Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead(Finlay Donovan #2)(20)

“No,” Georgia sputtered. “Of course not.”

“She did! I can’t believe you let her talk you into this. God, Georgia. This is so awkward!”

“Only as awkward as you make it.”

“What if I tell Nick I’m planning to murder you?”

“Yeah, that would definitely make things weird. Look, I’ve got to go finish booking Thing One and Thing Two. Call you later.”

“You owe me!” I said again as my sister disconnected. Nick grinned at me through the open door of Delia’s classroom, watching me over the children’s heads, causing a few curious moms to look over their shoulders at me. I was going to make Georgia change so many diapers for this.

“Smooth, huh?” I turned at the raspy voice behind me. The man shook his head as he watched Nick over my shoulder. “He’s got every one of them eating out of the palm of his hand. Even the kids.” The man jiggled a set of keys, or maybe some loose change in his pants pockets, the spread of his open jacket revealing the butt end of a sidearm and the glimmer of a badge. I was still struggling to place him when his blue eyes jumped to mine. “Sorry,” he said, extending a hand. “I should have introduced myself. I’m Joey Balafonte.” At my vacant stare, he jutted his chin toward the classroom. “I’m Nick’s partner.”

“Oh,” I blurted as I rushed to shake his hand.

The end of a toothpick poked from the corner of his smile. He was in plain clothes, like Nick usually wore, but his color palette was noticeably lighter: thick fair hair hinting at gray around his temples, a French-blue shirt, and pale gray slacks. The faint scent of cigarette smoke clung to his tan leather jacket. He was handsome, but not in the same lean and dangerously rugged way as Nick. More like Steven, with his boy-next-door good looks and a slight softening around the middle. He didn’t look like someone who’d been undergoing cancer treatments. “I thought you were on leave,” I said delicately.

“You must be thinking of Charlie. No,” he said, his smile turning down at the edges. “Charlie’s not back to work yet, but we’re all pulling for him. I’m Nick’s new partner. And you must be the infamous Finlay Donovan.” Joey’s astute cop eyes skimmed over me the same way my sister’s often did, like a lint roller picking up the little things others never bothered to notice. He chuckled quietly, sliding the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “Even if Nick wasn’t staring at me like he’d like to take off my head for speaking to you right now, I’d still be able to pick you out of a crowd. He talks about you all the damn time.”

The class erupted in applause, signaling the end of Nick’s presentation. He glanced our way, a warning to Joey in the sharp edge of his smile. Joey nudged me with his elbow. “See what I mean? He’s worried I’m spilling all his humiliating secrets.”

“What’s he afraid you might say?”

Joey leaned close to my ear as a line of parents funneled out of the room. “That I’m shitty company on a stakeout and he had a lot more fun with you.”

Blood rushed to my cheeks as Delia took Nick’s hand, dragging him toward me through the crowd. When they reached us, she threw her arms around his legs, her whispered “thank you” making my heart flutter.

A loaded silence fell between the two of us as she raced off to collect her backpack from her cubby. This close, he seemed taller than I remembered, thanks to the extra inch or two in his boots and the way my daughter had looked at him just now, elevating him to something more than human.

The dimple in his cheek made a slow appearance, as if he knew. “It’s good to see you, Finlay.”

“You, too.” I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder, trying not to stare at the way his uniform hugged his frame, but I was eye level with his chest. Averting my eyes only managed to land them on one of his equally impressive biceps. And lowering them was … definitely out of the question. I looked up at him through my lashes, my breath catching on the soft curl of his smile. “Thanks for doing this. You really didn’t have to.”

He nodded toward the line of cubbies down the hall, where Delia was shrugging on her coat. “I was glad to. She’s a great kid.” It was generous of him to say so after she’d called him an asshole a month ago, repeating her father’s low opinion of Nick after Delia told him we were dating. Which we weren’t. Not technically. Not unless you counted making out like jackrabbits in the front seat of his cruiser during a stakeout.

My neck grew slightly sweaty at the memory.

Nick’s blush suggested maybe he was remembering the same thing.

Joey slapped a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I’m going outside to grab a smoke. I’ll wait for you in the car.” He smiled at me around his toothpick. “Nice to finally meet you, Finlay. Don’t be too tough on him, huh?” With a wink, he melted into the crowd.

I waited through a series of awkward pauses as a few of the fathers who’d been Career Day guests stopped to shake Nick’s hand. Some of the moms patted his arm, their fingers resting a moment too long on his biceps as they thanked him for coming.

“You really were great in there,” I said when his line of fans had finally dwindled. “It meant a lot to Delia. I’m grateful.”

He tipped his head. “Grateful enough to let me call you sometime?”