Page 24 of Edge of Steele
“Right. Well. Just the same to them.” She tsked. “Now I know you’re here to see Russ, but I can’t let you go without mentioning my niece. She’s just darling.”
Finn flashed up a hand, hoping his expression would warn off even a charging bear, which was the way a lot of these women had attacked him. “Best not to keep the sheriff waiting.”
“Oh, right. Right.” She picked up the handset. “I’ll let him know you’re here, and then we can continue our conversation.”
“Sorry. I need to speak to Ms. Steele before we meet with Maddox.” He took Ryleigh’s elbow and nearly dragged her away from the window. “Now you see what I face.”
She fought a grin but didn’t contain it.
“It’s not funny.”
“It is. Kind of. If you’d relax and go with it.”
Easy for her to say. She didn’t have to deal with it. “If I’d been thinking, I’d have told Tobias to keep the fact that I was a SEAL private, but I never thought he’d blab it all over town.”
“It’s a big deal to some people.”
“But not to you.”
She took a long moment before answering. “I’d never want to downplay what you achieved. Not many men can do it. Or downplay the danger you put yourself in for others, but a lot of men and women go into danger every day. That puts them on the same playing field for me.”
He’d always admired her logical take on life. Or at least on this, even if it did make him work harder to have to meet her. “And well it should be.”
“I always liked that about you,” she said, seeming happy to be remembering one of his good points. “You’re humble and never bragged or used your SEAL status to get anything.”
Busted.“I did. Once. On the first date with you. Broke one of my rules. I was hooked and you were like, yawn, whoisthis guy—if you noticed me at all.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Was I that bad?”
“My ego took a beating for sure.”
“Sorry. We met at a time when I didn’t want a relationship to interfere with my job.”
“And now? Are you in a relationship?” he asked, hating that he wanted to. No, needed to.
“No.”
“Looking to get involved?”
“Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “I have to work longer hours to prove myself in the family business right now. But as long as the guy can accept that the job is a priority for me, then I’m okay with starting something up.”
But not with him were the read-between-the-lines words she didn’t say.
The door near the main desk opened, and Russ poked his head out. “Follow me.”
Finn held the door again and trailed Ryleigh and Russ down the long hall painted a light beige. The sheriff passed his office, but Finn paused to take a look inside. The space fit the guy. Big desk to match the ego. Neat, organized, and dust free to match his orderliness. Shelves filled with legal books to match his by-the-book stance.
Or none of Finn’s observations could relate to the guy’s personality. Hard to tell at this point.
Sure, Finn had been taught to make snap impressions in his job as SEAL, but in the civilian world he usually had more time and needed to keep more of an open mind. After all, Ryleigh said the sheriff was a good guy and not as full of himself as he’d appeared.
He led them into a brightly lit conference room smelling of fresh coffee and holding whiteboards on two walls. One of those long walls also contained a large window overlooking the rear of the property and a forest of tall evergreens. A large map of Emerson County was centered on the third wall, and a huge flat-screen TV on the fourth.
“Grab some coffee if you want.” Russ waited by the door and closed it behind them.
Finn nodded at the pot for Ryleigh, but she shook her head. He was still amped up from a soda at lunch and didn’t need any caffeine, so he scouted a place to land.
Colin already sat in a chair facing the door, Ryan across the table. No way Finn would put his back to the door even in a secured sheriff’s office, so he rounded the table to claim the seat next to Colin. Ryleigh evened out the numbers and pulled out a chair next to Ryan. A young woman with an iPad and keyboard sat at the far end of the table.
