Crossing the Line (18 page)

Needing to touch her, Paul reached out and took hold of her hand. “What is it?”

She met his gaze. “Did you want me to cancel my trip? I can stay here. It’s not a big—”

“No. Go. You need to spend time with your sister.” He saw by the scowl on her face that she was going to protest. “And I need to catch up on the work I missed. With Chloe gone, I’ll probably be pulling twelve to fifteen hour days for the next week.”

Megan nodded. “All right.”

Paul couldn’t help the pull he felt toward her, and how right it felt to hold her hand like he was. A surge of warmth raced through his body, and he wondered if maybe he was making the wrong decision. Maybe he could try . . . 

No. It would never work between them. They were too different, and he was . . . 

Paul looked down at their hands intertwined together, and it was hard to remember his arguments. He had to hold firm. It was for the best. He had to keep telling himself that.

Chapter 14

Sunday morning arrived before Megan knew it, and she was packing up her things for her trip that afternoon. Paul was feeling much better, although his cough lingered. The last two days had been interesting. She wasn’t sure what to make of Paul’s apparent one-eighty. 

Okay, so not much had changed. It wasn’t as if he’d declared his undying love to her or anything, but he was different. When he’d joined her in the kitchen for dinner the night before, the wall that always seemed to separate them wasn’t there. Maybe it was only the lack of Chloe’s presence. Megan was trying not to read too much into it and get her hopes up. 

“Are you about ready?”

Megan glanced up to see Paul’s figure framed in her doorway. He’d gone into work for a few hours the day before, but was staying home this morning so that he could take her to the airport. 

She smiled and made a final check of her suitcase. “I think so. If I forgot something, I’m sure Gage or Rebecca can run me to the store.”

Paul strolled into the room as Megan zipped up her luggage. He picked up the suitcase and started for the door.

“I can get that, you know.”

He looked back at her and smiled. “So can I.”

Megan rolled her eyes. Since he’d started feeling better, Paul had been insistent that he could do for himself. She supposed this was his way at realigning the scales, so to speak. 

It was nearly a half hour drive to the airport. Megan spent most of that time staring out the window and tapping her fingers against her leg. 

“You all right?” Paul asked.

She turned her head to look at him. “Yeah. It’s just . . . I’ve only flown once before. I guess I’m nervous.”

Paul nodded. “It’s been years since I’ve flown. I don’t mind it, but it’s not my favorite thing either.”

“I was in Oklahoma. My boyfriend at the time wanted to go see one of his friends play in New York City.” Megan’s voice trailed off as she let that piece of information hang in the air. That time and place in her life felt like a lifetime ago. 

“We took a trip to New York when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much.”

Megan nodded. “I don’t remember much either.”

Paul glanced over at her and frowned.

She shrugged. It wasn’t as if she had tried to hide her past. “I remember the airport, and taking the subway to this rat-infested motel. Billy and his girlfriend were there. They’d brought booze, and . . .”

“And?”

“And . . . we partied. A lot.” Megan tried to downplay it, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on what could happen in a hotel room with two guys, two girls, and a whole lot of alcohol.

She should have known better. 

“Define
partied
.” 

His voice had an edge to it, but she couldn’t tell if he was upset, hurt, or . . . well, she had no idea. Either way, she was determined to be honest with him. “We got drunk and fooled around.”

“As in . . . had sex.” This time she didn’t miss how he gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Yes.”

Paul’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “Did you even use protection? What am I thinking? You don’t even remember most of it. How are you going to remember if you bothered to use condoms?”

Okay, that ticked her off. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. “Look, you knew about my past. I made no secret of how wild I used to be. I made some stupid mistakes. I know that. I don’t need you telling me how dumb I was.”

He was silent for several minutes. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I have no right to make judgments. Especially on something that happened years ago.”

Although she wanted to be mad, she didn’t want to leave him for a week with an argument hanging between them. “Apology accepted.”

They approached the exit sign for the airport, and Paul took a deep breath. “Gage and Rebecca are picking you up in Nashville?”

“Yeah. They’re meeting me in baggage claim.” Megan smiled. “I wonder how big Becca’s tummy is now? All she had was a little bump the last time I saw her, but she’s got to be bigger now.”

“She’s what—about six months along?”

“Yep. So she should have a belly for sure.”

Paul laughed, and it was good to hear. Unfortunately, that segued into a coughing fit. 

Megan dug into her purse and found a cough drop. “Here.”

He took it and popped it into his mouth. His cough subsided as he pulled up to the curb at the airport. “How did you come to have cough drops in your purse?”

She smiled and shrugged. “You never know when they’ll come in handy.”

Paul shook his head, but he was smiling, so she knew all was good.

They both exited the vehicle, and he unloaded her suitcase from the trunk. He set it down on the curb and turned to face her. “Call me when you land?”

Megan nodded. “Take care of yourself while I’m gone, okay?”

“You do the same.”

She knew she needed to go, but there was something stopping her.

Paul glanced up at something over her shoulder, and she could guess that it was the security guard coming to tell him he needed to move his vehicle. 

Before she could overthink it, Megan closed the distance between them and planted a solid kiss on Paul’s lips. 

When she backed away, taking her suitcase with her, Megan couldn’t help but revel in that little thrill she got at the stunned look on his face. “I’ll see you in seven days. Don’t forget me.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Megan giggled, and waved as she walked through the glass doors. She would miss Paul, but more importantly, she hoped he would miss her. If he didn’t, that meant he probably didn’t feel as strongly for her as she did for him. It didn’t mean he never would, but it would make what she wanted more difficult to achieve.

