Katrin drew back from him, a teasing grin making her cheeks cave in. “Behave.”
“We’ll see…” Erik winked, releasing her.
He took her bag and threw it in the back seat as she settled into the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt and wishing she wasn’t so damn transparent. Friends, Katrin. Remember? There are no other options for now.
She smiled brightly. “So, where are we off to?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I know it’s not my bedroom.”
“Pity, that. You took my first choice out of the running by insisting on fresh air so you’ll just have to wait and let the day unfold. How about that?”
Katrin settled back in her seat, willing her mouth not to turn up in approval. She wasn’t a huge fan of surprises, but she was strangely comfortable with Erik in charge.
“Okay.”
She glanced over at him and goose bumps popped up on her arms. He was too gorgeous. He’d been out in the sun, because he had a pretty decent tan now that was set off by a crisp white golf shirt. A gold watch on his wrist was held on with a light brown leather strap and she wished she could reach over and touch it. She knew it would be warm, and for one insane moment, she was jealous of that watch strap which spent all day, every day pressed against his skin.
She flicked her glance up to his face and smiled. His hair was cut short in that crew-cut style, but he’d smoothed it out with some gel or mousse or something, and it looked damp even though it couldn’t be after driving all the way from Kalispell. He was wearing aviator glasses with metal frames. Old school. Like Top Gun. Like a fighter pilot, or a—
“So, do I pass inspection?”
Her mouth dropped open, and she jerked her head to face forward, feeling her face flush with heat. How embarrassing to be caught checking him out! “Mm-hm.”
Peripherally, she could see him grinning as he looked over at her twice in quick succession. “Oh, come on. You can check me out all you want. Don’t be embarrassed.”
“I’m not.” She was.
“Really?”
“Really,” she insisted, squirming. “You’re getting a tan.”
“Yep. Little one.”
“Been outdoors a lot?”
“A little,” he replied, smiling askance. “I did a couple of ride-alongs this week, which was sort of cool. Put a little bit of my training into action.”
“You know? I don’t actually know what you do.”
He grinned at her. “I’m just in training right now, but eventually I’ll be training other law enforcement officers in Drug Recognition. Teaching them how to give field sobriety tests, that sort of thing. Once I get some expertise, I’ll be able to testify on various substances and behaviors.”
No wonder he’d been genuinely interested to learn more about Wade. It wasn’t just that he’d felt sorry for her, and made her feel relieved. “So you’ll be a teacher, after all.”
“Of a sort, I guess. Also an officer.”
“Do you carry a firearm?”
“I’m licensed to carry. And I did this week when I joined some uniformed officers on a drug bust. But, not in the lab or the classroom, of course.”
It fascinated her that he’d taken a more academic approach to his law enforcement career. Impressed her too, though she suddenly wondered if he was in any danger. It made her heart clench to think of Erik in danger. She didn’t want to think about it.
“Are you liking it? I mean, you changed your whole life for this job, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I did. I mean, after high school, I joined my father leading tours. Nils and Lars were already doing tours too, so it made sense. And then I bartended in the evenings and picked up extra hours when my father didn’t need help. It just wasn’t enough, you know?”
“It sounds like a lot actually. Two jobs.”
“No, I mean, it was enough work, yes. But, it wasn’t what I wanted. I like Gardiner, you know? I was born there, and my folks lived there their whole lives and all. It was just…the park, and my family. I wanted more than that for me. I felt stuck.”
“How do you mean stuck?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t consider having a life outside of Gardiner. I allowed myself to believe that the world was there in that little town.” His voice was regretful. “It was my sister who—I don’t know, she decided to leave. And she struggled to figure out what to do. She fell in love with Sam over a long weekend when they stood proxy for Ing and your brother—well, you know the story better than me, probably.”
Katrin nodded. “Possibly the most romantic story ever told. Jenny and Sam meet standing proxy for Ing and Kris, and end up falling in love at Christmastime? Hallmark should make it into a movie.”
He chuckled lightly. “Yeah, but you should have seen her after Sam left. It was bad—really bad. She was a mess. I think she was scared to leave Gardiner. You know, to leave me, and my father and the boys. I told you how bad it was when our Mamma passed on, and it scared her and she got stuck, and maybe she couldn’t leave.”
“And you think the same happened to you?” Katrin shifted her body, crossing her legs toward him. She noticed that he had slipped into colloquial Swedish in calling his mother Mamma, and it warmed Katrin’s heart to hear the sweet childish nickname.
“I guess so.” He was clearly more comfortable talking about Jenny. “But Sam walked into her life and she eventually left with him. It was like the glass box holding her shattered into pieces, and she could leave.”
“And so could you.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You changed the course of your whole
