“That’s silly,” Megan protested. “We’ll be fine. And if we need you, we’ll call you and Eric.”
Jayna didn’t answer as she walked over to the small fridge in the apartment’s kitchenette and took out two bottles of water. She handed one to Megan. Her friend took the bottle but didn’t open it.
“Jayna, Eric’s a really great guy. My mom always said that great guys don’t come around that often, and that if you find one, you should hang on to him. And you deserve a great guy like him.” Megan smiled. “I’m not saying you have to do anything if you don’t want to, but at least get away for a few hours together. If anyone asks, we’ll say you went out for coffee or something.”
Jayna chewed on her lip. Spending time with Eric away from the loft and all the drama would be nice. Like Megan said, it would only be for a few hours.
Chapter 9
Becker opened the door to his apartment, praying the place didn’t smell like dead fish. Cooper was a good friend—the best—but he wasn’t exactly with it when it came to taking care of Becker’s fish.
Thankfully, the apartment smelled fine. He tossed his keys on their usual table, closing the door behind him and Jayna.
“Mind if I use your bathroom?” she asked.
“Sure. Down the hall, second door on the right.”
Becker watched her go, his eyes locking on the sexy sway of her hips in the yoga pants she wore. He stifled a groan. He’d always had a thing for women in yoga pants, but Jayna took it to a whole new level.
He swore under his breath as she disappeared into the bathroom, berating himself for even going there. Getting away from the loft was about being able to relax together for a few hours, nothing more. He wasn’t going to assume they’d have sex.
While he waited for Jayna, he went over to check on his fish and was relieved to see they were fine. They immediately came over to the glass, clearly happy to see him too. Since he didn’t know when Cooper had fed them last, he only gave them a few flakes of food. They gobbled them hungrily, swishing their tails in thanks.
As he watched his girls swim around, he thought back to the conversation he and Jayna had had the day before. When she’d told him what her stepfather had done, he’d seriously come close to calling Cooper right then to get an address on the guy. The urge to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him had been overpowering. But he’d forced himself to check his anger. Jayna had moved on from that horrible night, and he needed to respect that.
But he’d sworn that if he was ever fortunate enough to run into that ass wipe, he was going to finish what she’d started.
Down the hall, the bathroom door opened, distracting him from his thoughts of revenge.
“Wow,” Jayna said, coming to stand beside him. “That tank is beautiful. Though I have to admit, I never really pegged you as the fish type.”
He chuckled. “I could sit and watch them swim for hours. They’re actually the perfect pets for me. If I’m a little late because of the job, I don’t have to worry about them making a mess on the carpet.”
Jayna touched her finger to the glass tank and gently traced it back and forth in time with the motions of the three saltwater fish. “Do they have names?”
“The red one with the silver markings is Lady Liadrin, the dark blue one is Queen Azshara, and the black one with the long, wavy fins is Lady Vashj.”
She glanced at him. “Those are the strangest names for fish I’ve ever heard. What’s wrong with Dory?”
He moved closer to her, breathing in her scent as she went back to watching the fish swim among the colorful coral and lush plants. “They’re all female characters from World of Warcraft. It’s a video game.”
“Yeah, I know what World of Warcraft is.” She turned to him with a smile. “Wouldn’t have pegged you for a gamer either.”
He grinned. “I like to think of myself as a man with varied and complex tastes. Come on. I’ll give you a grand tour of the place.”
His apartment wasn’t that big, so maybegrandwasn’t the right word, but Jayna seemed eager to look around.
The moment they walked into the kitchen, she locked in on the two big bowls on the floor in the corner. “I thought I smelled a dog.” She looked around. “Where is he?”
“I share custody with the rest of the Pack,” he said. Then, when she gave him a confused look, added, “We picked up Tuffie a few months ago after she and her owner got shot by some psycho. Her owner didn’t make it, so we took her in. We all take turns bringing her home with us.”
Jayna smiled and looked wistfully at the bowls. “That’s so cool. I always wanted a dog when I was a kid. But with my screwed-up home life, getting a dog was out of the question.”
Becker never thought of himself as a softie, but his chest tightened up at her words. “Then I’ll make sure you get to meet Tuffie. In fact, we’ll make it a priority.” He put his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
They wandered from the kitchen to the second bedroom, which was set up as his computer-room-slash-home-office. Jayna stopped in the doorway and stared at the four computers with their huge, oversized monitors.
“What the heck do you do with all these, spy on the NSA?”
