Cold Case Recruit. Jennifer Morey

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ He had more than one compelling reason to steer clear of women like her. He shifted his gaze to the boy. And that.

      Drury straightened. “Junior, why don’t you go pack?”

      The boy didn’t move, still eyeing Brycen uncertainly.

      “Junior?”

      The boy looked up at her and then reluctantly turned and went up the hall.

      “It usually doesn’t take him this long to get used to people,” Drury said. “He seems especially guarded with you. He responds to you, but then he withdraws.”

      “He hasn’t decided whether he likes me or not.”

      “Why is that? Do you think he picked up on your stiffness when you first met him?”

      He didn’t say what he really thought. Junior sized him up, measuring him against his idea of a father figure. He might not be aware he did this, but Brycen felt it. Acknowledging that would take him down that dreaded path. The “what if” path.

      “Maybe.”

      “Do you like kids?” She moved to stand directly in front of him.

      “I’ve never had kids of my own.” He wished she’d leave this topic alone.

      Leaning over the sink, she washed her hands. “You don’t have to have kids of your own to like them.”

      “What makes you think I don’t like them?”

      Drying her hands on the towel hanging from a hook on the wall, she shrugged. Then she scrutinized him through the mirror. “Why were you so uncomfortable when you met him? What is it with you and kids?”

      This conversation was over. Brycen stood. “Let’s get going.”

      Turning from the sink, she frowned her confusion as he passed and followed him out of the bathroom. “Touchy subject?”

      He stopped and turned and she bumped into him. Bounced, really. All her soft parts against his harder chest and abdomen. And her hands had landed on him. She pulled back as though startled.

      He felt it, too. The sparks came out of nowhere and set them both on fire. Of all the women he’d met and considered dating, Drury didn’t fit the mold. She represented what he most sought to avoid. Single mom. Serious baggage. How could he compete with a dead husband? One she’d hired an elite investigation agency to solve his cold case.

      “Look.” He dove right in. He had to stop this from heating up any more. “I’ve picked up on some attraction between us and I just have to get something off my chest.”

      “Okay.” She took a step back.

      “I don’t do marriage and I don’t do kids. You should know that up front.”

      “Wh...what?”

      Clearly, she hadn’t expected him to say something like that. “You need to understand that about me before this goes any further.”

      Outraged, she put her hands on her hips. “Before what goes any further? You’re jumping to conclusions a little, don’t you think? Marriage?”

      Maybe, maybe not. “I just want it out in the open.” And he didn’t want to talk about his past in Alaska.

      She gaped at him, slack-jawed. “That you don’t do marriage or kids.”

      “Yes. This is a business relationship. We don’t get involved. And if we...you know, then I’ve warned you.”

      No marriage. No kids. That included Junior. He had nothing against the boy; he just couldn’t be part of her family unit.

      “Well, for your information, I don’t want a relationship anyway. My husband was murdered. What makes you think I’d want to get involved with you?” She passed him.

      Maybe he’d spoken too soon. Maybe he should have waited. “I’m sorry. I just thought I should tell you. I mean no disrespect.”

      With a peculiar glance back, she went into the kitchen and started cleaning up before packing for their trip.

      He helped her clear the table in awkward silence until she calmed down. He could tell she’d calmed, because she stopped slamming dishes.

      “Why don’t you think you’ll never get married?” she asked at the sink.

      “I don’t think. It’s a choice I’ve made because I don’t believe in it. Marriages never last. My parents were married almost thirty years and should have divorced after ten. Humans aren’t meant to stay married to the same person their entire lives. So why bother getting married?”

      “You base your decision off your parents’ marriage? Did they love each other?”

      “Sure. My mother loved that he worked and she didn’t have to and then she loved the alimony payments until she remarried. My dad loved a woman who didn’t complain and always had dinner ready and the laundry clean.”

      She loaded a dish into the dishwasher. “You don’t make them sound very likable. Do you ever see them?”

      “Every Christmas.” He threw out some trash, finding an automatic lid trash container by the counter.

      “I bet you aren’t this charming on your TV show.”

      He chuckled. She meant the exact opposite. He came across as an ass when he talked about marriage. Some people didn’t like hearing the truth. “My mother wasn’t happy. My father wasn’t happy. They convinced themselves early on that they were. And maybe they were at first. They liked each other. But then after a few years, they wasted too much time trying to make their marriage work. I just wish they wouldn’t have waited, that’s all. When they could no longer convince themselves they were happy, they should have ended it.”

      She worked as she absorbed what he said. “You must feel like every memory of them together was a lie.”

      “Some of them, yes. They basically played roles for my benefit. The good, loving mother who doted on her husband. The steady, kind, disciplinary father who took care of his wife. Now that I can see what phonies they were, it makes me bitter. I’d rather they fought and threw things. At least it would have been real.” He handed her a glass from the sink, which was full of about a day’s worth of dishes.

      She took it from him. “You must not like your parents much.”

      “Oh, no. Contrary. I love them both very much.”

      She breathed a laugh. “Really.”

      “Yes, especially now that I know who they really are.”

      “Is that what you think you have with women? Real relationships?” She put the glass in the dishwasher.

      “Unconditionally.” He truly believed in sticking with the truth no matter how ugly or harmful. Maybe that was the homicide detective in him. Maybe he’d learned from his parents.

      With the water still running in the СКАЧАТЬ