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When I dared a glance her way, I found her studying me.

Shit. Would she be offended that I almost came in my fucking pants like a teenager from just looking at all that bare skin?

“I don’t cook, so I quickly learned which places to order from and which to avoid. It’s not that I don’t know how to cook, but by the time I get home and changed, I’m too exhausted.”

I pulled up a plastic counter stool and slid into the comfortable seat. “And cooking for one is hard. It always ends up being too much food, and seeing all the leftovers in the fridge makes me sad.”

Her bright laugh filled the kitchen, easing some of the tightness in my chest—and pants.

“Right,” she agreed. “Those full containers mock you anytime you look in the fridge. So takeout is really for my mental health.” Opening the fridge, she raised a brown bottle in the air. “Beer?”

“Fuck yes.” I gratefully took the offered cold bottle. “So, you asked why the FBI.”

She nodded, some tendrils of hair slipping from the messy bun on top of her head as she slid onto the seat beside me.

I fisted the fork I’d just picked up, restraining myself from staring at the way her shorts rode up her thigh, tempting me to slide a finger along the cuff and follow it to where her legs pressed together.

“It’s a long story,” I managed to get out.

She gestured to her full plate and held up her beer with the other hand. “We’ve got time. Come on, tell me. I’m curious.”

“To understand, I need to go back several years. Back before you were in Nashville, my best friend’s sister was abducted and held by a sick son of a bitch who was obsessed with her. She was found weeks later, but we never caught the guy. My best friend, Tallon, took it hard and joined the FBI to have the access and jurisdiction all over the States to hunt the bastard who’d hurt her. Years later, the case brought him back to Nashville. We were paired up again, and somehow, I got on SSA Riggs’s radar when she and another agent helped us with the case. She was impressed, asked me to join the team. I said yes, and here I am.”

Stomach demanding I take a bite, I dug into the cooled lasagna. Plus, I didn’t want to fill in the enormous gaps in that story. About how the woman my best friend and I shared once came back into our lives with a son and was a target of a different serial killer. That would open a whole can of worms I wasn’t ready to discuss.

Was I bitter that Tallon and Remy found themselves happy together, without me? Absolutely not.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t jealous that they’d found their someone.

“Wow, that’s nuts. Your friend’s sister, is she okay now?”

A sappy smile tugged at my lips as I chewed. “Yeah, she’s good.” Very good, and happy with Tallon’s friend, Bryson. It was fun managing Tallon when all that came out. “So, what about you? What have you been up to since you left Nashville?”

Her fingers twisted as she twirled the fork in the middle of her spaghetti. “As I was interviewing for a permanent ME job, I finally got up the courage to divorce my asshole husband. And I have to credit you for that. You were key in helping me see how awful he was and believing I didn’t deserve any of it.”

Pride swelled in my chest at her admission. Too many nights I’d lain awake wondering if I did more harm than good with all my carefully worded compliments and words of encouragement. “I’m glad I could help, but don’t sell yourself short. The strength and courage to leave that bastard was all you. You did that, put in the hard work and fought through the tough times.”

She huffed. “‘Tough’ seems like too light a word for what it’s like after you’ve decided to file. Constantly questioning if you’re doing the right thing, second-guessing yourself on the timing and if it’s all worth it in the end. But I knew I had to do it and it would all work out in the long run. Once the divorce was final, he took more than half of everything I’d worked for—and even then demanded alimony.” She rolled her eyes so hard I was surprised I didn’t hear it. “Can you tell I’m totally not bitter?” Rain shot me a smile. “After it was over, I accepted the job out here, knowing the distance would be good, and moved across the country. Alone. To make him sign and stop his constant demands for more, I left everything we’d purchased together, only taking my oh-so-precious shoe collection and clothes. I knew I’d want to start completely fresh here, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.” She waved a hand around the townhome. “All this I bought once I moved in, and I love it. It’s all me, what I’ve always wanted but couldn’t have because it wasn’t his style.” After chewing a large bite, she jabbed the empty fork my way. “Okay, fine, I am totally bitter.”

Wiping my mouth with the rough paper napkin, I tilted my head toward the living room. “And you wanted dying plants to add to this new life of yours because…?” A puff of air exploded out of my lungs when her elbow slammed into my ribs. Half faking being in pain, I rubbed at the spot. “Damn, woman. You weren’t kidding about those self-defense lessons. You’ve got some power in those hits.”

She preened, sitting up a little taller. “It helped build my confidence in living alone. I feel safe. Well, I did.” I made a mental note to come back to that little admission. “But I still wanted to know that I could defend myself if needed. Plus, it’s a great workout. Josh didn’t like it when I went to the gym, saying the definition and hard muscles only made me look even more like a boy—”

“You do not look like a boy,” I hissed.

She snorted a humorless laugh. “It’s okay. You don’t have to placate me. I know I don’t have the curves men like or the”—she gestured toward her chest—“you know. But I’ve come to accept my body the way it was made. If Angie Harmon can rock this body type and still be beautiful, then why can’t I?”

“I’m not placating you.” My grip tightened on the fork as I stabbed at the last bite a little harder than needed. “I like the way you look, but you’re more than your body, Rain. What you offer is the whole fucking package. Anyone who makes you think you’re not worthy of their attention just because you don’t have huge fake tits is no one who deserves your time or even a single thought. You hear me?”

I said the last three words with more bite than I intended, but fuck, how could I not? There was no way I could sit here and listen to her think less of herself because she didn’t have the curves she thought made a woman beautiful.

Because she was exactly that to me.

“Okay,” she breathed, wide eyes locked on me. With a small shake of her head, she broke off my intense stare. “How do you do that, Jameson?”

“Do what?”

“Make me see the truth so clearly with just a few words. You did it back then, and you’re doing it right now.”

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