Page 2 of How Much For A Broken Heart?

“Help yourself,” James encouraged, then moved the pancakes out of the way as I reached for one. “Oh, I ordered the unicorn cake for the P-A-R-T-Y,” he murmured, more to himself than to me, as if he were checking off a mental list, spelling it out as if Annie would understand. “That’s still okay, right? To have a party here if you vet everyone?”

“Sure.”

He glanced at me, dipping his gaze when he caught me staring, then smiling wide before whispering. “It’s in the shape of a two, and it has these…” he waved his hands expansively, “… sparklers. Special order.”

Annie would turn two in a couple of months, and I got the feeling it was a milestone for him as well. He’d talked about us, and every time he did, I winced internally. Our fake wedding had been hard enough; hell, we even had a photo of the three of us that we’d printed and kept up on the refrigerator. We had it as a cover, but I found him staring at it frequently.

“Okay?” he prompted.

“Sorry.” It startled me out of my thoughts. “Sure, just thinking today through.”

“What’s on your agenda?” he asked, as if I was a fellow prosecutor.

“Same sh—stuff, different day,” I evaded.

“Stay safe, August,” he said, then reached to touch my face. For a moment, I thought he might kiss me, but instead, he sighed and turned back to Annie—awkward shit avoided. “Okay, team, let’s get ready to roll out.” He wiped Annie’s hands and face with a damp cloth.

Annie was babbling in her high chair, batting away James’s hands, which made him grin. He booped her nose, and my heart hurt with affection that lived way out of reach for someone like me.

James caught me by the arm as he headed towards the door to leave, pulling me into a brief hug. “Be safe, Aug. I mean it,” he murmured into my ear, his breath warm on my skin. His fingers tightened enough to convey the fear he harbored every time he or I walked out of that door. He shouldn’t have to live in fear just because he was trying to do the right thing by revealing the things he’d found.

I turned within his embrace, edged back, and patted his shoulder. “I will.”

Annie grinned at me. Her blonde hair was in bunches. I gave her a wink and a playful tug on the left one, earning a giggle that lifted the heaviness in the room. She was hella cute and, maybe, if I wasn’t a closed-off homicidal asshole with hero issues, maybe I could feel more.

James coaxed Annie into her day clothes. “You’re going to have so much fun with your friends today.” Then he was bustling around, a wriggling Annie perched on his hip as he multi-tasked with a skill that always left me in awe.

James nodded, balancing Annie as he slipped her tiny feet into her shoes. “Say bye-bye to Daddy,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite chase the worries from his expression. I hated he was teaching her to say that, but the cover had to stay intact—it was the only way I could be with him all the time and still work.

“Buh-buh!” she shouted up at me and waved.

I grasped her tiny hand. “Bye-bye, little Annie,” I whispered. “See you tonight.”

James nodded. “Okay, team of two, let’s move out. We have a big day ahead of us.” He ushered Annie towards the door, and scooped up a container of cookies Annie took from his hands. Today was potluck cookie day at the nursery, and she had six perfect chocolate circles ready to share with her friends.

Max would message me when he dropped Annie at daycare, handing her off to another undercover operative, this time a cop called Molly, who was working the day shift.

It wasn’t until after my final coffee that I noticed Buzzy-Bear, Annie’s inseparable companion, lying on the living room carpet, discarded in the morning rush.

I picked it up with a chuckle and squeezed its soft belly. “Were you trying to escape the duty of more daycare?” I asked the inanimate furry thing with the big bugged-out eyes. Then, panic edged into my thoughts as I recalled a few nights back when Buzzy had become wedged down the side of the sofa—Annie had gotten so upset she couldn’t find him, and she’d hate it at childcare without Buzzy. I grabbed my phone, but the call went straight to James’s voicemail. I knew how he behaved when he buried his head in case files.

“Hey, you guys left Buzzy-Bear behind. Call me back if you want me to drop by the daycare and hand him off.”

I tried his cell again after I shrugged on my shoulder holster and covered it with my jacket, and again when I reached my SUV, but nothing, so I decided to connect with Max.

“Everything okay?”

“Sure is,” Max murmured.

“James isn’t answering messages.”

“He’s reading to Annie, stop worrying,” Max laughed.

“Okay. Annie left something behind.”

“You want me to come back?”

“Nah, I’ll drop it at daycare.”

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