Page 42 of Junkyard Dog

“Go keep that boy company,” the older man ordered, pointing his spatula at her. “I’ll bring these out when they’re ready.”

She grabbed a handful of fries and hopped off her stool, saluting Thomas on her way through the door.

The lounge was quiet, three groups huddled around their tables talking quietly and drinking slowly. Alex rounded the bar, grabbing the pot of coffee and a mug. “Thomas chase you out here?”

She pulled up a stool and sat at the bar, a small jolt running through her body when he set a mug of coffee down for her and kissed her forehead. “Tossed me out here on my tail.” She smiled. “So I was thinking we could drive through the park quick and then head back to your place. Since I haven’t seen it when you haven’t had time to straighten up first.”

“You like to live dangerously.” He chuckled, leaving her to deliver a tray of drinks and returning with a credit card. “I could be up for that. Why the park?”

“I didn’t see Butch this morning. I want to check in on him and make sure he eats,” she replied as he ran the card and slipped the paid receipt into a cashier clip, tossing a pen on top. “Besides, I think you should meet him. He reads people well and I’m curious how he’ll react to you.”

*

Alex slowed theSUV as he took the corner of the narrow path. “He’s probably holed up somewhere for the night,” he suggested, unsure how much longer the hunt for Butch was going to last.

Not that he was complaining.

The hour they’d spent looping the park was the longest he’d spoken with Charlotte all week, and he wasn’t anxious for it to come to an end.

She sighed and sat back in her seat, rolling up her window. “You’re right. Damn.” She smiled up at him lazily. “I was kind of hoping he’d nip at you like he has every other guy he’s met.”

“Every guy you’ve introduced him to is a dick,” he muttered, wrinkling his nose as he recalled the obnoxious cologne of the last two agents she had been assigned to assist. “Dogs love me. They recognize that I’m an alpha and they respect that.”

She elbowed him in the ribs before settling against his arm. “All right, Alpha-Man. Let’s head back to your place before someone recognizes me out here and they put me back to work.”

He sped up a fraction.

No way in hell was he going to risk losing one of her two days off. Not when he had company arriving any day.

He made it back to his place in record time, mentally running through the mess in his trailer and determining which areas needed to be dealt with.

All of it.

“That bad?”

He snapped out of his head. “What?”

She opened her door, grinning. “You’ve been staring at your front door for a minute with the most serious look on your face. Is it that bad?”

Surrendering his key to her, he got out of the SUV and followed her in. “It’s probably worse than I remember.”

He had barely had time to do more than strip down and shower for weeks. If he wasn’t working, he was monitoring the Pirithous or watching over Charlotte as she worked, keeping enough distance to remain out of the way of the stalled investigation, but close enough should anything be uncovered.

He was exhausted.

“This isn’t so bad,” she called over her shoulder, disappearing into his trailer. “A laundry hamper would do wonders for this place, though.” He pulled the door closed and locked it, cocking a brow as she tiptoed through the piles of discarded socks and jeans and began carefully lifting shirts off his bed. “I need to know something.”

He crossed his arms, his head dropping slightly in defense as a litany of potential questions flew through his mind. “What?”

“Before I even consider sleeping here tonight, when was the last time you washed these sheets?”

*

Charlotte bit herlip at Alex’s hesitation, his eyes darting to a small cabinet to the left of his bed. “I don’t want to know, do I?”

He shook his head and licked his lips. “I have another set, though.”

She plucked a T-shirt up and placed it in the makeshift pile beside her. “You’re probably going to want to find it,” she said casually, purposely ignoring the flash of hunger in his eyes. “I’ll trade you places.”

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