Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,74
“What about you, Trey? You’ve got, what? Six siblings? Would you cover up their crimes?”
Baz glanced over at Trey, watched the man consider it.
“I guess it depends on the circumstances. If one of them was a serial killer, no, I wouldn’t cover it up.”
JJ was still shaking her head. “Exactly. I loved my brother and all, but if he’d murdered people … I would never cover up somethin’ like that.”
Baz had never heard JJ so much as mention her brother. Anytime they’d talked about family, it always came back around to his.
“I wouldn’t know,” he told her. “Only child.”
“You wanna go out?” she asked Tesha.
When the dog made a beeline for the door, JJ followed, so Baz did, too.
“What gets me is that he went into law enforcement,” JJ said when they were outside, Tesha wandering through the threadbare grass that hadn’t quite given up for the coming winter, the area lit by the security lights mounted in the eaves.
“Not all cops are good, JJ. The badge doesn’t change the way someone is on the inside.”
She turned to face him. “I did not expect you to say that.”
“Why not? It’s true.” Baz leaned a shoulder against the barn while they waited for Tesha to do her business. “Like everything else, not all cops are bad, but not all are good, either.”
“What about that whole back-the-blue pledge you guys take?”
“No pledge. I do back the blue. I back the men and women who go out to make a positive difference, who’re there to protect and serve. That’s the pledge we take. Those who’re in it for the right reasons don’t see the badge as a free pass.”
JJ nodded. “I get it. I do. But what about in this case? Do you think that’s why Collins became a cop? So he’d be in a position to cover up his brother’s crimes?”
“Only he knows the answer to that.”
Tesha wandered back over, stared up at JJ with so much love on her face.
“You ready to go back to my house, little lady?” she asked her, then looked over at Baz. “You have plans for dinner?”
The question surprised him. “No. You offerin’ to cook for me?”
JJ’s smile only intensified her beauty. “No. But I’m not opposed to orderin’ pizza.”
“Pizza.” He pretended to consider it. No way in hell would he turn down an invitation from JJ. He didn’t care if she offered to make tofu. “I can do pizza.”
JJ nodded at the barn door. “Let me grab my stuff and say good night to Trey.”
Baz followed JJ and Tesha back to her place, carried her bag inside, and set it down where he’d seen it sitting the last time he’d come over.
“I need to feed her first,” she called out as she made her way to the kitchen. “Then I’ll place the order.”
“No rush.”
In fact, he didn’t care if she waited a few hours before she ordered pizza. The longer it took for dinner, the longer he could be here with her.
Despite what she thought about him, Baz wanted to spend more time with her. And yes, he wanted to take her to bed, to spend the entire night buried deep inside that curvy little body, making her moan and sigh. It was damn near all he could think about. But he’d promised to be patient and he was not going back on his word. If JJ was ready to escalate things between them, he had to believe she would give him some sort of sign.
“Baz?”
He turned around. “Hmm?”
She stepped closer, closer still, until they were nearly toe to toe.
“I don’t want pizza, Baz.”
“No?”
JJ shook her head and he could see the passion banked in her eyes.
“What do you want, JJ?”
“You.”
He felt the word like a physical blow. It stole the air from his lungs, but there was no pain whatsoever.
This was the part he’d been both anticipating and dreading. Keeping her at a distance for her own benefit hadn’t been easy. And that was when she’d simply kissed him. He could see the intention in her gaze now. They were taking that step, making that leap. This was not one of those times when he could set her aside and promise more when she was ready. She looked pretty damn ready and he was not about to resist her.
Baz cupped her face, brushed his thumb over her smooth cheek, leaned in. “You sure?”
“Never been more sure in my life,” she whispered.
“Fuckin’ hell,” he muttered.
Then he kissed her.
Hard.
There was nothing patient about the way he