Page 24 of Grissom
“He’s relentless when it comes to details. He can be a real asshole. Go on.”
Tuesday nodded, trying hard not to smile. Grissom might not realize it, but he was a lot like Alex. Focused and a little pushy. A bit of an asshole. “What do you think about me doing a photo shoot of you guys with your families? Would Mr. Finnegan ever—?”
“Nope. Not me and my boys. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen.”
“Oka-a-a-a-y…” Tuesday drew out the word. “I guess you’ve probably all signed NDAs anyway, huh?”
“No NDAs. Alex isn’t like that. I’m just… Most of us guys are just…”
She gave that tense bulky arm another squeeze. “You don’t want the publicity, I get it.”
“No, it’s just that…Well, yeah, but…” The cords in his muscular neck tightened and his Adam’s apple bobbed, as if talking was suddenly a chore.
“It was only an idea,” she said soothingly.
“And in any other profession, it’d be a great idea. I mean, look at all the firemen and male stripper calendars. Chicks eat that stuff up, but The TEAM… The TEAM… Us guys…” Themuscles in his forearm turned harder, like that was possible. “We’re not… It’s just that…”
“No worries,” she murmured to get him to relax. “Forget I asked.”
“It’s just that… a lot of us aren’t proud of everything we did while we served our country. We made mistakes and some of those mistakes…” He drew in a bellyful of air. “Yeah, we have to work out and keep in shape, sure. That’s one of the conditions of signing on with Alex. He’s got an on-site gym, swimming pool, parkour course, and… hell. He’s got everything anyone needs to keep fit. But we’re not heroes, Tuesday. We might be fit and muscular and all that crap, but mostly, we’re just guys and gals who came home alive and…” His chest heaved with an obvious internal struggle. “We’re not heroes. We just want to be left alone to raise our families and live in peace. Is that asking too much?”
Tuesday ran her palm over his shirtsleeve, down the rigid muscles to his wrist in an attempt to comfort him. At his wrist, she slipped her hand under his and interlocked their fingers. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of that, and I should have. I wouldn’t appreciate anyone using me like a trophy, either.”
Grissom’s fingers tightened between hers, something she wasn’t expecting. “Yeah, right. And don’t ever thank me for my service. I hate that. Most people who say it don’t have a clue what they’re saying or what’s going on in the world. It’s just the latest catch phrase. Hell, most people don’t even mean it. They don’t really care, and most politicians think all soldiers are stupid, like we flunked college so the only thing we were good for is getting sent to war. Assholes. They conveniently forget it’s a volunteer army, for fuck sakes. We didn’thave to doanything. Wechoseto defend our country, and the whole damned world would be smart if, for once—just once!—they thought about what thatservice really means. We volunteered, gawddamnit. We didn’thaveto do anything!”
“Noted,” she replied easily. Grissom was very good at setting boundaries, and he was passionately patriotic, a quality missing in too many Americans these days.
“And another thing.” His fingers tightened on hers. “I really am too old for you. I’m twenty-nine, for hell’s sake.”
“So you said,” she answered just as calmly. “Would you like to know how old I am?”
“Well, err, yeah. Okay.”
She couldn’t hold back a smile at his obvious discomfort. He’d wanted to ask before but probably hadn’t been brave or audacious enough to take the risk. “I’m twenty-five. Old, huh?”
His nostrils flared as a breath sighed out of him. “Twenty-five? Really? Nope, not old at all.”
“So you were twenty-three when Tanner was born.”
“Yeah. I was in Syria, deployed, when she called and told me I was a… I was a…” He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder at his boys. “Nevermind. Yeah, umm…” He cleared his throat and did what he did best. He changed the subject. “I’d sure like a family portrait of me and the boys, but only if you’ve got time to take one before you go. Maybe in our backyard. Today?”
“Of course. I’d love to do that for you, but I thought you guys had plans for tonight.”
“Oh, yeah. Walker and Persia. Damn, I forgot they’re coming over. Well, umm…” He glanced at her as if looking for a safe way out of what he probably thought was a dilemma, but to her, was nothing more than a simple mistake made on a busy day. “It’ll be okay. You’ll like them, and I know they’ll like you. I’ll still feed you.”
Tuesday laughed. As if dinner was all she had on her mind. “Darn straight, you’ll feed me, mister. Why else do you think Ileft my car in your parking lot? Just to ride in this old truck? I don’t think so.”
Darned if a genuine grin didn’t crack Grissom’s face. “Hey, don’t knock my truck. She might be old, butshe’snever let me down.” The way he emphasized that one word declared he’d been let down plenty.
She looked down at their hands, their fingers still entwined. He noticed and followed the direction of her eyes. Instead of pulling back and untangling his from hers, he lifted them to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. She couldn’t believe he did that in front of his boys.
Tuesday glanced over her shoulder at Tanner and Luke. “Aw… They’re asleep. How adorable.”
Grissom leaned into the rearview mirror and grinned. “Yeah. They’re the best of me, and they sure like you. Hell, I like you, Tuesday Smart.” He pressed her hand against his thigh. “How about we play tonight by ear? You’re busy. You’ve got schedules to keep, and when you need to go, Walker and Persia won’t mind staying with my boys while I drive you back to your car. It’ll work out, you’ll see.”
“Yeah, about that…” It was her turn to cough. Or choke. “I might’ve exaggerated about having things to do later.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m not working for Robert anymore and it just so happens, I’m free tonight.”
The emotions that flickered across Grissom’s face danced from surprised to concerned, before they dived into joyful. “You are? Really?”
