“For now.” John leaned forward, his elbows on the desk, and his hands steepled. “Don’t make me say more.”
Message, no it wasn’t a message.His warning was received loud and clear.“Yes, sir.”
“One more thing,” he said, circling his desk. “Call me John.”
I shook his extended hand. “Will do, John.”
Chapter 25
Ashley
When Nathan returned and relieved AJ, something seemed off. I assumed it was because of what they were talking about, even though I couldn’t hear them. Nathan’s smile looked forced as he stood in the kitchen. And he wouldn’t stop staring at me, like I was a riddle he needed to solve.
Instinctively, I put my hand over my belly. His eyes tracked the movement.
Then he squinted, clapped AJ on the shoulder, and marched into the living room.
Does he know?He couldn’t. The only people I’d told were Emily and Jamie, and they’d never tell him.
He smiled when he spoke to my grandmother. “Doug will be here soon to install the cameras.”
“You can wait here with me.” Gran patted the floral sofa cushion next to her, an invitation Nathan couldn’t refuse. She played Twenty Questions with him while we waited. To his credit, he was patient as he gave her half answers, using the line “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” more than once.
Gran ate it up.
I watched and listened but didn’t participate. Nathan’s smile, no longer even, thanks to the scar, never reached his eyes. Gran either didn’t notice or chose not to comment, instead patting his knee as she offered sage advice.
Shit.Is she giving him dating advice?I’d only been half listening and realized too late she wasn’t giving him generic advice; she was providing a road map for dating me. Nathan’s focus was absolute, as if he were memorizing every word she said.
Before I could yell at her to stop, the doorbell chimed. A cute, whimsical chime she’d had custom installed.
When I jumped up to answer it, so did Nathan. He held up his hand, saying, “I’ll get it.”
Although we were expecting Doug, Nathan checked the peephole with his left hand on his gun.
How had I never noticed he’s left-handed?
When Nathan opened the door, Doug carried in several boxes. “Blaszek.”
“Sharpe.” Nathan held the door, asking, “Is that everything?”
“It is,” Doug answered. “Hi Ashley, Mrs. York.”
She insisted Doug call her Violet or Gran while she, in typical Gran fashion, gushed over his red hair. Doug was the quietguy at SSI, preferring to observe rather than interact, so her attention made him blush.
Doug had come out of his shell a bit since falling in love with Beth and her six-year-old son, Chase. They’d been engaged for what seemed like forever but had only been a year. They already lived like a married couple, and Chase had recently started calling Doug, Dad, but they weren’t in a hurry to make it official.
“No offense, big guy,” Gran said to Nathan, patting his muscular bicep. Which was hysterical. At six-foot-two, Nathan was two inches shorter than Doug, and they were equally broad. “But I have a thing for redheads.”
Doug humored her with a laugh.
I was too embarrassed to laugh. “Gran!”
“What, I’m old, not dead,” she defended herself with a shrug.
“None taken,” Nathan said before ushering Doug out the front door to install the shiny, new state-of-the-art surveillance cameras I didn’t want.
If it’d been just me, I would have said no, but I reminded myself the security measures were for Gran’s safety too.
