He just grunted again.
“We really need to expand your repertoire, Allan. You can’t just go through life grunting at everyone. Especially on the job. PAVAD kind of frowns on it in group discussion, you know. It’s unproductive.”
“I wouldn’t be working directly with a team of ever-evolving PAVAD agents. Definitely not the Complex Crimes unit. It would be my own unit. With my own team.” That was one of the biggest draws. Control. He had to admit—she had pegged him correctly in that regard. “I’ll get to pick my team. Whichever agents I want from whoever submits for the positions.”
“Hmm. Maybe I’ll submit for one. Just for a change of pace. I’m always up for a challenge. But then we’d have to work together on a regular basis. I’m not sure you’re the kind of boss I want just yet.”
He barely managed it, but he was able to bite back the instinctive grunt. The last thing he would do was pick Miranda Talley to work with him so closely. Not with the way she clouded every bit of his better judgment.
He made himself a resolution in that moment as he braked for what had to be the Della County single stoplight. There was no way he was ever going to let these inconvenient feelings for her influence his behavior in any way, shape, or form.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t you want me on your team? I’m a good agent, and I’ll be a good profiler when I pass the testing.”
“I have no doubt about it.”
“Then why?”
Knight had never been much of a liar. “Because you, Dr. Talley, are too much of a distraction.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”
Knight couldn’t help it. He just grunted.
“Allan, I said something to you. You say something to me. It’s called conversation.”
“Screw conversation. Conversation is drastically overrated.”
“Have you always felt this way?”
“Want me on your couch, Dr. Talley, for a fifty-minute session?” That had been the wrong thing to say. Images of her long, curvy body stretched out on his couch slammed into him.
He almost groaned aloud. He was almost ready to call and request an appointment to the most remote posting possible.
Just to get away from her.
“Do you feel you need a session with a psychiatrist? Want to do a Rorschach test?”
“Did your grandmother ever spank your ass as a child?”
“Of course not. Grandma doesn’t believe in corporal punishment. Why do you ask? Did your father spank you?”
“Which one? I grew up in foster care.” It slipped out before he thought it through. “Not something I’m going to talk about, doc.”
“Of course not.” She turned serious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“Sure you didn’t. You have questions. It’s written all over your pretty face.”
“Is it?” She shot him a quick grin.
“Will you stop doing that? Anyone ever tell you that you are annoying?”
“I’ve heard that before. But…you’ve met my sisters and cousins. I’m the only normal one in my family.”
He grunted. None of the Talleys of Masterson County were all that normal. Tall, beautiful, intelligent, and kind, they drew men. Especially in an area like Masterson, Wyoming, where the women obviously were grossly outnumbered by single men. That brought up one thing he had wondered about. “Why aren’t any of your cousins or your sisters—or you—married? There’s obvious interest. You and Gunderson seem to be…close.”
“We are. If you’re all that interested, I dated Levi in high school and Clint when I was in college.”
“Why didn’t it work out with either of them?”
“Levi and I were never that serious. But he was a great first boyfriend. Kind, caring, respectful. Fun and daring, but very, very hardworking. He was always focused on staying in Masterson and running his father’s ranch. In building his own enterprise. He’s really doing well at it, too. His wife, Pan, is perfect for him. She does the books for the restaurant now. She’s been talking to several people in town about starting her own bookkeeping business when she’s finished with her degree. I guess she’s doing online classes again.”
He didn’t care about Levi Masterson or his wife. They were just more people in this town he hadn’t yet figured out. Everything seemed so perfectly bucolic and down-home wholesome around here. They probably hadn’t even seen a foster kid in Masterson County, Wyoming before. “And Gunderson? What’s your deal with him?”
A soft sigh came out. Knight looked at her quickly. Her expression had softened. It told him all he needed to know. “You loved him.”
“I did. Do. It just…I wanted more than Masterson County. Unlike my sisters, I loved moving around from military base to military base. Don’t get me wrong, I love it in Masterson County, too. It will always be home to me. And if I ever move back here, I could be very happy. But Clint…he’s seven years older, did a two-year law-enforcement degree at the community college an hour away from where he lived, and was planning to just stay here. He is the one who ended it between us. Not me.”
“You want to change that? Get back with him?”
She laughed. “No. We’ve grown apart, and I do know that. I’m not the type of woman Clint needs, and he’s not the type of man I need. Not now.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t tell, but I suspect I may be a tad too independent for Clint now. And I strongly suspect he may be half in love with someone else. Or still in love with his late wife. Either way, he’s not emotionally available.”
“Too bad.”
“Maybe. He’s always been that way, though. Closed off. I think that’s what attracted us to each other in the beginning.”
“Opposites attract?” He could understand that. He’d just found himself identifying with Clint Gunderson, after all. He was the exact opposite of the woman next to him. “Was that what it was?”
“I think it
