“You could try.” The lump in Cali’s throat doubled. “But Mrs. Jasmine is famous for never changing her mind.”
“I’m sorry. When I got to the office and they said they’d called an ambulance, I thought it was you who was hurt. Then I saw the blood.”
“You were wrong,” she snapped. “Let’s just leave it at that.” She got out of the SUV and stepped up on the porch. Following her, he unlocked the front door and she walked inside. The silence in the house seemed so loud that if it had a volume switch she’d have turned it down.
He looked at her. “I’ll call her right now.”
Cali went to the kitchen, not wanting to hear that conversation. In a few minutes, Brit walked in, his expression telling her that he’d hit what the teachers called the Jasmine-scented brick wall. The woman didn’t budge when she’d made up her mind. To her credit, she normally made good first-call decisions. Which gave Cali a second of pause. It didn’t even take a second for her to see her mistakes.
She had already endangered Roberto’s life. Next time, it could be a student. Of course, Mrs. Jasmine had a right to be concerned. Hearing Brit’s steps, and not really eager to face him, she dropped her face in her hands.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “She wouldn’t even let me explain.”
Cali moved her hands and looked at him. She was still angry at him, but at this moment she was angrier at herself for overlooking the fact that her feeling “normal” shouldn’t come before the safety of others. “You tried,” she said.
He pulled a chair over and sat down beside her, so close his knee fit between her legs. “I’ve got to go to work. There’s plenty of food in the fridge. Susan bought groceries. When I come back, you can yell and scream at me. Call me every name in the book. Just know that while I was wrong, I was wrong for the right reasons. I care about you.”
She looked at him and realized something else. She hadn’t called him about Stan this morning because she had been worried about him. And by not contacting him, she’d prevented him from doing his job. Right or wrong in her decision, she’d done it because she cared. Just like he’d done to her. Her anger melted and guilt stepped in its place.
“I’m not going to scream and yell.” She closed her eyes and decided she owed him the same thing he’d given her. “I even understand why you did it. And I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier.” She bit down on her lip, still not comfortable telling him about the dream. “I had so much on my mind. The dream I had…it upset me.”
He brushed a finger over her lip where she’d just nipped. “And you still don’t want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
He kissed her, but pulled away before it went from sweet to sexy. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. But if I’m lucky, maybe I can fix it so you can go to work tomorrow after all.”
“You think you’ll catch him?” she asked.
“We’ve set up a hotel room, had it posted on your credit card. Which, by the way, you shouldn’t use for a while. And I’m going to drive your car to the hotel. We’re parking it in front of the room. If things go well, he’ll come looking for you tonight.” He pulled away.
“Be careful. I care about you, too.” The word ‘love’ danced on the tip of her tongue, ready to go into the limelight, but she couldn’t say it. Too soon. Way too soon.
“I will.” He gazed into her eyes as if searching, then smiled. “We did good, didn’t we?”
“Good at what?”
“Our first fight. I was angry, and you were angry, but we did okay.”
“We’ve fought before.” Cali grinned. “I think that’s all we did for a while.”
His stared into her eyes. “Yeah, but we haven’t fought since we’ve had sex.”
“And only fights after sex count?” she asked, finding that somehow humorous.
He leaned in. “How else are we going to have make-up sex?”
She rolled her eyes. “Men are dogs.”
“No, we’re just dickheads.” He kissed her and stood up. “If you need me, call. And leave a message this time. You got it?” He gave her hand a squeeze.
~
The radio spurted out Wolowitz’s voice. “Hey guys, did you know they got a porn station? I think I’m going to stretch out on this bed and enjoy myself.”
It had been four hours since Brit had left Cali and he ached for her. Now he and Quarles sat in an unmarked sedan, staring at the hotel room, waiting. Through the dark parking lot, Brit could barely spot Mark and Luke sitting in a green Toyota. Adams had placed Officer Wolowitz inside the hotel room. Another officer was at the front desk in case trouble broke out in the office. Parked outside the room was Cali’s Honda. They hoped Humphrey would see the car and go straight to the only room with the lights on.
Quarles leaned back, making the sedan’s seat creak. “You know what puzzles me?”