Page 19 of The Hive Queen

He shrugs casually and walks past me to the coat closet by the front door. There, he sets the to-go bag on the bench against the wall before he hangs up his jacket and slips off his shoes. “Just thought it would be a nice surprise.”

“Bullshit.” I pad over to him and snatch the bag. “This is guilt food. What did you do?”

Sharpe’s shoulders droop. “I might have called her in on a crime scene, then kicked her off the case as soon as she confirmed my suspicion that it was Other related.”

“Damn.” I whistle under my breath. “Not even Hoppers will dig you out ofthathole.”

He turns to glare at me. “And what was that sex pose about just now? What didyoudo?”

“I just realized I’ve been a little focused on myself, and there’s nothing good to eat in the house, so I was hoping to distract her.” I return to the kitchen and open the to-go bag. “Which isn’tnearlyas bad as what you did. What were you thinking?”

He slumps onto a stool. “I wasn’t, obviously. Bailey was there, breathing down my neck, and then Pen showed up, and he said some stuff, and the techs were going to be there for hours collecting evidence, so I told her to head out.”

“Dude.” I shake my head at him. “I bet she came thesecondyou called, and youusedher.”

“I know.” He drops his head into his hands. “I’ve been dealing with a lot at work, but that’s no excuse. Bailey just gets under my skin, and I want to…” He curls his hands into fists. “I’ve been doing this job for over five years now. When will the JTFPI be considered a real division?”

“You’ve got daddy issues.” I pop open the top container and steal the bacon off the burger, stuffing it into my mouth and speaking around it, “Let it go. You know you can run circles around Bailey and his people.”

“If only it were that easy.” He scrubs a hand over his face, then frowns at me. “That better not be the bacon from Pen’s burger.”

I swallow the last of it. “They’re notallbacon burgers?”

He shakes his head. “They ran out. I took what they had left and put it all on Pen’s burger.”

“Maybe we can hide the evidence.” I pull out the to-go container. “Quick, eat the one with the bacon juice on it.”

The floor vibrates, and we both freeze.

Oh, no, Pen is home, and she won’t be happy.

We don’t even have coffee to appease her.

nourish the grumpy bird

- Pen -

Weariness turnsmy limbs heavy as I drag myself up the stairs at nearly midnight.

Sharpe’s car and Flint’s van were already in the garage, which is rare. Lately, I’m the first one home, and more often than not, I eat dinner alone.

I’m trying hard not to let the loneliness get me down. Their jobs are both important, and I can’t be selfish and demand they pay more attention to me. We have time, eternity even, to spend together.

But eternity is a long time. What if they’re just getting tired of me? What if our curse is all that keeps our relationship going?

I scrub a hand over my face, then groan when I see the dirt on my palms too late. It doesn’t really matter, though. I’ll just wash up before seeing if there are any leftovers from dinner. If not, I can make a sandwich before heading to bed. Or just go to bed hungry.

When I open the door, I’m surprised to find the lights still on. I figured they’d already be asleep.

“Pen, is that you?” Flint calls out.

I shut the garage door. “Who else would it be?”

“I thought you were heading here after you left the crime scene,” Sharpe says. “I brought Hoppers home.”

“They were out of bacon, though,” Flint adds.

“No, I got Pen a bacon burger,” Sharpe corrects. “And you ate it.”

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