by Addison Fox
Jasmine ignored the time component and took in the various elements on the screen, her gaze settling over the name of Barrow’s parole officer. “She’s got a good reputation.”
“She’s very good, which means this one was a lucky slip for Barrow. It likely won’t stay that way, especially once Carmine knows what he was up to last night.”
Cade was already dialing the parole officer when a light hum reverberated through the room. Jasmine stood up from where she still leaned over Cade’s screen and came face-to-face with Gardner Cross.
And finally accepted there was no more time to prep or prevaricate or find excuses.
It was time she faced her feelings, no matter how they might hurt her—or him—in the end.
* * *
Cade paced the squad room. The edge of Gardner’s head was just visible in the small conference room Jasmine had pulled them both into about ten minutes before. Cade had an idea of what they discussed—or hoped he did—but in the end it was up to Jasmine to handle her boyfriend and the details she chose to share.
Would she tell him she’d spent the night at Cade’s? Would Gardner care?
Of course he’d care.
Cade would have cared. Even as he thought it, he wondered how he’d feel, if the situation were reversed and Sarah had spent the night in another man’s apartment. Would it have bothered him?
When a resounding silence settled in his thoughts Cade knew he owed Sarah the follow-up she’d requested the night before. She deserved better than a brush off if he wasn’t going to continue going out with her. And based on the lack of emotion he felt at the idea of her moving on, Cade supposed it was time.
“Why haven’t you texted me back?” Daphne’s voice penetrated his thoughts, the sharp edges of her words like spikes to his brain. She added to the demand by slamming a heavy tote, packed full of clothes and toiletries for Jaz, onto his desk.
“Be more specific. You texted me eight times.”
“I texted Jaz too, but she’s ignored me as well.”
Beneath the haranguing, Cade heard the worry. For all the ribbing he loved to send her way, he loved his baby sister to distraction. And he did have compassion for what she was dealing with.
He might have lived with the sight of Jaz being manhandled and on the verge of something even worse, but he’d also had the satisfaction of taking his anger out on her attacker.
Daphne hadn’t been so lucky.
Taking pity on her, he filled her in on what he knew so far. “I was going to text you as soon as I had answers. I wanted to know who Barrow’s parole officer is.”
“And?”
“It’s Carmine.”
The announcement of the parole officer assigned to the case had Daphne cooling her heels. “Em’s good. How’d she lose him like this?”
“That’s what I spent the last hour looking into. Seems there was some petition made on his behalf by an enterprising legal team. Asshole decided to play snitch on some local drug runner they were trying to bring down. He worked himself a deal in exchange for information.”
“And his file didn’t jingle? How does that happen? Jaz works in the damn public defender’s office. How is it she didn’t know?”
Raw fury had ridden Cade’s shoulders ever since he got the details on Barrow’s release, and his sister’s frustration only compounded his own. “Overworked staff and a rash of summer vacations is the only answer I’ve managed to find. No one I have contacted will own up to what a screwup this is.”
“That’s such a load of bullshit.” Daphne frowned. “Where’s Jasmine? I told her not to stay by herself today.”
“She’s here.”
“Where?”
Cade pointed toward the wall of conference rooms at the far edge of the squad room. “She’s over there. Gardner showed up about three minutes before you did. I’m surprised you didn’t pass each other.”
Daphne crossed her arms, the gesture he’d always thought of as her Ramona Quimby look. Part mulish and part calculating. The moment his fourth-grade teacher had read them a few stories of the troublesome younger sister in the Ramona series, he’d known the character fit Daphne to a T.
“I thought you were only bluffing last night when you left Mom and Dad’s.”
“About taking Jaz home?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s shaken and, for the time being, we have to assume in some danger. I’m not leaving her alone.”
“I know that part.” Daphne leaned against his desk, perching on a hip. “But I figured she’d shake you off the first moment she got.”
“I’m hard to shake.”
“She came back to your place?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Heated images filled his mind’s eye, his hands itching to hold her once more. He could still feel her hips beneath his fingertips, the gentle slope and the softness of her flesh. Could still taste her on his lips, a combination of raspberries and something else. Something hard to define yet deeply intoxicating.
A special quality that was 100 percent Jasmine.
“And nothing. She’s in trouble. I gave her my bed and slept on the couch. We woke up and came here.”
Daphne looked like she was ready to argue, her gaze searching his with the same intensity she’d used when quizzing him on Santa Claus as an eight-year-old, and when she’d believed he held the results of her detective’s exam a few years before.
He’d known the answer to the Santa Claus question and had been as in the dark as she for the detective’s exam. But her fervent believe he held extra information was unwavering.
Between the crossed arms and the searching stare, he was surprised to realize all that his feelings for Jaz had churned up. Dating his sister’s friend would have an impact on his relationship with Daphne, whether he liked it or not.
“What’s that look for?” Daphne asked.
Cade waited, weighing the potential fallout of talking to his sister before familial love won out. “What happens if I fuck it up with Jasmine?”
“Why? How?”
