Page 77 of Four Cards Exposed

“We’re … we’re sort of together,” Susan said lamely. She was going to have to work on that.

Emma gave a high squeal. “What? You and Ramsay? That’s—“

“Very cool,” Rob completed, his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

Susan shot him a grateful glance.

“So. It’s the new guy’s turn to buy a round now, isn’t it?” Walsh asked, looking at Michael. Walsh was a giant, with biceps as thick as Susan’s thighs.

“We know you and your cousin Afra own the bar, Adrian, so stop trying to get us to spend our hard-earned money,” somebody said.

Walsh laughed, giving his friends the finger.

“I’m happy to buy a round,” Michael said, finishing his beer. Susan stared at the newest member of the Sharp’s Cove Sheriff’s Department to make sure he wasn’t intimidated by the firefighters. Because Sharp’s Cove was such a small town, the Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department often worked together, and were close like family, even if the new guy might not know that yet. But no, Michael looked calm as can be. “And I’m sure Walsh will get the next one,” he added.

“Fine, fine. Just don’t go ordering the good stuff when it’s my turn,” Walsh grumbled good-naturedly.

“I missed you all,” Susan said quietly.

“I know you can’t tell us everything that went down, Susan,” Natalie said, her blue eyes serious. “But I’m here if you ever need to talk to someone.”

Susan nodded. “Thank you. I’m okay,” Susan said. She considered her next words carefully, thinking back to what it’d felt like to spend her time with Moore and Miguel Mendoza. How at times the fear and loneliness had weighed so heavily on her. “But I don’t think undercover work is for me. I didn’t like being away from Sharp’s Cove, and from all of you.”

Natalie smiled. “You have no idea how much we all missed you, Susan.”

Susan sat back, enjoying the good-natured bickering—thinking things had mellowed out a lot since some of the team members had fallen in love and partners had started joining them. She noticed Darryl wasn’t drinking. He was probably the one on duty, so his men could relax and unwind.

A couple of hours later, the party wound down. Natalie and Hunter left first, probably planning on making the most of their free time together, since they weren’t picking their daughter up until the morning.

Susan watched the protective way in which Hunter held his wife, like she was his biggest treasure. Susan had always liked him. He was a man who’d had a hard start to life—he’d spent over a decade in prison for a crime he hadn’t committed. But now, he had a wife, he had a child, he had a new life altogether, one he might not have believed possible when he’d first gotten out of prison.

Susan wanted that for her and James. Maybe not the child and the white picket fence. She didn’t think James would go for white, and it was way too early to even ponder the other part. But a chance to make their own life together. That’s what she wanted most of all.

No more secrets.

That’s what he’d said.

Maybe she should tell him the truth of how she felt.

Darryl and Jessy disappeared next, followed closely by Rob and Emma. And then it was just the younger, single men left. These were her friends. She’d known most of them her whole life. Normally, Susan would have been happy to hang out with them.

But tonight, she wanted to go home and stare at her phone messages for a while before going to sleep.

Michael stood up politely as soon as she did.

“You’re walking home?” he asked.

“I live just a few minutes away.”

“I’ll be happy to walk you home,” he offered gallantly.

Jack Miller, the younger Miller brother, laughed. “Careful, man, you’re getting into dangerous territory.”

Michael raised his hands in a placating gesture. “What? I’m just being—“

“Chivalrous, I know,” Susan said. “I have an old-fashioned father, two brothers and a lot of alpha pseudo-brothers. But I don’t need to be walked home.”

“Told you, man,” Jack said. “You’re lucky she didn’t deck you.”