said to Tesha, who was curled up on the dog bed in the corner. “Exactly as it should be.”
*
Sebastian Buchanan knew what he was about to do could quite possibly be the worst idea in the history of all ideas.
Worse than the Snuggie for dogs or Smell-o-Vision, or—for God’s sake, why change a good thing?—New Coke.
Unfortunately, Baz didn’t know another way.
For the past month, he’d waited patiently for JJ to talk to him, to explain why she’d stood him up rather than go to his father’s house for Thanksgiving dinner as she’d agreed to do. It was the least he deserved, although he already knew why. He merely wanted to hear it from her.
Baz remembered that day clearly. He’d been waiting for her that morning, expecting her to arrive at his apartment, only to get a text from Brantley to let him know she had cold feet, and rather than letting her spend the day working, Brantley was talking her into going to his parents with him and Reese.
What was Baz supposed to say to that? No, sorry, she already promised me?
It didn’t work that way, so he’d conceded after attempting to contact JJ only for his texts to go unanswered. Knowing he would drive her further away if he pushed too hard, Baz had gone to his father’s without her. And despite the fact he would’ve preferred she be there, he’d had a good time with his family.
However, leaving it to JJ to explain why she’d ghosted him or maybe just apologize was like waiting for hell to ice over. In other words, it wasn’t going to happen. Hell, the woman had a way of avoiding him even when they were in the same room. She was good at it, too.
And yes, he’d considered making the same offer at Christmas but feared it would be a repeat of their previous ordeal, so he’d resisted the urge only to see on social media how she’d enjoyed her time with Brantley’s and Reese’s families. It was then he decided it was time they addressed this issue once and for all, only that was thwarted when Trey had uncovered a hot lead on a very cold case. The task force had spent the past three days and nights vigorously searching for the needle in the haystack, only they’d come up empty.
In an effort to reset, they were taking a break for one night. One single night.
So here he was, in Brantley and Reese’s driveway, climbing out of his truck, mentally gearing up for one of the most important conversations of his life, all the while praying he could maintain his composure and not launch into the many reasons JJ should just give him a chance. He had a list, after all, and was fully prepared to plead his case if she needed him to. His only concern was that he was going to look like a whining, pathetic idiot and she was going to hate him for a different reason.
As he closed the truck door, inhaling the cool night air, he heard footsteps on the front porch, turned to see Brantley and Reese strolling toward him.
Oh, right. They were headed out to Moonshiners. They’d invited him, but Baz had politely declined, fully intending to wallow in his own pity by his lonesome.
Yet here he was.
“Thought you were gonna stay home,” Brantley said as they approached him in the driveway.
“I was,” he admitted, then nodded in the direction of the barn. “Figured I’d…”
There was sympathy in Brantley’s gaze when he said, “She’s in her office. Perfect timing, too.”
Baz glanced between his two bosses as he tried to decrypt Brantley’s comment. He hadn’t told anyone he was coming, so how was his timing perfect?
“He’s assumin’ you were goin’ for stealth,” Reese explained, patting him on the shoulder.
Baz cocked an eyebrow, still not understanding.
Reese motioned toward the eave of the house. “Camera. Motion detector? She’ll just think the alert’s from us leavin’.”
Ah. Yeah, he could see how that could be construed as perfect timing. Since the grounds were monitored, streaming live video that JJ kept running on the big screen downstairs, the only chance he had of getting by undetected was if she was upstairs in the loft working. Considering JJ was definitely a flight risk, if she saw him on the cameras, he might just find the barn empty.
“If you crash and burn here, head over to Moonshiners,” Brantley said. “The first one’s on me.”
“Thanks.” Baz had a feeling he was going to need