“Oh, trust me. I will.”
Slade watched her waddle toward the door and slip inside.
For a brief second, he thought JJ’s interruption was going to get his thoughts off Atticus and Carson. He was wrong. Now that Carson had planted the damn seed, it looked as though his thoughts were officially derailed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Good mornin’, Ramona,” JJ called out asshe walked into Batter & Bliss.
“JJ!” As usual, Ramona came out from behind the counter to give JJ a hug and lightly rub her belly.
The first time Ramona had done it, JJ had been shocked. Now that it was a weekly occurrence, she found she looked forward to the excitement in the woman’s eyes when she walked in the door. JJ didn’t have many people in her life who looked forward to seeing her. Baz, his parents, Brantley and Reese. Sometimes, the rest of the team. The list was short, that was for sure. Thankfully, only Ramona was into the belly-rubbing thing because it was a bit awkward, but she could endure simply to feel a sense of belonging.
“What can I get you today? I’ve got fresh—”
“Cronuts!” JJ exclaimed. “Lots and lots of cronuts.”
Ramona laughed as she headed behind the counter. “How many is ‘lots and lots’?”
“Three? No, make it four. That way, I can save some for this afternoon.”
“Anything to drink?”
JJ looked at the glass-front refrigerator that was sitting on the counter. She opened the door and grabbed an orange juice. She set it on the counter, then went back and grabbed a chocolate milk for Baz. He’d been acting weird since last night, so she figured maybe that would get him out of his funk. When she’d asked what was bothering him, he’d shrugged it off. She figured he’d encountered a snippy cashier at the grocery store. They tended to sour his mood. That or he was fretting over a case, but she knew interrogating him wouldn’t get him to open up. He truly believed he was protecting her if he didn’t discuss the cases he was working on.
She wasn’t sure why he would think that since she had no problem hashing out her case problems. She found it helped to talk them out with him.
“Can you add a long John to my order?” JJ asked. “They’re Baz’s favorite.”
“Coming right up.”
While Ramona grabbed one from the pastry case and slid it into a bag, JJ pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her wallet, which carried her license and one credit card, was magnetized to her phone. The only problem with it was if she bumped it just right, it would pop off. But it was too convenient for her to change it, and she hated carrying a purse.
Ramona took the orange juice and chocolate milk, placed them in a plastic bag, then tucked the two white bags of pastries inside.
“Here you go, hon.” Ramona passed the bag to her. “Tell Baz I said hello.”
“I will.”
With treats in hand, JJ left the bakery and headed for her car. She’d parked around back because there were only a few spots in front of the stores that lined Main Street, and none had been available when she arrived.
As she was nearing the end of the building, a man appeared.
JJ smiled at him as she passed, keeping her attention on where she was walking. Pregnancy made her clumsy, and now that her belly was getting bigger, her center of balance was off.
“Hey, ma’am!”
JJ turned and noticed the guy was walking toward her rather than the way he’d been going. And they were now on the side of the building where no one could see them. Before getting pregnant, JJ wouldn’t have thought twice about a stranger approaching. These days, she was extra cautious.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Feeling a tad unsettled, JJ stopped, hoping she could answer his question and he would be on his way.
As he approached, JJ cataloged his features just in case. His shaggy red hair looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in a week. His face was dotted with acne and pockmarks from old scars. He had green eyes. Darker than hers but not quite emerald. There was a noticeable scar on his chin and another on his eyebrow. They weren’t terribly old scars. Probably within the past year.
He was taller than she was, but not by much. Probably five eight. He had a slender build, and his clothes were dirty like he’d worn them for more than a few days.
“What’s up?” she prompted, her unease intensifying as he got closer.
