I hear Holt unlocking the deadbolt with his key, and strolling in. He is wearing almost the same outfit as me. We know how this is going to go.
“You didn’t make any breakfast for me,” he teases. No greeting. I knew that was coming. He is trying to ask how it is going without sounding like he is fishing. Holt may be good at reading people, but I’m not so bad at it myself.
“Fuck off, asshole. You are too late for breakfast. You can get your own food,” I say. I sound terse, but he knows I’m just playing along.
“Where is she,” he gets down to it. Holt and I have never been ones to drag out conversations for the sake of it.
“Shower,” I try to answer neutrally. He knows me too well though. He barely gets out his next sentence without chuckling.
“And you aren’t in there with her? That isn’t like you at all. Are you losing your touch,” he ribs me again. I glare at him, and put the clean pan away.
“Is Carter staying here while we go do surveillance,” I asked him. Holt nods and takes his phone out of his back pocket.
“I texted him last night to give him the rundown. He said he will be here in a bit. He wanted to scan through the camera footage of last night first,” Holt explains to me.
Nodding, I turn my attention to the bathroom door that is sliding open. Meg emerges, her shorter wet hair is slightly tousled. She is barefoot. She has opted for jeans and a graphic t-shirt with Dolly Parton on it today.
Holt raises his eyebrow at me and smirks. She is making her way towards the kitchen, looking around. When she gets to the counter she looks over at Holt.
“Morning, Holt! Did you have a good night,” she asks him. Like she has known him forever. Like they are best friends. I clench my teeth. My brain understands that I shouldn’t be jealous, but I am.
“Sure did. I hope you did,” he states. Her cheeks start to turn a pretty shade of pink. It reminds me of the flush in them last night. She looks down and then clears her throat.
“Sterling, have you seen my glasses,” she finally asks. I knew exactly where they were. I had put them on the windowsill by the kitchen sink so they wouldn’t get lost. I could have just handed them to her, but I decided I needed to have an excuse to touch her.
Walking around the counter I opened them up and slid them on her face. Not taking my hands off the sides of her head I bent down and took her mouth with mine. Her hands came up to hold onto my wrists. I don’t know that I will ever get tired of taking her by surprise.
Holt clears his throat, causing Meg to stumble back a little. She fidgets with the distressed shirt.
“Big Dolly fan,” I ask in amusement. It takes her no time at all to defend the shirt. The indignant look on her face almost makes me laugh.
“How can you not be a Dolly fan? She is the best. The gains she has helped her hometown make, the literacy programming she has enacted, her music, she is an inspiration,” she trails off and looks at Holt and I.
“Darling, I’m not arguing with you. Just asking,” I state chuckling. Holt is nodding in agreement when his phone chimes.
“That’s Carter, he is on his way up,” he says as he taps a quick response. Putting the phone back in his pocket he turns toward the door.
“I’m just going to grab a jacket, are you on your bike,” I ask Holt. If we both took our motorcycles out there it would be easier to hide them. A big SUV tends to take the surprise out of the equation.
“Yes, I figured it would be less conspicuous,” he says as he nods at Carter, who is entering through the door with a bag slung over his shoulder and a drink tray with coffee.
I take two and hand one to Meg. She snatches it from me quickly and takes a big gulp. This coffee addiction could get out of hand. No wonder she gets migraines. We can talk about that later.
Taking a few large sips, I head back towards the sleeping area and grab my black leather riding jacket and a dark grey hoodie. I pull the hoodie on first and slip the jacket on over it. Walking back toward the kitchen, I start barking out orders.
“Carter, she is to stay here with you. If she needs to go somewhere, you go with her. I would advise against it. We will be back in a few hours. Keep an eye on the cameras. We will call you or text with updates,”
Meg gapes after me. I grab her key ring that we left by the door in case we need to get in her house, and Holt and I head down towards our bikes.
“Jesus, you could have been a bit nicer back there, asshole,” Holt says. I look at him seriously.
“No, she is in danger that is it. There is no room for error. I don’t need to be nice, I need to keep her out of harms way,” I say before I pull on my helmet and hop on the bike.
Holt does the same, and we pull away.
Chapter 25
Meg
