Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

masculine vitality.
    “Sorry I’m late. You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. I caught two homicides this morning, and then some drunk woman ran me off the road and a nail punctured my tire. I should have given her a ticket, but I couldn’t drive on a flat.”
    Uh-oh. I recognized that voice now, though it was more expressive than the first time I’d heard it. I looked up into the familiar face that hadn’t yet noticed my presence. He was an electric force standing in the doorway of Kate’s office, and a quick spurt of jealousy rushed through me as I wondered how they knew each other.
    Nick got his first glimpse of me and narrowed his eyes. “I should have known it was you,” he finally said, shaking his head. “I thought I recognized the car, and my first impression of you was that you don’t seem to think things through too well.”
    “Hey, that’s not fair. You don’t even know me.”
    “For which I can be eternally grateful, since I just changed a tire on hot asphalt that was baking my internal organs at a hundred and thirty degrees.”
    “Why is your flat tire my fault?” I asked. “I honked. You should have gotten out of the way, but you sped up instead.”
    “I was trying to get out of your way. You’re a menace to society. You shouldn’t be let out of a padded cell, much less issued a license to drive a vehicle.”
    “I’m a very nice person, dammit. I’ve just been under a tremendous amount of stress lately and my life has gotten slightly misdirected.”
    “Well, thanks for trying to bring me down with you. I deal with the scum of the earth on a daily basis, and I can’t r emember the last time someone irritated me as much as you do.”
    Nick’s voice hadn’t risen in volume since he’d started lecturing me. It had gotten softer and the words more terse and deliberate. I noticed the vein bulging out in his forehead and thought it looked a little dangerous.
    “ You need to take some anger management classes before you explode or something from keeping everything inside,” I said. “It wouldn’t hurt for that granite face of yours to show some emotion. Your bedside manner sucks. You didn’t even ask me if I was okay or make any personal observations when you questioned me.”
    “Lady, I was there to investigate a murder, not participate in social hour. Besides, you were drunk. I was just trying to get you to tell me what you knew before you passed out in my lap. And speaking of Saturday, why the hell haven’t you come in to give your formal statement?”
    “This is perfect,” Kate said before I could argue in my defense. “I’ve never known two people that make more memorable first impressions than the two of you. It’s absolutely perfect.”
    Nick and I were both looking at Kate like she’d lost her mind.
    “Kate, I think your headband’s too tight. It’s cutting off the circulation to your brain,” I said.
    I stood and gripped my small stack of file folders to my chest, hoping to hide the chocolate sauce I’d spilled on my boob , and got ready to make a grand exit.
    “I’m out of here, Kate. I’ll read these through and start the surveillance tomorrow night. I don’t think I’m up to starting tonight anyway. It’s been a hell of a day, and Mr. Personality is giving me a headache.”
    “Kate, please tell me you’re not giving this nutcase a job. She couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag. How the hell is she supposed to follow a suspect around unnoticed? She has the subtlety of a neutron bomb and the luck of Jimmy Hoffa.”
    “All right. That’s enough. Who the hell do you think you are?” I asked, poking my finger into his chest hard enough so he took a small step in retreat. He narrowed his eyes menacingly.
    “I’m a cop, and I could have you arrested for assaulting an officer,” he said, taking hold of the finger I had pressed against his rock hard pectoral muscle and pushing it away. “Want to see what it feels like to be cuffed and put in the back of a police cruiser?”
    A shot of heat spread from my loins to all my pleasure points, my eyes widened and my breath caught at the image, and I could tell he wasn’t entirely without imagination either as he realized where our conversation was leading.
    “If you two will give it a rest, I’d like to give my clients the illusion that this is a place of business,” Kate said in her best intimidation voice.
    I was caught off guard becaus e Nick smiled at Kate’s attempt to restore order.