Chapter Sixty-One
Parker
I wake before the alarm, Eliot’s arm still heavy around my waist. For a few minutes, there’s nowhere I have to be.
The bankers boxes are still in the conference room at the station, Nate and I still have four sets of records to go through, warrants to file, arrests to make.
But that will still be true in half an hour.
For now, I can focus on the slow rise and fall of Eliot’s chest against my back.
It only takes him a few minutes to start to stir. His hand flexes against my stomach, and he lets out a low, quiet groan. “What time is it?”
“Almost seven. No need to rush anywhere yet.” Turning over, I cup his cheek, trail my fingers down the rough stubble to his jaw, and then touch my forehead to his. “You slept. All night.”
His shoulders heave with a heavy breath. “Someone you considered a friend betraying you will do that to a man.”
I want to reassure him that we’ll find Kurt. That his interrogation won’t be pretty. That he’ll spend the next five to ten years—if not more—in jail. I don’t say any of that. I just let him hold me until he finally lets go and sits up.
“What are you and Nate working on today?” he asks.
“Searching for all the payoffs those seven developers funneled to the senator’s consulting firm. We got through two of them yesterday. Though, Nate was working on the third when I left, and you know once he starts color coding, he doesn’t stop for pitifully unimportant things like food or sleep.”
Eliot huffs out a short laugh. “True.”
“What about you? Take the day off? Find a This Old House marathon on TV and just…relax until you have to go to your knittin’ circle?”
He won’t, of course. I’m not sure Eliot knows how to relax. Then again, neither do I. Maybe that’s why we fit together.
“I have four buildings left on Nate’s list. They’re all empty, so I didn’t worry about havin’ any of the other inspectors pick them up. I should be able to knock out at least three today if not all of them. Without any people to work around, it’ll go a lot faster.”
My heart hurts a little. The idea of him going back into the world that took so much from him—twice—is hard to wrap my head around. Until I look down at my hands.
God. I’m such a hypocrite.
Being a Ranger brought me to Austin. Gave me AJ as a boss. Nate as a partner. Grace as my best friend. My sister. Emi and Jasper, Isabel, Connor, and Veronica as the rest of my family.
Then it tried to take it all away. My job is every bit a part of me as Eliot’s job is a part of him.
“Hey,” he says, dragging a knuckle along my jaw. “Where’d you go?”
I smile. “Just thinkin’ that this is the most normal mornin’ we’ve had together.”
Eliot’s laugh might be quiet, but it brings the light back to his eyes. “I want a lot more of these. Hope that ain’t a problem.”
“Hot stuff, it’d only be a problem if you didn’t.”
Nate’s already buried in financial statements when I walk in. His gaze zeroes in on the drink carrier from Alabaster’s. “Parker, I was three minutes away from my fourth cup of station coffee. You may have just saved my life.”
“I’m gonna remind you of this moment the next time you try to force an acaí bowl on me.” I slide the hemp milk latte across the table. “Where we at?”
I wait a full thirty seconds for him to suck down some of the latte. When he comes up for air, he waves a highlighter at me. “I got through the third set of financials before I went home last night. Four to go.”
Setting my bag down, I pull my laptop closer. “How late did you stay?”
“Later than I told my back I would.” He rolls his neck until it cracks, then meets my gaze. “Is Eliot okay?”
“He’s…dealin’. Not sure that’s anywhere in the vicinity of okay, but he’ll get there.”
“APD’s got the BOLO out on Kurt. He never came home last night. Got Vern updating me every couple of hours.” Nate turns back to his spreadsheets, giving me space I suddenly don’t want.
“You’re gonna have to handle that interview.” My voice cracks, and I dig my fingers into my palms until my nails leave perfect crescents amid the jagged scars. “You put me alone in a room with that idjit, he might not walk out of there.”
Nate nods. “I’ll handle Kurt. He’ll live. He’ll even be able to walk. Eventually. When I’m done, there won’t be a mark on him.”
A little before noon, I take a quick break and pull out my phone.
How are the inspections going?
Eliot takes a full five minutes to text back. He was probably in a crawlspace somewhere.
Slow. Two down, two to go. Are you coming here after girls’ night? Or do you want me to come to your place?
Your call unless you need me to make the decision. I just want to be with you.
I’ll come to you. Text me when you’re home.
Will do. I hope the knitting ladies don’t give you too much of a hard time tonight.
Oh, they will. That’s a given.
I’m about to put my phone away when it vibrates one more time.
Parker? Next Friday, maybe you could come with me. I want you to meet them.
I never thought going to a knitting circle would feel so…significant. Or that I’d want it this much. But it does. And I do.
I’d like that. But maybe start me off with something smaller than a blanket. How about a coaster?
Coaster it is.
He signs off with a kiss and a heart emoji, and I grab another cup of coffee before rejoining Nate in the conference room.