“Tell me about it. And the book was in the night drop.” She laughed at the face he made. “Yeah, it was like that. But we’re talking about you, not me.”
“The hours don’t really bother me unless they affect Bear. Obviously you know that’s occasionally a problem, but I’ve always had a good support system. It’s been hard on relationships in the past, though.”
“A friend of mine from college is married to a police officer in Boston. It’s hard on her, but she believes in what he does and tries to support him.”
He nodded. “One of the hardest things is the wildlife sometimes. Caring about them sometimes means putting them down and that sucks. My first week out we had to track down a deer that had been hit by a truck and, when we found her, there was no saving her. Even when done in mercy, putting an animal down hits me pretty hard.”
She reached across the island and squeezed his hand. “They’re lucky to have people who care out there watching out for them and advocating for them. It matters.”
He smiled and squeezed her fingers. “Except when they’re hurt, dealing with animals is a more enjoyable part of the job than dealing with drunks, idiots and walking around in the woods looking for marijuana plants, I can tell you that.”
“Pot? Really?”
“You’d be surprised. It’s a thriving backyard industry.” When he laughed, she guessed her expression was disbelieving. “It is. I haven’t found Whitford’s yet, but there’s a grow somewhere. I can almost guarantee it.”
“No way. In Whitford?” She shook her head. “The police would have found it. We’re not good at secrets.”
“No disrespect to the Whitford PD, but town cops tend to stick to the roads unless they have cause to do otherwise. If I spend enough time out in the woods, I’ll find one eventually.”
“I hope it’s not Fran or Butch. Or anybody at the diner.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Any reason you mention them in particular?”
“No!” She jerked her hand back, hoping she hadn’t gotten anybody in trouble. “But that’s our only grocery store, our only gas pumps and our only restaurant. It would really suck if one of them went to prison.”
He laughed. “I don’t think Fran, Butch or anybody at the diner will be going to prison. The food and gas supply in Whitford is safe for now.”
Bear pushed his way back into the kitchen and fell upon his food bowl as though he hadn’t eaten in days, even though Hailey knew there had still been food in the dish when she came in.
“He always eats like that in the morning,” Matt said. “I guess he really works up an appetite sleeping all night.”
Since her cup was empty, Hailey stood. “I should go and let you either take a nap or get dressed. And, obviously, I need to get dressed, too. What time do you want to get your truck?”
“Any time. Like I said, I’m up now. Later on today, I’ll probably put on a game or the news channel and take a nap, but I won’t be able to go back to sleep now.”
“You shouldn’t have had that coffee.”
He smiled at her over the rim of his cup. “It was worth it.”
There he went again, sending her interested signals when they both knew he wasn’t. Or shouldn’t be, anyway. “I’m going to shower and get dressed, so give me an hour and then any time you want to go, just come over.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She unlocked the back door so she could exit properly instead of going through the doggy door again, and went back to her own house.
Sometimes she could be such an idiot. Breaking into a man’s house through a damn dog door had to be one of the more ridiculous things she’d ever done. Of course Bear would have access to food and water. The guy worked weird hours quite often and obviously loved his dog. He wouldn’t let him starve.
It was as if something about the man short-circuited her brain and made her act like an idiot. He’d been very gracious about it, she had to admit. He’d even thanked her for breaking into his house at six-thirty in the morning when he’d only been asleep for three and a half hours.
She tried to not to think about the way he’d touched her neck. It wasn’t a first aid is part of my job description touch. It was a touch that let her know without a doubt that he knew how to wind her up. It was deliberate, but she didn’t know if it was just to mess with her or if he liked the idea of turning her on for a different reason.
After showering, she threw on some jeans and a summer-weight sweater. Instead of pulling her hair into a ponytail, she took the time to blow it out so it was soft and full around her face. Not because of Matt, of course. She was sure she’d read somewhere that it wasn’t good for hair to be in a ponytail all the time.
By the time Matt knocked on her door, Hailey had regained her equilibrium. He had undoubtedly touched her neck in an effort to be funny, probably as payback for her breaking in. It meant nothing and therefore there was no need to feel awkward about it.