Page 41 of Mountain Man Officer

He scooped up two plates of noodles, and we sat at the kitchen island. It was nice. Not once in my life had I ever come home to a hot dinner waiting for me. If we weren’t supposed to be in a relationship, at least we could have this. At least we could do nice things for each other, like cook and talk.

“The cash truck came today,” I said as soon as I had swallowed enough pasta to calm my stomach.

“I know.” He nodded. “We were there.”

“I didn’t see you,” I said.

“That’s the point.” He winked.

“What did you think of the van? And the driver?”

“Driver looks like he spent some time in prison,” Jason speculated, “but we didn’t get a hit off his face yet.”

“You got a picture of him?” I was too excited to finish my spaghetti.

“We got pictures of the whole transaction.” He pointed to my unfinished plate.

I picked up my fork again.

“Including pictures of you helping out.” His words cut me deep, paralyzing the food on its way to my mouth.

I set the bite down. “I wasn’t helping out. I couldn’t think of a good excuse. The owner and the assistant manager weren’t in today. Ava wasn’t in. I was the only person there, and she asked me to help. I couldn’t say ‘no, I think you’re involved in something criminal.’”

“I understand,” Jason said. “I’ll make sure to put your cooperation in the case notes. I just wanted you to know so it doesn’t come as a surprise.”

I picked up my fork. “Let’s talk about something else.”

He finished his meal and stood up to put his plate in the sink.

“I’ll do the dishes,” I offered. “Since you cooked.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged. “There aren’t that many.”

I sighed, searching for a safe topic of conversation. “Tell me about Nashville.”

He grabbed a beer from the fridge, one of the ones I had bought on my shopping trip. He held it out to me as if to ask if I wanted one. I shook my head. He unscrewed the cap and settled back down in his seat.

“Nashville,” he began. “I only ever saw the worst side of it. I was in narcotics and vice for a while.”

“Vice?” I asked. “Is that like prostitution?”

“And human trafficking. A lot of the women we saw weren’t given a choice.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Crazy thing is I didn’t realize just how much it was affecting me until I came here,” he said. “I saw Dillon go from eager to burnt-out in a matter of weeks. When his partner died, you could see Dillon lost all taste for the job.”

“Dillon’s partner died?” I asked quietly.

He nodded. “Shot on the job. Neil was his name. I knew him too, though not as well. When something like that happens, you start reevaluating the choices you’ve made. Neil left behind a wife and child.”

“I’m sorry.” I put my hand over his to comfort him but then yanked it away as if it had been burned. I wasn’t supposed to fall for Jason, no matter how much his story tugged at my heart. Touching, any kind of touching, was off-limits. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from wandering south, and I didn’t want to trigger another lovemaking session. It would be best if I kept myself under tight control, nipping any amorous thoughts before they could blossom.

Living together was going to be hard. Coming home to dinner was nice, but the sight of Jason doing domestic chores had set off a yearning in my belly. I couldn’t have him, not in that way. We had to keep our relationship friendly, maybe even professional. I finished my meal and took my plate to the sink. Despite his protests, I cleaned the dishes and set them on a wire rack to dry. If we were going to be roommates, I was going to pull my own weight. I went to bed early, deliberately leaving the beer untouched in the fridge.

17

JASON

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