Page 36 of Hostile Witness
Tia grabbed a potato chip from a bag she’d opened earlier and munched. “Yes, him.”
“Oh my goodness. The cop who brought you coffee and ordered Thai and bought you that pretty red coffeepot? The kid from the beach bonfire when you were a teenager and the guy you want to fix up with Sarah from your school?”
“He won’t let me arrange a blind date so they can meet, but yeah, that’s him.”
“I never put it all together that he’s the guy you’re sharing Flynn with. So, Ethan is Detective Kelley and the kid you made out with at the party?”
The chips were just what the salt craving ordered. Tia reached for another. “Uh-huh.”
“Last I knew, you couldn’t stand him and called him a founding member of the modern patriarchal resurgence.”
Tia leaned back against the couch cushions. “Hmm... that was harsh. The overbearing men in my life are annoying, but they’re just trying to help.”
“I can understand Carson’s concern after what you’ve been through the past couple of years.”
She sighed. “Me too, I’m just tired of it.”
“So when did you and Ethan switch to first names?”
Tia cocked her head and thought for a few seconds. “It’s a lot easier to call him Ethan than Detective Kelley. That’s two syllables versus five, you know?” She stuffed her hand into the chip bag again.
Mo laughed. “I’m just shocked, that’s all. I’m glad you have a friend.”
Tia’s chip-laden fingers froze midair.Are Ethan and I friends now?The first-name thing had happened so organically. Come to think of it, he had called her Tia weeks ago, but when had she started calling him Ethan? Oh, wow, she’d really let her guard down and broken rule number one—stay polite and aloof. When had that happened? It hadn’t been the morning he’d brought coffee. She smoothed her forehead with a finger. And it hadn’t been the time he’d ordered Thai food. It most certainly hadn’t been the day he’d intimated those things about her pajamas in the school office.
Tia bolted upright, planting her feet on the floor.It’d been the day he’d dropped off the coffeepot.He’d signed the little gift card “My apologies, Ethan.” She shook her head with horror. Man pitfalls were everywhere, and she’d fallen into one of them. She’d even been stupid enough to kiss him.
Mo’s alarmed voice shimmered into her thoughts. “Honey, are you still there?”
Huh? She threw the chips into the bag and stammered, “Omigosh Mo, I let Detective Kelley clean Flynn’s nail marks on my back with my shirt off.”
“You really took off your shirt?”
“Yeah, but I wore a halter swimsuit cover-up on my front.”
“I remember you telling me he saw a lot more than your back at that bonfire back in high school.”
Tia lowered her voice to a whisper. “Right. But that was before I had the scar. I was, like, sixteen. My body was perfect back then.”
“For heaven’s sake, I wear less than a cover-up at the gym. It isn’t like you dragged him to the floor and jumped his bones.”
Tia paced the main floor. “Well, I did kiss him in the garden just to prove there was nothing between us. Boy, was I wrong.”
“What? Seriously?”
“I told him it was like kissing a brother, but I lied. He completely unnerves me, Mo. He’s an amazing kisser, kind of takes my breath away. And he’s such a nice guy. This is serious. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with anyone for a long time.”
“You’re not involved, Tia. You kissed him once and received medical attention from a cop. There’s no need to alert the authorities that you’re a fallen woman.”
“You don’t understand. He came with me to the vet earlier, and I let him drive. He cleared my house when we got home because they still haven’t found Margie Plante’s killer. I look forward to seeing him, and sometimes I find myself gazing at him and wondering... things. I don’t think I want to fix him up with Sarah anymore.”
“Ooh. Well, the first part is all typical cop stuff. It’s normal, and considering he’s Flynn’s other half, you have to deal with him sometimes. He must be something special if he’s caught your attention. Maybe don’t overthink it.”
Hot embarrassment ricocheted from Tia’s chest to her cheeks. She set the phone on the kitchen counter and braced herself on her elbows. “And I teased him about his muscles.”
Mo sputtered on a laugh. “Really?”
Tia shook her head. “Yeah. He asked me for a description of the cop who stopped me, and I compared his muscles to theother guy’s. Ethan is beautiful to look at. I’m not usually so shallow, but he’s hot.”