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Jet plucked at the uniform shirt under her open cruiser jacket. “This? But I can be here without it?” She shrugged. “Okay, then.”
Her fingers began working on the snaps of her belt keepers.
“What the fuck are you doin?”
“Removing my uniform since I can’t wear it in here.”
Rook snagged her wrist and stopped her. “This ain’t a game, Jet. You know you can’t be here at all.”
Her lips thinned out. “I had no way to get a hold of you, Rook.”
“There’s a reason for that. But, if necessary, you coulda found an excuse to come to the garage instead.”
“This couldn’t wait.”
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the door was still securely closed and no one was eavesdropping. “You fuckin’ know better than to show up here, Jet. You showin’ up here like this threatens my way of life. Threatens all of us.”
She didn’t bother to hide her frustration. “Well, you left and never came back. No word. Nothing. It was either hunt you down at the garage or here.”
“Why the fuck are you huntin’ me down at all? You had somethin’ important to say, you coulda fuckin’ called.”
“I don’t have your damn number,” she reminded him.
No, they never exchanged numbers because what they’d been doing wasn’t supposed to be a regular thing between them. But it had turned into a regular thing for weeks before that last time two weeks ago. “Gonna ask again, Jet. Why you here? Want the truth.”
“The info on the Shirleys is the truth.”
He frowned. “What info?”
“Two vans full of men were spotted heading up the mountain. Whatever you guys are doing up there, I wanted to make you aware.”
He wanted to sigh in relief since that was info they were already aware of, but he had no idea why she would warn him. “Why?”
“So you don’t step into anything you can’t scrape off.”
“Why the fuck do you care if we do?”
She didn’t answer.
So, he rephrased it. “Why the fuck do you care if I do?”
She still didn’t answer.
Goddamn it. “Jet.”
She was way too quiet.
“Fuckin’ answer me, Jet. You risked comin’ here to tell me info I already knew for a reason. Need to know that reason.”
She lifted her chin and met his eyes. “I’m invested in you, you asshole.”
He tried not to grin and barely succeeded. “Yeah? Well, you kicked me in the goddamn nuts, darlin’.”
“By coming here?”
“That, too, but that’s not what I’m talkin’ about.”
Her lips pulled down into a frown and he remembered the taste of them on his own. He was tempted to take her mouth again, but he was hyper-aware of who all was in the bunkhouse. Nothing stopped any of his brothers from walking into The Barn and seeing them with their lips locked together and his hand on her neck where Scar’s had been.
That fuckin’ motherfucker.
“Wait. Are you referring to when I said that we were temporary? Aren’t we? Weren’t we? I mean…” Her brow pulled low. “How could it be anything more?”
She was right. They couldn’t be anything more. He knew that, but it had still been a kick in the balls when she actually said it. It had burst the fucking bubble they had been hiding in and ignoring reality.
Even so… “You just said you’re invested.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, suddenly not looking so confident.
Christ. What a fucking mess.
He thumbed it free, keeping a sharp ear open for anyone coming into church. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, took a deep breath, then opened them. “You ain’t the only one,” he admitted on a sigh.
Goddamn it.
“Shit,” she whispered and cupped his face. “We’re supposed to hate each other. It’s easier.”
He stared down into hers. That motherfucker touched her. He fucking touched her. He couldn’t wipe seeing that out of his damn mind. He couldn’t wipe out how he felt when he saw it. “Darlin’, nothin’ about this is easy. Not a goddamn thing.”
She nodded and dropped her hand. Her lips pressed thin again as she turned and headed toward the door. He followed her.
She stopped in front of the door and handed him Cujo. He glanced down at the little shit and then back up to her. She was no longer looking at him, instead she faced the door and said, “It never will be, either.”
He could hear the disappointment in her voice. She had tried to hide it but he heard it. Loud and clear.
He didn’t bother hiding his because their disappointment was minor in the whole scheme of things. “Nope.”
She stood there for what felt like hours when it was probably seconds, then her head jerked up, she took a sharp audible breath and turned back toward him, the disappointed woman gone and the confident cop in her place. “So, you already knew what I came to tell you.”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me you aren’t going back up there.”
