Page 57 of Under the Radar

“Not looking forward to it?”

“No, it’s fine. I like my job. It’s just—” I paused and took a sip of water “—I’ll see Dan. I hope he’ll be decent. He’s a nice guy, so I think he will.”

“Oh.” He scratched his head. “About that.”

I frowned. “What?”

Chase told me about his encounter with Dan, and I gaped at him. “He was going to write you a ticket? What the hell?”

Chase shrugged. “He was pissed about Saturday, and I get it. He knows we’re together, and he’s a little upset. It was his way of yanking my chain.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Chase shook his head. “Leave it. He’ll think I sent you to fight my battles. He was being a dick, and I can handle that. After all, he lost you.”

“He never had me. I told him I wasn’t interested. More than once. I don’t date fellow officers, and I had no desire to do so. He is a great guy but not the guy for me. I had zero attraction to him.”

“Someone you are attracted to, Cinnamon?” Chase winked at me. “Anyone I know?”

I stood, shaking my head. “Seriously, Chase. What if he hassles you?”

“I can handle him, Hannah. He made his point. He’s a cop. He can give me a jaywalking ticket, catch me speeding, whatever. Maybe he thinks if he shows you that I keep breaking the law, he looks like a better prospect.”

I snorted. “Not likely.”

He joined me at the counter, wrapping his arms around my waist. He kissed my neck, nuzzling the skin behind my ear, making me shiver. “Then don’t worry about it, baby. It’s all gonna be fine. It pissed me off but nothing big. I won’t let him get under my skin.”

“I don’t want to be a source of aggravation for you.”

He spun me, meeting my eyes. “You’re not. And if he follows me around and writes me up for jaywalking every day, it’s worth it to come home to you.” He kissed the end of my nose. “You’d bail me out of jail, right?”

“Every time.”

His mouth hovered over mine. “Then we’re good.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chase

We spent the evening simply doing nothing. She showed me the garden and the work she’d done. I offered to build her a couple of raised plant beds to make the backyard nicer. We sat outside, enjoying the fresh air, our hands linked, not saying a word, and enjoying every second of the silence. I liked the fact that I could be peaceful with Hannah. She didn’t try to fill in the quiet with needless chatter or a thousand questions. The silence with her was tranquil.

When it got darker, we went inside, and I watched a baseball game on TV while she worked on knitting something. The sound of the needles clacking was surprisingly soothing. She told me she loved to knit and made a lot of blankets and booties she donated to the local hospital. “I can knit without looking once I know the pattern,” she explained. “Especially simple blankets. Passes time in dispatch on quiet shifts, or I can watch a movie and knit at the same time.”

She was on one end of the sofa, her legs stretched out. I slid closer and propped her legs on my lap, wanting to touch her. I glanced at her, meeting her eyes, and she smiled at me but didn’t say anything. After a while, the rhythm of the needles changed, then stopped, and I looked over, seeing she had fallen asleep. I watched her for a few moments, then stroked her calves. “Hannah, baby. Wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

“Time for bed.”

“Oh,” she mumbled. “Okay.” She pushed off the sofa, bent down, and pressed a brief kiss to my mouth. “Night.”

She wandered down the hall, and I waited for a few moments, then turned off the TV, checked the locks, and got ready for bed. I went to the kitchen and filled my jug with ice water, pausing at Hannah’s door. I peeked in, seeing her sitting against her headboard.

“Okay, baby?” I asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, just checking. Night.”