“Maybe sort of?”
“Her father was flying in tonight and we were supposed to have dinner.”
Derrick jumped up. “You blew her off with a text on the night her father was coming into town? You realize you need to make a good impression with him right?”
“Yes I know that, Winn! We got called out on this stupid ass stakeout. I tried calling her, but she refused to take my calls. What was I supposed to do?”
Derrick stood up and gave me a look of disappointment. “Dude, I didn’t take you for such an asshole.”
Even though I knew he was right, I balled my fists and walked to the other side of the empty room while I tried to calm myself down. I wasn’t angry with Derrick, I was angry with myself.
“Hey cap, this is Winn. Bennett isn’t feeing so great and heading home for the night. Nah, there are a few uniforms here. We can switch out . . . right . . . I’ll let him know.”
Hitting his phone, Derrick motioned with his head for me to take off. “It’s early and I bet you can still make dinner.”
With a smile, I walked over to him and held my hand out. “Thanks, Winn.”
“It’s called experience, brother. Plus, you’re my partner and I’ll always look out for ya.”
The lump in my throat was very real as I nodded and said, “That goes for me too.”
Lifting his hand, Derrick waved for me to get going. Turning, I quickly headed out of the building as I looked at the time. The reservation for dinner was for ten minutes ago. Waving down a taxi, I jumped into the cab and prayed like hell Meagan wouldn’t tell me to fuck off.
“Welcome to the Ore House, do you have a reservation?”
I scanned the restaurant quickly looking for Meagan and her father. When I turned back to the hostess, I couldn’t help but notice the smile on her face. “Gray? Oh my God, is that you?”
With a slight frown, I looked her over to see if I could place her. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun and the tight black dress left nothing to the imagination.
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure how we know each other?”
Her mouth parted open as her face flushed. With a quick look around she said, “You did a private bachelorette party for my best friend a couple years ago. You and I . . . well . . . we got a little cozy after the party in my car.”
It was in that instant I saw Meagan. She was staring directly at me with one seriously pissed off look on her face.
Fucking hell. How many women am I seriously going to run into that I’ve danced for at some point? “Um, sorry sweetheart, I don’t remember.”
My eyes darted back to Meagan as the hostess leaned closer to me. “Don’t worry, we didn’t have S. E. X. or anything. But you did give me one amazing org—”
“Okay, well, I see my fiancée is already here so I’ll make my way over to her.”
The hostess pouted as she mumbled, “Lucky girl.”
Luckily, I dressed in dress pants and a button down shirt almost every day. Today I dressed a bit nicer knowing I’d be coming to dinner with Meagan and Brad.
Meagan watched my every move as I made my way over to the table. Leaning down, I kissed her cheek softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think I would be able to make it.”
Brad stood and reached his hand out for mine. “Mr. Atwood, it’s a pleasure seeing you again.”
Giving me a once over, Brad forced a smile. “It’s good seeing you again, Grayson. Please, call me Brad and you’re just in time. We haven’t ordered yet.”
With a quick nod of my head, I said, “Brad it is and please call me Gray. Great, I’m glad I’m not too late.”
I pulled out the chair and sat down as the waitress asked for my drink order. I remembered Meagan telling me once that her father dealt with a drug and alcohol addiction in the past so I played it safe. “I’ll just start with a water, thank you.”
Smiling, I looked between Brad and Meagan. If looks could kill, I’d have fallen over when Meagan lifted her glass filled with red wine to her lips and glared at me.
Fuck. Now I want a drink.
“So, I thought you weren’t going to be joining us?”
With a forced grin, I went to talk but let my eyes move down to Meagan’s hand. It felt like I had been sucker-punched when I saw her engagement ring gone. Meagan must have noticed me looking because she quickly pulled her hand back and placed it in her lap.
I tried to find my voice as the waitress set my water down. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll have a scotch on the rocks please,” I said as I took a long drink of water.
Brad cleared his throat as I looked at him and grinned. “We got a stakeout last minute, a guy we got a tip on that might know or have something to do with an ongoing murder investigation. Turned out my partner and I both didn’t need to be there, so I headed this way as quickly as I could.”