Page 52 of Tessa's Trust

“You want me to go talk to the guy in jail?”

“With protection there,” Nick said. “Or at least through the glass. All my research on him shows he’s a family guy who was only defending his brother. It’s too bad his sibling’s a criminal. I thought maybe you could talk to him, but we’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, I definitely want to get some answers.” I wanted to know why that guy had my picture more than anything.

Nick nodded. “All right. I’ll arrange the meeting for later today, and we’ll keep you covered. There’s a story there I don’t understand. My hope is the rumor was going around that we were dating, and that’s why he had the picture. Because he was looking for you to find me. I want to make sure you’re not in any danger.”

The words warmed me, and I tried to look tough. “I appreciate it, Nick, but no—”

He held up a broad hand. “We’re not doing that.”

I pulled my knees up, careful to keep myself covered, although he’d not only seen everything the night before, he’d touched and kissed every inch of me. “We’re not doing what?”

“We’re not doing the whole I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-I-know-what-I’m-doing bullshit.” It was rare to hear Basanelli swear, and it caught me off guard.

It kept me silent for a moment. “Wait—”

“Nope,” he said. “We’re not doing that. If you’re going to talk to someone who shot at us, you’ll be covered, and that’s final.”

I wasn’t loving his caveman routine as much this morning as I had the night before, but even so, I wouldn’t go talk to some shooter without protection, anyway. My brain worked just fine, and my sense of preservation was strong.

His phone buzzed, and he looked around and picked his jeans off the floor to pull it out. Watching me, he put it to his ear. “Basanelli.” His expression didn’t change. “What are you talking about? When? Damn it. Are you kidding me? All right. No, I got it. Thanks.” He clicked off.

“Was that about me?” I sure hoped it wasn’t.

“No.” His grin softened the hard lines of his face. “A junior prosecutor hit a deer this morning on the way to our office. He’s got a misdemeanor trial this morning. I need to go cover it.”

“Is he all right?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s busted up a little bit and has a concussion. The case is in misdemeanor court, so it should only take a day.” Nick glanced at his watch. “I do need to go familiarize myself with the case this morning.”

“Why was your prosecutor going to work at five in the morning?”

Nick shrugged and muscles across his chest flexed nicely. “He’s new. It’s one of his first trials. He was overeager, wanted to get there, and…I don’t know, read the law. I admire the commitment, but he’s a kid I hired from down south. Obviously, he doesn’t know how to drive in the snow.”

“That’s not fair,” I murmured. “We’ve all avoided a deer before, and a lot of us have hit them. Maybe the deer hit him.”

“I’m not mad at the kid,” Nick said. “You don’t have to defend him. He’s not a fish.” Amusement danced in his eyes.

I shared his smile. “We did save all those fish.” I took that as a win.

He sobered. “Tell me you’re not dating Eddie Brando again.”

“Oh, no. That was a one-time deal,” I agreed. “I still have one date to go on with Hank, and then that’s it.”

Nick scratched the whiskers across his jaw. “I don’t know how I feel about you going on a date after last night.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said cheerfully. “But it’s in the contract, and I’m doing it.”

“What about this morning? Please tell me you’re going to hang out here with Donna.”

I wished. “I would tell you that, but I also promised not to lie to you, remember?” It had been between the second and third orgasms last night, and he’d wrung that promise out of me a little too easily.

“Oh, I remember what you moaned.” His voice was low and sexy.

I rolled my eyes. “I told Smiley I’d help at the diner today. I’m supposed to train two of the new servers. He’s having trouble with them.”

“Okay,” Nick said, surprising me.

---