So here he was, in Brantley and Reese’s driveway, climbing out of his truck, mentally gearing up for one of the most important conversations of his life, all the while praying he could maintain his composure and not launch into the many reasons JJ should just give him a chance. He had a list, after all, and was fully prepared to plead his case if she needed him to. His only concern was that he was going to look like a whining, pathetic idiot and she was going to hate him for a different reason.
As he closed the truck door, inhaling the cool night air, he heard footsteps on the front porch, turned to see Brantley and Reese strolling toward him.
Oh, right. They were headed out to Moonshiners. They’d invited him, but Baz had politely declined, fully intending to wallow in his own pity by his lonesome.
Yet here he was.
“Thought you were gonna stay home,” Brantley said as they approached him in the driveway.
“I was,” he admitted, then nodded in the direction of the barn. “Figured I’d…”
There was sympathy in Brantley’s gaze when he said, “She’s in her office. Perfect timing, too.”
Baz glanced between his two bosses as he tried to decrypt Brantley’s comment. He hadn’t told anyone he was coming, so how was his timing perfect?
“He’s assumin’ you were goin’ for stealth,” Reese explained, patting him on the shoulder.
Baz cocked an eyebrow, still not understanding.
Reese motioned toward the eave of the house. “Camera. Motion detector? She’ll just think the alert’s from us leavin’.”
Ah. Yeah, he could see how that could be construed as perfect timing. Since the grounds were monitored, streaming live video that JJ kept running on the big screen downstairs, the only chance he had of getting by undetected was if she was upstairs in the loft working. Considering JJ was definitely a flight risk, if she saw him on the cameras, he might just find the barn empty.
“If you crash and burn here, head over to Moonshiners,” Brantley said. “The first one’s on me.”
“Thanks.” Baz had a feeling he was going to need a beer or three after this conversation.
“Happy New Year.” Brantley smacked him on the back. “And good luck.”
He would most definitely need it, Baz thought as he rounded the house and headed for the barn. There was a good chance JJ was scaling down from the second-floor window at that very moment.
Chapter Seven
When Baz disappeared around the side ofthe house, Reese got settled in the passenger seat of Brantley’s truck, buckled his seat belt with a resigned sigh.
Although it was usually the first thought he had when there was a destination in mind, Reese knew better than to insist he be the one to drive because it would get them nowhere. Brantley wasn’t keen on being a passenger, hence the reason they were always in Brantley’s truck rather than Reese’s. Not that Reese was all that fond of riding shotgun, but he figured someone had to compromise. And since there were plenty more compromises to be made in their relationship, Reese had conceded this one. Mostly.
“Prediction?” Brantley asked as he steered the truck toward town.
He turned his attention to the man behind the wheel, admiring Brantley’s profile. “On?”
“Baz and JJ.”
Reese thought about the conversation that was about to take place between the detective and the hacker extraordinaire. Considering how emotionally charged the air was when those two were in the same room,anythingcould happen.
“I’m not even gonna pretend to know what’s goin’ on with them. Why? What do you know?”
“Nothin’.” Brantley smirked, cutting his gaze over briefly. “Swear. She’s keepin’ that close to the vest.”
Yeah, Reese figured. JJ was a lot of things—fun, witty, smart, irritating, even—but she was not one to let many people get too close. And when it came to her feelings for Sebastian Buchanan, she treated them like they were a national secret.
Granted, Reese had witnessed the train wreck that was Baz and JJ for the past month, had seen how she mooned over the man although she pretended not to notice he was alive. She was delusional if she believed she was fooling anyone. Anyone except for Baz, anyway. For whatever reason, the detective wasn’t picking up on the clues that she was still hung up on him. Which, now that Reese thought about it, probably had something to do with all the moping Baz had been doing since they broke up.
Reese wouldn’t have had a problem with it except there were only six of them on the task force at the moment, which meant there were very few exchanges taking place when two of those six were going out of their way not to talk to one another. Reese knew Charlie and Trey were feeling the tension because they were the ones forced to share an office. At least Reese and Brantley could get away from them for most of the day since they spent the majority of their time out in the field. And when they didn’t, their offices were now in the house.
“You didn’t seem surprised Baz stopped by tonight,” Reese told Brantley.
“No. Not surprised.” Brantley kept his eyes on the road. “I knew he’d break sooner or later.”
