Page 99 of Sergeant O'
My smile faded. “HR? On a Saturday?”
“I know,” she said quietly. “They made it sound urgent.”
My stomach dipped.
I had a feeling I knew what this was about. Our decision to keep things quiet was starting to look like the right one after all.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Brian
I looked in my fridge and wrinkled my nose at my lunch prospects. I didn’t have my truck, the pizza place in town didn’t do deliveries until dinner time, and my leg was aching from walking to Jade’s and back.
But as I popped a couple more pain pills, I couldn’t help but grin.
Worth it.
I remembered Jade had said I needed to make sure I was eating when I took ibuprofen, so I decided to venture next door and see if I could mooch lunch off Lainey and Adam. Hopefully, I could hold my godson in the process.
Lainey answered the door with Conor on her hip, and my face lit up with a smile when he held his arms out for me to take him.
“Welcome back! I see your time at the beach was… interesting,” she said, stepping aside to let me in.
I bounced the baby as I walked through the door. “You could say that. I come bearing an empty stomach and questionable life choices.”
“I hope you’re not labeling my sister as a questionable life choice, but there’s leftover lasagna.”
“No, of course not. I’m questioning why I didn’t just pose for pictures the day I left the hospital, and why I thought kissing Jade at the bank to piss Rachel off was a good idea.”
Adam looked up from the table where he was scrolling through his phone. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t the smartest decision.”
“Any progress on how that photo got leaked?”
“Not yet. Is that why you came over?”
“No, I needed food before my pain meds eat through my stomach lining, and my fridge is empty,” I said. “Plus, I was hoping to score a godson snuggle as part of the deal.”
The baby grinned at me, drooling happily on my shirt while I sank into a chair, and Lainey remarked, “He’s missed his Uncle Brian.”
Adam tried to hide his smirk as he took a swig of coffee. “Jade didn’t feed you this morning?”
I choked out a cough.
“I haven’t seen Jade this morning.”
Lainey tilted her head with her eyebrows raised and suddenly I felt like I was fifteen again and caught in a lie by my mom.
I realized that wasn’t far off when Lainey turned toward the counter, grabbed her phone, and said, “You sure about that?”
She handed me her phone, and I adjusted Conor in my lap so I could take it. On the screen was a photo of me, beanie pulled low, slipping out Jade’s side door like I’d just committed a felony.
Adam looked at the screen over my shoulder and let out a low whistle. “You want to tell us why you look like you’ve just burglarized her house,Sergeant?”
Fuck. Angus was going to have my hide for this.
My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I ran my tongue along my teeth before I lamely said, “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Really?” Lainey asked, unimpressed. “Because it looks like you’re sneaking out of her house before the sun came up.”
