He might as well have told me he needed me to wash his truck while I was there. “For what?” I asked.
“I’ll need to take down your statement.”
“That’s unnecessary. I can give you my statement now. In fact, I already did. It went something like this: I don’t know how the fire started.”
“By morning, you might recall some detail you forgot to mention or remember seeing something you aren’t thinking clearly about right now. It won’t hurt to go over everything one more time tomorrow so I can add it to the report.”
“This is silly. So I’m supposed to come down to the station to answer questions about a fire I know nothing about. All because you think I’m lying?”
“I didn’t say that, either.”
“To hear you tell it, Captain, you aren’t actually saying anything. But I somehow get the impression I’m being treated as a potential suspect.”
He frowned at me, breathing out a hard sigh. “Listen, it’s nothing personal. You’re new in town, and I don’t know a damn thing about you.”
And if I had my way, he never would.
“I just need you to come down to the station,” he repeated. “It won’t take long.”
“Why can’t you question me here, then?”
“Because I don’t have any of my reports with me. It’s my day off, remember? So if you’ll just swing by the station in the morning, I can—”
“And if I don’t?” I couldn’t have him looking into my background.
His jaw tightened and his eyes widened a little, as if he were surprised by my reluctance to cooperate. “I can always have the sheriff pick you up and question you at the police station if you’d like.” He grinned smugly as if daring me to try him. “That works for me, too.”
An erotic image of Cowboy standing over me, berating me, while I was bound in handcuffs flashed in my mind, and my mouth went dry. “Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow to answer the same stupid questions you’ve already asked me. But don’t expect my responses to change,” I said, turning to head back to the library entrance.
“One more thing, Miss…uh, Anna.”
Jesus. He still didn’t remember me. I groaned under my breath and shook my head, but kept on walking without looking back. “Sorry, Captain,” I yelled. “You should’ve asked your question while you had the chance. Guess now you’ll have to wait until tomorrow…unless you feel like giving the sheriff a call, that is.” With that, I disappeared around the corner of the building and let out a deep breath.
I barely made it back inside to the circulation desk before the door slid open behind me and a booming, masculine voice belted out, “I wasn’t through with you, yet.”
My body jolted at the gruff tone. I tried to keep my senses, but something about his comment had pushed my buttons. I whirled on him. “That’s too damn bad. So far tonight, you’ve accused me of sleeping with you, spreading gossip about confidential library records, and starting a dumpster fire. So if you think you can walk in here and bully me into answering any more of your idiotic questions, then…well, you’re sorely mistaken.” I waved him away with my hand. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to close up.”
Cowboy chuckled. “All right, I’ll go. But before I do, I still need to ask you the question I came in here for. Will you hold the book for me or not?”
“Not,” I snapped back, having my fill of his arrogance. “You can google the information you need.”
He snorted. “Yeah, because we all know that everything you read on the internet is true.”
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll hold the book for you if you don’t force me to come to the fire station to give you a statement.”
His eyes widened at my request. “You know damn well I can’t do that.” Then he lifted a brow, confirming I had just made myself look even more suspicious than before.
Great, Anna. Way to go.