Brantley looked at Reese, wishing marriage caused telepathy because at least then Reese would be able to answer his silent question:What the hell is the correct answer to that?
Oh, shit.
Reese knew they were in trouble.Which, to be fair, wasn’t really new.At least not since JJ was admitted to the hospital.He only wished he’d put some distance between himself and her before they revealed that tidbit of information.
“Uh-uh,” JJ snapped when Reese attempted to take a step away from the bed.“Don’t you dare.”
He swore he heard Baz chuckling across the room, and he could only imagine the guy was thinking,Better you than me.
“Why are you meeting with more people?I thought you’d hired everyone already.”
“We did,” Brantley said.
JJ’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Definitely not helping.
Brantley laughed.“Cool your jets, woman.We’re just meetin’ to talk.That’s it.”
Although her eyes remained pinned on Brantley, JJ relaxed a little.“About what?”
Reese stared at Brantley, wondering how he was going to talk his way out of this.
“To see if they’d be a good fit.”
Okay.Not bad.Not exactly the truth, but not bad for a little white lie.
Granted, Reese didn’t think it was a good idea to correct Brantley’s statement.They were actually meeting with Simon Jennings and Archer Halligan, but only Archer was a potential hire.The conversation they’d have with Simon was what would likely set JJ off if she found out about it.But only because she would want to be in on it.And he honestly couldn’t blame her since they usually kept her apprised of those things.Now that she was technically on leave, not to mention she was supposed to be resting and not stressing about work, they were tackling things without her input.
And yeah, now that he thought about it, that was likely one of the reasons for her bad mood.
“I promise, we won’t talk about anything in depth unless you or Baz are there,” Brantley said, attempting to defuse the situation.
“Promise?”
Reese grinned when Brantley canted his head to the side.“I said that already.”
She puckered her lips in a pout.“I hate that I can’t be there.”
“You’ve got far more important things to worry about right now,” Reese reminded her.“And since the task force can’t run smoothly without you, we’re as eager as you are for you to get back.But only after you and those babies are healthy.”
JJ’s expression softened, and a smile formed.She looked at Brantley.“How’d you get lucky enough to get this guy to marry you?”
“I can be persuasive,” Brantley teased.“And now that we’ve got that cleared up, we’re gonna have to get to HQ.”
“I wish you could take me with you,” JJ said, relaxing on the pillows.“I’m bored.”
“Bored?”Reese asked.“You’ve got a laptop, an iPad, a Kindle, and a phone beside you.How can youpossiblybe bored?”
Before she could blast him for not understanding, Brantley spoke up.
“We might have some things for you to research later today or tomorrow.I’ll be sure to send it your way.”
Her eyes widened and glittered with hope.“You better.”
Reese watched as Brantley walked around, coming to stand at the head of the bed.
He leaned over and kissed JJ on the forehead.“Be good to that guy over there in the corner.He’s one of a kind.”
