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“Well, I do, but the dead aren’t great conversation partners.”

Jameson snorted and twisted back around, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. “I mean a breathing, ‘able to actually talk back to you’ friend. Either here or back home?”

An ache bloomed in my chest at his harmless question. It was sad as hell, but I didn’t. Not a single one here, past coworkers I grew close to who I still kept in contact with, or anyone from medical school. This job not only isolated me because of what I did but also the sheer amount of work on our plates that kept me from having the time or energy to foster solid friendships.

My friendless state wasn’t intentional, by any means, but that didn’t change the outcome.

Sure, I had family, but they were just as busy. I was lucky to talk to them once a week, but sometimes we went way longer with only check-in texts exchanged.

“Not really,” I muttered in answer to his question after the lengthy pause.

Mumbling something under his breath, Jameson shifted in his seat, hips rising a few inches so he could dig something out of his suit pocket. At an awkward angle, he held out his cell phone and waved it wildly in front of my face.

“Take it and put your phone number in my contacts. I never asked for your number when we worked together because you were married, and I believed that was crossing a line. But now you’re not married and back in my life, so there isn’t a reason that I shouldn’t have your info stored in my favorites list.”

A sharp breath raced down my throat at my quick inhale. I held it until the air burned in my lungs as I plucked the offered cell phone from his grasp.

“I’ll be your friend, Raindrop. Be the one you can call when you need someone to talk to, or hell, just don’t want to feel so damn alone. Any time, any day. You call me. Because believe me, I get it. Not the anxious thoughts but the suffocating weight of not having anyone close to lean on.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” I said, though my fingers flying over the screen, inputting my cell, full name, and address into his contact list, spoke to the way I desperately wanted what he sincerely offered. “What if you’re busy or with someone?”

Like a woman.

Hot jealousy coursed through me thinking about his jokes, cocky smirks and sweet words directed to someone else.

Once again, Jameson turned in the seat, the belt across his chest catching, making him curse at the damn thing. “You clearly don’t understand the lengths I’ll go for you, Raindrop. Enter your phone number, please. That way, when this case is solved and I’m in another city chasing another serial killer, you’ll still be a part of my life. I hated you leaving and not having a way to reach out when you left Nashville. Please don’t make me go through those horrible Raindrop withdrawals again.”

“Fine,” I sighed, like it was a chore to accept his friendship.

My gaze flicked to Slade’s hands, the white-knuckled grip he had on the steering wheel. He hadn’t uttered a single word or given any clue to how he felt about the conversation between Jameson and me. He shouldn’t feel obligated to offer his friendship, too, yet his stony silence made me feel rejected all the same.

Guess that meant he didn’t feel the same way as Jameson.

Which was fine. Totally and hurtfully fine. I now had one friend who I could call, and that was more than I woke up with this morning. I should be content with the new addition to my life, but a part of me still felt empty, and somehow, I knew Slade needed to be the one to fill that void. Within the last twenty-four hours, my unrequited crush on the growly man had shifted from a physical attraction to wanting more.

I wanted everything both of them had to offer.

The car slowing pulled me out of my thoughts. I blinked to refocus my eyes, a wide smile spreading across my face as my favorite coffee shop’s sign appeared outside the window. At the speaker, Slade ordered my special unicorn drink and two regular coffees. I was practically bouncing in my seat when he passed back the delicious concoction.

“You’re encouraging destructive behavior,” Jameson commented while taking one of the large black coffees from Slade.

Delicious sugary goodness slid over my tongue, the various flavors bursting to life as I sucked several long pulls up the straw. With a content sigh, I slumped against the door, pressing my forehead against the glass. “Destructive behavior. What does that even mean? You act like giving me sugar is equivalent to getting me wet.” The moment the words leaped off my numb tongue, they registered. My spine went ramrod straight, gaze jerking from one suddenly too-still man to the other. “Like a gremlin.” In sync, they each twisted their heads toward the other, exchanging silent words and making my pulse race. “Seriously, you two, stop whatever you’re thinking. Get your minds out of the gutter.” I smacked Jameson’s shoulder, then Slade’s. “You both know what I meant.”

When Slade’s shoulders trembled, I realized he was silently laughing. He looked at me through the rearview mirror and shook his head. “Sorry, Rain. We only get bigger as we grow up, not more mature. There are some things we will always find funny.”

“Yeah, like a friend telling you how they shit their pants, or anyone saying the wordpenetrationout loud.” Jameson chuckled, focus on the phone in his hands. “There, I just sent you a text. Though I changed your contact to Raindrop. Did you really need to put all those acronyms behind your name?”

Letting the icy mixture melt in my mouth, savoring every burst of flavor, I waited until I swallowed before responding. “I wanted to make sure you knew it was me. In case you got me confused with another Rain in your life.”

Jameson snorted. “Well, don’t worry, that’s not an issue, Raindrop. I’ve never met another Rain, and even if I did, I know they could never compare to the original. You’re one of a kind, sweetheart. Now and always.”

Rolling my forehead against the glass, I used my hair as a dark curtain to hide my giddy grin and shoved the straw between my lips.

Every single inch of me pulsed at Jameson’s declaration. My heart, which seemed to need a jolt of electricity to get the rhythm beating normally again, especially loved knowing I was one of a kind to him.

* * *

There was no realscientific evidence that supported my claim, but it was official.

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