Page 101 of Callahan

The corner of his mouth turned up.

“You doing better today with him being gone?”

“I’ll admit, I was a little stressed—especially when they were late bringing him back, but yes, I’m feeling much calmer. I’ve only texted Teresa once so far.”

“That’s good! Hopefully it will get easier each time. Hey, speaking of excursions. Do you want to go look at a house with me at two? I promise we won’t stay long; I know Sunday is your cleaning day, and I’ll help you when we get back.”

It felt like someone let the air out of my balloon. He was going to be moving out soon. Still, I tried to keep my smile from falling.

“Yeah, I can get away for a bit. Where are you looking?”

He chuckled. “You’re not going to believe it. The place next door to Brian’s.”

“The one on the left or right?”

“The left. It’s got kind of beige siding and brown brick pillars.”

“The Garcia place?”

“Yeah, they’re relocating to Arizona to be closer to their grandkids, and they left last week to “try it out” until the spring. They don’t want to sell their place yet, but my agent, Sylvia called them about letting me stay there. They talked to Brian, who vouched for me, and they’ve agreed to rent to me, fully furnished, if I want it. I can get the keys as early as today.”

This time I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“So, you’re moving outtoday?”

“No! But my brother is going to be here on Wednesday, so this way I’ll have somewhere to put my stuffandhave a place for him to stay without inconveniencing Brian. Plus, when we finally catch whoever sent the letter, I’ll be able to easily get out of your hair.”

I looked at him with a sad smile. “You’re not in my hair. I’ve liked having you here.”

He kept my gaze when he replied, “I’m glad, princess. I’ve liked being here.”

As I stared back into his bright, blue eyes, I realized, I might be in trouble.

****

Adam

I rode shotgun again in Lainey’s car. God, I fucking hated it. But she was right, me driving her Civic would definitely add to the rumors.

And as much as I loved the idea of getting out of town tomorrow so I could hold her hand when we walked down the street, and kiss her simply because I felt like it, that also would be gossip fodder.

We’d gotten a little bit of a pass once people learned about why I was staying with her—or at least why Brian had suggested I stay.

Brian being the instigator behind me crashing on her living room floor—allegedly—had also helped.

We pulled into the driveway directly adjacent to Brian’s, and I noticed his cop car in the drive. Before I’d even opened my door, I saw him standing on his porch in a pair of jeans and a black polo shirt.

It was weird seeing him out of uniform.

I realized there was no way I’d be able to pull off continuing to see Lainey once her stalker was caught. For that reason alone, I wanted to find something to hate about the house.

Brian jogged down the porch steps and came toward us once we got out of the car. He immediately pulled Lainey in for a side-shoulder hug and kissed her hair.

“Where’s my godson?”

“He’s with the O’Briens today.”

“I’ll bet Teresa is on Cloud Nine.”

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