“Bree’s an Olympic power lifter,right?”
Jase’s brow crinkled. “What?”
“That’s the only reason I can come up with for how heavy these boxesare.”
Jase pulled the last box off the truck with a grunt. “They’re probably all books.” He looked up at the overcast sky. “Which is why they’re inyourtruck, which has a cover, and not mine. The woman would lose her shit if her books got wet in therain.”
“Why does she have eight boxes ofencyclopedias?”
Jase grinned. “You know I’m thinking of thatHow I Met Your Motherepisode,right?”
“Encyclo-pae-dia,” they said in unison, thenlaughed.
His laughter fading, Jase shook his head. “She has hardbacks, paperbacks, reference books. I suggested donating some of them and you’d have thought I’d said we should cut off Charlie’s other leg. The woman didn’t talk to me for hours.Hours.”
“Huh. Good to know. Denise has a lot of books, too.” He followed Jase through the front door and into the living room. They stacked the boxes on the floor before the fireplace next to all the other boxes they’d draggedin.
“It’s kind of cool though. She’s perfectly happy to sit on the couch and read while I’m watching TV. Doesn’t care what it is as long as we’re on the couchtogether.”
He’d never been the type of guy to get jealous, but damned if he didn’t envy what Jase had. Knowing the woman he was with wanted nothing more than tobewith him. Didn’t matter what they were doing or if they were even doing the same thing, just as long as they were together. He wanted that with Denise. Wanted to sit with her on the couch at the end of the day and not worry about why he was there and whether she questioned it, because the only reason he’d be there was because he wanted tobe.
“You want abeer?”
“Does the Pope ride in a mobile?” He flopped down on the couch and gratefully took the beer Jase returnedwith.
“Where’s she putting thebooks?”
Jase sat in the recliner. “I’m adding built-ins along this entire wall.” He waved his hand, indicating the brick wall with the large fireplace in thecenter.
“Wow,” Chrissaid.
“Pretty much.” Jase sipped his beer. “You okay,man?”
Chris scrubbed a hand over his head. “Chief wants to send me undercoveragain.”
“Howsoon?”
“A month if this case isn’t wrapped up by then. Sooner if we manage to capture Eddie or get info on how the Anarchists areregrouping.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“What’re you gonnado?”
Wasn’t that the question. He had no fucking clue. He didn’t want to leave Denise, or the kids, but this was his job. What he’d signed on to do. What he loved…once.
Shit.
He used to live for it. The adrenaline. The rush of doing whatever it took to get the bad guy. Now… Denise smiling at him for making the kids breakfast. Laughing at his look of horror when she suggested he try to do Kimber’s hair. He’d never understood how guys could just walk away from the job, but now… Now heknew.
And he didn’t know what todo.
“No fucking clue,” hesaid.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jaseasked.
Chris frowned. Since when weren’t they completely honest with each other? “Yeah, man.Always.”
