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I hesitated for just a moment. “All right. I have a few minutes to spare.” I turned and pointed at Churro, snoozing in her dog bed beneath my desk. “Sheffield. Do me a solid and watch my dog for a few?”
She threw me a salute from her desk. “You got it, boss.”
I rolled my eyes before turning back to Deva. “Come on, sweetheart. We can talk in the conference room.”
I guided her into a room near the back of the bullpen beside the sheriff’s office. The paneling on the walls was from the seventies, the decade interior design had died, and the long conference table was dinged and scratched all to hell. The chairs surrounding it were mismatched relics that had made their way in here, basically being retired from regular use when the budget allowed for us to get newer, better chairs for the bullpen.
Like most everything in the station, this room was ugly, outdated, and in serious need of a remodel. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t any room in the budget for a complete station overhaul.
I closed the door behind us and propped myself against it, crossing my arms over my chest. “All right, darlin’. You’ve got my complete attention. What’s going on? You and Laeth good?”
“Yes. We’re great. I just—well—I don’t—”
I couldn’t help but grin at the way she tripped over her words. “It’s okay, Deva. It’s me. We’re friends. You can talk to me. Just say what’s on your mind.”
“I don’t want you to hurt Lyric,” she blurted so quickly, she caught us both off guard. My chin jerked back while her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth.
The ease I’d been feeling only a second ago disappeared, and I could feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders twist into knots so intricate they would have made a deep-sea fisherman proud. I pushed off the door and took a step closer to her, dropping my arms down at my sides. “I’m sorry?”
“That came out wrong. I mean, the meaning behind it is right, but I wanted to be a lot more delicate about it—”
I cut her off with a sharp tone. “Deva.”
“Right. Sorry. I’m rambling.” She closed her eyes and took a moment to pull in a deep breath, centering herself before she finally looked at me again, and continued. “You know about my past,” she started, reminding me of the cult she’d been forced to grow up in before she freed herself from them. “I never had a best friend. Not until Lyric, and I just... I’m protective of her.”
“Deva, I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
She held her hands up, her gesture placating. “Not on purpose, I know that. You’re a good man, Holt. One of the best. But I’m not sure you fully understood how she felt about you the first time the two of you... well, you know.”
It was as if liquid steel had been poured along my spine. I was standing so rigid my back started to ache, but I couldn’t seem to make myself move. “I’m not sure this is a conversation you and I should be having.”
“I get that, and I promise I won’t get too personal. But when you walked out on her that first time, it nearly crushed her. Her feelings for you started the minute she pulled into town.”
“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration—”
She shook her head, her expression solemn. “It’s not. It was at Frank’s. She’d just pulled into town and needed gas; you’d stopped for a cup of coffee.”
My mind instantly rewound to the moment she was talking about, and I could suddenly see it with so much clarity. I hadn’t thought much about the woman standing at her car with all her belongings piled into the backseat. In fact, if I’d had to call that memory up at any other time, I probably wouldn’t be able to put a face to the woman who’d accidentally sprayed gas all over the concrete. I’d been too focused on getting a caffeine recharge. But now that Deva mentioned it, I could see Lyric’s face so clearly.
“She was on the fence about staying here. She came for a job interview, but one look at you, and that was it. She made the decision to call Redemption home after one glance.”
Emotion swelled in me, lodging in my throat and making it difficult to swallow. “She told you that?” I asked on a croak.
Deva nodded. “She hasn’t admitted it to me yet, and I’m not even sure she’s admitted it to herself, but you’re it for her, Holt. And if you’re as smart as I think you are, you realize what a prize that is.”
Oh, I already knew what I held in my hands when it came to her. I knew the treasure in my grasp. I knew how lucky I was that such an amazing woman would forgive an asshole like me. Lyric wasn’t just a prize, she was the end game, the whole reason for playing in the first goddamn place, and now that I had her, I was never,everletting go.
“You don’t need to worry about Lyric,” I assured Deva, going from annoyed that she’d come to my place of work and questioned my motives to appreciative that she had her best friend’s back so resolutely. Lyric deserved people who cherished her, and I was so glad she’d found that in this little town. “I won’t hurt her again, Deva. If I could go back in time, I’d do everything differently. But that’s not possible, so all I can do now is give you my word that it won’t happen again. I like to think that I’m a smart man and learn from my mistakes.”
Deva’s eyes narrowed, her canny, sharp-witted mind reading every thought in my head. As if seeing the truth, her face brightened, her lips pulling into a huge smile. “You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”
I closed my expression down and crossed my arms. I’d already given her enough to reassure her, she didn’t need anything more. “I think that if I were going to admit to something like that, Lyric’s the one who should hear it first.”
Deva held up her hands, understanding awash in her features. “You’re absolutely right.” A giddy giggle burst from her chest, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes good-naturedly. “I’ll get out of your hair now, deputy. Let you get back to work.”
“Appreciate it, Deva. And thanks for looking out for her.”
Her expression softened as she looked back at me from the conference room door. “Thank you for deserving her.”
