Tommy had just sat down for lunch at the café on the cobblestoned Main Street below her apartment when the beefy blond detective pulled up a chair, sitting on it backward.
He gave her a big smile. “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Detective Brad Erks.”
“I know who you are, detective. Aren’t you supposed to be a little … uh, more covert?”
“Nah. If the killer makes me for a cop, that’s okay. Then maybe he’ll know not to mess with you. My job is to keep you safe, little darling.”
Tommy made a face. “I don’t think so, detective,” she said, emphasizing the formality of the title. “Aren’t you also supposed to be doing surveillance so you can spot the killer watching me? Now, if he’s out there, he’s just watching both of us. Not quite the plan.”
Tommy took a big bite of her cheeseburger and eyed him, waiting for his reaction. He seemed a little flustered. Good.
He stood up. “No, you’re absolutely right. I’ll usually be in the background, but just wanted to introduce myself, and let you know I got your back. There’s nothing for you to worry about while I’m around.” He gave a high-wattage smile and slipped away.
“Oh, brother,” Tommy said under her breath, watching him leave. Some cops had oversized egos that sometimes threatened to get in the way of doing their job.
He was cute, though, she admitted. But Kelly was a whole heck of a lot cuter. She smiled just thinking about Lt. Costello’s orders that Kelly stay the night at her house until the killer was caught. Neither spoke up to let the lieutenant know that is pretty much the way the sleeping arrangements worked anyway.
The only thing stopping Kelly from getting rid of his Apple Valley home was that he didn’t want to boot his roommate out, an old college friend who had divorced last year and was trying to put his life back together again.
Meanwhile, Kelly had moved most of his clothes and essentials to Tommy’s place. It suited her just fine.
Tommy finished her burger and headed for her Jeep parked out front. Up next was shooting a Minnesota Twins game. Besides covering crime, covering baseball games was her favorite assignment. She was a fervent fan and had to restrain herself from cheering as she snapped photos. Beefy blond cop would like that part of his assignment, she was sure. She giggled imagining him scrambling to buy a ticket as she flashed her press pass and slipped in the VIP entrance. Then again, she thought, he could probably just flash his badge and be right behind her. Damn. She shouldn’t be so hard on him, he was just doing his job. But his overt flirting, patronizing attitude, and arrogance about his absurd good looks irritated her. He probably had everything easy in life. For Tommy, who had never known the easy way ever, this was hard to relate to.
More than anything, she wished she could sit home with a beer and Kelly by her side and watch the game. But Kelly was working late, serving a search warrant on a big-time drug dealer.
Later, at the game, Tommy rushed to the bathroom during the seventh-inning stretch. She’d been holding in those two Diet Cokes for way too long. When she emerged from the bathroom, she noticed beefy blond cop off to the side smiling and talking on his phone. She could barely hear him and what she heard made her heart melt.
“All right slugger, this time I’m working, but next time it’s you and me, buddy. We’ll get some really great seats and some popcorn and hot dogs, what do you say?”
Just then, he looked up and Tommy was taken aback by the joy on his face. She immediately felt guilty for thinking badly of him.
After he hung up, he looked around, and came over.
“My kid,” he said sheepishly. “His mom and I split a few years ago, so I don’t get to see him as much as I want. I told him to look for me on the big screen at the game. He’s pretty darn excited about it.”
This time Tommy gave him a real smile. “How about we arrange for him to come see the game with a press pass? We could bring him down on the field and have him meet some of the players?”
“Wow, that would be fantastic. You’d really do that?”
“Of course!” Tommy said, smiling, but then immediately regretted it when she heard what he had to say next.
“So, are you asking me on a date?” He looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Hardly,” Tommy said. “Detective Kelly will be along, as well.”
“Aw, darn,” he said, as Tommy walked away without a backward glance.