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Jeremy nodded as he wiped the last of the tears from his cheeks. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Good. No more rushing to leave me every night?" D grinned.
"No more. I still want some nights alone, but I'll talk to you when I want those, but even more, maybe I just need some nights away from the house. I feel like when I'm there, I should be working. We can stay here or at my place. I don't care which." Jeremy shrugged. "I just can't shut it off when I'm there. There's always more I can do."
D cupped Jeremy's cheek against his palm. "I know. Carter and Trenton are the same way. Bryon has to kick them out to get them to stop, and even then, they argue. We'll get out of there more, and once we start doing stings, we'll feel more productive, like we are doing something to actually help. We'll meet with Jessica tonight and if all goes well, there's no reason we can't start doing stings in a week or two. Plus, more than anything, we need to find you help. I know Rani is helping, but I mean someone serious about making this a career, someone who can hold the fort down when you need to get away."
"I'm okay, honestly. We'll find someone, but it's not our biggest worry right now." Jeremy didn't want to hold the team back from starting just because he was the only one really digging for info. "I've already got four cases ready to go. I'll just need to make sure nothing has changed. Plus, I started digging into one today that looks like he makes a lot of videos. I'm trying to track where he finds the kids he's using. We have to get going on things."
D nodded. "But don't let it get to you, okay? Shut it down when you need to, and I'm here for you to talk to. I know what Carter and Trenton go through. I want you to come to me if it gets to be too much. Even if it's just a bad day. And when it comes to what happened with Chad, I'm here to listen. It's something that will take time to come to terms with. Years maybe. Don't try and deal with it alone."
"I won't. It helps to have said something. Things happened so fast, I never took the time to really deal with it all. Talking to you helps." Jeremy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I ran from you."
"It's okay. I'm just glad we worked it out. Tonight, after Jessica leaves, we'll head back here or to your place and spend some time together. I'd like to say we could go out on a date, but we'd need to be careful. Too much being in public isn't good for either of us right now."
"I've got a solution for that. How about this weekend we take some time off and grab food to take with us and go out looking for dump sites? We can check out the lakes in the area, have a picnic or something, but still be away from the crowds." It was something Jeremy was going to suggest anyway as a business need, but making a date out of it made it more enjoyable.
"Perfect idea." D brushed a soft kiss against Jeremy's lips. "I hate to leave, but we better get back. I get the feeling Jessica is one of those who expects everything to run on time."
Jeremy laughed. "She's a tough woman. I love how she calls them pedofucks."
D grinned. "Yeah, me too. She's going to be interesting to work with, but I have no doubts that she's going to be great once we teach her what to do. My only worry is can she separate her hostility and not take things too far. Whatever is in her past haunts her. She could break at any minute."
"We'll watch her, and hopefully, this will take the edge off whatever is haunting her. Like you've said, we're a family. We look out for one another." Jeremy nodded. "Let's go. But someday soon, I want to come back and see the rest of the house."
D grinned. "Tonight, and I'll show you the best room in the house, my bedroom."
Glad they'd talked and things weren't so up in the air anymore between them, Jeremy followed D out to the Jeep. He'd woken up this morning trying to figure out how to face D each and every day, but now, being in a relationship, he was more secure and comfortable to let his feelings grow. D wasn't going to dump him for the next easy lay. He hoped what they had could last, but if his past taught him anything, the unexpected could tear everything away.
