“I guess it would be kinda tacky if I asked you to get an autograph for me?”
“Kinda tacky, yeah,” Cassie said dryly.
Bristol poked her in the shoulder.“Fine, but that’s not the kind of news I meant, and you know it.”
She lifted a shoulder.“We work together.That’s it.”
With the exception of the terrifying situation with Bristol, he didn’t know anything about her personal life, and she’d made a point of not asking anything about his.His identical twin Gavin and older brother Decker also worked for Crimson Point Security, and their sister Marley lived in the area too.
All were former Marines.Professionals.Come to think of it, the only really personal thing she’d learned about Tristan was that he seemed to have a bit of a hangup about food sometimes.
“I’m well aware that you work together, but I’m not blind.I saw the sparks between you two even without my glasses when I stepped off that Coast Guard cutter.”
“Sparks?”She made it sound like she’d never heard the term before.
“Big ones.”
“No.We’re just friends.”
She had zero time or emotional bandwidth for a relationship.She had the world’s worst taste in men and didn’t trust herself not to pick another toxic one.Her life in Crimson Point had allowed her the chance to start over, reinvent herself.Be the best version of herself and leave all that ugliness and pain behind her.
Zero chance she would risk screwing that up.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.”She was enjoying her single era.Might never date again.
“It was nice of him to get you the concert tickets.”
“Yeah.”She still couldn’t believe he’d remembered her mentioning it, let alone going to the trouble of getting her two.He’d told her a friend had comped them, but she wasn’t sure she believed him.Wouldn’t put it past him to have bought them himself to give to her.“Sure seems like he’s a nice guy.”
Bristol laughed.“You say that with such suspicion.”
“Well, no one’s perfect, are they?There has to be something wrong with him.”Some fatal flaw she hadn’t seen yet.Because what she knew of him so far was too good to be true.Based on personal experience, that made her wary.
“Oh my God, you’re such a cynic.”
“Yeah.Being a cop will do that to you.”
Bristol sighed and leaned her head back.“Understandable.But not everybody’s going to let you down.”
“I know you wouldn’t.”
“And neither would your mom or my dad.”
“Them too.”
Bristol shot her a sideways glance.“What happened in Vegas, anyway?You’ve never really told me.”
Tension coiled inside her like an invisible rope.She didn’t talk about it.Didn’t even like remembering any of it.Her former self embarrassed her.She didn’t want anyone to know what had happened.What she’d willingly put up with for way too damned long.Not Bristol.Not even her own mother.“I was burned out, and finally realized I needed to leave a bad situation.”
Bristol reached over to squeeze her shoulder.“I’m glad you did, because it brought you here, and now we get to hang out all the time.”
Not as much since TJ had entered the picture, but as long as Bristol was truly happy, Cassie was glad for her.“Me too.Turn up the tunes, will you?This is my favorite part of the drive.”She merged onto the highway heading west toward the coast.
“Okay, super personal conversation over.Got it.”Bristol turned up the music.
“What if we stopped at that pie place on the way back?”
