I reach across the table and take my best friend’s hand, squeezing it.
“We have each other’s backs,” I tell her. “And maybe if more people had the balls to come forward, it would be easier to take this douchebag down.”
“Dirty cops will do anything to protect themselves,” she murmurs. “And that’s what scares me. This whole situation with his wife ending up repeatedly in the ER … we all know it’s not some freak coincidence. It’s only a matter of time before she disappears or ends up dead on his watch.”
“Hey.” I stand up and cross around the table to wrap my arms around my best friend. “I won’t let anything happen to Jake. Or anyone, for that matter. Not anymore, Ren, because Kasper Hill will be taken down, come hell or high water. You just have to trust us, okay?”
Renee smiles back at me, but it’s fake. She’s not convinced. Honestly, I’m not so sure I am, either.
“Don’t worry about me,” Renee says, waving it off. “I’m just a basket case sometimes. How about you go and mingle with our guests? I bet Ely would love to get to know you.”
I squeeze Renee one last time and then put my fingers to my temple in a salute. “Aye, aye, captain.”
6
ELY
“Hi. Jami, right?” I’m trying to sound cool, but there’s just no way to do it in a purple cooking apron while holding a bitch beer.
“Yeah,” she says, flashing a smile, and that’s all it takes for the fucking hard-on to begin to stiffen. “Ely, isn’t it?”
“I’m surprised you remember.” I reach into the cooler for a fruity drink and hold it out to her. “Would you like one?”
“Thank you,” she says. “I’ve needed this.” She takes the bottle from me, pops the top, and takes a long swig. “And what do you mean you’re surprised I remember you? Do you not believe you’re very memorable?” Jami grins to show me she’s kidding, and it makes me chuckle.
“Oh, well, you know … I just figured a beautiful young woman like you would probably already have a husband and family.”
“Ah. Well, nope. No husband and no family to speak of. Just little ole’ me in my one-bedroom apartment. I’m a workaholic and a wineaholic, and no man can really deal with it, it seems.”
“Married to the job,” I say with a nod. “I know how that goes.”
Jami finishes off her drink and reaches for another. She pops the top and takes a drink, plump red lips curling around the top of the bottle, and I swear to God I almost fall to my knees for her.
“This week was one for the books,” she says sheepishly, noticing me watching her.
“Anything you want to talk about?” I ask it to be friendly, mostly because I already know what exactly she’s referring to. But I don’t want to be nosey and scare her off, so I play the card of innocence and hope it works out.
“Just work,” Jami says with a shrug. I want her to keep talking, to tell me all about it because just listening to her voice makes my insides curl with desire for this woman in front of me. She could talk all day long about nothing at all, and I wouldn’t miss a single beat. She’s mesmerizing.
“You’re a social worker, right?” I ask, and Jami’s curious eyes meet mine. They’re hazel, flecked with gold, and I’m mesmerized just as much by them as I am with every other part of her.
“How did you know that?”
“Jake told me,” I say awkwardly, mentally kicking myself for being so forward. “After you left the precinct the other day.”
“Ah,” Jami smiles and glances fondly at Jake, who is in the middle of seasoning the burgers and talking to Aaron. He, too, is in a cooking apron, but somehow he manages to pull it off much better than I do. “Hopefully, he didn’t bore you for too long.”
“It wasn’t boring at all. In fact, I was enamored.”
“Enamored,” repeats Jami with a grin, touching the bottle once more to her lips. “I like it. I’ve neverenamoredsomeone before.”
“Yeah, well, get used to it.” I hold my bottle out, and Jami clinks it with hers.
“I’m glad you’re here today, Officer Ely,” she says. “Because I would be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered about you, too.”
“You? Wondered about me?” I feign shock and Jami giggles. What a beautiful sound that is.
“Yeah, you.” She reaches out and touches the purple fabric of my apron. “I love a man in uniform,” she says. “The apron suits you.”
