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“Guys, Ruby’s my mom.”
“Right, your mom,” Kaz said, mocking, but then his jaw fell open as Dex closed the gap between them on the courthouse steps. “Hi, there.”
“Hello,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to stick around so long. Tara texted to say everything worked out for you and I just wanted a glimpse for myself.”
“It’s okay. The guys know.”
“They do?” She looked over his shoulder at the team, who were busy staring at the mother-son duo and probably wondering why Dex had blanked this woman whenever he ordered eggs bennies. Put like that, he was rightly ashamed of his behavior.
“I didn’t expect you here.” He hadn’t expected anyone, and now that everyone was showing up for him, he had no idea what to with so much of a good thing.
“It’s okay. Ashley told me because apparently you were incapable of telling me yourself. Or maybe you felt I would embarrass you?”
“No, not at all. I just didn’t want our first official public outing to be you waving at your son in a courtroom.”
“Tabloids would’ve loved it,” she said with a smirk that made him laugh.
“I’m glad you’re here. Honestly.” He took a breath. “Where’s Ash?”
“She didn’t want to be in the way.” At his open mouth, she added, “Her words, not mine. She basically held my hand until Tara came out.”
Of course she did. That was his woman, compassionate to her core.
“O’Malley, we need to head out,” Foreman said as he walked by, with a nod at Ruby.
“Yeah, I can’t go.”
Foreman exploded. “What the fu—Petrov! This ingrate says he can’t go.”
Now the entire team, formerly crowded around the bus entrance, turned back.
Reid sent slitty eyes of death his way. “You make it very difficult to pull for you, O’Malley.”
Petrov spoke next. “Explain.”
“I need to talk to Ashley and?—”
The captain held up a hand. “We will stop there on the way to the airport.”
“It’s fourteen miles out of the way,” Reid said, ever Mr. Fucking Logical.
“The plane cannot take off without us and we cannot leave without O’Malley.” He turned to him. “You will bring your mother on the bus, and we will visit your woman so you can apologize for being an idiot.”
Ah, hell. “You guys just want to watch me grovel.”
Foreman grinned. “Can’t fucking wait.”
41
Walking into the shelter reception, Toby pulled his bike helmet off and set it on the counter.
“There’s a big bus outside.”
Ashley peered around his shoulder to confirm that, yes, there was indeed a big bus outside. The door opened and in walked Dex, followed by Theo Kershaw, Vadim Petrov, and Cal Foreman, all in gorgeous suits that made them look like European supermodels.
“Dex!”
“I missed you at the courthouse.” No preamble, just barely-veiled urgency. His eyes searched hers, looking for … something.
