Page 101 of Sergeant O'
“Do you think the police department’s going to give Brian the same flack that the hospital gave you? I mean, he kind of looked like a prowler in his beanie, sneaking out of your house. Probably not the look they want their officers going for.”
With a long sigh, I conceded, “No, probably not.”
“Maybe you guys need to reconsider what laying low should look like.”
“Yeah, maybe we should.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Jade
I noticed the house curtains were drawn tight when I pulled into Adam and Lainey’s driveway, something I was sure Lainey hated. She loved having her windows open in the evening during the summer.
The smell of something baking drifted through the entryway when Lainey let me in.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “Dinner’s almost ready. The boys are in the kitchen.”
Conor was in his high chair with something orange smeared all over his face. Adam sat in a chair next to him, feeding him something out of a jar. It made my heart happy that Adam had taken on the role of dad without hesitation. It was obvious how much he loved both Lainey and her son.
“There’s Auntie Jade!” Adam told the baby as he stirred the jar’s contents with a small, blue silicone spoon.
“Hey, buddy! Mmm, squash!” I said, ruffling Conor’s downy hair, then immediately regretted it when I felt something cold and goopy on my hand. I looked down to see what I hoped was squash baby food. Without a word, Adam handed me a napkin.
Brian sat on the other side of the table with a half-empty beer bottle in front of him. He looked tired, which made sense since we didn’t get much sleep last night. His hair was sticking up, like maybe he’d run his fingers through it a few too many times today.
He smiled when I walked in but otherwise didn’t acknowledge me. For some reason, that rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn’t expecting him to stand and dip me with a passionate kiss, but a “Hey, Sunshine,” and maybe a wink would’ve been nice.
I sat down in the chair kitty-corner from him, and Lainey set a wine glass on the table in front of me, then held up a bottle of wine with her eyebrows raised.
“Yes, please.”
There was an undercurrent of tension in the room that was made more obvious by the fact that the only chatter came from what Adam was saying to Conor as he fed him.
Finally, Brian said, “I heard you got called into HR.”
I glanced knowingly up at Lainey and deadpanned, “Of course you did,” before taking a small sip of wine.
“How’d it go?”
I shrugged. “I’m not in trouble, but I need to be ‘mindful of the public’s perception’.”
“Angus texted that he wants to see me tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll have something to say, too,” he said. “I thought we should talk about how we want to handle things.”
I nodded, waiting.
“Maybe we cool it for a while. It’s probably better if people think we’re just friends and the media blew this whole thing out of proportion. Maybe we should even date other people for a bit and try to throw the attention elsewhere.”
I set the glass down carefully. “I’m not afraid of HR, Brian. I’m allowed to have a life outside the hospital.”
“I know,” he said. “But this has just gotten out of hand. Things need to die down, for both our sakes.”
Adam set the empty jar of baby food on the table, making the spoon inside rattle. “Or you could just own it and not give the press anywhere else to go.”
Just own it. I liked the idea.
For a second, I wanted to believe it was that simple—to sayyes, we’re together,and be done hiding. But Brian shook his head before I could even open my mouth.
“That’s not an option,” he said quietly. “Not right now.”
