Page 23 of Savior

The smile on her face is warm and she says, “I just don’t like it. That’s all.” She pulls back to put a hand on his cheek. “You promise me you’re careful?”

He kisses her forehead. “I promise.”

“If your momma were alive, she’d have kittens. A cop!” Diane exclaims. “After all the trouble you got into as a teenager. She’d never believe it.”

The heat growing in my belly extinguishes, and my whole body runs cold. Without looking at the pair of them, I cross the kitchen and set the chicken on the counter next to the other ingredients, hoping it doesn’t slip out of my now trembling hands.

Of all things, I never expected him to be a cop. A criminal maybe, but a cop?

I almost would rather he be the outlaw I thought he was. A cop asks too many questions and I’d really prefer the past stays where it belongs. Already I can sense them ticking around in that brain of his.

I school my expression into a sunny smile and turn back, my attention on Diane. “Is there anything else you need before I take off?”

Diane turns to me, one arm still slung around Logan’s waist. “You don’t want to stay for dinner?”

“Thank you, but I’ve got something at home and a good book calling my name.”

“All right,” she says. “I’ll make sure to save you a plate for lunch tomorrow.”

I give a silent prayer of thanks for Diane’s undemanding nature. “I’d love that.”

The hairs on the back of my neck prickle with awareness as I turn and stride out of the kitchen. Even though I can’t see him, I know Logan’s watching me all the way back to my house.

Keeping secrets is hard, but keeping them around a cop is going to be even harder. I should strangle Chloe forever recommending I move to Nassau.

My phone vibrates against my pocket on the short walk home and I take it out, glancing at the screen.

Speak of the devil.

“I couldn’t wait for you to call me anymore. Are you settling in okay?” Chloe asks without preamble.

I harrumph into the phone. “Yeah, but you could have told me Diane’s nephew is a jerk.”

“Awe, honey, I’m sorry about that. The job is going alright, though, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely. I couldn’t be happier. Thank you again for referring me.”

“Thank God. I told Gabe you’d be fine. And it’s no problem at all, sweety. You did the same for me. Now tell me what Logan did to piss you off.”

I try not to let my sigh of disappointment turn the line to static. “It’s okay. I can handle him.”

I’ve been through worse things than having to ignore a gorgeous cop, right?

“Are you sure? I bet we can get Gabe to rough him up if he’s such a big pain in the ass.”

“No,” I rush to say. “No, please. You’ve done enough already. I’ll figure something out.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, concern softening her tone.

No. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s not a big deal.”

“If you say so.” There is a beat of silence before she says, “Well,” she says, “I’ll see you around sometime.”

“Hopefully soon. Maybe a hurricane will ruin business and you’ll be able to take some time off,” I say, then wince. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

Laughter bursts from her side of the line. “Sure you didn’t. I’ll let you know if something starts going around.””

“I’d appreciate it, thank you.”