Lethal Edge

by Kaylea Cross

  “I agree.” Tall and slender, Avery tucked a lock of her jaw-length strawberry-blond hair behind her ear. “Here, can you put the salad together while I get the casserole done?”

  “Sure.” She’d already laid everything out. He got busy chopping veggies and assembling the salad while Avery prepped everything else. “So where’s your roomie?” he asked.

  “Downstairs unpacking.” She shot him a warning look, narrowing her golden eyes a little. “Be nice when you meet her.”

  He blinked. “I am nice.”

  “Yeah, you are, deep down. Just lose the suspicious and gruff vibe for tonight, and you’ll be great.” Footsteps sounded on the stairs on the other side of the door connecting the main floor to the basement suite. “And here she is.”

  The door opened. Tate looked up, his hands freezing on the salad spoons when he saw the woman from the accident standing there.

  She stopped in the kitchen entryway when she saw him, surprise on her face, then a big smile curved her mouth. “Wow, hi again.”

  He forced himself to keep his eyes on her face instead of letting them trail over the peach-colored dress she wore, hugging her curves and leaving her golden-toned arms and lower legs bare. Her long, coffee-brown hair was swept over one shoulder, trailing over a breast.

  “Hi.” This was Avery’s best friend?

  “Again?” Avery asked, looking between the two of them.

  “We met at the accident scene,” Tate explained. “She stopped to make sure the other driver and I were okay.”

  Avery turned toward the woman, eyes wide. “You didn’t tell me you guys met!”

  “I didn’t know,” her friend said, smiling at him.

  Neither had Tate. “She was amazingly helpful.” He stepped forward and offered his hand, suddenly a lot more interested in Avery’s roommate. “I’m Tate, by the way.”

  She clasped his hand, the touch of her soft, slender fingers making his skin hum. “Nina Benitez.”

  Latina heritage. He nodded, unable to look away from those big brown eyes. He hadn’t noticed before but they had warm golden flecks in them.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, withdrawing her hand but leaving the lingering warmth of her touch.

  “I’m okay.” Better now. He would definitely be spending more time at Avery’s from now on.

  She gave him a doubtful look. “Really?”

  He lifted a shoulder, covered a wince. “A little stiff and sore. No big deal.” It came out a little growly, even though he’d tried to soften his tone.

  “Ah yes, the classic alpha male response, refusing to show any form of weakness to others,” Avery said with a roll of her eyes. “Do me a favor, Tate. Go into my bathroom, grab two extra-strength Advil and I’ll give you something to wash them down with.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but Avery shook her head. “Nuh-uh.” She pointed a finger down the hall. “Master bathroom medicine cabinet. Go.” She thrust a glass of juice at him.

  Tate took it and lifted an eyebrow at Nina. “You sure you want to live downstairs from her? If she orders her work partner around like that, imagine how she’ll treat a tenant.”

  Nina grinned, exposing the hint of a dimple at the corner of her mouth. “Trust me, she’s got nothing on my mom and sisters. I can take it.”

  “Glad to hear that. Be back in a sec.”

  In Avery’s master bathroom he found the meds and took two. So, Nina. He already liked her. She had a bright energy about her that seemed to fill up the room.

  He tried to remember the things Avery had told him about her, but nothing important came to mind. He was looking forward to getting to know her better tonight.

  Avery was pulling something from the oven when he came back to the kitchen. “Did you actually take them?” she asked.

  He smothered a chuckle. She knew him too well. “Yeah.”

  She nodded. “Good. Now I want to hear everything about this afternoon. Let’s sit down and eat, I’m starving.”

  Tate sat at the table directly across from Nina and sipped at his juice. “She’s always trying to take care of me,” he said to Nina.

  “Someone has to,” Avery muttered. “Pass the salad. And then you can both fill me in on exactly what happened at the accident scene.”

  He and Nina relayed everything. “It was crazy,” Nina finished with a shake of her head that Tate couldn’t help notice made her shiny brown hair swish against her breast. “I’ve never seen anything like that, and never want to again. Thankfully, it all turned out fine. Sophie’s getting a new pacemaker tomorrow.”

