Page 44 of Point of Contact

"Why didn't they do it?"

Reed's head tipped, jaw working from side to side. "Why didn't they do what?"

He was stalling. He knew darn well what she was asking, but if he needed a minute she’d give it to him. "Why didn't they buy their RV and go see all the places they wanted to?"

Reed watched the road, lips pressed together like he was used to keeping this conversation in. Finally he offered up an explanation she wasn't expecting.

"Because my dad decided it would be more exciting to have a stroke the week after he retired."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

REED

VERY FEW PEOPLE knew about his father's condition. Telling them what happened might lead to more questions he didn't want to answer. Didn't want to face.

Courtney was quiet for a second, but her big brown eyes never left his face. He waited for the normal words most people would offer.

That's terrible.

I'm so sorry.

How is he doing?

But instead, her lower lip pushed out in an expression he was beginning to realize she used as more than just a pout. "That fucking sucks a bag of dicks."

The unexpectedness of what she said had him laughing without even realizing it. It eased the tension discussing his father's situation always brought. "You have no idea."

She tipped her head against the rest of her seat, continuing to sit sideways so she could watch him. "You're right. You should explain it to me."

He huffed out another laugh, thinking she was still trying to lighten his mood. But when he glanced her way, Courtney’s expression was earnest. Honest. Like she genuinely wanted to know about what he was going through.

And, after facing it alone for so many years, he considered telling her. God knows she was in no position to judge him for the choices he'd been forced to make.

"I never planned to work at Alaskan Security." He started at the beginning, gripping the wheel tighter as he struggled with old emotions.

The sadness. The disappointment. The fear.

"Where did you want to work?" Another genuine sounding question. Soft and sweet. Gentle in a way Courtney didn't usually act.

And that surprisingly sweet and gentle tone had him offering a confession. "I was going to be a cop."

Courtney immediately nodded. "That makes sense."

Something odd warmed his chest, bringing his hand to rub against it. "It does?"

She sat a little straighter. "Absolutely. You're grumpy and uptight and a stickler for the rules. You would have been an amazing cop." Her lips lifted in a lopsided smile. "I would have definitely robbed a store just so you’d have to frisk me."

Another laugh broke free at another comment that eased the tension normally accompanying this conversation. The few times he'd had it anyway.

Courtney blew out a sigh, dropping against the back of her seat again. "I bet working for Alaskan Security pays way more than being a cop though, huh?"

Her ability to zero in on the crux of the matter would have surprised him a few days ago, but not now. Every second he spent with her it became more clear that the Courtney he thought he knew was nothing more than an act. An exaggeration of her personality designed to get all the things she’d never had. Attention. Protection. Hell, even conversation.

And right now he didn't mind offering it to her. "Pierce definitely pays a hell of a lot more than the force would have." He paused, expecting shame to hold him back, but it didn't. "He approached me right after I finished the Academy and not long after my father had his stroke. I was already trying to help my parents with medical bills because Medicare isn't the greatest, so I knew just how bad things were going to get for them."

Courtney rubbed her lips together, looking a little distressed. "I don't know what any of that means."

Of course she didn't. She was the daughter of a drug trafficker with more money than he could count.

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