She got her ticket and made her way through security. It was a little different than she remembered. Then again, she hadn’t been paying much attention to anything other than Dale the last time she’d set foot in an airport. She had been smitten with the wannabe rock star, and at the time, she would have followed him anywhere. 

As she found a seat at the gate to wait on her flight, Megan mused over how much her life and her tastes had changed. Looking back, she had trouble seeing what exactly had appealed to her about the bad boys she’d followed across the country. But even as the thought crossed her mind, Megan knew. Freedom. That was what they’d offered her. Or, at least, that’s what she’d thought they’d offered her. 

Thinking about her past boyfriends brought Paul back to the forefront of her mind. He’d been shocked about her revelation in the car. Megan was sure there were other things about her past that would shock the pants off him as well. She had two rules: no illegal drugs and no violence. Growing up, she’d witnessed her mom being battered around a few times by her dad. It wasn’t something she was willing to put up with. Thanks to her big sister, Megan never had to. Rebecca had taught Megan how to protect herself, should the need arise. 

Megan snorted. She’d given her sister such a hard time over the years. Thinking back, Megan wondered how many times Rebecca had protected her and she’d been oblivious. 

A woman’s voice came over the intercom, announcing Megan’s flight. She picked up her carry-on bag, and made her way onto the plane. Megan needed to find a way to express her gratitude for all her big sister had done for her. Considering how bratty a child Megan had been growing up, and their father’s hot temper, Rebecca might have saved Megan’s life.

After leaving the airport, Paul drove directly to the station. It was Sunday, and as a seasoned officer, he was no longer required to work weekends unless he was on call, but he needed something to do. Saying goodbye to Megan was harder than he’d thought it would be. 

Paul sighed as he pulled into his assigned parking spot outside the station. He kept trying to tell himself that going on a date with Megan wasn’t a good idea. Then again, if they did go out on a date, if she could see they weren’t compatible, that dating him wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, then maybe she’d refocus her attention on someone else—a guy closer to her age, maybe. 

A nauseous feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t like that idea either. The thought of seeing her with Rollins, or someone else like him, had Paul’s insides tied up in knots. “It would be for the best.”

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

Two sharp knocks on his car window jolted him upright. He glanced over to see one of the rookie patrolmen—Paul couldn’t remember his name—staring back at him. 

Paul rolled down the window.

“Everything okay, Detective?” the patrolman asked.

“Yes. Everything’s fine. Is there something I can do for you?”

The young man shook his head. “No, sir. I happened to be walking by and noticed you sitting in your vehicle.”

“Ah.” Paul rolled up the window, removed his keys from the ignition, and opened the door. He stepped out onto the pavement and pocketed his keys. “Just doing a little thinking.”

The officer nodded. “You’re working the serial killer case, right?”

“Yes.” Although Paul recognized the officer, he didn’t really know the guy.

“I thought so.”

Before the rookie could ask any more questions, Paul set off toward the building.

Of course, that didn’t stop the officer from following. “Are you getting close to solving the case?”

Paul didn’t answer until he was right outside the station door. He paused, and then faced the other man. “Why are you so curious?”

“Um. I—um.”

“Do yourself a favor. You do your job, and let me do mine.” Not giving the guy a chance to respond, Paul opened the door and went inside.

Paul didn’t have long to ponder his conversation in the parking lot before Janey found him. 

“Hey. I thought you might be in today. Is your nanny off to visit her sister?”

“Yes,
Megan
is off to visit her sister. I dropped her at the airport about twenty minutes ago.”

Janey turned, attempting to hide a smirk. She wasn’t all that successful, however. His partner had been abundantly clear regarding her feelings on his relationship status even before Megan entered the picture. 

Needing to redirect her attention, Paul unlocked his desk and retrieved the file he’d stored there the day before. “You up for some legwork today?”

“You thinking of running down some of those leads?”

He nodded. “I figured we could hit some of the overlapping locations on our list.”

With the case file tucked under his arm, Paul weaved through the desks, heading toward the station entrance with Janey following close behind. Not far from the door, he spotted the officer who’d cornered him in the parking lot. The guy was talking to another patrolman, one Paul had worked with for years.

“You okay?” Janey asked. “Not getting sick again on me, are you?”

Paul opened the door, and ambled out into the parking lot toward his vehicle. “You wouldn’t get that lucky, Davis. Come on, we’ve got a case to solve.”

They were leaving their second stop—which failed to yield any new information—when his cell phone rang. “Daniels.”

“Hey. It’s Megan.”

He glanced down at his watch, and sure enough over two hours had passed since he’d dropped her off at the airport. “How was your flight?”

“Good. I sat beside this guy who sells advertising. He’s in Nashville for some kind of convention.”

A spark of jealousy surged through him, and Paul quickly clamped down on it. “Sounds . . . interesting.”

She laughed. “Not really. He was nice enough, though. Oh, and he invited me to stop by the convention if I had time—he even gave me two tickets in case Becca wants to tag along.”

“I see.” Paul closed his eyes and tried to ignore his irrational response.

“Okay, well, I’m almost to baggage claim, so I should probably go. Becca texted that they were already in the airport waiting. I’ll text you later, all right?”

“Have fun.” His throat clenched as he spoke those two simple words. 

“I will.”

The phone went silent, and he removed it from his ear. 

“Everything all right with your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my
girlfriend
.”