Actual Stop (Agent O’Connor #1)(2)

I sighed and clenched the steering wheel. “Of course I am. I feel terrible.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“You never do it on purpose.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that lately I feel like your job is more important to you than I am.”

What the hell was she talking about? “Come on. You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?”

“Don’t you?”

Another pause. “I’m starting to have my doubts.”

Irritation swelled inside me, and I struggled to remain calm. She’d known about my lifestyle when she’d started pursuing me. Hell, we’d met on a detail, so none of this should’ve been a surprise. While I’d been wrong not to cancel tonight, I didn’t appreciate her implication that I didn’t care about her or my job was more important. She was a cop herself. She understood that things cropped up without warning. Or so I’d thought.

“Look, I’m sorry. I should’ve called. I’m still playing catch-up from UNGA, and I’m distracted. That’s all. Once I get out from under my casework, it’ll be better. I promise.” No need to mention that what I was about to do wasn’t strictly within my purview. Nope. None at all.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”

“Of course. What else would it be?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Hmm. Clearly she had something big on her mind. Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to press her on it. For one thing, I wasn’t alone. For another, we were almost at our destination. Time for damage control. “I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“Forget it,” Lucia said, sounding resigned. “We’ll do it another time.”

“I’d really like to see you.”

“And I’d like to see you, too. I—I miss you.”

“Well, then let me come over after I’m done. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Lucia chuckled lightly, and my tension eased. “As great as that sounds, we both know there’s no way for you to tell how long this’ll take. And I have to get up early tomorrow.”

Damn. She wasn’t wrong. I didn’t want her to be waiting on me. “How about tomorrow night? Are you free?”

She hesitated. “Yeah. Sure. Tomorrow night would be great. Be safe, okay?”

“You, too. See you tomorrow.”

I took a deep breath as I re-holstered my phone. What would be the best way to make this up to her? Flowers wouldn’t be enough. Jewelry would be too much. I could offer to cook for her, but I wasn’t great in the kitchen. Maybe I could pick up dessert from her favorite bakery and— “How’s that going?”

“Hmm? How’s what going?”

Meaghan let out an exasperated huff. “That was your girlfriend on the phone, wasn’t it?”

“No.”

“Then who was it?”

“Just someone I’ve been seeing.”

Meaghan looked skeptical. “But not your girlfriend.”

I shrugged. “Not officially.”

“Ah. You haven’t had the exclusivity talk.”

“No.”

“Why not? Is she seeing other people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I know you’re not.”

I scowled at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t you think I’ve realized you don’t date?”

“I didn’t realize my love life fascinated you. Something you want to tell me?”

Meaghan scoffed. “Please. Even if I were into girls, you wouldn’t be my type.”

“I am everybody’s type.”

“Stop quoting that stupid TV show.”

“Hey, if you’re going to open the door…”

“And stop trying to change the subject. Unless you want to tell me who made you swear off love. I’d be willing to let you distract me with that.”

Every nerve ending in my entire body started humming in warning. I loved Meaghan like a sister, but no way were we going to talk about that. Now or ever. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. Fine. Then let’s stay focused on how this girl has managed to do what many others have tried and failed to achieve.”

“There haven’t been that many others,” I muttered.

“There’ve been a few. Yet none of them have made it past what? Two dates? Three? I was starting to think you had commitment issues.”

“I don’t have commitment issues. I’m not opposed to the idea of dating someone exclusively. It just has to be the right girl. I refuse to settle just so I’m not alone.”

“Well, this girl must be pretty special. I mean, she’s made it a lot longer than any of the others.”

“Good God. You make it sound like I’ve been participating in my own version of a reality dating show. There’ve been like three.”

“Three who’ve never made it past a couple dates,” Meaghan pointed out smugly as she moved the radio mike a little, shifted so she was facing me more, and crossed her legs. “And how long have you been seeing this one?”