Windermere rode the elevator to her room, cursing herself. You’re a goddamn fool, she thought. What the hell were you doing back there?
She had been trying to make Stevens jealous. Of course she had. Couldn’t explain why, but there you go. Infuriating.
Stevens wasn’t even her type. Hell, even if he wasn’t already married to a beautiful woman. Even if he didn’t have two wonderful kids. He was a middle-aged white guy. He didn’t dance. Why the hell was she getting so moony?
The elevator doors opened, and Windermere walked out to the hall. Found her room and unlocked it. The room was dark, cool, serene. She walked to the bed and lay down.
It was proximity. That’s all it was. Emotions were bound to run rampant when you spent so much time with someone else. You weren’t human unless you felt something.
And the history. Pender. Tomlin. Stakeouts and shoot-outs. You built chemistry with a person, especially someone like Stevens. He was a good cop. A decent guy, besides. He was calm and decisive. Smarter than he looked. He—
Enough about Stevens.
It was a temporary thing. Brought on by proximity and the excitement of the case. Maybe Stevens was right not to want to work with her. Maybe he’d figured out the same thing. Maybe he realized he couldn’t trust himself around her. She’d seen something in his eyes down there on the street. He’d always looked at her like she was more than a partner.
“Christ.” Windermere groaned. “Shut the hell up about him already.”
Even if she was a bit moony, what the hell could she do? He was married. Had kids. She sure wasn’t going to put that in danger. She’d met Nancy Stevens, and Andrea and JJ. The whole family was smart and funny and perfect. No way she was going to wreck that.
The whole thing was an illusion, this thing with Stevens. They would solve the case with Killswitch and then it would go away. Soon as they landed in Minneapolis. Hell, maybe she would take Mathers for a night out somewhere. Maybe teach the kid how to dance.
Windermere lay on her bed in the darkness. Just work the damn case, she thought, staring up at the ceiling. Don’t do anything stupid, you hear?