Page 82 of Protected By Her Mate

“The Feds have arrived and are questioning our suspects. Your friend from DC, Sherilyn Asher, wants to see you right away. She has something and she says it’s urgent.” There’s a waver to his voice.

“We’ll be right in.” Lennox hangs up and climbs out of bed, reaching for his trousers.

“I can’t leave Luke,” I say to him, torn. I want in on this next step of our investigation, but Luke has to come first.

“Of course not,” he says, like leaving Luke was never going to be an option. “We’ll take him with us. Charlamagne has grandchildren. Pretty sure there are toys and colouring books in his office.”

I leave the warm bed and drag my jeans up my legs. “He sounded… I don’t know… spooked.” The Captain Charlamagne I met yesterday was a man in complete control of his law enforcement empire.

Lennox chuckles as he buttons his shirt. “Sherilyn has a way of doing that to people, but she’s excellent at her job. There’s no arguing with her results.”

“What exactly does she do that’s so different?”

“You’ll see.” Lennox opens the bedroom door. “I’ll start the kettle for your tea.”

“English breakfast, please.”

“I know,” he replies with a familiar smile.

I slip into Luke’s room where he’s sleeping on his stomach, one arm wrapped around his koala Squishmallow, while the other dangles limply off the bed. I think about asking my parents to come over so I don’t have to wake him up, but I can’t bear to be parted from him.

I agree, Lennox says in my head.It’s too soon for him to be away from his mother. He’ll be fine at the precinct.

I leave Luke in his pajamas and fill a backpack with a set of day clothes, some books, a few toys, two juice boxes and several snacks. Gathering him in his quilt, I lift him from his bed and carry him half-asleep to the living room.

“Give him to me,” Lennox says reaching for Luke.

I hand him over and grab my go-cup of tea.

“Thank you,” I murmur as my heart twists. I want more of this. Knowing what each other likes, working together to get ready to leave. It’s small things that make a huge impact on a loving relationship.

I tuck the thought away and pull Luke’s backpack over my shoulder. Before we leave, I snatch up the container holding my mom’s buñuelos.

We head down to my truck together where Lennox deposits Luke in the back seat. “Hop in with him,” he says, holding the door open. “I’ll drive.”

I gape at him. “You can drive?” Not once in the time we’ve known each other has he offered to drive. Not even the L.A. rental car.

He chuckles at my consternation. “When it became clear at the beginning of the 20thcentury that automotive vehicles weren’t going away, I decided it would behoove me to learn how they work. Though I don’t drive often, I do maintain a license in the state of New York.” He flashes me a quick grin, boosting me into the truck and holding his hand out for the keys. As I reluctantly hand them over. He adds, “I never offered to drive because we were on the job and you made it clear I was not to dictate your job to you.”

“I…” He’s not entirely wrong, so I drop it.

He closes the door and lopes around to driver’s side. Climbing in, he adjusts the seat and mirrors. I soon learn he’s a cautious man behind the wheel, driving as though we have all the time in the world to get to the precinct.

“We do.” He responds to my thought. “Getting you where you’re going safely will always be my first priority.”

A lump starts in my throat and I have to swallow before I can say, “You can be my private driver as well as my fire escape dog once this is all over.”

His eyes meet mine in the mirror, his gaze reflecting the same longing I feel.

Frustrated anger bubbles up inside me. A stupid curse is going to destroy my happy ever after and I have no choice but to let it. I’m a practical woman who meets challenges head on, but this is a battle I’m not equipped for. How does a person face down a curse?

“We don’t,” Lennox says grimly, pulling into the parking garage beneath the police station.

Lennox carries Luke again.

“Where are we?” he asks sleepily as we go up the stairs and into the lobby.

“We’re at Lennox’s police precinct,” I answer.

---