All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [11]
“An unreliable source,” she reminded him.
Kennedy assessed the woman with a quick glance and immediately classified her as high maintenance. “Can I get you two anything else?” she asked with a plastic smile.
“Yeah. A miracle witness to the A.D.A. murder,” came the woman’s cynical reply.
The water pitcher slipped from Kennedy’s hand. Its contents splashed everywhere, including all over Ms. High Maintenance’s obviously expensive suit.
“You idiot!” The woman jumped from her chair and frantically wiped at the water-stained material.
“Ohmigosh. I’m so sorry.” Kennedy’s face heated with embarrassment as she scrambled to clean up the mess.
“What in the hell were you thinking about, you nitwit?”
Kennedy stiffened.
“Aaliyah, don’t…” the woman’s companion warned.
“Didn’t you see what she just did, Reggie? Look at me.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“A hell of a lot that does me.”
The women’s heated gazes clashed.
Bennie quickly appeared and started doing what he did best: brownnose. “Ma’am, I’m terribly sorry for…”
Tired of having to put up with people talking to her like a second-class citizen, Kennedy turned to storm off, but was unprepared for the towering wall of muscular man that stood between her and the door.
She hit the floor and the wind rushed out of her lungs. Stars danced before her eyes for several dazzling seconds, and then cleared to reveal a breathtaking stranger.
“Are you all right, ma’am?”
Entranced by the man’s seductive brown eyes, she hardly noticed his hand stretched out to help her.
“Ma’am?”
Kennedy blinked to clear the haze in her head. The sense of connection between her and the stranger intensified when she slid her hand into his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. It seemed as if every cell in her body reacted to him, forcing her to wonder who this strong and debonair man was.
“Detective Collier.” The reporter’s syrupy-sweet voice seemed to float in the air behind Kennedy.
Both Kennedy and Collier frowned.
A cop? He’s a cop? “Excuse me,” Kennedy said, trying to move around him.
“You’re not even going to tell me your name?”
The man smiled and her knees buckled.
“Why? Are you arresting me?” She clamped her jaws shut and wanted to kick herself.
He crossed his arms. “Not unless you give me a good reason to.”
His tone was serious, but his eyes were mischievous. Kennedy struggled to appear impervious to his charms. “I really have to go.”
“Then it’s my loss.”
She answered his comment with a nonchalant smile. “I’m afraid so.”
This time instead of storming away, she was convinced that she was floating away from the dashing detective.
Max’s gaze remained focused in the direction that the beautiful waitress had gone. In the back of his mind, he questioned his attraction and couldn’t come up with a logical explanation for it.
“So, Detective Collier, what brings you here?” Aaliyah asked, cradling her hands against her hips.
Max turned and couldn’t force himself to smile. “I would imagine the same thing that brought you here—lunch.”
With amazing grace, the reporter shrugged off his sarcasm and got straight to the point. “How is the Underwood investigation going?”
“Slowly.” He paid the cashier for his carryout order.
“Any leads?” Aaliyah persisted.
He wanted to laugh at the woman’s audacity. “Do you honestly think I would share any information with you?”
“Surely, we can let bygones be bygones?”
This time he did laugh. “You know, I’m not really known for saintly qualities like forgiveness. You burned me once. You won’t get a second chance.”
Once inside the break room, Kennedy decided that she’d had enough for the day. She was leaving.
A second later, Tyne, one of her coworkers, flew in behind her. “Girl, what’s got into you today?” Her sentence ended with an annoying pop of her bubble gum.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure don’t seem fine to me. Hell, you have to be insane to turn that fine brother down.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes heavenward as she snatched her bag from her locker. “Look, I just have a lot on my mind, okay?”
“I’ll say.” Tyne crossed her arms and drummed her fiery-red fingernails