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That was all. No heart emojis. No thanks for last nights. NoI love yous.
What the hell was he going to do if he couldn’t convinceher?
A chiming sound went through the house. Likely some package.The twins had an active Prime account. He reached over and grabbed his jeans,shoving his legs in. He would save whatever the twins had bought from porchpirates and then shower and shave and figure out how to get to Lou. Budfollowed behind him as he walked down the hall. If she was with Kala, she wassafe, so he could stop somewhere and get some cheese and crackers and fruit andtempt her with a picnic.
Or he could stop somewhere and pick up some exotic lube andmake her asshole burn so she didn’t leave him a freaking text again.
Bud raced ahead and started his doggy dance at the frontdoor, letting him know someone was there.
Not a package, then. TJ glanced at the video screen attachedto the security system so he could decide if he wanted to open that door or ifhe needed to grab a gun.
TJ’s stomach dropped. He didn’t want to answer that door.Nope. He also would never pull a gun on the man standing there.
Bud barked and jumped at the door, and there was a sharpbark echoed back.
So the big man hadn’t come alone, but then he rarely did. Healways had some combo of his never-ending menagerie with him. He’d shown up atThanksgiving last year with a potbellied pig in tow because the little guy hadseparation anxiety.
Actually, from what TJ had heard, he’d adopted a bunch ofpigs. Didn’t pigs make for easy body disposal? Would he end up as pig chum?That probably wasn’t the right word, but it properly described what the big guymight do to him.
The chime rang again.
There was nothing for it. The man had a freaking key, afterall. Was he going to hide in Lou’s shower and pray her father didn’t find himthere, or was he going to man up and act like the future son-in-law he wantedto be?
He opened the door and Boomer Ward stood there, frowning ina way he almost never did. Boomer was the happiest of his honorary uncles,though he’d stopped using the honorific around fifteen when he knew forabsolute certain that he didn’t even want to pretend there were blood bondsbetween him and Lou. Boomer’s vibrant blue eyes laser focused on TJ in a waythat made him remember that Lou’s dad had once been the best sniper in the USArmy. He could kill a man from over a mile away.
But he could do it up close and personal, too.
He also had a bird on his shoulder and a tiny elderlychihuahua on a leash. Bud was going crazy dancing around the other dog, whobarked and tried to sniff his way-too-high-for-a-chihuahua butt.
“TJ,” Boomer said. “Are you going to invite me in? I thinkwe should talk. Lou’s at the office according to her tracker, so I thought thiswould be a good time to have a discussion.”
“I thought the tracker thing was strictly for CIA use.” Heneeded to get a new one since the last asshole who’d kidnapped him had cut thetracker out of his bicep. And if everyone could track Lou, he wanted to aswell, damn it.
“Oh, I assure you Big Tag shares that shit with me. It waspart of our agreement when Lou joined up. He keeps me informed about hermovements even though they’re classified,” Boomer allowed. “Which is how I knowshe recently went to Germany to rescue you, and I’ve been waiting for her tocome home to inform us about the change in your relationship status. She hasn’tupdated her socials, so I suspect she thinks we won’t find out. You should bothhave clicked that in a relationship button by now. So are we going todo this or should I head over to your parents and we can come up with somethingway more embarrassing?”
“I wasn’t trying to put you off. I was wishing I had a wayto track her since she seems to slip away so easily. Please come in.” He waswell aware he was inviting Boomer into the house Lou owned part of. He didn’town a house. Didn’t keep an apartment. Just hung out here when he wasn’t on assignment.Was there a casual way to bring up the subject of his savings account? It waspretty healthy since he didn’t spend a lot on himself. He wanted to be able tobuy a house when he got out of the Army. A house for him and Lou.
“Sorry to bring the crew with me, but they’re getting up inyears, and Molly doesn’t like to be alone.”
The seemingly immortal monk parakeet on his shoulder perkedup. “Hope you wore a condom.”
TJ stepped back and let the man in. Well, at least there waszero question he knew what was going on. Molly tended to parrot back the thingsshe heard, and she was excellent at picking up on the embarrassing shit. “Idid, sir.”
Boomer stopped and stared. “You did what, son?”
Damn, but the man could be intimidating, which was weirdbecause Boomer was the dude who took in all the strays and who was always kindand patient.
“I…” What was he supposed to say? Maybe the truth wouldwork. “I’m in love with your daughter and I think she might be using me forsex, and I’m trying everything I can to make her see that this can work, but Ithink she’s going to leave me and I don’t know what to do.”
That seemed to throw Boomer off. His frown suddenly didn’tseem so menacing. “All right. Let’s put some coffee on and talk about it. Butplease go take a shower. You…”
“Smell like sex,” Molly said.
Sometimes he hated that bird. Still, he locked the door andran off to do the man’s bidding.
Twenty minutes later he was clean and dressed in clothesthat were mostly clean. He needed to do some laundry. He would throw a load ofhis and Lou’s clothes in before he left. He settled across from Boomer andMolly, the bird eyeing him like she had none of her owner’s sympathy.
Sprinkles was cuddled up with Bud, the dogs taking this timefor a nice nap.
