I wait for Tess to button the top of her plaid coat before we step out onto the street. Day two of Guarding Tess is well under way. I spent the last few hours escorting her back and forth to court and watching her race around the office getting Declan everything he needed. For the most part, she ignored me. That didn’t stop my grin, or the occasional wink I tossed her way when I caught her glancing at me. Both caused a deep blush to creep up her neck, something I enjoy more than I should.
As I speak, my breath becomes visible in the frigid air. “Okay. Where’re you parked? In the lot?”
She shifts nervously. My question has made her uncomfortable, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. When we returned from court yesterday, the boys from Internal Affairs were waiting in Declan’s office to grill me yet again about Joey. But she didn’t know who they were or why they were there, and she didn’t bother asking.
The interrogation took over a fuckin’ hour. When I stepped out of the conference room, Tess was long gone, and I was fit to be tied.
Declan had wrangled me into his office and tried to calm me, assuring me it was all just procedure. “Bullshit,” I told him.
He didn’t push it, just passed on that the captain wanted me to take the night off and arranged for two other badges to take over bodyguard duty. Lu and I are officially on watch starting today.
I know Declan and the captain only meant to help. What they don’t understand is that being alone is the last thing I need. It gives me too much time to think about everything that went wrong.
I square my shoulders, waiting for Tess to answer. Instead, she huddles deeper into her coat when a gust of wind slams against us like a solid force. For as tall as she is, she seems so small now. As much as I bitched to Declan yesterday, it was probably better someone else had had her back. As it was, I spent the night reliving Joey getting shot and counting all the ways I screwed up.
“Wassup?” I ask her when she stays quiet.
She doesn’t look at me when she answers. “I don’t have a car. I walked here.”
“You serious? What happened to the badge watching you?”
“He followed me in his vehicle.” She glances around when I narrow my eyes. “Traffic was slow; he kept up just fine,” she insists. Her lips part when I practically growl. “It’s only ten blocks.”
“What do you mean it’s only ten blocks?” I ask. “It’s goddamn January.”
“I walk fast. You can call it an opportunity for exercise.”
“No, I call it an opportunity to freeze your ass off. Come on, I’ll take you in my squad car.” I pause when I catch sight of her horrified expression. “Relax, baby. It’s not like I’m going to cuff you or anything.” I dance my eyebrows at her. “Unless you want me to.”
Her mouth pops open. “Officer O’Brien. Do you really think this is an appropriate way to speak to me given our roles?”
I lean back on my heels, pretending to be all offended. “It was just a joke between friends.”
“Friends?” she repeats, grasping the collar of her coat tightly against her.
“We’re not—what do you call it?—BFFs. But come on. It’s not like we’re strangers. We know each other.” I make a point to glance around before leaning in close, acting as if I’m sharing some top-secret info. “From college, remember?”
Although she tries not to, she laughs. And damn, doesn’t that totally change her face. She goes from all business to, yeah, all kinds of hot. “Very well, bestie,” she says. “Take me home in your vehicle.” She clutches my arm when I take a step forward. “I am riding in the front, right?”