“Sure,” he said finally. “What do you have in mind?”
She was beginning to wish she’d never brought it up. It occurred to her that if Eric wasn’t into the enterprise, it wasn’t going to be very enjoyable for her, either. “Well,” she began, “I looked online and saw the obstacle course I’ll need to complete for the test. What I want to do is recreate it as best I can here at home. Could you come by after work and help me figure it out? I could feed you dinner afterward.”
“Dinner sounds good.” His voice deepened to the tone of a man appreciating being waited on by a woman. Stella squashed a rush of irritation. Eric didn’t mean anything by it; he was flattered, that was all. “I can’t make it tonight, though,” he went on. “I could do it day after tomorrow.”
Relief washed over her, which made her sigh. She shouldn’t have invited Eric at all if she didn’t want him to come. “That’s okay,” she made herself say brightly.
“Meanwhile, how about lunch tomorrow? Can you join me in Silver Falls?”
Damn it, he’d done an end-run around her plan to keep things light. Although lunch was light, she told herself. “Why Silver Falls?” she asked curiously.
“I have an appointment out that way. Do you have something planned already?” he pressed when she didn’t answer right away.
Unable to lie, Stella said, “No, but—”
“Top Spot Café,” he said. “Noon.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “See you at work.”
“See y—”
She cut the call before he’d finished his answer, disgusted with herself for falling into this trap. No, not trap. She couldn’t think of another word for it. Eric liked her, plain and simple. He wasn’t interested in training with her. Didn’t care whether she became a deputy. He simply wanted to be her boyfriend. She had no doubt he’d be the perfect companion at the movies or dinner or on a moonlit walk. He’d probably be a considerate and capable lover, too. He wasn’t looking for a colleague, however. He was looking for a woman who would let him be a man.
That wasn’t what she was looking for at all—so why had she even called him in the first place?
Stella took a deep breath and tried to calm her whirling thoughts. It was just a lunch date. Eric wouldn’t push her to do anything she didn’t want to do. She was so buried in her own ambitions these days she was having trouble seeing the good in him. He was a nice guy—the kind of guy she should want. He certainly wanted her. What was wrong with that?
What was wrong was that even now, all she could think about was Steel’s hands on her waist as she’d danced with him weeks ago. The earthy, male smell of him when she’d breathed him in. The way her pulse had leaped when his breath feathered over her cheek—
Stella put her phone away and plunged her hands into the soapy water again. This was the last time she’d take relationship advice from Maya.
“What do you want, creeper?” the girl said, giving Steel the kind of scathing once-over only a teenager can pull off. Lily Barnes was blonde. Maybe seventeen. Dressed in cut-off jean shorts and a clingy top she must have bought in a mall in Billings or Bozeman. Steel knew her family from around Chance Creek but had never spoken to her before and wondered why she and two of her friends would choose to kill time at the pit.
“The question is, what do you want?” He didn’t blame her for her caution. He was doing his best to act like the kind of guy who sold illicit drugs to little kids. Not the kind of person any self-respecting young woman would want around her. Why a self-respecting young woman was hanging out in the pit at all was anyone’s guess.
“I doubt you’ve got anything I’d be interested in.”
Lily was pretending to be tough, but Steel knew she lived in one of the nicer houses in Chance Creek. Her father was a dentist. Her mother volunteered at their church. Lily should have been prepping to head to Montana State, not hanging out with a bunch of losers in a vacant lot. Her companions, Lara Whidby and Sue Hill, were from similar circumstances.
Steel understood when some of the more disaffected youth from Chance Creek slipped through the cracks, but these weren’t girls sidelined by poverty or social awkwardness or anything like that. Healthy, pretty, privileged girls from good families. What were they doing here?
In fact, why hang out in Silver Falls at all?
“You like to party?” he made himself ask.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Get lost, creeper; we’re busy.”
“Yeah, get lost,” Lara echoed.
Lily looked up at the sky as if there was nothing worth seeing around here, but Sue was watching the street.
“I’ve got connections,” Steel ventured.
“For God’s sake, don’t you understand English?” Lily said. “Get. Lost.”
“What are you looking for? I can help you find it.”
Before Lily could answer, Lara straightened, focusing on something behind Steel—a vehicle that was approaching. Lara’s shoulders tensed, and she glanced at Steel. “Lily,” she said warningly.
Lily caught sight of it, too. “Shit,” she said disgustedly. “Damn it, creeper, get the hell away from us.”
Sue just smiled, as if she knew something entertaining was about to happen.
“Go.” Lily waved her hands at Steel as if she could waft him away like an unpleasant odor. When he didn’t move, she rolled her eyes again. “It’s a cop,” she said.
“A Chance Creek cop,” Lara echoed.
Sue stayed where she was, that smile playing about her lips. It was the smile of a rich girl who knew she wouldn’t get in trouble but someone else might.
Someone like him.
They had to be wrong, though. That wasn’t a
