Page 34 of Ready or Not

“Is everything okay?” She blinks up at him with her forehead wrinkling.

“Work never seems to end. I’ll have to see about promoting a few people, so I can truly have weekends off.” He bends low, brushing his lips over hers. “Luckily, there are plenty of us to look after you. Otherwise, work would simply have to wait.”

She stretches up on her tiptoes and devours his mouth in a kiss a little too deep to be appropriate for the baby store. I ignore it because Garza looks like the top of his head might pop off at any minute.

“Will you be home in time to sleep with me tonight? I really missed you last time you pulled an all-nighter.” She licks her lips, lowering herself until she’s once again standing flat on her feet.

“I will do my very best.” He wraps a hand in her hair, tilting her face up and kissing her a final time.

She sighs as they pull back.

He sends her to me with a pat on the ass that makes me chuckle.

I’m genuinely happy for them.

“I’ll see you at home,” Mercy says, glancing between the three of us.

Vale blinks at the shopping basket at my feet. It’s overflowing with outfits, blankets, burp rags, socks, and a bunch of other random things I snagged as I browsed.

“Do you have a crib?” Garza asks, eyeing the far wall that’s lined with furniture.

“I do. Mercy and I picked it out before our trip back to DC. It’s not assembled yet, though,” Vale says.

“We’ll get it done before Mercy’s family gets into town.” I pull her into my chest with a hand on her luscious ass.

“That’s good, then,” Garza says, sounding weirdly disappointed.

I’ve tried about a hundred times this morning to put myself in his shoes. If I had randomly shown up on her doorstep—which I daydreamed about frequently—and Landis met me at the door to tell me to fuck off…

How would I have handled it?

Would I have gotten pissed and let him convince me Vale was the shady one in this equation?

No, I don’t think I would.

I’m pretty fucking sure I would’ve ripped that asshole’s head from his shoulders for even suggesting such bullshit.

Thus, making it very hard to empathize with Garza. Then again, I’ve had the benefit of getting to know her over the last couple of years. Unlike him, I would have known she had no time for a hidden boyfriend.

I’m not a forgiving person, but I am linked to Vale on an irreversible level.

I’ve caught her yearning toward him a couple of times now.

It’s not easy to decipher, because she’s hurt and furious too, but she’s not a spiteful person. I’m fairly sure that all of this will be water under the bridge one day. I don’t see her holding a grudge forever, especially since there were extenuating circumstances.

That means I have to walk a fine line between being supportive while she’s still angry and also not doing or saying anything that Garza and I can’t come back from.

It’s got my system all out of whack, because all I want to do is fervently defend her.

“The care aisle is on the other side of this one.” I make eye contact with Garza. “We need a baby thermometer, one of those nose bulb things, baby nail clippers, and anything else that looks important. Why don’t the two of you check that stuff out?”

Vale stares up at me with her lips pushing together. Her hand digs into my T-shirt, and I realize I never took my holster off. I’ve got a Glock under my left shoulder and my Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in my work boot. It’s a baby gun, but it’s convenient for shoving it in tight places.

“I’m perusing the duck onesies. I figure we can multitask.” I chuckle, nuzzling my nose to hers.

“Let’s see what all the fuss is about with the snot suckers.” Garza gives me a grateful smile, holding out an arm for Vale.

My chest feels tight as she pulls away and aims for him. I grind my teeth, exhaling heavily. I’m not sure why it’s so much harder to see her with him than it is with Holt or Mercy. Maybe because I’ve come to terms with them.

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