Page 23 of The Proposal Pact
“Fine, but just so you know, I don’t have any extra blankets or anything like that. I just moved in the other day.”
“I figured as much,” I grunt out, testing the couch that doesn’t seem all that bad. “Where from?”
“Still don’t see that drink in front of my face,” I hear her answer just as the refrigerator door slams shut.
Is she getting another beer? I look over the couch to see what she’s doing when I’m greeted with a view of Sophie stuffing her mouth with some salad. Potato, if I had to guess by the looks of it.
“What?” she asks through a mouthful when she catches my gaze on her. “You want some salad?” She wiggles the container, and I shake my head.
Trying really hard to suppress an eye twitch. Can’t she use a plate? Jesus…
“What I want is sleep.”
“Sucks to be you then.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no sleep for the wicked…” She smirks. “Or bodyguards.”
I have a feeling by the time I’ll be done with this woman, my eyes will be sore from rolling so much.
“Well, you look well-rested.” Fanny’s voice greets me as soon as I step into the station and my eyes find that neon ball of crazy—today we are rocking purple with orange stripes on the sides—right away, sitting at my desk with her feet up on it, sipping some concoction she got from my sister’s cafe.
I have no idea where on my face it says that I’m well-rested after last night but sure, we’ll go with that.
I wish I could say I only spent the night there so she wouldn’t complain about me leaving her with a broken door. Really, I wish I could, but the fact is, danger can creep up on you when you least expect it. It can swallow you while you’re out for a walk, or a swim, or simply sleeping alone in a house with no lock.
Yeah, Loverly Cave is probably the safest town on Earth, but like hell was I going to leave anything up for a chance.
Not again.
Not even with this annoying stranger in bright underwear.
My superior in the Navy used to tell me that I take my responsibility to the next level and while it was a great trait for a Seal, it’s not entirely healthy in a regular life. I know that. I’ve done the therapy bullshit and yet…I couldn’t shut my eyes for a second the whole night.
I’m a police officer. I was just doing my job.
“It’s six AM, what are you doing here?” I ask, gesturing for her to set her feet down.
“Waiting for you, obviously, we have some unresolved matters.” She swings her feet down with the agility of a thirty-year-old, not the many decades she’s already pushing, and pulls something out of herfanny pack on the floor before dumping a bag with three cake pops onto my desk. “As promised,” Fanny adds. “Now, back to business.”
I ignore those, remembering the message I saw on Love Hive last night. “Yes, let’s talk about your interference with police rules as well as blatant disregard of law enforcement.”
“You have to be more specific.” She takes a bite out of her own cake pop. “I do that on regular basis.”
“Jesus, Fanny, I’m talking about your post on Love Hive yesterday where you stated that there will be no quiet hours in Loverly Cave.”
“And?” She looks at me like I’m the idiot here.
“Andyou need to take that down.”
“Clover—"
“It’s Callum,” I correct her through gritted teeth. I haven’t let anyone use my middle name since I figured out how atrocious it is.
“Callum.” She sighs. “Even if I take it down, there will never be quiet hours around here. It’s almost like you are deliberately dangling a carrot in front of our noses. You know we live to break rules here. Did you forget that over the years you were gone? Stop fighting and simply go with a flow, it will make your life so much easier.”
“That’s not how the law works.” I still haven’t released my clenched teeth.
