“What was your nightmare about?” he asked.
“I don’t remember.” She opened her door. “I thought you said you were hungry?”
Brick knew a nightmare when he saw one. He found himself watching Mo out of the corner of his eye as they took a booth inside the café.
After the waitress brought them menus and water, he opened his, but found himself distracted by what had happened in the pickup earlier. Mo had been sleeping soundly when she began whimpering. He’d asked if she was all right, but hadn’t gotten an answer. Her whimpering had become louder and stronger and she began to quiver until he’d reached over and touched her arm.
She’d come unglued, swinging her fists at him, her blank blue eyes filled with terror. Did this have something to do with Natalie and her fears that the woman was telling the truth and Tricia didn’t take her own life? Or was there more about Maureen Mortensen that he had to worry about?
“I’ll take the special, the chicken-fried steak,” Mo was saying. “Mashed, white gravy and the salad with blue cheese.”
He hadn’t realized that the waitress had come back until Mo spoke. He closed his menu. “I’ll take the same.” He could feel her staring at him.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” she said, when the waitress had picked up the menus and moved away.
“Wouldn’t order what you did?”
She mugged a face. “Wouldn’t ask.”
He nodded sagely. “Wouldn’t ask about your nightmare. I’m guessing it isn’t your first. I say that because I’ve had a few of my own lately.”
Mo seemed surprised to hear that.
Brick looked away. “Supposedly I almost died after being shot. But I don’t think that’s what’s causing the nightmares. I killed a man after he shot me.”
“Your first.” It wasn’t a question. She picked up her fork and her napkin and began to polish the tines.
“What about you? Have you had to kill someone as a cop?”
She put down the fork and picked up the knife and began polishing it. “Why did you order the same thing I did?”
The woman was anything but subtle when it came to changing the subject. “I wasn’t paying any attention to what was on the menu. I was more concerned about you.”
“Having doubts about coming with me now because I had a bad dream?”
He shook his head. “I had doubts about going anywhere with you long before that.” Their gazes met across the expanse of the table and held for a long moment. He felt heat race along his veins.
The waitress put down their salads, breaking their connection. Mo laid her knife down and picked up her fork again. He watched her eat her salad, wondering if she’d felt that flutter at heart level that he had just moments ago. The waitress brought the rest of their food and Mo dug in, avoiding his gaze. He was hungry too and happy to just eat in the companionable silence that fell between them.
“You’re a cowboy, right?” she asked halfway through the meal. “So why follow your dad into law enforcement?”
“I grew up on Cardwell Ranch, yes. But I never wanted to just be a rancher.” He shrugged. “When I heard that a deputy marshal position was opening up, I thought, why not? I found out that I could do a lot of my year at the police academy online. The rest I’ll do once I get my medical release.” He looked up and met her blue eyes and again felt as if he was falling down a deep well before she shifted her gaze back to her plate. “When Natalie stumbled out into the street in front of my pickup that night...” He shook his head. “The more I learned about this case, the more I wanted to know what happened.”
“You want to solve it.”
“Don’t you?”
She shrugged and continued eating for a moment. “Law enforcement isn’t for everyone. It can be dangerous and soul-stealing. It can take you to places you never wanted to go and can never forget.” She looked up, locking eyes with him. “It can change you into a person you no longer recognize.”
“Was it law enforcement that did that? Or Natalie Berkshire?”
Mo said nothing as she finished her meal. But her words were still haunting him as they left the café. As they climbed into the pickup to drive to the closest motel, he saw her freeze for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” He followed her gaze up the street.
“Nothing. I thought I saw... Never mind. I just imagined it. Let’s go.”
But he noticed how quiet she was as they checked into a room with two beds. Had she thought she’d seen Natalie? Or someone else?
“And yes, I got us just one room because I don’t trust you, in case you’re wondering,” he said as she looked at the two queen beds that took up most of the space.
“If I wanted to get away from you, I could.”
“So why haven’t you?”
She seemed to study him. “I either like your company or I think you might come in handy.”
He raised a brow. “Let’s be clear. I’m here to keep you from doing anything stupid when we find Natalie.”
Mo smiled as she closed the distance between them. “I asked around the jail about you. I know about your reputation with women. You’re a heartbreaker.”
He started to object, but she placed a finger against his lips to silence him.
“You won’t be breaking my heart, and please don’t take that as a challenge.” She had a great smile. Her lips turned up at one corner a little more than the other. It was cute. She was more than cute. She was adorable, but also dangerous if the pounding of his heart was any indication.
He pulled her finger from his lips. “Like I said—”
“Right, you’re just here to protect Natalie and me from myself.” She moved within a breath of her lips touching his lips. “Then I should be able to rest peacefully tonight knowing you
