Page 51 of Target Acquired
The fact that Cole didn’t immediately come to Butler’s defense spoke volumes to Kenzie. She studied him, the conflict in his eyes stirring her guilt. If she hadn’t applied to—and been chosen for—the team, he wouldn’t be dealing with all the turmoil her presence caused. “Cole . . .”
“Stop it,” he said.
“What?”
“Whatever it is that put that guilty look on your face.”
“This is the first time you’ve noticed it?”
“What?”
“Some days . . . no, make that every day . . . I have some kind of guilt related to this position.”
He frowned. “That’s crazy talk.” A pause. “Why?”
She scoffed, a quick puff of air that she made no attempt to suppress. “Seriously?”
“Well—”
“I beat out my own brother for it, for one thing.”
“I’m aware.”
“I know you’re aware. I’m the one who wasn’t aware. I had no idea he’d applied until my dad mentioned it. With a snarl to go with the words. He really wanted Logan to get it apparently.” She shook her head. “I’ll never do anything right in his eyes.” She clamped her lips together, kicking herself for revealing more than she’d intended. She’d thought her father would be proud. That finally she’d done something worth his praise. She was an idiot.
“Would it have stopped you from applying, had you known Logan had done so?”
She went still, then swept stray hairs behind her ears, thankful he’d let the comment about her father go unaddressed. “I don’t know.” She scowled, her spirit troubled. “I’ve asked myself that question quite a bit. And I just . . . I don’t know.” She pressed forefinger and thumb to the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Probably not.”
“He was a good candidate, Kenzie, but you were better.”
She glanced at him sideways. “I know.”
“You’re a doctor. He was an advanced paramedic before he became a cop. And while you both have police training, it all came down to who was the better qualified applicant. You were.”
“I . . . I know. Thank you for that. But I also know Logan was terribly disappointed that he wasn’t chosen.” Just one more thing to add to her guilt load.
“Kenzie, remember I said it came down to two people in the end?”
“Yes.”
“The other person wasn’t him.”
She blew out a slow breath. “Thank you for telling me. That helps. A lot.”
“Good.”
“Okay, now on to other things. I need to go by my dad’s house.”
“Today?”
“You said I should apologize. I agreed. It’s going to be unpleasant and I need to get it over with. Otherwise it will just nag at me until I do it.”
“You’re a ‘take the bull by the horns’ kind of person, aren’t you? Rip the Band-Aid off and be done with it, huh?”
She raised a brow at him. “You really have to ask that?”
“No. It was a rhetorical question.” He nodded and tucked a hand under her elbow to lead her to the exit. “We’ll swing by your father’s place as long as you don’t mind me being there?”