Geri Krotow - Secret Agent Under Fire

Keith’s eyes narrowed and he set his knife and fork down. “Bring me along?”

“I mean, let you know where and when so that you can meet me, if you want to. Although since I plan on hitting each site over the next couple of days, it might be easier to drive together.”

He started shoveling his crepes into his mouth again. “That’s better,” he mumbled around the food, and Abi thought that maybe she wasn’t feeling herself. Because the very kind of rude table manners that normally annoyed her seemed...sensual. Manly. For scrapple’s sake, Keith Paruso made everything he did appear manly. The guy didn’t know how to do anything in a usual, regular guy kind of way.

“So you want to come along with me? Meet me?”

“Either I can pick you up where you live, or you can come get me.” He pulled out a business card and quickly wrote on the back. “That’s my address and email. The cell number on the front is my only phone.” She flipped over the card and noticed the Silver Valley Fire Department seal.

“Thanks. Nice business card. Can you start today?”

“I should be able to. I’ll check in with the station when we’re done.”

Abi was relieved when her phone vibrated. The screen lit up with a text from the real-estate manager she’d been working with for the past two weeks.

“I’m sorry to cut this short, Keith, but I’m going to have to cut out of here a bit sooner than I thought.”

“Is it about the case?”

“No.” At his unrelenting stare, she capitulated. “I’m on the hunt for a more permanent rental than the business suite I’ve been staying at. As much as I love the free buffet breakfast every morning, I need more space.”

“We’re not done, Abi. We need to figure out what role each of us has in this and how we’re going to get to the bottom of the arsons.” His expression was back to being totally professional without a hint of the genuine interest she’d sensed moments ago.

“Real-estate agents can be tough to pin down and I’d rather not have to reschedule with her.” He’d take the hint, surely?

“Does she have a place for you?”

“Looks like it.” And it was the rent-to-own situation she’d discovered in the real-estate office window, which she was very excited about. Finally she was thinking about settling down somewhere that wasn’t in the middle of a big city. She’d found that living in one could be the loneliest place on the planet when all you did was work, sleep, repeat.

“Where is it, Abi? If you don’t mind my asking?”

“Of course not. You just gave me yours. Not that it’s like belly buttons or, um, whatever. You know, you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” What the hell was wrong with her?

Keith grinned. “I don’t think that expression refers to belly buttons.”

“Oh.” She felt her face redden but Keith’s calm expression, the lack of judgment in his eyes, helped her feel safe despite her jumbled simile. Was there anything in her that wasn’t shaken up by Keith’s presence?

She broke eye contact and gave him her address. Oddly, she didn’t mind telling him. She got nothing but healthy, albeit wary, vibes from Keith Paruso. Plus maybe some more intense feelings that could lead to an intimacy she wasn’t ready for, might never be ready for. She’d examine those later.

“That’s the old Pearson farm, right?”

“I’ve no idea who owned it before but, yes, it’s a couple-of-centuries-old farmhouse, originally.” And when she’d scoured the photos and description at the real-estate office it had looked absolutely delicious. Stone walls, dark roof, the rectangular building sat on the highest point of a hill that overlooked Silver Valley. It was in the middle of farm fields all around but the tree line for the Appalachian Trail was visible from the driveway’s entrance. The trail had called to her since she’d arrived in Silver Valley. Abi loved hiking and camping.

“You’re not worried about living in a farmhouse with the current case?” Keith’s brow furrowed and Abi tried to ignore the warm fuzzies that blossomed in her center.

“No. Don’t forget, I’ve been trained by the FBI. And it would be stupid for the arsonists to target me—they’d get caught.”

“I like how you think, Abi. I’d like to meet you there. In about ten minutes. That is, if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.”

His face infused with relief. “I’ve always wanted to get a look inside that house. It was in the same family for so long and they didn’t have kids in our generation, so I’ve never seen it.”

“Glad to oblige. We can finish our discussion there.” She reached for the check and his hand beat her to it. One instant later and their hands would have collided. Keith’s hands felt like he looked. Strong, masculine, sexy. She wished he’d grabbed her hand instead of the check.

“I’ve got this, Abi. You can buy the next one.” His tone was so certain, so sure that there would be a “next” time that she had to resist her natural instinct to buck against his strong will. No one, no man she barely knew, told her what to do or what her future would be. She opened her mouth to tell Keith something to that effect, but he was already at the cash register, his wide grin splitting his handsome face as he spoke with the diner manager.

Keith Paruso was not a man who was easily directed.

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