Page 20 of Cross & Crown

didn’t mind; in fact, he was the reason Nick had gone back

to work at all.

Nick had been ready to quit. He’d been a cop for almost

as many years as he’d been a Marine, but when the Corps had

called him back for a last tour of duty, something inside Nick

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had snapped. He’d come home and declared he was done

with carrying a gun. Kelly had given it a few weeks to let the

boredom set in before convincing Nick he was acting rashly.

Nick never acted rashly; that was Kelly’s job. Besides, he’d

been bored as hell without his badge, so he’d gone back to the

department for a test run. The first few months had gone off

without a hitch.

Kelly was halfway down the escalator when he caught

sight of Nick, and his heart skipped a beat. Nick was dressed

in a suit and tie, with a tan trench coat that made him look

like a private eye from the ’50s. He was wearing his badge

on his belt, and Kelly’s trained eyes could see the telltale

outline of a gun at his hip. He had his phone out, frowning

at the screen.

Kelly’s feet hit the end of the escalator as he stared, and he

nearly fell all over himself.

He stumbled out into the baggage claim area, and Nick

obviously saw the motion out of the side of his eye because

he looked up quickly, flinching like he might be going for his

gun. A smile graced his handsome face when he saw Kelly,

though, and he moved toward him, meeting him halfway and

wrapping him up in a hug.

“Have a nice trip?” he asked, laughing softly.

“Shut up. Jesus, you look good.”

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