Page 140 of Their Naughty Student (Office Intrigue Duet 6)
“I think it was more of a dare than anything, and since I had nothing else on the agenda of my life, I figured why the hell not. Entered the academy, passed with flying colors, went on to join the Houston PD. Ended up with a K-9 partner.” I smiled in the dark. “His name was Kano. Sweetest damn dog in the world. Fiercely loyal, too.”
“Did he live with you?”
“Yeah. Spent every waking minute together. He was so damn smart.”
“Past tense?”
I swallowed hard and relayed the details of the event that had changed my life. By the time I was finished reliving that dreadful day, Jamie was holding me tightly, her tears falling onto my chest.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered, squeezing me. “So sorry you lost him.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
She snuggled closer. “You haven’t met Tank,” she said. “He’s my brother’s yellow lab.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I got him for my brother because I knew Zeke had needed someone to love. He’s always been my rock, ever since our parents died, and I hated to see the way he kept himself closed off. So, I adopted Tank, but told Zeke I’d found him near my grandfather’s house.” She chuckled. “I remember the look on his face when I took the puppy over, begged my brother to keep him, to give him a home. I knew he would do it for me, so I’d used that against him. Don’t regret it either. They’ve been good for one another.”
I couldn’t help but smile as she relayed the information. I could hear in her voice how much she loved her brother, how far she would go to take care of the man. Though I didn’t know Zeke all that well, I did know him. He didn’t seem like an easy man to deal with, but to know he went soft for his sister and a puppy spoke volumes.
“What about your parents?” she asked after a few minutes of silence. “Do they live in Houston?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. Probably. They divorced a long time ago. Haven’t talked to either of them.”
“Why not?”
“My mother was so hurt when my father left, she took it out on everyone else. Including me. Wrote me off a long time ago.”
“Your father?”
“He got remarried, has a new family. Never looked back.”
“What about when you got shot? Didn’t they come see you? Take care of you?”
“No. I have no way to reach my father. And my mom … I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer. Haven’t tried since.”
“What about Edge’s parents? Does he talk to them?”
I swallowed hard, kissed her forehead. “That’s a complicated story.”
She shifted and I could tell she was looking at me. “Does he see them?”
I shook my head. “They’re dead. Died when he was sixteen.”
“Oh, my God.” She put her head back on my chest. “Is it something he’ll talk about?”
“If you ask him, yeah.” It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, I knew, but he would.
“Cav?”
“It’s his story to tell, Jamie.”
“No. I know. I wasn’t going to ask about it.”
Curling my arm around her, I held her tightly.
“You might want to reach out to her,” Jamie whispered. “Your mom. What she did was wrong, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you. Or regret what happened.”
Yeah. I thought about that, too.
Unfortunately, I got her stubbornness.
“Get some sleep, cupcake,” I whispered, curling around her, holding her tightly against me. “I love you.”
She smiled against my chest. “I love you, too.”
When I woke the next morning, I was alone in bed, the door closed. I smiled to myself, peering around Jamie’s bedroom. It was exactly as I expected a woman’s room to look like. There was a pile of pillows on the floor, enough to cover most of the bed when it was made. The closet door was slightly ajar, a few things lying on the floor, a dress hanging on the knob.
I glanced around, noticed the picture of Zeke on her nightstand, along with one of the dog I assumed to be Tank. On her dresser, there were pictures tucked into the edge of the mirror frame. Looked to be family pictures from when she was small.
Family was important to Jamie, I could tell. She’d lost hers at a young age. Tragically.
I heard the sound of voices coming from the other room, knew I couldn’t hide out forever. I figured her friends were sticking around because they knew I was here.
“Might as well get the introductions out of the way,” I muttered as I snatched my jeans from the floor, pulled them on.
Thankfully, there was access to the bathroom from the bedroom, so I slipped in there, relieved myself, then washed my hands and face. There was no point in denying I’d spent the night, nor was I sure why I’d want to.
