A dark scowl crinkled the fine lines on his forehead. A slight flutter stirred in her stomach. Even a deep frown couldn’t mar his rugged features. Annoyed at herself for reacting so foolishly to his good looks, Angie gripped the strap on her purse and pulled it higher up her shoulder.
“You have my card,” she said to Valerie as she turned away and rushed down the hall to the elevator.
The cool air felt refreshing after the stuffiness of the building. Avoiding the ice patches on the sidewalk, Angie cautiously strolled to her car. She popped open the trunk, grabbed a small bag of ice melt, and threw handfuls of it on the sidewalks and landing of the building, all the while cursing the slumlord under her breath.
After emptying the bag, she tossed it back into the trunk of her metallic blue Kia Sorento. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure approaching her.Probably another resident who wants to vent about that asshole Copeland.News that a HUD investigator was on the premises usually spread like wildfire, and anyone who had a grievance about anything came out of the woodwork.
Blowing out a deep breath, Angie closed the trunk, tightened her grip around the SUV’s keys, and turned to meet the resident.
“Hey,” Crow said as he walked up to her.
Seeing him sent a nervous flutter to her stomach, and she placed her hand on the back of the vehicle for balance. Suddenly, he was right next to her, smelling like crisp air, leather, and sandalwood, and without thinking, she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with his scent.
“This is the third time we’ve bumped into each other,” he said.
“Is it?”
“You know it is.” His voice rumbled with a low, sexy timbre.
The nervous waves in her belly crashed harder, despite all efforts to quash them. There was something about Crow that made her act like a flustered schoolgirl, but whatever was going on with her just had to stop.
Angie glanced down at her phone. “I have to get back to the office.”
“So you can write up some nasty shit about Valerie?”
Anger stirred within her. “I’m not at liberty to speak with you about Ms. Stockton’s case. And for your information, I don’t write ‘nasty shit’ about anyone.”
Running a hand through his tousled hair, he said, “I like the way your eyes spark with fire.” His low laugh hummed through her.
Angie pushed away from the car. “I have to go.”
“What about a drink sometime?”
“No thanks.” She pressed the fob and the headlights flashed on. Glancing at him sideways, she added, “My schedule’s pretty packed.”
“No worries.” He opened the door for her. “Don’t give Valerie a hard time. She’s been through a lot of shit.”
Rolling her eyes, she threw her purse onto the passenger seat. “So the drink offer was a bribe?”
Crow didn’t answer.
She slid into the seat and inserted the key into the ignition. Clutching the door handle, she looked up at him. “Just so you know, I’m not swayed by a sob storyoryour attempt to persuade me to stop the investigation.”
Without waiting for a reply, she slammed the door, then switched on the engine. As Angie drove away, she glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets, his broad shoulders hunched against the cold, and wearing a most infuriating smirk.
“What a jerk,” she said out loud.
Angie pushed her foot down hard on the accelerator and sped away. The rear tires squealed, then slipped and slid on the icy patches in the road. Her heart raced and her pulse thrummed at the nape of her neck as she clutched the steering wheel and turned into the direction of the slide. A car next to her honked, and a bearded man rolled down his window and yelled something to her, then held up his middle finger and drove away. After what felt like a lifetime, her SUV slowly straightened out, and she blew out a sigh of relief. She glanced in the rearview mirror again, and Crow hadn’t budged an inch, only concern replaced the cockiness from his face.
He disappeared from her view when she turned left at the intersection. She still couldn’t believe that she’d bumped into himagain.What were the odds of that? She’d been living in Alina going on a year and had never seen him until that night at Flanigan’s, and now he seemed to be everywhere she was.Gemma and Callie will have a field day with this one.Her two best friends were already convinced that Crow was Angie’s destiny after she’d told them about him coming into the deli the night she was working. Convinced that it was just a coincidence, she’d laughed and told them that they read too many romance novels, but now she had to admit that the whole situation was becoming a bit weird.
“It’s nothing,” she muttered under her breath.
The sound of her phone ringing startled her, and she glanced at the dashboard and saw it was Joey’s number. She pushed the button on her steering wheel.
“Hi, Joey.”
“Hi. Are you coming back to the office?”