“Always.” She smiled. “I have a perfect record—as you must know from your background check.”

“Keep it that way.” He hiked up one side of his mouth, turned, and headed for his Taurus.

Behind him, her engine came to life.

The temptation to watch her drive away was formidable—but he fought the urge. It was important to maintain a professional distance.

And not just because she was the victim of a crime he was investigating.

Getting close to any woman wasn’t in his plans.

An extreme position, admittedly, given that most of his colleagues were married.

Yet after what he’d put Karen through, subjecting a spouse to the constant worry of whether or not this would be the day he was killed in the line of duty didn’t seem fair.

While the odds were in his favor . . . and the majority of law enforcement professionals played them . . . he’d come close enough to being a statistic to know there were no guarantees about tomorrow with this job.

Maybe one of these days, if the loneliness pressing in on him these past few months became too oppressive, he’d trade his badge for a ring.

But he’d never really given that option any serious thought.

Or he hadn’t, until a gorgeous redhead with a passion for commendable principles entered his orbit five days ago.

“Hi, Doug. Sorry to bother you in the middle of the workday, but I heard about the last-minute caller on Eve Reilly’s show this morning. If you have a minute, could you give me a ring and fill me in? This may deserve a follow-up to my Saturday story. I’d have texted, but I can talk faster than I can type. Thanks.”

Doug erased Carolyn’s message and leaned back in his desk chair, phone in hand.

Of course he’d return her call. She was in reporter mode, giving him a legitimate excuse to talk with her. But there wasn’t much he could offer. The police had no idea who’d placed that call in the waning moments of Eve’s show. A follow-up story wouldn’t warrant more than a few lines of copy.

Still, talking to her would be the bright spot in his day.

Another warning sign he was getting in too deep.

And another reminder of the parallels between his situation and the one Eve had found herself in eight years ago.

Expelling a breath, he reached around and rubbed the back of his neck.

Much of what she’d said earlier this morning had hit too close to home.

No, he didn’t have a wife with emotional problems. And no, he wasn’t misleading anyone about his marital status.

Yet now that he and Alison were drifting apart and his days were filled with nothing but a myriad of family and work issues, he could relate to a guy who’d succumbed to loneliness and flirted with a clandestine romance.