be fine.”
He nodded. “Good. Mind if I take a peek at her?”
“Not at all. Follow me,” Tessa said.
The colonel shot him a stare that said he had questions and Zy better have answers when he came back before trailing Tessa across the living room and inside the bedroom, where Hallie was spread out on the floor. Zy sighed against the front door and scrubbed a hand down his face.
What could he say? What possible defense could he mount for touching her not like a bodyguard but like a friend? No, like a lover. And if Edgington asked about his feelings? Lying to his boss was a bad idea…but so was telling the truth.
Son of a bitch.
He hadn’t expected to get hung up on Tess, especially in a handful of days. What the fuck was he going to do?
“She’s adorable, and she’s growing so fast,” Caleb murmured.
“It seems as if I notice something new every day. Her eyes are turning a little more green, and the dark hair she was born with is falling out.”
“It will grow back. My daughter, Kimber, was born with black hair. By her first birthday, she had a mop of strawberry-blond curls.”
“Really? Good to know.”
“You’re doing great. She looks happy and healthy, and if she struggles to adjust to the new routine for the first week or two, we’ll come up with a schedule that works until she gets the hang of things.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“Of course.” Edgington gave her a fatherly smile, then he wrinkled his nose. “But she might need a bath and a change.”
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”
“No such luck.” He patted her shoulder. “See you Monday.”
“See you then. Thanks for coming to back Zy up. I just worried about him and, well…I really appreciate it.”
Their boss nodded and smiled her way, then turned to the door. All pretense of friendliness dropped. “Walk me to my car, Garrett.”
Fuck. “Yes, sir.”
The second they hit the porch, he saw that Cash and the police were already gone. At least that was one blessing, because Zy was pretty sure he was about to have his ass handed to him.
“You want to tell me what the fuck is going on between you and Tessa?” Edgington demanded.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
“Nothing has happened. That’s the truth.”
“You want it to.”
Zy didn’t even try to deny that. “But nothing has. And nothing will.”
“I sent you here to protect her because you were injured and on the clock, sure. But you also came into the office with swagger. I pegged you as a player. Trees even told me you’d already found a local party girl to hook up with, so I didn’t think twice about settling you in with a new mom juggling a crying baby, sleepless nights, and forty tons of laundry. I know you’re not hard up, so what the fuck are you doing?”
Edgington didn’t know him, but Zy refrained from pointing that out. “Are you more concerned I’ll hurt her or break your contract?”
“Fuck the contract. Tessa has been through enough. She doesn’t need you going through her, too.”
Jesus, he didn’t know which tactic to take. Try to pretend he was protecting her like a big brother? Or admit he was developing feelings and wanted her as a lover?
The colonel pointed a finger in his face. “Whatever you’re cooking up in that scheming head of yours, don’t bother. I saw the way she looked at you, like a savior who made her breathless. And you…” He gave a dirty laugh. “When you looked at her, I saw a bad hunger in your eyes. So don’t even try to bullshit me.”
Zy shut his mouth and nodded.
“You’ve worked for me for less than three weeks, and the team survived without you just fine in the past. So if you don’t keep your tongue in your mouth and your dick in your pants, you’ll find yourself out. Are we clear?”
“Crystal. Like I said, nothing has happened and nothing will.”
“If you both want to stay employed, keep it that way.”
Time showed its perverse nature that weekend. The more Tessa dreaded Zy leaving on Sunday, the faster it seemed to pass.
The rest of Friday night, he seemed quiet, almost withdrawn. Same with Saturday. In fact, as soon as he found out Cash had actually been arrested and would be in jail until a bail hearing on Monday, he disappeared with Trees for a few hours to find a place of his own.
Tessa tried not to be upset.