All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [23]
“Bacon,” Collier said, then snapped his fingers. “Better yet, make it link sausages.” He shrugged. “You know what they say—breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
She couldn’t manage a reply even if she wanted to. Instead, she turned on her heel and went to place their order.
Max watched her as she stormed off, unexpectedly drawn to the rhythmic sway of her hips.
Dossman waved his hand in front of Max’s face to break the spell. “Earth to Collierville.”
“Cut it out,” Max admonished with an unexplained smile.
“Help me out with this one. I thought that you always played the good cop and I was the bad one,” Dossman said.
“You’re not sore, are you?”
“Of course not. I’m just wondering if this is the way we ought to go on this one. I mean, the object is to get her to trust us. Or, did I miss something?”
Max glanced around to ensure that Kennedy was out of earshot. “I don’t think kneeling on bended knee is going to affect her.”
“And playing like Columbo and pestering her to death will? I’m not following your logic.”
Neither was Max, now that he sat back and thought about it.
When Max didn’t respond, Dossman tried a different approach. “Okay, let’s do it this way. What’s the plan? You do have a plan, don’t you?”
“We have breakfast.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Max reaffirmed.
On cue, Kennedy returned to the table. The cups clinked as she sat them down.
“You wouldn’t happen to have those cute little French-vanilla creamers, would you?” Max’s smile dropped at her stony expression. “I guess hazelnut is out of the question, too?”
Her hands balled into fists and nestled on her hips before she stormed off without uttering a word.
“I’m beginning to like her,” Max said absently.
“Come again?”
His gaze swung back to meet his partner’s. “Figuratively.”
“Uh-huh.” Dossman looked in the direction where Kennedy had disappeared, then back at his partner. “I don’t think we’re going to get her to talk this way. In fact, I think this is a lost cause. We have no real proof that she has ever been in those woods.”
“What about the necklace?”
“She said she lost it.”
“I don’t buy it.” Max waved a dismissive hand in Dossman’s direction.
“I don’t, either. The point is that we can’t prove otherwise.”
“Then maybe we need to search harder.” At Dossman’s exasperated look, Max leaned over the table toward him. “I’m not just trying to be a hard-ass here. She’s running scared. And what other option do we have? We can’t turn our backs and make a wish upon a fallen star that we get another break in this case.”
Dossman threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. You made your point…and I agree with you.”
Moments later, Kennedy returned to their table. “Two ham-and-cheese omelets, toast, a side order of bacon, link sausages, and—” she reached into her apron pocket “—French-vanilla and hazelnut creamers for your coffee. Please tell me there is nothing else I can get for you.”
Both men smiled.
“Good,” she said. She slapped their check down on the table, then headed for the next table.
“She does kind of grow on you,” Dossman said with a wink.
After Kennedy made sure that all her customers were taken care of, she joined Tyne in wrapping silverware in linen napkins.
“I see your Romeo has returned.” She nudged Kennedy with her elbow. “I should have known you were trying to pull a fast one on me. At least this time he brought a friend.”
“Trust me. It’s not what it looks like.”
“Well, it looks to me like he can’t keep his eyes off of you.”
Kennedy followed her coworker’s gaze to the two detectives. She felt a strange fluttering again in the pit of her stomach. What was it about Det. Collier that affected her so?
The men noticed her and raised their coffee cups in salutation.
Annoyed, she ground her teeth and looked away. “I wish that they would leave.”
“Mind if I take the shorter one?” Tyne asked.
“I thought you didn’t go for the pretty-boy type?”
“Girl, I go for just about any man with a job. I’ll even settle for one who’s at least looking for one.”
Kennedy laughed. “You have