A smile twitched his lips. “Yeah?”
He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger but instead of bringing his mouth down on hers as she’d hoped, he stiffened and suddenly glanced around.
Emily’s pulse jumped as alarm erased the passion from her body and the fog from her brain. Then she felt it too. The back of her neck prickled.
Someone was watching them.
She moved out of Holden’s arms and together, they surveyed the area. A few people were walking toward Tex Pub. A young couple exited the building, hand-in-hand. Three women and two men were smoking near the side of the building. And someone pulled out of the parking lot in a black vehicle…was it a Bronco?
Emily couldn’t tell because it had disappeared down the street and several structures blocked the view.
“You felt that too, didn’t you?” Holden asked, his gaze too serious for the question to be about their chemistry.
As much as she wanted to make light of the situation or ignore it completely, Emily knew the man wouldn’t let that fly.
“Yes.” She blew out a breath. “As if someone was watching.”
Just like on the dance floor.
She opened her mouth to tell him about it, but Gabe approached with concern in his eyes.
“Everything all right?” the sheriff asked, coming to a halt by her car.
Holden shrugged. “Not sure.” He explained their weird feeling of being watched.
Gabe arched a brow, and his gaze immediately scanned the area. “Anything out of place?”
Emily figured that question was directed at Holden because of his military training.
“No. Just normal actions, although there’d been a bit of a crowd near the side of the building. Not sure if someone was standing behind them in the darkness. I thought I saw movement but can’t be sure.”
“And a black vehicle pulled out of the parking lot, but I couldn’t tell if it was a Bronco or not,” she said with a sigh.
Holden shook his head. “No, it was a Tahoe.”
Like Gabe’s. Yeah, she nodded. Could’ve been.
“Anything else strike you as strange tonight?” Gabe asked, gaze inquiring, shrewd…sheriff-like. “Anything at all?”
She scratched her the side of her nose. “I did feel like I was being watched on the dance floor.”
“What?” Holden’s head snapped back. “When? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Emily shrugged. “Because Lyndsey pointed out that all of you guys were watching us, so I thought it was probably just that.”
“Possible.” Gabe nodded and appeared as if he wanted to say more but he received a call. He stepped back to answer it.
She glanced at Holden and found him regarding her closely.
“You sure there was nothing else?”
Emily debated on telling them about her possible Perez sighting on the dance floor. But she hadn’t seen the guy’s face. Besides, she knew neither of the men would be pleased that she’d remained silent about it, especially Holden, and well, she liked the way their rapport was building.
They shared the same views and were like-minded about animal welfare.
And he was an amazing kisser.
“I’ll contact Animal Control,” Gabe said, capturing her attention. “You secure the scene. I’m on my way.”
