“You gave a concert. I came to hear it,” he said serenely. “And Natalie’s working tonight. So am I, for that matter. This town has a pretty astonishing music scene. I’m going to some clubs.” He turned to Conn. “I hear you’ll be joining Cady’s entourage.”
She’d sprung that on him over dinner. “We haven’t talked about pay or anything,” Cady said. “Conn’s got some things to finish up here, too.”
Chris’s gaze flicked over Conn, clearly assessing what a beat cop in Lancaster would make. Then he pulled out his phone. “Do you know what we paid Evan?”
“No,” Cady said. “That’s what I pay you for, and I know what I pay you.”
Without looking up from his phone, Chris named a figure that made Conn’s jaw drop.
“More than the City of Lancaster offers, I assume?”
“It works for me,” Conn said.
“You suck at this. You always, always negotiate. I just lowballed you, and Evan did mediocre work,” Chris added. “Cady routinely told Evan to fuck off because he was annoying her.”
“Well. He did annoy me and he fucked off and here you are. I don’t eat tongue,” Cady said. “Do not ever mention beef tongue, or any animal’s tongue to me in the context of food.”
“Okay,” Conn said, obviously letting it go.
“I’m not going anywhere for a few months,” Cady said, shooting Chris a stubborn look. “So we can finalize salary then. For now, Conn’s staying with the police department.”
Conn turned to Chris. “Are you okay with this?”
Chris sighed. “You’ve proved you’re a paranoid, suspicious control freak who will stop at nothing to keep Cady safe. I can’t believe you accused me of trying to terrorize her!”
“Like you don’t eat kittens for breakfast,” Conn shot back.
“Oh, I do,” Chris said with an evil smile. “I do. But I use their delicate bones to pick out the tufts of fur left in my fangs so it’s not obvious.”
“I give up,” Cady said, throwing her hands in the air. “The two of you will drive me insane. Just don’t mention tongue.”
Chris smoothed the front of his jacket. “As I was saying, a paranoid control freak who will stop at nothing to make sure Cady’s safe, which is the only thing I care about when it comes to the individual in your role with the Maud Squad.”
“Cady. I’m Cady, from here on out.”
Chris raised an eyebrow, but acquiesced. “With Cady.”
“So we’re good,” he said to Chris, obviously wanting to hear him say it.
“What do you want, to exchange heart-shaped necklaces and pinkie swear?” At Cady’s glare, Chris relented. “We’re good. Remember I said that when someone with deeper pockets tries to hire you away from us. Which will happen. Oh, and that song you just sang? The one that didn’t sound anything like ‘Love-Crossed Stars’? Already on YouTube and already racking up the views. Twenty bucks says I hear from Eric before the night’s over.”
*
“This was the stupidest idea ever,” Cady said. “Whose idea was it to wait until Christmas Eve to finish shopping?”
Conn wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her out of the flow of harried last-minute shoppers jostling for space on SoMa’s narrow sidewalks. Instantly Cady relaxed into his heat and strength and wrapped her arm around his waist.
“I’m not the one who waited until the last minute to do her shopping.” He kissed her ear, then let her go.
“Rub it in.” She looked through the shopping bags in her hands and checked the contents against the list in her phone. “You ordered everything online. That’s cheating.”
“When it comes to buying toys for kids, that’s the only smart thing to do.”
“True.” She looked him up and down. “I doubt you’d be crushed at Toys ‘R’ Us.”
“I wasn’t worried about getting crushed. I was worried about having to break up a mob fighting over the last Nintendo DS. Then I’d have to do paperwork.”
She laughed, her heart as bright as the lights strung along the overhang. “No paperwork on Christmas Eve.”
He reached for her hand, and they strolled down the sidewalk. The crowds were too harried to recognize her, and if they did, they gave her the gift of a quiet night. “What time are the McCools expecting you tomorrow?”
“I said I’d come over for the game.”
They were loading their bags into the trunk of the Audi when Cady leaned her hip on the taillight and looked at him. “Is the track open tonight?”
He laughed. “Hell yes. It gives guys an excuse to get out of the house. The weather’s turning next week. Between extreme cold and bad weather, we don’t run much in January and February.”
“How about a couple of runs tonight?”