BooksBarbecue
Back You Can Hide Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Prologue
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Teaser

Jay shuddered. “Somebody left flowers on her porch, and it creeped her out. She thought it was me trying to get back together with her, and she didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t do it. I did want to get back together but leaving flowers wouldn’t impress her.” He frowned. “She also kept getting flat tires. Just one at a time. Oh, and she accused me of breaking into the house and doing something with her underwear.” He gulped. “Like I’d do that. She was stressed out at her practice, and I figured she was just being dramatic.” He looked past Huck to the body. “God, was I wrong.” Then he turned and vomited all over his boots.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Back at the office, Laurel exited her SUV and headed toward the door, jumping when Huck followed closely behind her. Frowning, she moved for the door and opened it with the hulking officer’s minty breath stirring her hair. In the vestibule, she stopped and turned to face him. “What are you doing?”

His expression smoothed out. “Nothing. Why?”

She looked beyond him to the parking lot and then back. “You were making yourself big and covering my back.”

He didn’t respond.

She tilted her head. “You were covering me. Somebody out there has shot at us once, and you were covering me with your body.”

Again, no answer.

“Why, Huck?” Snow dripped from her boots onto the tile.

He looked away and then back. “All right. If you’re asking if I’m covering your back because you’re my partner, the answer is yes. If you’re asking if I’m covering your back because you’re a woman and half my size, regardless of your job, the answer is yes. And if you’re asking if I’m covering your back because I’ve slept with you, the answer is most emphatically, yes.” He rolled his shoulders in a tough guy shrug. “Even if that makes you mad.”

Warmth slid through her torso. “Thank you.”

His eyebrows lifted. “For covering you?”

“No. For explaining.” Life was so much easier when people just told the truth.

“Uh. You’re not mad?”

She shrugged. “I know who you are and wouldn’t expect you to be anybody else. You’re a man who’d protect a woman for all of those reasons, and that’s about you, not me. I don’t take it as an insult that you don’t think I can protect myself as an FBI agent. That instinct is fundamentally who you are, and I’m well aware of what motivates you.”

His chin dropped. “Some women would be angry, others would think I’m sweet.” He grinned. “I like the way you think.”