Page 12 of Made of Steele
“Oh, come on, Collier. You know the ladies swoon around you, and you use it with female suspects all the time.”
She was right. Partly. He didn’t know about the swooning, but he did use it to his benefit in interrogations. He never flirted or tried to charm fellow law enforcement officers. Not unless he wanted it to go beyond a professional relationship, which he’d done a few times. None of them went very far. He never allowed anything to go beyond a few dates. He didn’t plan to get married. Ever. Evenifa woman who piqued his interest like Teagan Steele came along. He would never want to lead a woman on.
“I’ll do my best to win her over,” he said to appease his boss.
“We’ll hold our usual check-in unless something comes up before that.” She eyed him. “Try not to let anything come up.”
He stepped back for her to pass, wishing he could say what he was thinking. He couldn’t. Not when he’d gotten into hot water in the past for mouthing off. Best to keep his trap shut. He already had one woman he needed to placate. No point in making it two.
He entered the small conference room reeking of stale fast-food mixed with burnt coffee. The empty coffee pot on the small table in the corner had deep char marks. A long table dominated the middle of the room, and upholstered chairs lined the walls. A large television was mounted next to a whiteboard smeared with red marker residue.
Too antsy to sit, he circled the table, pausing to look out the door each time he reached that end of the room and glancing at the wall clock on each turn. Took Teagan fifteen minutes to show up at the door, where she paused. She’d been wearing a classic blue suit with a white blouse last night, but today she wore black slacks and a red knit top that clung to her curves and deepened her already nearly black hair. He didn’t see a weapon, but she was a civilian when she’d come in today, and if she carried all the time, she’d likely had to check it at the front desk.
She looked him in the eye. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. You want one?”
“Sure. Thanks. Black.”
She nodded and departed. He wanted to take her kindness as a sign that her anger was melting, but maybe not. Maybe it was her faith in action. Her family was legendary in the law enforcement world. Not only for their fine service, but for the Christian values they held.
At least he hoped he hadn’t been paired with a hotheaded person, just tempered for a moment. That personality didn’t work well in an undercover situation.
She returned carrying two cardboard cups of steaming coffee. The nutty aroma trumped the foul smell lingering in the room. She set them both on the table and took a seat at the head. He dropped down next to her and cupped the warm cardboard. “Thank you for agreeing to work on this investigation.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? I would think you’d be mad about me butting in when I’m probably not needed.”
Interesting.“Why do you say that?”
“I figure you only asked as a way to ensure my silence. Sure, I could blab about the op once I was an officer too, but you probably think the chances are better that as a sworn officer I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
He could lie to her—Harris would probably want him to—but he reserved his lies for the undercover world. “Your assessment is accurate.”
“I’ll keep quiet. So will my sisters and our guard.” She lifted her coffee cup and took a sip. “That said, do you want to cut and run?”
“No,” he said, surprising himself. She’d given him the perfect out, and he should’ve taken it. But maybe she could be helpful. After all, she’d pegged him and Harris right off the bat, so she had skills.
She took a long sip of the coffee, black like his. “What’s the plan?”
He almost hated to tell her and ruin the short truce. “Harris thinks it would be a good idea if we forged a fake relationship. I’ll tell the brothers that I want to ask you out. Get their buy-in. Tell them in addition to that, it would be good to have an inside source to keep an eye on their business’s security.”
She didn’t react. Not at all. Not a bat of her eyelashes. She simply set her cup on the table while continuing to stare at him. “Do you think they’ll go for it?”
“Yeah, I do. You’re not hard on the eyes, so selling being interested in you wouldn’t be a stretch.” Not at all. “Now all it will take is for you to forgive me for getting the jump on you last night. If not, it’ll never work.”
She let out a squeaky breath. “I’m sorry for attacking you in the office. I don’t know what came over me. I’m usually much more in control.”
“I get it—trust me. I’d be spitting mad if it happened to me.”
“But like you said. You were just doing your job. And you didn’t hurt me.” She held up a bandaged finger. “My only injury is from slicing the zip tie. Now that I think about it, you were pretty kind, considering everything.”
“Does that mean I’m forgiven?” He grinned at her. A grin that Harris would consider charming, but it was honestly generated from thinking that Teagan might let this go.
“Enough to do the job and convince the Contis I’m glad to be dating you.” She gave a tight smile. “And as much as needed to not be holding something against another person. My faith wouldn’t allow that, and I already had to ask for forgiveness for losing my cool and roughing you up.”
He liked how she didn’t hold back on talking about her faith. He once was an all-in kind of guy when it came to faith, but then his undercover days had eroded the strength of his convictions. Not attending worship every week and being surrounded by unscrupulous people had taken a toll on him.
She lifted her chin. “You look like you don’t think my faith should be part of the workplace.”
Uh-oh.Had he made her mad again? “I was actually thinking about how mine has eroded while undercover.”
