Page 35 of Crash Course
"Why would he be upset over something that makes his daughter happy?"
"Simple. It’s not about him. It’ll disrupt his life. He’s good to me. Always has been. He loves me, supports my decisions, watches my back. All of it."
"But?"
Cilla shrugged. "Every time he comes to my office, no matter what I’m doing, I drop everything. At first it was fine. Now, I have considerably more clients. Some accused of horrible crimes that could put them away for the rest of their lives. I owe them my full attention."
"And you think you’ll be able to do that in Asheville?"
"I think it’ll keep Dad from popping in whenever he feels like it."
"He’ll call."
"I don’t have to answer. It’s hard to ignore someone standing in front of you."
Appreciating the rapid-fire exchange, Cruz nodded. "I get that. So, Asheville." He waggled his eyebrows. "It’s close to Steele Ridge."
Playing along, she let a slow, wicked smile light up her fantastic face. Jeez, he wanted to touch her. Run his hands over her skin, explore every curve and angle.
"I’m aware," she said. "I actually saw the office after meeting Phin for lunch one day."
"I knew I loved my baby brother."
"He’s hard to resist."
What did that mean? Did she and Phin . . .
Nah. No way.
Or.
Cilla sat back and burst out laughing, completely breaking the spell. "Why is it that men always think sex has to be involved? Why can’t a man and woman just be friends?"
"I never said that."
"You thought it, though. Didn’t you?" She waved a hand. "Body language, Cruz. You stiffened, got a look about you."
Wow. She was good. He supposed, given what she did for a living, she’d have to be.
Now he had to talk his way around it. He went with the truth.
"I’ve made no secret of wanting to get to know you. From day one, when we met at the FBI field office. Agreed?"
"You’ve reached out a few times."
More than he’d ever done with any other woman. For him, if it took more than two calls or texts, he moved on. Why waste either of their time?
After the third time, she’d finally texted him back, saying she was busy. Fine. He’d left it there. Told her to call when she was ready.
"I’m interested in getting to know you and you’ve just told me my brother is irresistible."
"No. Didn’t say irresistible. I said hard to resist. And how do you know I meant it in any way other than friendly? Someone can be hard to resist in a platonic way, Cruz. Maybe I enjoy his company because he’s kind and smart and knows interesting things about interesting people? Why can’t that be what I find hard to resist? It’s intellectual with Phin. Not physical."
Whoa! What the hell? Why did this suddenly feel like a debate team event? Still, he wasn’t sure he minded. Everything about her, it seemed, triggered something in him.
Something he wanted to experience.
He cocked his head, studying her for a minute, parsing out his thoughts. "I guess I’ve never had that experience with a woman."
