“But I know nothing about small-town politics. In fact, I know nothing about politics at all. I investigated crimes, not roadways.”
“I doubt she wants you to investigate roads,” I chuckled.
“But—”
“You have damn good instincts,” I said, pulling to a stop and forcing her to look at me. “You may not want to work for the FBI anymore, and you might not like working in a small town, but you don’t have to decide right away.Meet with her and see what she wants. You might find you like working with her.”
“Do you know her well?”
“Not really. I knew her from school, but not well. And the last time I came home, she had just won the election. From what I understand, she’s pretty tough, but good.”
Blake tipped her head up at me, giving me a look I knew all too well. “She sure seemed to know you.”
“I know where you’re going with this. No, I did not sleep with her. That’s just the way she is.”
“Forward and friendly?” she teased.
“If she seems confident, it’s because she is. She didn’t get where she is by beating around the bush. And neither did you.”
“Right, I got thrown out of my job and locked in a cell. That was so much better.”
“You helped bring down crooked senators. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”
She laughed, turning away from me.
“Hey,” I grabbed her arm, confused by her dismissive attitude. “What’s going on? This isn’t you. You’re always so confident.”
Sighing, she leaned in, pressing her forehead to my chest for a second before smiling up at me. “It’s just…all of this stuff. The baby—if there’s a baby—and now this woman wants me for a job, but I don’t know where I stand on the whole baby thing, and?—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I chuckled. “Alright. One thing at a time. Let’s find out if, in fact, we’re having a baby and take it from there.”
Blowing out a breath, she nodded. “Alright, let’s do this.”
“You’ll see. It’ll be fine either way.”
“And the job?”
She was way more worried about this than she needed to be. “Either you take it, or you don’t.”
“You don’t care if I’m working and pregnant?”
“Not if it’s what you want to do.”
“Seriously? You’re not gonna get all alpha male on me and tell me I’ll hurt myself or the baby?”
“Blake, you tossed me through a window. Twice.”
“Once,” she corrected. “That other time, you jumped through all on your own.”
“Fine. Once. I’m pretty sure you can decide what you’re capable of handling.”
That seemed to put her at ease a little, and while I might have been fibbing just a little about the alpha protector in me coming out, I obviously couldn’t say a word of that to her now. She was already freaking out.
Slinging my arm around her shoulders again, we strolled down the sidewalk toward the pharmacy where Bud was waiting outside in his usual chair. He wore a sweatshirt instead of his normal t-shirt since the weather wasn’t exactly cooperating with him, but I was pretty damn sure the only time I’d ever see Bud anywhere but in his chair was if he was in the ground.
“Well, if it isn’t the happy couple,” he grinned. “Heard you got a bun in the oven, little lady.”
I squeezed Blake’s shoulder to keep her from mouthing off to the old man. She was going to have to get used to everyone in this town talking about her. It came with the territory, and nothing could stop the gossip train.
