Page 86 of Hearts of Fairlake

"Well, in that case, why don'tyougo make sure he's not about to get arrested," Annie said with a wince. "I mean, I'm sure being handcuffed by you isn't exactly new to him, but?—"

"Alright, enough," I said, looking up at the sky and wondering what I’d done in a previous life to deserve the people I was forced to deal with. "I'll go make sure the heat and stress haven't baked his brain in his skull."

Not that I believed Kyle would do something like that, he was a professional. He believed in the part of his job aimed at helping people and keeping them healthy. That would not cover running around and sticking them with IVs full of medicine that would make his life easier. At the same time, I knew when Kyle got a bug up his ass and started acting out, anything could happen. He wouldn't begin dosing people, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be a scene.

"Uhh...Chief?" I muttered as I slid closer to him andBennett. "I'm going to the First Aid tent to make sure we're not about to have a...meltdown."

His brow furrowed together. “Kyle?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right, he looked a little twitchy when I saw him this morning. Bad?"

"Not like...in need of police intervention bad, but maybe a little husband intervention. I just realized he hasn't texted me in a while, and that's...not great."

"Right, go make sure nothing happens. We've got a few more hours of this, and nothing significant has happened...other than what was in the plan. I want to keep it that way. If your husband ruins that, your ass is what's going on the line, got it?"

"Yes, sir," I said, this time with a sigh. At least now, if I needed to calm Kyle down, I would have a round in the chamber. I didn't doubt there were days he wanted to throw me off a cliff, but he would never intentionally get me into trouble...professionally, anyway. I had no doubt if he was feeling spicy enough, he’d get me in trouble with Trevor in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with the job but just to screw with me.

I walked away from the two of them, glancing over to see Ayla still talking with the guys, but she had put some distance between herself and the one who’d been showing her the most attention. When our eyes met, I raised my brow and tapped the gun on my hip with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and quickly signed 'not yet,' which made me laugh. I told her I loved her and was going to the first aid tent. Our little conversation caught the attention of the guy pushing his luck, and he looked around in confusion, obviously having no idea how to translate the ASL she’d flown through without hesitation. He saw me and looked me over beforeturning to ask a question I couldn't hear, but when Ayla smirked, I saw her lips move, 'My dad.'

Which would have been fine, except it made the guy take half a step away from her, making Ayla laugh, and I knew then that no matter what else he tried, he had just lost any chance to impress Ayla like he’d been trying to do. She was already difficult to impress, but she had precisely zero patience or interest in someone who’d be scared off by the sheer presence of one of her dads, even if said dad was an armed police officer who’d clearly been paying attention to them.

Despite her independent nature, I had to trust she’d ask for help if a situation got out of her control. On the other hand, even if she didn't, plenty of witnesses and officers were around to step in if need be. But as I'd just told Bennett, there was no point fretting about something just because itcouldhappen, especially when there were several obstacles in the way of anything happening. I needed to be worried about what my dear, sweet, not-at-all-ill-tempered husband might be doing, especially if today was turning out anything like yesterday.

There didn't seem to be a crowd around the tent when I arrived, but that wasn't necessarily a good sign. What I was taking as a good sign was that I wasn't hearing any shouting or barking of orders from inside, and no one around the tent seemed all that alarmed. So I stepped through and glanced around to find the place still intact, and the patients seemed to be resting peacefully or sipping water.

Kyle appeared from behind a curtain, his hair sticking out in several directions, telling me he'd been anxiously running his hands through it. It gave him a slightly crazed look that made me smile because it was also the way his hair looked when he was freshly woken up...and after a good bout of sex. I watched as his head snapped up when he saw someone newstanding at the entrance to the tent. His shoulders relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Wait," he said, looking me over. "You're not hurt, right?"

"Not hurt, not sick, don't even have a headache."

"Good, because I don't think I have it in me to deal with you and a headache."

"I...what about me with a headache?"

"I love you to pieces, Ian," Kyle began because anything that followedthatphrase would always be complimentary. "But the minute you’re in pain, you become the world's biggest baby."

"I've been shot and stabbed," I protested. "And I didn't make a fuss."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," he said with a sigh, pinching his nose. "And that's injuries in the line of duty. But other, normal everyday injuries? You're useless, no, you're worse than useless. You're the thing that drains all usefulness out of a situation as you lay supposedly dying."

"That's dramatic...and rude."

"Please, the last time you got a moderately bad bug, you lay in bed and groaned like a starving Victorian child dying from the plague."

"Pretty sure those were two different time periods."

"Influenza then. Consumption. Whatever you want to call it."

"This from the man who turns into a demonic bear if he has to go more than twenty-four hours without caffeine." No, that wasnotas much of an exaggeration as it sounded. Even my mother behaved herself around Kyle when he went too long without. It seemed there were some things on this Earth that even my mother had a begrudging respect for. Admittedly, it was a little scary.

"And may I point out," he said as if I hadn't just made agood point, "that you passed that annoying little tendency to your daughter."

"I like how she's my daughter whenever she's in trouble or you're bitching about her, but she's our daughter otherwise."

"Because I know damn well she's going to get halfway through her first semester of college and end up calling me to whine and cry about some bug she caught at the disease factory known as campus. And I'm going to have to tell her it's time she puts on her big girl pants and take care of herself because I'm not driving out of my way to go take care of her because she's got the flu."

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