Page 27 of Hot & Bothered

The snake around her heart slowly relaxed its constriction enough so she could breathe.

He pointed to her food as he shoveled the curry into his mouth. “You’re not hungry?”

Leaning forward, she picked up a spring roll and, cupping a napkin under her mouth, took a tiny bite. “I’m worried, Jace. Are you in danger?”

“People are on the lookout for him now. I had my building manager send the footage to both stations and the cops are going to go see if they can find him. Pay him a visit. I mean, besides trying to run me over and allegedly shoving Bronwyn up against a wall, we have nothing to go on. We just need to be aware and keep tabs on him.” He lifted one shoulder casually. “How was your day?”

She didn’t want to talk about her day.

Her day had been shit, and she was looking forward to leaving that part of her life at the office and coming home to her boyfriend and dinner.

“My day sucked,” she murmured. “Just had to remove a kid from his parents’ custody for safety reasons and nobody in his family wants him. He has fetal alcohol syndrome and cognitive delays and all the family members say he’s too difficult. We’re struggling to find him a placement. Everything is full. He’s a really sweet kid. Only four. But yeah, he behaves more like a two-year-old and has tantrums and stuff. You would, too, if you lived in squalor surrounded by dirty needles, wore a soiled diaper for days and ate cigarette butts, you were so hungry.”

“Fucking Christ,”he murmured.

Her throat grew tight. It was getting harder and harder to leave work on the other side of the door. She brought her emotions home with her when what she really wanted to do was to bring all the kids without a home, home with her.

She loved what she did, but it was hard.

Tremendously hard.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m sorry, babe. That really sucks.”

She nodded softly and exhaled. She was doing everything she could to help that little boy find a safe place to call home. But bringing her work home with her was not an option and would ultimately serve nobody. They needed to talk about something else.

“Why’d you want information on Scorpios?” Grabbing her phone from the pocket of her cardigan she brought up the information she found, but then decided she was tired of staring at a screen, she’d been staring at one most of the day. So she set the phone down on the arm of the couch. Getting up, she went to the bookshelf her dad made her for Christmas, found her astrology book, and began flipping through the pages until she reached Scorpio. She sat back down beside Jace.

“Bronwyn is a Scorpio,” he said, oblivious to her growing nerves about his ex coming back into the picture.

Damn Six of Cups.

“I just want to know what is says about Scorpios and Libras. Not that it really matters. But I’m curious.”

She found the compatibility chart that stated which signs were most and least compatible with Scorpios in love, friendship and communication.

Relief made her light-headed.

Communication between Scorpio and Libra was low. So was friendship. And it was medium in the love department. Their overall score was low.

Phew.

He leaned over and read more about Scorpio, munching his dinner. She nibbled her spring roll. “Wow, that is Bronwyn to a T,” he finally said. “She’s very loyal and determined. But she can also be secretive, jealous, and resentful.”

“Every sign has positive and negative traits,” Peyton said, determined not to stoop so low as to do a happy dance that he and his ex weren’t astrologically compatible.

“Yeah, I know. But she wasreallyjealous. And resented me training for E.R.T. She said it took away from our time together. She also wanted me to train at the gym she works at, that way we could see each other more. She didn’t like that some female cops train where I train and ‘flaunt’ their bodies around.”

Peyton’s brows lifted. She was determinednotto be like Bronwyn, but the thought of Jace being around a bunch of hot female cops in booty shorts and sports brasdidmake her uneasy.

Either Jace was blissfully ignorant to Peyton’s visceral reactions, or he was choosing not to see that she was trying to tamp down her own jealous tendencies. He kept talking. “I mean, I just don’t like her gym. It’sfinefor what it is. But they don’t have the equipment I like. It’s a different vibe of people, that’s all. And, honestly, I don’t even pay attention to the women parading around the gym. There’s not many of them, and yeah, some of them are cops, but they’re all married or in relationships. The other women there are trolling for a very specific reason—”

“A husband?”

He snorted. “Yeah. But we all know it. When I’m in a committed relationship—like I am now—I don’t look at other women. I’ll talk to them if they engage me, but I don’t flirt.” His gaze turned serious. “You believe me, don’t you?”

Peyton nodded gently. Yeah, she did believe him. He was a true Libra, which meant he was truthful. And the fact that Bronwyn had been so jealous and resentful of the gym just made Peyton all the more determined to be the exact opposite. “I trust you,” she finally said.

He kissed her cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

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