Page 68 of Cross & Crown

unbuttoning and rol ing it up. He showed JD the inside of his

arm and tapped the tattoo with his finger. “You know what

this is?”

67

JD nodded. “I told you yesterday, I recognized it. It’s the

Recon Jack.”

Nick glanced at Kelly, one eyebrow raised. Kelly couldn’t

school his features fast enough to hide the surprise. Nick

looked around the pub. It was early for lunch, so there weren’t many people there. He began to unbutton his shirt.

“Dude,” Hagan said through a mouthful of food. “That’s

yourotherjob. Got to stop confusing them. Tired of suspects stuffing your pants with dol ar bills during interrogation.”

Nick shoved his sleeve aside, then pulled up the sleeve of

his undershirt to reveal a well-defined biceps and shoulder.

Kelly leaned away from him to get a better view. Nick glanced

sideways at him, giving him a dirty look.

“Yeah, I’m perving on you. What then?” Kelly asked.

They all laughed at him, and Hagan whistled and pointed

his fork at the bite mark Nick had exposed on his neck.

“Good Lord,” he said. “Do you even call it sex, or is it more

like sparring with you two?”

Nick rolled his eyes. He tapped the oversized tattoo on

his shoulder. It covered his entire shoulder, running from the

center of his col arbone to his biceps and covering both the

front and back sides of his arm. It was a work of art, pure and simple, following the defined lines of Nick’s muscles. “You

know what this is?”

“Eagle, globe, and anchor,” JD answered immediately.

“Marines.”

Hagan’s eyebrows had shot higher, but he remained silent.

Nick began to button up his shirt again, and he jerked his

chin toward Kelly. “Show him yours.”

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