Free Steal Me by Lauren Layne Page A

his coat and shoved it at him, not caring that her uniform was getting soaked and was probably clinging a little too snugly. It had been sunny and unseasonably warm when she’d left home yesterday, and she hadn’t planned on leaving the diner at two in the morning…
    “You want me to tell you that I’ll call you next time I see Eddie?” she asked. “Well I won’t. One, because Eddie Hansen is the biggest coward I’ve had the displeasure of knowing. If he knows I saw him, he’ll be long gone by now. And two…two, I won’t be calling you, because I don’t owe you anything .”
    She spun on her heel, a gesture less sexy than it could have been thanks to the black utilitarian shoes she wore while working, but as with before, he grabbed her arm, pulling her back around before she could storm off.
    Except this time, his grip was a bit firmer, his tug a bit harder, and she came up abruptly against his chest, the coat she’d rejected sandwiched between them.
    “You’ll call me,” he said, his eyes simmering with temper.
    “I won’t,” she said again, stubbornly. “So you can drop the caveman routine.”
    “I could charge you with obstruction of justice—”
    “Oh, stuff it,” she said. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t call the cops ; I just said I wasn’t going to call you personally. Because there’s nothing personal about you. You’re overbearing and grumpy and—”
    “I’m not Luc. I get it,” he snapped. “But he’s taken, so get over the crush.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I have absolutely no interest in Luc. But while we’re speaking of me and your brothers, did you know that when your mom and sister were in the Darby Diner yesterday they were trying to set me up?”
    Moretti’s eyes dropped briefly to her mouth. “You and me? That’s preposterous.”
    Maggie ignored the sting at his incredulous reaction.
    She leaned in just slightly, the heat in his gaze making her bold. “They weren’t trying to set me up with you, Captain. With Vincent .”
    Moretti visibly recoiled. “Vin?” Then he laughed. “That’s…There is no way he’d be interested.”
    Maggie blinked. Blinked again. The burn of his disbelief that someone might be interested in her was a bit too much to take.
    She slowly eased away from him, averting her eyes so he couldn’t see the hurt, only to realize she probably needn’t bother. The man was an insensitive ass—he wouldn’t recognize hurt feelings if they bit him in the balls.
    “I’ll be going home now, Captain.”
    “Ms. Walker…Maggie…” He reached out a hand again as she stepped backward, but this time Maggie was ready and she dodged.
    “Quit manhandling me,” she cried, her voice a little desperate. “I haven’t done anything wrong and you know it.”
    His hand dropped to his side, his face the picture of masculine frustration. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, something complicated passing between them before the door beside them flew open.
    “Maggie?” It was Carlos. Finally . “What are you still doing here?”
    Her friend gave Anthony a suspicious look, and the taller man rolled his eyes. “Relax. I’m a cop. And if you’re really her friend, you shouldn’t let her walk to the subway alone.”
    Carlos frowned. “Hey! I’ve offered to walk her every day for months. She always says no.”
    Captain Moretti transferred his annoyed gaze back to Maggie, but she held up a weary hand. “Save it. Or add it to my list of sins. I don’t really care. I’m going home. If either or both of you want to walk me to the subway station out of some macho display of chivalry, go for it, but under no circumstance do I want to chat. Got it?”
    She walked away then, ignoring the rain, ignoring the hurt, and definitely ignoring the men behind her.
    But she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder, just once before heading down the stairs to the train platform, and somehow she wasn’t at all surprised to see that Captain Anthony Moretti had followed her,