But Nate’s gaze was sharp on his.“Can we really call it a prank after everything that’s happened the past year?”
Cal sighed.No, he didn’t suppose they could.
Chapter Ten
Nate & Sam’s House in Marietta
Sam had promisedherself she was going to bed.If she waited up for Nate to text or get home, it looked desperate.And shewasn’tdesperate.
But she was a little worried about him.Just because he hadn’t texted and he’d said he would.It wasn’t like him.Worry wasn’t desperate.It waslove, she was pretty sure.
Who knew what he’d run into at the hotel.It wasn’t even ten.Maybe the adulterous lovebirds hadn’t shown up yet.She was being ridiculous.
She considered texting him to tell him to go ahead and get a room so he wasn’t driving slick roads late at night, then talked herself out of being a henpecking significant other.
Nate was a grown man who’d survivedwar.He knew how to take care of himself.
She could always track his location if she got too worried.Something he’d put in her phone, but she never used because it felt… weird.
Which she knew was allherissues, because she certainly didn’t care if he trackedher.It wasn’t like either of them was the type to keep tabs unless it was for a good reason and—
Sam stilled in the kitchen as she heard something from the entryway.She looked down at herself.She was in her pajamas—just thick socks and one of Nate’s old T-shirts that fit her like a dress.Her gun was in the safe in the bedroom.
She crept forward toward the noise.They hadn’t gotten an alarm system for the house like she had at Honor’s Edge.Maybe they should talk about getting one, because as she poked her head around the wall, she could definitely see the knob on the doormove.
Then the door swung open, and Nate stepped in.Sam let out a slow breath of relief, tried to hide the fact her hand had gone up to her heart.
“You’re home.”She was proud when she managed not to sound strangled, even if it was an inane thing to say.
He glanced up at her, as if surprised to find her here when, you know, shelivedhere.
“Yeah, I…” He shook his head.“Sorry, I wrote out a text when I was leaving, but then I forgot to send it.”He dropped his keys, wallet, and a paper onto the table by the door.He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up.
She couldn’t quite read his mood.Definitely on the grumpy side, but something else underneath.He sat with a thump on the little bench by the door and pulled off his boots, making sure to let them land on the rubber tray that kept snow from melting all over the entryway.
She moved toward him, not sure how to approach.Or if she should.But something wasoff, and she was a little too curious to figure out what.She was about to ask him if there’d been a problem with the Hyatts, but her gaze was caught by the piece of paper he’d set down with his wallet and keys.
The type of paper she recognized because she’dpossiblygotten a few traffic tickets in her day.“Hey.What’s this?”
Nate glanced over at her with a confused frown that then smoothed out into that blank of his.“Oh.Got a ticket.”He got to his feet.
She shook her head.“You?Mr.Boy Scout driver got a—hey…” She recognized the signature on the ticket.“Jakegave you a ticket?”
“Yeah.”
He offered nothing else, but Sam knew that couldn’t possibly beit.Jake wasn’t a road cop.He was a detective.“And?”
“And what?”
“Why was Jake pulling you over giving you a ticket?”
“I guess that’s a question for him,” Nate replied brusquely.“Ididask.He chose not to answer.”
Sam made a face as she looked back down at the ticket.Going twelve over the speed limit.She nearly laughed.She did thatallthe time.But the fact it was Jake, and she hadn’t mentioned the potential connection to him in her research this afternoon, left Sam feeling a little… weird.
Of course, the subject of Jake Hayes was always a littleweirdbetween them.Which felt sohigh schoolto give it any credence, but at the same time, it felt weighty and important that Jake had gone out of the strict definition of his job to mess with Nate.Shehatedit.
She trailed after Nate to their bedroom, chewing over the fact that she needed to talk to Jake about his dad, probably, for the whole Glenda case, which meant she needed totellNate about that and…