  Tate looked up at her. “How do you know?”

  “I talked to her husband. He came to the hospital. The staff was really busy when he first arrived and he was so worried, so I told him what happened. I stayed until after he visited her in the Emergency Room. He’s going to text me with updates to let me know how she’s doing.”

  Tate stared at her. “You went to the hospital and stayed there to make sure she was okay,” he repeated, wanting to make sure he had it right.

  Nina shrugged. “It bothered me that she was all alone after something like that. If it had been my mother or grandmother, I wouldn’t want them to be alone. And then when her husband showed up, he was so upset, I couldn’t just leave.”

  Tate looked from her to Avery, who was smiling into her wineglass. She raised her eyebrows at him, and he read her thoughts as clearly as if she’d spoken aloud. See? Not a psycho.

  Tate shifted his attention back to Nina, impressed and now insanely curious about her. Being a cop wasn’t easy, and it was probably true it had made him more cynical and harder edged than he already was. But in his experience, people didn’t go out of their way for strangers like that very often. Not without getting something in return.

  “Well, I’m glad everything worked out, and that you two could finally meet officially,” Avery said, then spoke to him. “And we should be grateful Nina’s spending one of her precious Friday nights with us instead of painting the town red,” she added with a teasing smile at her friend.

  “Is it possible to paint this town red?” Rifle Creek wasn’t exactly known for its nightlife. In fact, the local wildlife was far more active at night than the human residents.

  “Ha. I’m just saying, she was in high demand back home in San Fran this summer. And I’m sure she’s been on a few dates in Missoula since she got back.”

  “Oh, please,” Nina said with a laugh, looking down at her plate.

  “Please nothing. How many dates have you been on in the last month alone?” Avery said.

  “I don’t know. A few.”

  Tate chewed his food, for some reason disliking the thought of Nina dating all those other guys.

  “Uh huh. Any more coming up in the near future? Come on, spill.” Avery waved a fork between herself and Tate. “Tate and I don’t date much. Or ever, really. And you’ve got so many awesome stories.”

  Tate shot her a warning look. Thanks, Ave, for making me look like an antisocial loser.

  “I do, don’t I?” Nina said cheerfully.

  “Yes.” Avery’s eyes twinkled. “The recaps of some of them have provided me with hours of entertainment.”

  Nina snickered. “It’s not that bad. Well, it’s not all bad.”

  “But most of it’s pretty bad?” Tate asked, watching her. Why bad? Had some asshole come on too strong? Pushed her to go farther than she wanted to? He bristled at the thought, his hand tightening around his fork.

  “Whoa, easy, tiger,” Avery said, reaching out to pat his hand before speaking to Nina. “He just mentally jumped to the worst possible conclusion.”

  Nina’s eyes swung to his, and widened. “Oh, no, nothing like…” She paused, a flush hitting her cheeks as she averted her gaze. “Nothing like that. Let’s just say there’ve been a few…flops.”

  He relaxed, but her reaction didn’t completely reassure him. She’d looked away like she was embarrassed about something, and that bothered hi
m. “Define flops,” he said in a tone that managed not to sound like a growl, wanting to lighten the mood and keep her talking.

  She looked up at him again, her lips curving. “Okay, so for instance, one guy a couple weeks ago kept checking his phone every two minutes. Literally sat there across the table from me at a nice restaurant in town, texting and answering emails. Said it was for work. I mean, I respect hard work and commitment to your work, but if he’s gonna be like that on a first date?” She shook her head. “People are usually on their best behavior on a first date, so I wasn’t interested in finding out how much worse it would get over time.”

  No shit. Idiot didn’t deserve a text response from her, let alone a second date.

  “And did he ask you out again?” Avery asked.

  “He did,” Nina said, sounding amazed. “He thought it went great and said he couldn’t wait to see me again. I couldn’t believe it. But it never would have worked out even if he’d been attentive, because his conversation was limited to sports and himself. No thank you.”

  “So he got the axe.”

