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“Yes, ma’am, we’ve been expecting you. Follow me, and I’ll give you the tour and show Casey where he’ll be bunking.”
With any luck, she’d be able to escape the place without any awkward encounters.
Violet nodded and fell into step beside Casey . . . just as Dean stepped out of a room a few doors down.
Too late.
DEAN BLINKED AND rubbed his eyes as the words seemed to jumble together on the page. One thing he hated about being the director of a nonprofit was all the paperwork. He was going to have to get glasses if he kept at this for much longer.
As soon as that damn shrink gives you a pass, you are back in the field and out of here.
Dean got up from the desk and stretched. He had only been in the office for an hour and he was ready for a nap. He’d been having a rough time sleeping, and he couldn’t blame it completely on his nightmares. It was hard to get a good night’s rest when he couldn’t erase the sweet scent of Violet from his bed.
Tracy had been right when she’d said Violet wouldn’t call, but here he was, mooning over her like some lovesick kid anyway.
Why are you obsessing over a woman you spent one night with? You didn’t want anything serious, right? She is doing you a favor, and you are fucking moping around like a pussy.
Dean didn’t know why he couldn’t shake her. The sex had definitely been amazing. Maybe he was afraid it would never be that good again?
Suddenly, Best burst into his office, grinning.
“Don’t you ever knock?” Dean grabbed his coffee mug from the desk and started to walk past Best so he could refill it, but Best stopped him.
“I’m not sure you want to go out there, dude.”
“Why not?” Dean snapped.
“ ’Cause Violet—you remember Violet, right? Your one-night stand?—well, she just showed up with a kid for the program. Figured I’d save you from the drama,” Best said.
Violet’s here? With a kid?
Dean pushed through Best and almost slammed into Sergeant Oliver Martinez in the hallway. “Whoa, slow down, man. Miss Douglas, Casey, this is our director, Sergeant Dean Sparks.”
Dean didn’t even acknowledge Martinez; his gaze was riveted to Violet’s wide brown eyes staring back at him, excitement racing through his body to his heart, jump-starting a pounding that deafened him. Her already light skin paled to a frightening shade of white with a hint of green, as if his being there might just make her toss up her cookies, and disappointment churned deep in his stomach.
What had he expected? That she’d throw her arms around him with some excuse? That maybe she had lost his number and been wanting to call, but couldn’t?
“What are you staring at?” a surly young man asked as he stepped in front of Violet.
Dean looked down at the kid. There was a definite resemblance between him and Violet, although the boy’s eyes were green and his hair wasn’t a brilliant red. He was also sporting the greenish-purple evidence of a fading bruise on his face.
Holy shit! If this boy was hers, she must have had him when she was barely a teenager. There was no way she was older than thirty.
No wonder she didn’t want to get involved with you; she was protecting her kid.
Dean imagined what life had been like for Violet, and he wanted to beat the hell out of whoever her son’s dad was.
“Sorry, your mom just looked like someone I’d met before.” Dean held out his hand to the kid, who sneered.
“She’s my sister, dumbass,” the kid said.
Relief flooded through Dean, even as Violet gasped loudly. “Casey, apologize now.”
Dean’s eyes narrowed, but Casey’s stony silence and fixed stare told Dean the kid was going to be a hard egg to crack.
“I’m sorry for my brother, Sergeant Sparks.” Violet’s voice trembled, and he wondered if it was her brother’s behavior or being around him that was causing it.
“Don’t worry about it.” Dean caught her gaze again briefly before she shifted it away, looking at anyone but him.
