He wanted her. Still. Always.
Shifting in his seat, he hoped she was far enough away that she wouldn’t notice his cock’s growing interest. “Uh, yeah.” He voice came out rusty and he took a second to clear his throat. “I saw Soup yesterday and gave him the coat.”
“All right,” she said, her tone much cooler than it had been. And there was the awkwardness again. “What about the five hundred dollars in the pocket?”
His entire attention refocused on the conversation. “How much?”
“Five brand new hundred dollar bills,” she said.
Christ. Had Soup accepted a down payment for the hit? A thread of betrayal weaved through his gut even though he shouldn’t feel anything at all. Soup hadn’t been a friend. Had barely been an acquaintance.
“Do you know where he could have gotten that much?” Eva asked.
“No. I paid him twenty after he gave me some info. As far as I knew, that was all the cash he had.”
“What info?” she asked.
Yeah, definitely not telling her that. “Something about the case my brothers and I are working. Nothing major.”
“Okay,” she said. “So you didn’t accidentally leave any money in the jacket?”
“Hell no. I had the two tens in my jeans pocket, that’s it. I left my wallet locked in my car, just like I always do when I meet an informant. Besides, I don’t often carry around five hundred in cash.”
“I didn’t think so.” She jotted a few notes, then closed her notebook and stood. “Thanks. I need to go write up my report.”
She was fast. Almost made it to the door before he caught her wrist. “Whoa. That’s it?”
“Yeah.” She feigned nonchalance with a shrug. “Like I said, it looks like a straight forward drug overdose. I only needed your statement so I can write up my report. Once we get the toxicology and autopsy results, we can close it out.”
“That’s not what I meant, Eva.”
“I know what you meant,” she snapped and twisted out of his grasp. “But I can’t deal with…” She waved a hand in the air between them. “This. Us. Not when I’ve been awake over twenty-four hours and—and with everything else. I can’t.”
To his complete surprise, tears welled in her eyes, but they didn’t spill over. She’d never let them spill in front of him, and that fucking stung. “Come on, Eva. Talk to me.”
“Fine.” She met his gaze and her hand settled lightly on his chest. He was ninety-eight percent sure she had no idea it was there, but he sure as fuck knew and his heart damn near leaped out to meet her palm.
“I don’t want to lose our friendship,” she said matter-of-factly.
Friendship. Right. He exhaled and backed away a step so he could think without her hands on him. Her eyes rounded as if she just realized what she’d been doing, and she crossed her arms over her chest, the tips of her cheeks turning red. He’d always adored that blush. As tough as she was, she could never hide her emotions because her skin showed them all—embarrassment, anger, frustration.
Lust.
Oh, yeah. This particular blush was more lust than anything else. She projected all kinds of I-want-you-naked vibes, and it was driving him crazy because she was so freaked out about it, and he had no idea how to put her at ease.
He cast around for something comforting to say…
And settled on lying through his teeth.
“What are you talking about? We’re not gonna lose anything.” Even as he laughed it off, he felt like a complete ass. She hated liars, and here he was feeding her the biggest line of bullshit ever. “That night in Key West? It was one night of drunk sex. No big deal.”
She dropped her arms to her sides and the splashes of color he loved so much drained right out of her complexion. “I thought…with the things you said…you don’t want more than that?”
Fuck yes he did, but not until she was comfortable with the idea. He forced a chuckle, relieved when it came out sounding natural and not like a frog had taken up residence in his throat. “C’mon, you know me. Am I the type of guy to settle down and do the relationship thing? Nah. We’re good. Still friends.”
…
Ouch.
No. She shoved away the completely ridiculous spike of pain his words sent spearing through her chest. This was a good thing. He didn’t want any kind of relationship with her beyond their friendship. She should be relieved. Dammit, she was relieved.
So why the hell was her throat tightening up?
Exhaustion, that’s why. She was too damn tired to be having this conversation with him. “I need to go.”
As she spun away, his sigh was noisy and full of resignation. “Let me get my jacket.”