  Nina laughed. “I know that sounds harsh,” she said to Tate, waving her hands in front of her in self-defense. “But honestly, even though I’m kind of a serial dater, I don’t want to waste my time. I know pretty quick whether a guy has second-date potential or not.”

  He was getting more interested by the minute. “How quick?”

  She thought about it a second. “Within the first ten minutes, give or take.”

  “Wow, that’s…fast.”

  “I know, I’m brutal. But I’ve been on enough dates to know when it’s not gonna work.”

  “Have you ever been on one when you knew it would work?” he pressed.

  “Not yet,” she admitted with a grin. “But when it happens I will.”

  “And there it is. Nina’s a hopeless romantic,” Avery said with a fond smile, reaching for her wine glass.

  Tate tensed inside slightly, his interest dimming at that description. He had a complicated relationship with romance and still hadn’t healed up from his most recent experience.

  Nina shrugged and grinned. “Can’t help it. I come from a long line of them.”

  “You’re not saying you believe in love at first sight, though,” he said, to clarify.

  She lifted a shoulder. “I think it happens for some people.”

  Yeah, if they were nuts. “So how will you know when you meet the right person?”

  “I just will, deep inside. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

  “Well, that’s…a nice thought,” he managed, unable to think of something more polite to say about it.

  “Yes.” She titled her head, such warmth in her eyes as she watched him. “Do you believe there’s the right match out there for everyone? A soulmate?”

  “Nope.”

  She blinked at his instant response, as if taken off guard. “No?”

  “Me neither,” Avery said. “Sorry, babe.”

  Nina shook her head and laughed at them. “You guys are a couple of cynics.”

  “Yeah, well, a shitty ex and life as a cop will do that to you,” Avery said with a wry smile, then patted Tate’s muscular shoulder. “But now he and I have each other. Two cynical workaholics, making the world a better place one criminal case at a time.” She held up her glass to him. “Cheers, partner.”

  This was why he loved her. Avery was the shit. “I’ll drink to that.” Tate tapped his glass to hers.

  “So, I know why Avery doesn’t date much, but why don’t you?” Nina asked him after he’d taken a sip and lowered his glass.

  “Too busy,” he answered, turning back to his meal. “Rifle Creek’s small, but so is the sheriff’s department, and that keeps us busy.”

  “Does it ever,” Avery said, and started talking about an incident at work.

  Tate was glad for the change in subject. The rest of the meal was great, and the sound of Nina’s laughter made him smile. The differences between them were obvious and glaring. She was like sunshine to his clouds, optimistic where he was world-weary. Maybe that was why he found her so interesting—they were total opposites.

  After dinner she helped him clear the table and do the dishes while Avery cleaned up around the kitchen. “So, Avery said you’ve got some furniture that needs moving downstairs?” he said when they finished.

  She was standing less than three feet away from him. Close enough that her light, sweet scent teased him, her nearness creating a hum of awareness deep inside him. “Oh. No, it’s fine. I can move it later with some rugs underneath or something. I don’t want you moving anything if you’re sore—”

  “I’m fine,” he said, cursing the curt edge to his tone. He’d always been a little on the gruff side, but he’d lost a lot of his social graces since the breakup. “What do you need done?”

  Those big brown eyes swung up to his, and held, as if weighing his sincerity. “I’ll show you,” she said finally.

  Tate followed her downstairs, eyeing the shape of her and the way the dress hugged her waist before flaring out over her hips. Curvy hips made for a man’s hands to wrap around—

  “There’s a painting I’d like to hang, but it’s too heavy for me.”

  He jerked his gaze off her ass. “I’ll do it. Just show me where you want it.”

  She led him through to the small living room off the kitchen. “This is it.”

  “What is it?” Something space-related, but he wasn’t sure what.

  “The Cat’s Eye Nebula. My family all pitched in to buy this original oil for me from an artist in San Fran when I earned my PhD.”

  Whoa. “In what?”

  “Astrophysics. Though I teach that and lower level astronomy at the university.”

