There weren’t any words spoken between us after that, simply a shared understanding of the gravity of that loss. I got lost in my thoughts until a tiny brush against my pinky finger jolted me back to reality.
Glancing down, I saw Don’s finger grazing mine. Tiny shivers crawled up my arm and rippled through my belly and chest. He stared at the floor, and I got the sense he didn’t realize he was touching my hand.
I should’ve told him to stop or moved away to break the physical contact. Yet, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. That small amount of contact was like some sort of lifeline I hadn’t known I needed.
He moved to stand in front of me and dropped his hands to my hips.
My breath hitched.
“We need to discuss the inevitable,” he said in that deep, rumbling voice of his, eyes trained on my mouth. He was so close I could feel his breath brush against my skin.
Don let out a sigh when I didn’t respond. “I have a shift in fifteen minutes. I’ll give you some time to read over those articles again. I’m getting together with a few of my squad mates to talk to them about the case. Eric, as you’d assume, is eager to find out what the fuck is happening.”
It took me far too long to register his comment because his hands were still on my hips.
“O-okay. You’ll keep me in the loop, right?”
His grin returned. “Always.”
A ripple of sensation passed up my spine.
“To go over the facts.”
He dropped his hands and stepped back, a look of regret crossing his face. His release left a longing in my chest that felt palpable. When he turned to leave, a piece of me wanted to ask him to stay a little longer.
“Shit, get it together, Jocelyn,” I mumbled and turned back to my desk.
Chapter 10
Don
“Captain Rogers is still fumingover that visit you and Allende took over to Squad Two,” Captain Waverly informed me as I sat across from him in his office.
I sat back deeper in my chair. “We didn’t do anything illegal or outside of my confines as a station-based investigator.”
“Maybe not, but he’s upset over it. He said Allende came in there like a bat outta hell and came damn close to implying that he had something to do with those fires.”
“If we’d raised hell you would’ve known about it. All we did was ask a few of the guys at Rescue Two about the fire that night when Emanuel saved that little boy. I asked what they could remember. Rogers was the one who’d come in aggressive, implying we were making his squad seem guilty.”
Weeks earlier, Emanuel and I had visited Emanuel’s old squad. I’d wanted to ask questions about the fire for which he’d won the award for bravery. That night coincided with Eric’s wedding, which was why a call that should’ve gone to Rescue Four had been diverted to Squad Two.
Captain Waverly leveled a look at me. “Are you sure that’s how it happened?”
I held my hands out and grinned. “Would I lie to that face?”
He rolled his eyes and waved me off with his hand.
Chuckling, I stood. “Thanks, Captain,” I said as I headed out of the door.
It was the end of my shift, and I was meeting with Carter, Eric, Emanuel, and Sean to discuss this shit and tell them what I knew so far. It burned me up to say to them that I hadn’t gotten much further since the last time we talked.
Eric had walked around the station with a scowl for weeks. I couldn’t say I blamed him after what had happened to his wife. Angela was fine, and so was the baby, but that had been too close of a call for anyone.
I sent a quick text to Jocelyn to let her know I was about to meet with my squad. By the time I reached the bottom of the staircase, she had sent a text back telling me she was out front.
I smiled, picturing her in her car. My belly warmed and, for almost a minute, thoughts of arsonists, fires, and destruction left me. All I concentrated on was her face in my mind.
It was time to do something about these mounting feelings.
