Foundation for Three by Vella Day

black laced-up cop shoes, which looked out of place with his worn jeans. He’s still cute . Thad’s arm was in a blue sling, but she bet he wouldn’t keep it on for long. He seemed the type to chafe under confinement.
    “Hey,” she said as she neared. He swung around and smiled. She didn’t want to feel that zing of attraction, but it came nonetheless.
    He studied her for a moment, looking like he was trying to decide whether to ask her something or not. His weight shifted. “It’s close to noon, and I’m hunkering for a big juicy burger worse than anything. Mind if we stop at Red Robin on the way home? My treat.” His brows rose.
    This isn’t a date. It made sense he’d ask her to lunch. He’d mentioned his need for good food, and she was his only way to get it. “Sounds great.”
    Not only did she need to eat, this would give her a chance to get to know Thad better. Visiting him in a hospital room wasn’t the same as sitting across from him at a restaurant. While she spent her days trying to learn what made a person tick, her clients usually came to her voluntarily. It was her job to understand what was bothering them. Thad and she were equals here, which was a concept that excited her.
    Her problem was that when she was with the opposite sex, she kept forgetting that men didn’t like her to pry into their innermost thoughts. None of them seemed to get that this was her way of expressing interest. “I’m parked out front.”
    Outside, the day was clear and surprisingly warm. She’d only lived in Montana a few years, but September seemed to be the time of year where it could be warm one day and quite chilly the next, a combination that made planning outdoor activities challenging. She was about to ask if he wanted to wait by the entrance while she picked him up, but he was perfectly capable of walking. Men like Thad wouldn’t like the implication that he was less than able.
    As she moved to her parking spot, she tilted her face to the sun and let the warmth soak in. Good thing she’d gotten up a few minutes early to clean her car. Not only had she found some dirty hand towels from when she’d come in from a run, she’d tossed a bunch of other junk behind her front seat—like flares, a can of Fix-A-Flat, and an automatic tire inflator. The last three items now sat neatly in the trunk. Breaking down in Montana could be deadly, and Zoey believed in being prepared for the worst emergency.
    She was about to open the passenger side door for him when she caught herself. Cops liked control—even injured ones.
    She slid into her side, and as soon as Thad joined her, she started the engine. The restaurant was situated diagonally across from the police station, about four miles from the hospital, so the drive would be a short one. After they ate, would he want to stop in the precinct to say “hi” to his coworkers? She could definitely picture him finding something he had to do, leaving her with a free afternoon. That possibility should make her happy, but it didn’t.
    “Pete said you liked to ride motorcycles.” That wasn’t what she really wanted to talk about, but he wouldn’t appreciate it if she brought up the shooting again or his ex-wife.
    “Don’t remind me.” He lifted his arm.
    “Sorry.” Courtney was right. Zoey needed to get out more. “I can’t imagine what I’d do if I were incapacitated. Are you in much pain?”
    “Not much, but if I banged the wound, I’d be cursing up a storm.”
    She would, too. “Do you like to read?” Did he even have time for hobbies? Her friend Amber said Cade never did.
    “I do too much of that at work, though I imagine fiction would be a lot more entertaining than studying police files.”
    “Tell me about it. Reading about a person’s history never made for late night fun for me either.” She headed down Arbor Way, and then turned right on Second Street. “Do you like to go to the movies?” She was trying to come up with things he could do while