“Ta-da!” He flips the painting around with a shit-eating grin, and…fuck. It’s even more thirsty than I remember.
There’s a moment of silence before Ethan snorts, quickly covering his mouth. “Of course, Song Bird,” Brennan grins at me, leaning over to squeeze my leg, “only you could make Teddy look like he’s about to sign a modeling contract.”
“Well…” Bingham opens his phone back up, looking between the bumblebee video and the painting that Teddy is holding. “I’m not an expert, but I’d say it’s definitely the same style.”
Espinoza tilts his head, observing the painting. “The…water droplets are the same?”
Bingham looks back down at the phone, comparing the water droplets on Teddy’s chest to the ones on the flower in the video. “Holy shit, yeah. That’s crazy. Well, I guess that settles that, then.” He stands, brushing his hands down his pants.
“Thank you for your time, and we apologize for the misunderstanding.” Officer Espinoza nods, putting the photo of me back in his pocket.
“Just like that?” Teddy gapes, earning an elbow from Maverick.
“Yep,” Bingham nods, “We’re not here to try to make anyone’s lives harder. We know what a well-taken-care-of omega looks like, and Ms. Bloom here is a prime example. The only way she could have gone from that,” he points tothe Nest Luxe photo in his pocket, “to this,” he motions to me, “is if she was exposed to her true scent matches, which is a whole other can of worms.” Am I…imaginingthe glint in his eye? “Between us, the Messinas seem like nasty pieces of work, and wherever Wren Messina is now, she’s probably better off.”
Espinoza looks each of us over. “As far as we’re concerned, everyone here is a consenting adult, capable of making their own choices, and that’s what it comes down to, really. So…” he glances at his partner, “have a great rest of your vacation. Just…try to keep the…laughterdown. At least down by the lake.”
My face burns at the implication. “Yes, Officer.”
We stand to walk them out, and they shake our hands before heading to the door. But then, Officer Bingham pauses. “This may be wildly unprofessional…” Shit. What is it now? “But…do you take commissions? Our omega’s birthday is next month, and I bet she would lose her shit with an original Sylvia Bloom painting.”
This can’t be real…can it?
My mouth opens and closes once before I nod. “I…yes, I do.”
“Great.” He grins. “Do you have a card I can take with me?”
“We just ran out,” Teddy steps forward quickly, “but if you ‘ave a card, we can reach out as soon as we’re done wiff our vacation.”
“Ah…” He rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I don’t.”
Officer Espinoza steps forward, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet and pulling out a card. “Good idea,” he says to his partner before handing the card to me. “That’s my cell on there, so just call it when you get settled and we’ll go from there.”
I take the card with shaky hands. “Thank you,” I breathe, reading over the card. Daniel Espinoza. “I’ll be giving you a call soon.”
A small growl leaves Maverick as his hand comes around my waist. I stiffen, waiting for the officers to growl back or take offense, but instead they smirk.
“Apologies, Officers,” Maverick grunts.
“We get it, don’t worry.” Bingham chuckles, stepping out the front door and giving us small waves as they both head back to the police cruiser. “Instincts can be a real bitch.”
Chapter 23
Wren
Well, that was…unexpected. As soon as we shut the door behind them and listen to the cruiser leave the front of the house, we let out a collective sigh of relief.
We’re so damn lucky.
Or…they knew exactly who I was, but saw that I’m happy and not in any danger. Regardless, we’re in the clear for now.
“First thing I’m doing is making you an actual ID for Sylvia Bloom,” Ethan mutters, running a hand through his hair as we all plop back onto the couches. “Would have saved me from seeing Teddy’s thirst trap.”
My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I suppress a giggle. “Aw, are you jealous? Do you want a thirst trap too?”
“You know ‘e does, Dove,” Teddy grins, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me to him. “In fact, I’d bet all your guys do.”
“Song Bird can paint me as much as she wants,” Brennan says, stretching his arms above him, “butafterwe figure out how to get her parents to call off this whole thing.”
