Falling Fast
Page 26

“Now you’re making it hard for me not to kiss you,” I tell him honestly.
“Not going to stop you,” he rumbles, as a smile spreads across his lips. “But just saying you could wait until I have you home to do it so I don’t have to pull away to go in and pick up our pizza.”
“Right,” I say, and his hand on my thigh tightens before he lets me go to pick up his phone and hand it to me.
“Call in our order. Number’s under Bob’s Pizza,” he instructs.
“What kind of pizza?”
“Whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t have fruit on it.”
“You mean pineapple?” I ask, and he smiles.
“Yeah, like pineapple. I do not eat fruit on my pizza.”
“Are you crazy?” I gape, and he looks over at me, grinning.
“I’m guessing you like to eat fruit on your pizza.”
“You cannot eat pizza without it,” I tell him honestly.
He laughs. “Order half whatever you want and half meat.”
“Meat pizza. Could you be any more of a guy?” I tease, laughing and sliding through his contacts for the number to Bob’s Pizza in his phone. Once I find it, I hit call then I order a large half-meat half-Hawaiian pizza. And since it only takes us about five minutes to get there, we spend fifteen minutes making out in the parking lot before he has to run in and pick it up.
~**~
Hearing my cell phone ring in the back pocket of my jeans late the next morning, I drop the rag in my hand to the top of the table I’m cleaning, and pull it out. The number isn’t one I recognize, but it’s local, so I slide my finger across the screen and put it to my ear.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Miss Caro, it’s Detective Preston.”
“Hi, Detective. How are you?” I ask, looking over at Colton when I feel his eyes on me from across the room.
“Good, thank you for asking,” he says as Colton walks toward me from the back of the bar. “I wanted to let you know that Chad should be in contact with you sometime this afternoon to give you instructions on how to go about entering your home and retrieving your belongings.”
“That’s great news,” I say, feeling relieved I will finally be able to get some of Grandma’s stuff for her.
“I really appreciate you cooperating with us. If you have any questions about what’s going on with the case, you can call this number.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks again, Detective. Have a good day.”
“You as well, Miss Caro.” He ends the call and I shove my phone back into my pocket, feeling relief but still uneasy.
“What did he say?” Colton asks, crossing his arms over his chest as I pick up the cleaning rag and start to scrub the table again.
“He said Chad should be calling me this afternoon with instructions on how to go about getting stuff out of the house.”
“That’s good news,” he says, studying me.
“It is good news,” I agree, finishing wiping down that table and moving on to the next one.
“So if it’s good news, why don’t you seem happy about it?”
“He didn’t tell me that my name is cleared,” I admit.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You passed the polygraph test. Pretty sure all that adds up to your name being cleared, Dimples.”
“That all might be true, but he didn’t say it, so I don’t know if it is or not.”
“Call him back.”
“What?” I stop what I’m doing to look at him.
“If you’re that worried about it, call him back and ask him if your name is in the clear.”
“I can’t do that.” I shake my head and walk to the next table, spraying it down and cleaning it.
“Why can’t you?” he questions, seeming puzzled, and I let out an annoyed huff.
“Because then I will look suspicious.”
“How on earth will you look suspicious if you ask him if your name is cleared?”
“Have you never read a book or watched a movie? The person who is normally guilty is the person who is always trying to pretend like they are innocent.”
“Babe, you are fucking innocent,” he growls.
“I know that,” I growl back. “Which is why I can’t just ask him. I need to wait until they tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s eleven,” he tells me out of the blue, and I feel my brows snap together.
“And?” I ask, wondering what that is supposed to mean.
“You told me I can’t kiss you while we’re working.”
“You can’t,” I confirm, moving around the table so it’s between us. “Absolutely no kissing at work.” I made that rule yesterday morning when we pulled up to the bar. There isn’t much I can do about his parents knowing about whatever this thing is happening between us, but I can still shield them from having to witness it firsthand.
“You being crazy and cute is making me want to kiss you.”
“Colton,” I warn when he starts to come around the table toward me.
“What about if I take you outside?”
“You can’t do that either. I need to work, and so do you.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this crazy rule,” he mutters, looking as annoyed as he sounds, and I smile at him. “Don’t smile at me like that.”
“I’ll stop,” I lie through my smile, and his eyes drop to my mouth.
“Christ.” He turns around and walks off saying, without looking at me, “I got shit to do. I’ll be in the back.”
“I’ll be here,” I yell at his back, still smiling as he shakes his head and disappears into the office. Going back to cleaning the tables, I still have a grin on my face.
Finished with the cleaning over two hours later, I drop my cleaning stuff in the office then look at the clock on the wall and see it’s already after two. Colton left about twenty minutes ago to go to the storage unit to pick up a few supplies, and also to grab us lunch from some sandwich place he said is good. I’m not hungry, since I had two bowls of cereal this morning for breakfast, but that didn’t stop him from insisting I eat something. And knowing when to pick my battles, I didn’t fight him on it.
Standing behind the bar, I pour myself a Diet Coke and take a sip. I lift my head when the door opens, expecting to see Colton, and my spine goes straight when it’s not him. Instead, it’s Lisa wearing slacks and a yellow silk blouse, with a blazer that matches her pants. Taking my eyes off her I notice the two other women with her. One is a blonde with the same cut and style as Lisa, wearing a vest over a denim shirt with dark blue jeans and boots. And the other, a brunette with a short bob wearing an army-green colored jacket with jeans and black flats.
As soon as Lisa spots me at the bar, she starts in my direction with the two women. Not even asking why they are here, I know why they’re here. I can see it in the catty way Lisa is looking at me and the way the girls are flanking her on either side.
“Is Colton here?” Lisa asks when she reaches the bar.
“Nope,” I answer, then ask, “can I get you girls something to drink?”
“What’s going on with you and Colton?” the brunette asks, looking me over in a way that I know she’s sizing me up.
“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” I tell her honestly, then look at the three of them. “Are you drinking?”
“Are you seeing him?” the blonde asks.
“Everyone has been seeing you two around town,” Lisa puts in. “Real classy making out with him in broad daylight.”
“You sound jealous,” I say, and her eyes flash with anger then fill with what can only be described as pity.
“I’m not jealous. He’s mine. He’s always been mine. We’ve been together since we were fifteen, and when he gets over this, we will be together again. Even his mom has been trying to get us back together again.”
Staring at her, I know she truly believes that. She thinks Colton will eventually get over what she did to him and go back to her. For all I know, he might, but I really doubt it. The damage she did cannot be repaired. As for Rose, I don’t know what she’s thinking.