“You’re welcome,” he said evenly. He knew her well enough to pick up on her sarcasm, but he clearly didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, his approval was a priority. At least to him.
“What about you?” Faith asked, turning the tables. “Dating anyone?”
“Me?” He looked at her like she had lost her mind. “You think I want to go down that road again? No, thank you. I’m quite content—”
“With your occasional one-night stand?”
He froze, and then frowned. “Now who’s listening to gossip?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Just because you don’t diddle anyone here in Sweet Hill, doesn’t mean I don’t know about your visits to that CPA in Alpine. Or the financial planner in Fort Stockton.”
“Diddle?” he echoed.
She lifted her eyebrows. “You know what I’m talking about.”
He cleared his throat and finished off the rest of his brisket. Watching him, waiting for him to say something, she finished her last rib and then wiped her sticky fingers with her napkin.
“I know better than to get involved with anyone here in town. Too many busybodies ready to get in my business.”
“But Alpine and Fort Stockton are fair game?” She smirked.
“Never claimed I was a monk. I gotta go somewhere if I want . . .” He paused, looking uncomfortable. He shifted his big body in her kitchen-table chair. Her brothers were old-school in that they thought certain subjects were taboo to talk about around their sister. Subjects like sex.
She watched him thoughtfully as he stood and started to clear the table. Her brother was a good guy and deserved more than empty flings in neighboring towns. Unfortunately, she was afraid he had been burned too badly in the past to ever want another relationship again.
He helped her rinse dishes and load them into the dishwasher. She lifted an eyebrow as he started packing up all the food and stowing it in her fridge. “I won’t finish all that—”
“It will be gone in two days,” he assured her with a wink. “I’ve seen you stress eat.”
“Ha.”
He winked at her.
“Well, thanks for dinner,” she said, stepping in to give him a hug.
“Hey, gotta keep my eye out for my lil’ sis.”
“Naturally.” Opening the door, she walked him out. That was when she noticed the sound of a lawnmower. Somehow she hadn’t paid any attention to it before . . . or at least she hadn’t realized how close it was to her house. She had failed to notice the lawnmower was actually mowing right next to her house.
It was North.
“Your neighbor?” Hale asked as he stepped out on her porch. She followed his gaze to a shirtless North pushing his lawnmower. Hale sent a nod of greeting toward him.
She flinched. A normal reaction, she supposed, when her brother came face-to-face with anyone she had made out with. At least that’s what she told herself. It was reason enough. It was the whole they’d-kissed-and-touched thing. Touched. She snorted. There was an understatement.
It wasn’t because this guy had a criminal record that she was desperate to hide from her family. No, not that at all.
She murmured some vague agreement, trying to sound casual.
Hale turned to watch him, following the movement of North as he worked the lawnmower across his front yard in steady rows.
She knew her brother was assessing him, doing that cop thing where he didn’t miss the fact that this guy was young and virile and wore tattoos as naturally as the skin on his body.
Hale shot her an equally assessing glance, no doubt trying to gauge her reaction to this very male, very virile guy living right next door to her. Even a hetero male would know most females’ ovaries would be going into hyperdrive at the sight of him—Faith no exception.
Hopefully he couldn’t detect her sudden increased breathing.
She pasted a bland smile on her face and tried to appear as though she wasn’t like most females. Okay, so she wasn’t immune to the display of virility, but she wanted her brother to think she was. She really wasn’t in the mood to endure the big-brother routine and be forced into denying her interest in her neighbor.
“He looks . . .”
She held her breath, waiting for her brother to say something condemning about him. Criminal. Dangerous.
Working in law enforcement, Hale did have those opinions, after all. He’d seen it all. Sweet Hill might not be the largest community, but it had its share of degenerates. And it would be just her luck for him to make that assessment.
North turned and started mowing another row, facing them now. She felt his brown-black gaze on her—on them. It wasn’t friendly and she felt her brother tense beside her as he recognized this, too.
“Familiar,” Hale finally finished saying. “He looks familiar.”
Familiar? Uh-oh. Whatever she had thought he meant to say hadn’t been that. Had he seen mug shots of North?
“Maybe he’s just got one of those faces,” she said offhandedly and tried to move inside her house, ready to say goodnight and watch Hale drive off in his Bronco.
Hale didn’t take the bait. He shot her a skeptical look, his feet staying firmly planted in place. “I’m going to introduce myself.”