Page 53 of Tessa's Trust

I narrowed my gaze at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Oh, no. This honesty went both ways. “Tell me.”

“I have Bud on you all day,” he said. “I made the request last night.”

I sat back. “You have police protection on me? Do you really think I’m in danger?”

“I have no idea,” he said. “But I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you. Pierce said he could spare Bud for at least the next couple of days.”

Didn’t Bud have a choice? “What did Bud say?” I asked, well aware that he’d gotten hurt more than once trying to protect my sister.

“He seemed all right with it,” Nick said thoughtfully. “For some reason, he seems to think you’re not as trouble-prone as Anna. I think he just doesn’t know you yet.”

That was actually a fair statement.

“What time should I be at the station to speak with the Ozzie Morrison?” I asked.

“I’ll text you and let you know. My guess is around four this afternoon. It may take me that long to get this trial out of the way. I don’t know the details yet.” He dropped the blanket as if completely unconcerned with his nudity, which I couldn’t blame him for. I mean, who would be if they looked like that?

He pulled on his jeans and T-shirt and ruffled his hair. “I need to head to my place and change for court.” Eyeing me, he moved forward and put a knee on the bed, leaning down to kiss me on the nose. “We’re not done here, Contessa.” With that, he walked out of the room. As he left, most of the tension went with him.

I could not believe I had slept with Nick Basanelli.

I heard the front door close, counted to three, and then my sister was in the room with two cups of coffee.

“Here.” She held out a mug. “You are telling me everything.”

I gratefully took the cup and then did exactly that. She was my older sister and I trusted her. I left out nothing in the retelling of the best sex of my entire life.

“Wow,” she said when I wound down. “You know, he had quite the reputation back in high school years ago. But you never know if those things are true.”

“Oh, they’re true.” I took another sip. “Everything you’ve ever heard, take it and multiply it by ten.”

Her eyes gleamed. “What are you going to do about it now?”

“Nothing.” I took another deep drink of coffee. “It was one night.”

Her smile reminded me of our mom. It was sweet and slightly sardonic. “You are so full of it,” she said. “You have stars in your eyes.”

“I do not.” I finished the coffee. “I may have whisker burn on my chest, but there are no stars in my eyes or flutterings in my heart.”

“If you say so,” she said.

Enough about me. I concentrated on her. “Hey, what are you doing home?”

“You sounded off on the phone. So I waited until I could sober up and then drove home in case you needed me.” She eyed the disarray of the blankets on the bed. “I guess you didn’t.”

Chapter 20

I reached the diner around six in the morning after taking a quick shower and borrowing jeans and a sweater from my sister, who’d taken me to retrieve my Rogue from the French restaurant on her way to work. The second I walked inside Smiley’s, a harried-looking Mert Smiley tossed an apron at me over the counter.

“It’s about time you got here,” he yelled.

“Knock it off, Mert.” I quickly tied the apron around my waist. “I could leave in a second, and you know it.”

Harrumph, was the sound he made as he shoved open the door to the kitchen and disappeared.

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