Instead of rushing out to her car to be first on the road the way she usually did, Trooper Morgan took her time collecting her things. When the door closed behind the others, she turned back to him.

“Lt. Peterson, you did a great job yesterday.”

Ben stared at her. She’d probably felt pressured to say something kind earlier, but this was overkill.

“It’s what we’re trained to do,” he managed over the awkwardness clogging his throat.

“But you really did it.”

“Uh…thanks.”

The inflection in his last word made his comment sound like a question, and he recognized that it was one. Was that shock he’d heard in her voice? Or awe? It must have sounded strange to her as well because her eyes went wide. He should have looked away. It would have been the decent thing to do when she looked uncomfortable enough to fire through the floor for an escape route. But he couldn’t drag his gaze from her face. Porcelain skin without a freckle anywhere, a straight nose with one of those cute tipped-up ends that women paid good money for, and a mouth as close to a perfect bow as any he’d ever seen.

Why had he never noticed those things about her before? Weren’t details supposed to be the bread and butter of good police work? Maybe it was because she was behaving as suspiciously as a suspect with half a dozen crack cocaine rocks in her pocket. Or maybe because she was treating him so differently today. Like she admired him or something equally unbelievable.

No matter the cause, it was ridiculous to be seeing Delia Morgan again for the first time, and, worse yet, this time he was noticing all the wrong things. As if to put an exclamation mark on that point, his gaze dipped to just below her silver badge where small breasts softened the boxy lines of her uniform. Would they be as perfect as he imagined? He averted his gaze as heat rushed to his face. He really was just a horny teenager, hiding behind a uniform and a fancy title.

The trooper must have read his mind because she lifted her chin to stare him down for his unprofessional behavior, an expression that might have been more effective if she’d been standing on the desk instead of next to him where she had to look up. Way up. Nevertheless, she was again that tough young officer, too independent for anyone’s good, including her own.

“Well, Trooper,” he paused, clearing his throat, “be safe out there. Remember, call for backup when you need it.”

“I will…if I need it.”

Ben chose to let the comment pass this time. She couldn’t take back what she’d said earlier, anyway. And if she really did see him differently now, then maybe she would finally listen to his teamwork message. Finally buy into it just a little. He could hope, couldn’t he?

“Also, you should try to meet up with everybody after your shift. They’re going to the Driftwood instead of Casey’s Diner this time. I’m sure the others would like it if you came.”

“Okay. Sure.”

She didn’t look at him as she said it. He made a mental note to remember how she looked, acted when she was lying. She shoved open the door, allowing the frigid air to whoosh inside, and stepped outside. Either she or the wind pushed it closed behind her.

For a few seconds, Ben could only study the exit and wonder what had just happened. Their strange conversation wasn’t the half of it. Twice, in a matter of minutes, he’d checked out a female trooper, something he’d better stop doing yesterday if he planned to keep his job. What was wrong with him?

Maybe it was simply this unusual day, surreal in Groundhog Day proportions, that had made him so uncomfortably aware of her. Or maybe it was that Trooper Morgan had surprised him. Only a handful of people had ever been able to do that.

In his experience, people stayed true to form, no matter what that form was. Law-abiding citizens kept following the rules, and convicted felons became repeat offenders with tragic regularity. He understood too well the collateral damage those habitual offenders left behind, not to mention the worry over apples that fell too close to their second-rate trees.

Trooper Morgan either didn’t understand the rules of the game or refused to play along. Just when Ben had begun to wonder if he’d ever find a crack in her armor of fierce self-reliance, Delia had shown him a flicker of possibility.