Page 97 of Operation K-9 Brothers

“I have some news you two are going to like,” Deke said.

“Yeah?What’s that?”Jack handed his friend a beer.

“Is Nichole around?She needs to hear this, too.”

“She’s in her studio.She’ll want to thank you anyway for helping me get it built.”

“Likes it then?”Deke asked as they headed to the studio.

Jack chuckled.“You would’ve thought I’d given her the moon and stars.”

Four days had passed since Nichole had moved in with him.Her studio was set up to her liking, and he was learning the fine art of living with a woman.She accused him of being a neat freak, and he privately thought she was messy, but he knew better than to share his opinion on the shoes left by the door, the pottery magazines piling up in various places in the house, and the ponytail holders all over the place that seemed to multiply by the day.

He wouldn’t change a thing.

“We have a visitor, babe.”He grinned at seeing the slash of mud on her cheek.

“Oh, hi, Deke,” she said.

“Hey.”He looked around.“So, this is where the magic happens.”

“Yep.”She went to the sink and washed her hands.“Thanks for helping Jack get it built.Thank your friends who pitched in, too.”

“Will do.”

Jack wrapped his arm around her shoulders.“Deke said he has some news for us.”

“You’ll both be happy to hear that Lane Gregory decided it was in his best interest to leave town.Apparently, he got on the bad side of some dudes you don’t want to cross, who are gunning for him.”

“The same ones who put him in the hospital?”Jack asked.

“Yes.We’d really like to arrest them, but he refuses to name them or testify against them.”

“They must be really scary then.Lane prides himself on not being afraid of anyone,” Nichole said.

Deke nodded.“I have my suspicions on who they are, and, if I’m right, Gregory’s smart to worry about living another day if he sticks around.”

“So we don’t have to watch our backs anymore.That is good news.”The day Gregory had been released from the hospital, Jack had stuck close to Nichole, taking her to work and picking her up.On her days at the artisan mall, he’d left Dakota with her.Like Jack, his dog would protect Nichole with her life.

“You don’t know what a relief it is to know he’s gone.”Nichole glanced at Deke.“He is gone, right?”

“He left yesterday.I’m meeting Heather for lunch, so I need to go.”

After Deke left, Nichole jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist.“Well, hello there.”He grinned at her.“Someone’s happy.”

“You have no idea.It feels like a hundred pounds has been lifted from my shoulders knowing he’s gone.We need to celebrate.”

“And I know just how.”

She leaned back so she could see his face, then smirked.“I recognize that look in your eyes.”

“Good.Means I don’t have to explain what’s about to happen.”

“If we’re going to keep doing this in my studio, I think we need to add another piece of furniture.”

Jack groaned when she rubbed her groin against his.“Yeah?What’s that?”

“A bed.”

“On it,” he said, then backed her up against the wall.Even though he was growing fond of this wall, tomorrow she’d have her bed.

Truth, all she had to do was ask, and whatever it was, he’d do everything in his power to give it to her.And someday, when the timing was right and he was sure she’d say yes, he’d give her the diamond ring he’d bought a few days ago and had hidden away.Then they could get busy making his Grammie happy and give her great-grandbabies to spoil.