Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,17
the hot little hacker had a pet peeve.
“What are you doin’? Please tell me that’s not how you normally type,” she demanded, turning in her chair to face him.
Baz took the opening, smiled, and paused what he was doing so he could do the same. “Do you have a problem with my keyboard etiquette?”
“You can’t poke the keys like that. It’ll take you a month to get anything done.”
“I thought I was doin’ quite fine,” he said, peering over his shoulder at the words on the screen. Hey, Detective Ga—that was as far as he’d gotten before she interrupted.
“Baz.”
God, he loved when she said his name. Especially when it was tinged with frustration and that sexy little edge she had going on.
He played innocent. “Yes?”
“Do you know how to type?”
If JJ would’ve thought about it for even a second, she would’ve remembered that he knew how to type, but where was the fun in that?
“If I said no?”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Would you be lyin’?”
He laughed, couldn’t help it. Anyone else would’ve prompted him with something else. Something like, Would you like some help? Or maybe, I could teach you if you like. Not JJ. She was skeptical on a good day.
“Yes,” he said, going for the truth.
“So you did it just to irritate me?”
“You’re damn cute when you’re irritated.” He flashed her a grin.
“Well, you’re…” Her lips pursed and she exhaled through her nose, making her nostrils flare.
She was even damn cute like that.
JJ spun back around to her computer. “Type your damn email, Detective.”
Chuckling, he went back to work, utilizing his eleventh-grade typing class education to tap out a good sixty words per minute, finishing up, and shooting the message over to the detective.
He was about to ask JJ what he could help her with when his cell phone rang. Glancing down, he saw that it was his father, decided to take the call.
“Hey, Dad.”
“This is a nice surprise,” Wesley Buchanan said with a smile in his voice. “I figured I’d be bumped to voicemail.”
“I have a few minutes. What’s up?”
“Following up about your plans for Thanksgiving dinner. Aretha’s working on the menu. Needs a final guest count.”
Baz found it amusing that his father made Thanksgiving dinner sound like a plate dinner with the president. The funny thing was, the old man didn’t see it that way at all, it just came across that way. Their Thanksgiving’s were casual affairs, always had been, always would be.
“I’ll be there,” he assured him.
“Will you have a plus-one?”
“A plus-one? Hmm.” Turning in his chair, Baz leaned back, studied JJ’s profile. “It’s possible I will.”
“I like the sound of that. She must be someone special.”
“Oh, she’s special, all right.” Too bad she didn’t realize how special to him she was becoming.
JJ’s gaze cut to him briefly. He knew she couldn’t help herself, listening in because she was curious.
“Well, I’ll let Aretha know.”
“Is Mom comin’?”
“She is,” Wesley said, sounding pleased. “The husband’ll be out of town. Told her to join us.”
Of course he had. Because that was exactly the sort of weird, nontraditional family he had.
“I look forward to it, Dad.”
They ended the call with goodbyes, and no sooner had Baz set his phone on his desk than JJ asked, “I didn’t realize you were datin’ anyone.”
“Is that curiosity I hear, JJ? Or are you merely makin’ a statement?”
Her left eye twitched, something he noticed happened when she was irritated.
“I take that as a yes.”
He gave a noncommittal sound, turning his attention back to his computer.
Baz wondered how long it would take before she interrogated him again.
And he looked forward to when she did.
Chapter Five
Brantley had known the moment he looked out the back window of the house and saw that poor, pathetic animal that they would be getting a dog. Not necessarily because he’d felt the need to race to the rescue, but rather because Reese had seen it, too, and his entire demeanor had changed afterward.
Of course, he probably could’ve convinced Reese to get it the medical attention it needed and to find a home for it, but why bother? The look in Reese’s eyes—fury mixed with a need to rescue—was one of the many things he loved about the man. He honestly couldn’t say he would’ve been quite so calm had Reese not been there. While the Wrights showed blatant disregard for their kid, they were downright abusive to the dog.
And to think, it was highly possible their son was out there somewhere, tied up in some crazy fucker’s