Page 36 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

“No,” he answered, not bothering to hold the door for her. He just plowed through the house.

Women’s lib meant that she could hold her own damn door.

“No what? No, you’re not always cranky, or no, you’re not answering my question?”

“Where did you park the truck?”

“I backed into the garage. I figured it would be easier to unload it from there and if I didn’t get it done tonight, at least my stuff would be protected from the elements.”

He stopped in his tracks.

Well, damn.Proof she was smart and had common sense.

He shook his head and continued, heading through the laundry room and into the garage.

He dropped the tailgate on Fletch’s truck and his head jerked back at the little that she had. It was about a half dozen large cardboard boxes, one large suitcase and two smaller ones.

He reached in and grabbed the nearest box. “These boxes aren’t marked.”

“No, because I don’t have much. And I wasn’t planning on moving into a house.”

“Who doesn’t label their boxes?”

“The person standing behind you.”

He lifted the box and turned. “Where does this go?”

She shrugged. “It’s not marked, so I have no idea what’s in it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Maybe she wasn’t so smart.

His head twitched when her laughter hit his ears and slid all the way down to his dick.

Jesus H. Christ.That was not good.

“Yes. I’m messing with you. It goes in the bedroom. All I have right now are clothes and personal items. Like I told you, the rest of my stuff is back at my parents’. I’ll keep it there until I find something more permanent.”

Good. She needed to keep it there in case this assignment didn’t work out.

And if it was up to him, this assignment wouldn’t work out.

He grunted and pushed past her, carrying the box inside. Fletch’s bedroom was oversized, so he dumped the box in an empty corner. He’d stack the rest there, too. On his way back to the garage, he had to pause to let her through the bedroom door first as she dragged the large suitcase past him.

They continued to retrace their steps from the truck to the bedroom until the truck bed was empty. The last load ended up being a bunch of dog supplies, including food, bowls, a huge dog bed and everything else a massive canine needed.

Once they dumped all that in the living room, she wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, then scrubbed her palms down her jeans.

With a sigh and hands on her hips, she stared toward the kitchen. “I guess the next stop is the grocery store.”

“Not tonight.”

“No, not tonight. Though, that made me hungry.”

“Go ahead and eat anything about to expire. Fletch said you can throw out anything already past its ‘use by’ date.”

“I’ll do that. But anything I eat, I’ll replace.”

“Here’s a helpful tip. If it’s furry, don’t eat it.”

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