Flint reached out and took her hand in his. “I missed you,” he growled. “I didn’t want to, but I did. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“It’s been like one day,” she protested.
“You mean you didn’t miss me?” The big, handsome bear shifter looked hurt. She sighed.
“Maybe a little, but I tried not to,” she admitted grudgingly.
“You need to stop working on this story, Coral. It’s dangerous.”
“Ha. Danger is my middle name,” she said, with a bravery she didn’t feel.
“Really? Coral Danger Colby? Were your parents hippies or something?”
“No, you moron, then they would have named me something like Rainbow or Moonchild. And actually my middle name is Annabelle. I’m not going to stop investigating, because there are parents out there who don’t know where their son and daughter are, and this is all tied together somehow, and I can’t let it go.”
“It’s not your job,” Flint protested. “Let the police handle it.”
“The police,” she said evenly, “are trying to bury it, and they pulled me over and stole the notes I’d found the other day. They may even be involved, for all I know.”
“I’m telling you that whatever it is you think you’ve stumbled on to, it’s clearly dangerous,” Flint said. “People have disappeared. Do you want to be next?”
“So you think I should just walk away? Not happening.”
He scowled at her, setting his fork down on his empty pie plate. “Somebody broke into your house, and now you’re being followed. You’re coming back to my house tonight.”
“No, I’m not. You’re not being honest with me about why you’re here in town, and as long as there are secrets between us, I can’t keep seeing you.” She set her fork down and looked him in the eye. “And I’ll be honest here, since one of us might as well be, I can’t sleep under the same roof as you without giving in to temptation. So I need to stay away from you.”
“I can promise to behave,” Flint said, looking pleased at her admission. “I’ll lock my bedroom door and resist any and all attempts at seduction on your part.”
Coral shook her head. “No, you won’t.”
“You’re right, I’d jump you the minute we walk in my front door. If you won’t come home with me, I’ll have one of my men watching your house tonight.”
“When you say your men, do you mean the construction workers, or the Enforcers?” There. She’d laid it out on the table.
Flint glanced around to make sure there was nobody listening. The booths around them were empty.
“What makes you say that?” he asked in a low voice.
Well, she was being honest, so she might as well ‘fess up.
“I went through your pants pockets before I washed them the other night, in case you’d left anything else in them. I found a receipt for silver-coated bullets. Only Enforcers are allowed to carry them.”
“You did what?” he spluttered. “You…you’re jumping to conclusions.”
“I’m not,” she said. “You move like a cop. I know you’re in law enforcement. And you’re lying to me about why you’re here. It has something to do with the disappearances, doesn’t it? Or the land purchases? Or both? Are they connected?”
A long, long silence stretched between them, and Coral could hear the thundering of her heart in her own ears.
“Can’t you at least give me some idea of what you’re doing here? Can’t you even acknowledge that there’s something going on?” Coral pleaded.
Flint stared out the window at nothing, for another long moment, then looked up at Coral, his face expressionless.
“I’m still going to either watch your house at night, or have someone do it for me,” Flint said. “Let’s go; I’ll be behind you the whole way.”
“Fine. Do what you want,” Coral muttered, grabbing her purse and following him out the door.
Glumly, Coral climbed into her car and slammed the door shut. She didn’t want to fight with the bear; she wanted to tear his clothes off and make him shout her name as he came in her mouth. She wanted to feel their sweat-slick bodies pressing against each other as she nibbled his neck. Sticking to her principles sucked.
They drove back to Blue Moon Junction without incident, with Coral glancing behind her frequently to make sure that nobody was following them. Then she pulled into the newspaper parking lot, and Flint drove away with a wave through the window.
“No more solo expeditions,” Mr. Brewster said to Coral when she walked in. “I can’t afford to keep replacing reporters like this.”
“Gee, I’m touched.”
Coral saw that Blanche was sitting by her desk, waiting for her. She gave her a wave of acknowledgement, then turned back to Mr. Brewster. “Do we have a story yet?” she asked him.