Page 101 of Sheriff's City Girl

I nodded, leaning back into the cushion. “They are both strong-willed and hard-headed. A lot of men like them are, but I know that your dad has so much love for you, and I don’t think that anything will ever change that.”

Jess smiled. “Yeah, though I think I drive him crazy sometimes.”

“I’m sure I will, too,” I laughed, shrugging my shoulders. “Especially if I move in.” I waited for Jess’s reaction, but she didn’t really have one. She tipped her head back as she laughed, reaching for the remote.

“You basically already live here,” she finally said, hitting the power button. “Do you wanna watch a movie? It’s not that late.”

“Yeah, a movie sounds good, but…” my voice trailed off as I ran my hands down my legging clad thighs. “I was actually hoping to talk about the one last thing that Mason wanted me to mention…”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “There’s more?”

I nodded, shifting as I brought my legs into a crisscross position in front of me. “Yeah, and it’s kind of a big thing.”

Jess looked worried. “Well, I hope it’s a good thing…”

“I think it is and so does your dad, but I don’t want to do it without your approval. I think that it’s important that we talk through a lot of the big relationship changes between Mason and myself. I don’t ever want to do something that you’re not comfortable with.”

She blew out a sigh, her face relaxing. “So are y’all getting married or something?”

I wish.

“No, not right now anyway,” I said. “But today after the doctor’s appointment, your dad asked if I would want to move in. Having the baby in one place would make things a lot easier… And I agree.”

Her face scrunched in a way that made my heart sink. “So… He wants you to move in because of the baby? Not because he just wants you to move in?”

My heart did a flipflop in my chest, suddenly second-guessing myself. “I think he wants me to move in because we’re becoming more of a family, not just because it would make the logistics of having a baby easier.”

She nodded, her eyes dropping to her hands. “I just don’t want you to move out once you move in. It would be like getting a mom, and then having her ripped away all over again.”

The vulnerability nearly knocked me right over. “Oh, Jess,” I said, my voice thickening with emotion. “I promise you, no matter what happens, I will always be here for you.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Mason

“So… You really think that he could’ve been kidnapped by some of Graham’s guys?” Jackson asked me as we stood outside of the station. “I just think that’s a reach.”

“I don’t know,” I grunted, wiping the sweat from my forehead. We’d been out all night, and honestly, I was fucking exhausted. My chest and head were aching, and it was more than late enough for me to call it a night. Plus, I had hoped to have some time to celebrate with Emma…

But I knew she was fast asleep now.

We’d have to celebrate some other time. She also hadn’t told me how her talk with Jess had gone, and it made me wonder if she had talked to her at all. I knew it was a heavy conversation—well, at least the moving in part was—but I knew that Jess would be elated.

“So what now?” Jackson asked, his voice weary. “Do we just keep looking? Because I can’t stand the idea of leaving the kid somewhere if he needs help, but I also know that I’m so tired, I might not see him if I saw him.”

“I think it’s time for you to go home,” I chuckled, slapping his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “We’ll have to wait and see if any tips come in or if he shows up. There’s a good chance that he really did just need a break from this town. I’m sure he feels like everyone is judging him right now.”

“Yeah, I can only imagine how shitty that is,” Jackson muttered, shaking his head as he headed to his cruiser. “But I’ll grab some sleep and be back in the morning.”

“Sounds good,” I said to him as he opened the door. “See ya then.”

I stood on the sidewalk for a little longer, breathing in the early morning air. Something in me didn’t want to stop looking for Cody, but I was almost positive it was guilt. I had written the kid off because of how he had acted, and because he was a love interest for Jess. And while I still didn’t like the idea of him and Jess…

I also hated the fact that he was going through what he was at his age.

My eyes shifted back to the station, working on a skeleton crew through the night. Well, we were always on a skeleton crew, really. There weren’t enough of us to patrol the area, but there wasn’t enough funding to have more, either. I drew in a deep breath and headed for the Bronco.

There’s nothing more to do for tonight.

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