to toughen up a little.”
“I guess. But I never want to get as cynical as I was when I worked HR.” Resolving to forget her ex and her other worries, Dani smiled and said, “I bet you’re starving. I should get cooking.” As she led him to the kitchen, she explained. “Everything’s prepped, but I’ll need about thirty minutes for the potatoes.”
“No problem,” Spencer assured her as his stomach let out a loud growl.
Dani laughed. “Fortunately for you, I have an artichoke caprese platter to tide you over. You can sit and munch while I get dinner.”
Once Spencer was settled at the counter with a beer and the appetizer, Dani set to work on the rest of the food. While the oven preheated, she cut the potatoes into thin slices, drizzled them with melted butter, sprinkled them with chives, then placed them in the microwave. Normally she’d have baked them, but this was faster.
Dani took the steak from the fridge, brushed it with olive oil, and rubbed it with a combination of chili powder, salt, pepper, and lime zest, then after squeezing lime juice on it, set the meat aside to rest for a few minutes.
This completed, Dani asked, “How did it go today?” Spencer had mentioned he’d supervised his staff at the rally against gender-based violence. He’d said he had excellent employees, but a lot were inexperienced.
“Better than I expected.” Spencer sipped his beer. “They’re a good group.”
“Didn’t you tell me that the police chief ’s husband’s son was one of them?” Dani asked as she started to toss carrots, onions, and mushrooms in olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
“Uh-huh,” Spencer mumbled around a mouthful of artichokes and mozzarella.
“Did he have anything interesting to say?” Dani asked, then as the microwave dinged, she pulled out the potatoes and sprinkled them with grated Romano and Parmesan cheeses. When Spencer was silent, she added, “About Vance King’s being arrested.”
“Well.” Spencer took a long swig of beer, then blew out a long breath and said, “I was going to wait until after dinner to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Dani’s pulse raced as she returned the potatoes to the microwave, then slid the steak and veggies into the oven.
“Vance was released this morning.” Spencer frowned. “His folks got him a fancy defense lawyer and he was able to have him released on bail.” He shrugged. “They got him for the breaking and entering, but all the evidence for Regina’s murder is circumstantial.”
“Which means Mikeloff might come after me again.” Dani sighed.
“Maybe,” Spencer admitted, his gaze fastened to the countertop.
“What do you think the likelihood of Mikeloff setting his sights on me might be?” Dani turned on the timer and started setting the table.
“Fifty-fifty.” Spencer peeled the label from his beer bottle. “If he pursues any other suspects, including you, he weakens the DA’s case against King.”
“But…” Dani took out glasses and filled them from the pitcher of water in the fridge. “You said fifty-fifty, so there’s a catch.”
“Mikeloff might be so fixated on vengeance for his nephew that he may not care about upsetting the DA.”
“Shit!”
“But there’s an equal chance he isn’t.” Spencer got up, rounded the island, and put his arm around her shoulder. “Try to forget about the murder and the idiotic detective and everything else. Tonight, let’s pretend that everything is okay.”
Chapter 24
Monday morning, Dani was still thinking about her nondate with Spencer. Once she had succeeded in putting thoughts of Detective Mikeloff’s vendetta out of her mind, she and Spencer had had a wonderful evening. While Spencer was both interesting and funny, unexpectedly, he was also sweet. He enjoyed her food, she enjoyed the nutty flavor of the beer he’d brought, and they’d both seemed to enjoy each other’s company.
With the girls out of the mansion, after Dani and Spencer ate, they moved to the family room for dessert. Handing Spencer his dish of raspberry fool, Dani had eyed the spot next to him on the sofa but took a seat on a nearby armchair instead. Although he’d given a few hints that he was attracted to her, he’d always backed away. Which meant she couldn’t be the one to move their relationship from the friend zone to something else. It had to be his choice.
When the grandfather clock had chimed twelve times, she was shocked. How had the time flown by so quickly? Spencer had seemed just as surprised but said his goodbyes and assured Dani he would call her if he heard anything about Regina’s case. She’d promised to do the same and walked him out to the porch.
For a minute, it had looked as if he might kiss her, but she must have been imagining things, because instead, he told her to get inside and lock the door. Once she complied and waved at him through the window, he turned and jogged down the steps.
Now, twenty-four hours later, as Dani sipped a cup of coffee, she finally admitted to herself that she was disappointed at how her Saturday had ended. Didn’t Spencer feel any attraction to her at all?
Shaking her head at her foolish heart, Dani opened a new Excel spreadsheet on her laptop. With Starr’s help, Dani had finished the lunch-to-go sacks early, leaving her a half hour before the first customers would arrive. And she was determined to figure out who killed Regina Bourne.
After typing the names of the suspects in Regina’s murder across the top—Laz, Vance, Bliss, and Gail—Dani considered what she knew about each one. Under Laz, she noted the nude picture of Bliss and his alcoholism. Vance’s column contained the memory card showing him
