My phone rang on the end table, and I didn’t even have to look to know who was calling. I let it ring a couple of times before picking it up and answering.
“Jameela,” he said, the irritation laced in his tone.
“What is it, Tremaine?”
“You know what it is. You don’t need to be late today. I hope you’re on your way.”
“The meeting isn’t until ten o’ clock. Why are you calling me now?”
“I know what time my meeting starts. I need you to be here early. You can’t keep taking advantage of our situation, Jameela. People are already talking as it is.”
“Let them talk. You are the one that wanted everything to be a big secret, not me. Besides, why should I care? I’m not there to hear it. I’m on medical leave, remember. The extended medical leave you insisted on putting me on. That’s probably what’s making people talk in the first place. Who else has been forced out like this?”
I heard him sigh before he responded. “You’re still very much a part of this department, Officer Sutton. I expect you to be on time.”
“Wow! Just a few weeks ago, you were ranting on and on about how I was a liability. Now, I’m part of the team again?”
“Be on time, Jameela,” he spat before hanging up.
By nine thirty, I had dropped Bella off with Miss Ramirez, a middle-aged Hispanic woman who babysat the kids in my building. Bella loved going over to play with the little ones. Miss Ramirez was so sweet that I never worried about leaving my baby with her.
Being twenty minutes early for the meeting should have been good enough for Hale, but who ever knew how he would decide to feel from one minute to the next. He was a spoiled brat on a good day and a dick on his worst. Once I stopped letting him have his way, his true colors immediately started to show. As much as he claimed to still care about me, he did little to nothing to prove that fact.
I walked into the precinct feeling like I was walking into my second home. After a few short stints with homicide and cybercrimes, I found my home working in the narcotics department, just like my dad. Following the money had led me to some places I would never have thought I would have gone.
When he was a sergeant, Hale and I went undercover as a couple. He played the doting boyfriend who got his wealth from drug money and spoiled his girlfriend. He was able to infiltrate a narcotics ring and take down a decade long operation. He got a promotion. I got to be a single mother.
Even with the awkwardness between me and Lieutenant Hale, I loved what I did. The smell of shitty coffee and radio chatter put me right back in my world, or what used to be my world anyway. Now I was stuck at home watching cartoons all day while I daydreamed about the job.
I walked through the building, nodding to a few of my coworkers as I passed. I wasn’t in the mood to hang around and talk today. I wanted to get in and out of the mandatory meeting as soon as possible. In my haste to get my visit to the precinct out of the way, I should have figured I would run into the main people that I wanted to avoid.
As soon as I entered the break room, I spotted Lieutenant Tremaine Hale and Officer Kelly Gibbs standing by the coffee maker. Her wavy ponytail swung as she howled laughing at something he said that couldn’t have been all that funny. Tremaine was not that funny.
She noticed me first, her cheeks flushing slightly as she straightened her posture and tried to recover from the shocked expression she initially wore. I wondered if she knew about our history. There were whispers, but no one knew for sure.
I had never cared for Kelly. Even before I was certain that she was sleeping with Tremaine, I knew she was a climber. We’dworked together briefly in the past. It didn’t take long for me to see how ambitious she was.
Kelly wasn’t afraid to sleep and brown nose her way to the top. She didn’t mind crawling to the top on her knees, while I had always believed in working for what I wanted. With me out of the picture, she was gunning for my spot in more ways than one, apparently.
“Sutton, I wasn’t expecting to see you today. I thought you were on leave,” she mentioned.
“I don’t need you thinking about me at all. It’s a mandatory meeting. According to Lieutenant Hale, everyone has to be here.”
My voice must have alerted Hale to my presence because he finally turned to face me. When our eyes met, his mouth lifted into that charming smile that could still make my knees weak if he caught me off guard. Silently, I cursed him for looking so good. His butterscotch skin was highlighted by the hazel eyes that used to make my panties disappear.
“Jameela, step into my office for a minute,” he ordered before turning and walking away.
Instead of protesting his request like I wanted to, I followed Tremaine into his office. I only walked in far enough to close the door behind me because I wasn’t in the mood for his antics. He walked over and sat on the edge of the desk. He folded his hands across his lap as he let his eyes rake over me from the feet up.
“What is it, Tremaine?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.
“You look good, Jameela.”
“I’m here for the meeting you thought was so important, not for whatever you think this is.”
“Jameela, I know you think that I’m being an asshole, and maybe I am to some extent, but you have to know that I’m only doing what’s best for you. I care about you, Jameela.”
“Who are you to determine what’s good for me, Tremaine?”