  Well, damn, that was impressive. How had he forgotten those details? Unless Avery had never told him. “So you’re a doctor, huh?”

  Her lips quirked. “I am. But I’ll let you call me Nina instead of Doctor Benitez.”

  She was adorable, if misguided about her views on love and romance. “Not sure anyone as smart as you has ever lived in this town.”

  “I like it here already. Avery’s going to show me around town in the morning.”

  “That’ll take all of two minutes,” he said dryly.

  She laughed. “I can’t wait. How long have you lived here?”

  “About seven months now. It’s nice, but it takes some getting used to after living in the city for so long. Did you grow up in San Fran?”

  “Yes. My whole family’s back there.”

  “This’ll be a big change for you, then.”

  Avery came down the stairs. “You guys making out okay?”

  Her choice of words amused Tate. He wouldn’t mind making out with Nina, except they were on totally different pages when it came to relationships and romantic expectations. That made her hands off.

  “Good,” Nina answered. “Can you help Tate with the painting? I want to set up my telescope.”

  “You’re such a geek, and I love it,” Avery said, handing Tate the little hammer from the pink toolbox Nina had placed on the floor next to him. “Go ahead,” she told Nina. “Get your geek on.”

  “Where’d you guys meet, anyway?” Tate asked as he tapped the hanger into place in the wall. If Avery had mentioned it, he couldn’t remember.

  “At a charity function last Christmas, when I’d first moved to Missoula,” Nina called back from the master bedroom. She appeared a moment later carrying her telescope. “We bonded instantly.”

  “Instantly,” Avery agreed with a dry smile at Tate.

  “We totally did,” Nina argued. “And then we became besties. When I mentioned to Avery a few weeks back that I was looking for another place to live, she immediately offered me this suite.”

  “You won’t mind the commute?” Tate asked, lifting the heavy, framed picture while Avery “helped.” At least with her height she could hold her side at the right level.

  “Not at all. Living alone is
n’t for me. I like having Avery right upstairs, and even with the forty-five-minute commute each day, the lower rent still puts me farther ahead financially every month.”

  He nodded and hooked the wire at the back of the painting over the hook on the wall. Avery was still “helping” by tilting the painting up on one side. “Be more than that in winter.”

  “Still worth it. I love the idea of small-town life, it’s so charming.” She set her telescope in front of the French doors leading to the back patio.

  “What’s next?” Tate asked, letting Avery fiddle with the alignment.

  “My bed frame and headboard.”

  “Lead the way.”

  Her bedroom was painted a soft, sunny yellow that matched what he’d seen of her personality so far. He followed her inside and got to work putting the frame together, noticing the framed photos on the shelves on the far wall, along with a brightly-colored, striped blanket and some terra cotta figurines of suns and moons similar to ones he’d seen in Mexico.

  “That your family?” Two people who had to be her parents, two young women who looked a lot like Nina, and some kids he guessed were her nieces and nephews.

  “Yes. We’re really close.” She glanced at the pictures, a fond smile on her face. “I just spent the entire summer back home.”

  “You must miss them.”

  “I do, though it feels good to be out of their well-meaning but prying scrutiny.”

  He grunted in reply and finished the frame and attached the headboard to it while she unpacked a few boxes. “Which wall do you want this against?”

  “Here.” She gestured to the one opposite the window.

  She helped him move it into position, and he was struck by how strange it was to be in her most intimate space like this. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t find her attractive, but there were too many obstacles between them to act on it, especially with her being Avery’s roommate and best friend.

  “So tell me about this family of hopeless romantics you come from,” he said as he headed out into the living room to move the armoire.

  She brightened and told him about her parents and siblings, nieces and nephews. “It’s a big family. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but we love each other anyway. My grandparents immigrated to California from Mexico. My parents were high school sweethearts in San Fran. Met in sophomore year and got married right after graduation. I’ve got two sisters, both happily married with kids. I’m the outlier. Nerd academic still holding out for my own prince charming, but I can’t help it. They’ve set the bar high, and I’m not going to settle for anything less than what they’ve got.”