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‘I’m just taking it to the kitchen.’ Being a skivvy for her Inspector wasn’t part of her job description.
‘Won’t take you long to run it under the tap.’ He turned into the office, calling: ‘Make sure you get all the tea stains off. And I’ll have a fresh one while you’re there, Sergeant.’
Blooming cheek! She crossly shook the cup upside down over the sink in the slender kitchen and flicked the kettle on. And yet you’re still doing it, Nasreen? Get a grip. As a small rebellion, she didn’t rinse the cup before she dropped in a fresh bag on top of the cold tea. Saunders was training to swim the channel, and his nutrition plan didn’t allow sugar, so she added three teaspoons. The water boiled like her resentment.
She marched out of the kitchen in a rage, and slammed straight into Burgone. She swerved, trying to save his tailored suit from the hot tea. He jumped backwards.
‘Whoa!’
Boiling liquid sloshed over her thumb. ‘Ow!’ She swapped hands, shook it off and stuck her thumb in her mouth.
‘Are you all right?’ Burgone’s blue eyes looked at her with concern. He stepped towards her and reached for the hand that she was still sucking. Suddenly she felt absurdly sexual, and she let her fingers drop. He caught hold of them and gently turned her hand over in his. Running his piano-player touch lightly over the damaged skin. Every cell in her body felt primed. She daren’t speak. ‘We need to get this under the cold tap.’
She nodded dumbly as he took Saunders’s mug from her and led her to the sink. He turned on the tap, before tenderly holding her hand towards the water. The shock of the cold brought her to her senses.
‘It’s fine,’ she said, shaking him off, wincing as the water splashed onto his shirt, turning the white fabric transparent. It clung to his toned abs. She tried not to stare. ‘Sorry. I’m being stupidly clumsy.’ She tried to laugh.
‘Do we need to get the first-aid box?’ he asked, inspecting the burn. She wished he’d look away. Leave. She was surprised the water didn’t hiss into steam when it touched her skin: she felt hot with shame.
‘No, no, it’s fine. Honestly,’ she said.
He picked up the mug again and gave it a quizzical glance. ‘I thought you only drank herbal tea?’
He remembered! Get a grip, Nasreen. ‘It’s for DI Saunders.’
‘He’s got you making tea for him?’
She panicked. She didn’t want to seem like a grass. Or a whinger. ‘I was going to the kitchen anyway.’ To take back his cup.
His face relaxed into a glorious smile. ‘I’m so pleased you two are starting to bond.’
Was he? Had she been wrong? Did he really care what had happened to her since their one-night stand? ‘I wouldn’t say we’re bonding, exactly. More that he’s acknowledging my existence.’ She was being inappropriate, but Burgone smiled.
‘He’s a good cop, you can learn a lot from him.’
She nodded: Saunders’s record spoke for itself. Though Lex Riley’s potential involvement with Amber might derail her chance to prove herself to him. If Lex Riley had got to Amber – got to Paul – then finding the girl might not lead to Robertson after all.
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