“If we try something and it just doesn’t work out. What does that do? To us? To you and her?”
“She and I are rock solid. Always.”
“Then you and I won’t be.”
For all their teasing and mutual attitude toward each other, the thought of upsetting Daphne and damaging their relationship hurt. More than that, it left Cade with a layer of sadness that he couldn’t ignore. He might have been easygoing, but he wasn’t easy with the idea of giving up his baby sister.
“Why are you so convinced things won’t work out?”
“My track record isn’t exactly stellar.”
Daphne’s light shrug was casual. “Maybe you’ve just been on the wrong track.”
“Right. Sure. Ask any of my ex-girlfriends.”
“Actually, I have. A few months ago one of the women you loved and left was at brunch at Landon’s mom’s. She was about eight months pregnant, glowing with happiness, and looked at her husband as if he hung the moon.”
Cade wasn’t sure where she was going but decided to play along. “Okay. So she has a good life.”
“Not just a good life. The right life. The way I remembered her, she was this airy bimbo who couldn’t string a few sentences together. With her new life she was fun and happy and ready to take on the world.”
“One more reason I’m a jerk.”
“One more reason the women who go out with you don’t see you.”
Wherever he’d expected the conversation to go—and he’d braced for pretty bad—Daphne’s proclamation hit him square on the jaw. “What?”
“It’s true. You’re the sexy cop with bedroom eyes.”
He held up a hand to stop her, but she beat him to the punch.
“I’m not deaf, Cade. I know what the entire borough whispers about you. But what I do know is that no one ever looks past it all. And you’re so damn easygoing, you don’t bother to correct anyone or make them
see anything different.”
“And how would that be different with Jaz?”
As if he conjured her up, the door opened, Gardner extending a hand to allow Jasmine to pass out of the conference room.
“She already knows you and likes you anyway. For my money, that’s when things really start to get interesting.”
* * *
Jasmine walked Gardner to the elevators, surprised to feel a lightness in her steps even as her heart felt encased in cement.
She’d done the right thing. For Gardner and for herself. He deserved better than someone halfway into a relationship, and so did she.
But she couldn’t deny the sheer weight of ending a perfectly good relationship with a nearly perfect man wasn’t without its pressure. She was already bracing herself for the castigating stares of the swooners at work. The gossip would be all over the office by 9:05 on Monday; 9:10 if she was lucky.
And then there was her mother.
Her father would do his best to keep her mother in check but there was no way around it: Her mother was going to lose her shit when Jasmine told her she’d broken up with Gardner.
A part of her—the jaded, suspicious part—believed her mother saw them as some sort of young Obamas equivalent. The elegant, well-educated black couple on their way to great things. And if she loved Gardner with the same obvious affection and commitment that was evident between Barack and Michelle Obama, Jasmine might have been tempted to go along with the fantasy.
But she didn’t.
Nor could she pretend her way through it.
“Promise me you’ll be careful.” Gardner bent down and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I will.”
“I’ll move on this immediately. There’s no reason this man should be out on the streets, and I’ll use whatever I can to get him back in jail.”
“Thank you. I know Cade’s working the same angles through his contacts.”
She’d avoided saying much about Cade during their conversation, but at the mention of his name Gardner’s gaze narrowed. “I’m sure he will.”
“He and Daphne both. She’s already texted me a blue streak this morning.”
“I’m sure Cade will quickly have everything in hand. Just as he always does.”
Jasmine knew of Gardner’s prowess in the courtroom, but to date she’d not experienced his more pointed remarks. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Rossi’s good at his job. And there’s nothing he won’t do for you. This mess with Paul Barrow should resolve itself quickly.”
“This mess was an assault and attempted rape back in December.”
“I’m well aware of what it was, Jasmine. I’ve read the documents.”
Although she’d harbored no illusions that her colleagues had taken the time to understand what had happened to her, reading the public record of Barrow’s arrest and prosecution, it was a surprise to think that Gardner had read the documents as well. He’d never said anything. “You reviewed them?”
“How else was I supposed to understand what happened to you? You refuse to speak of it, and you’ve had no interest in expanding our relationship into the physical. I wanted to understand what took place that night.” He broke off, the confident veneer that never faltered cracking, leaving in its wake a quiet man with bent shoulders. “I wanted to help.”
“But that’s not why—”
She stopped, the words drying up in her throat. Was that the problem? Had she become scared of intimacy because of that night in December? Or had it become a handy excuse?
She’d been with men before. And while she hadn’t gone through men like water, she’d had relationships. Sexually satisfying ones at that.
Yet she’d held back with Gardner from the first.
Whatever had been behind her choices with Gardner, the answers weren’t to be found in the lobby of the police station. With the twin sensations of resignation and relief flooding her, she tilted her head and pressed a kiss to Gardner’s cheek. “You’re a wonderful man. And you deserve someone equally wonderful.”
His hand drifted lightly over her waist before moving firmly away. “I thought I had her.”
Jasmine said nothing in reply, unwilling to prolong the inevitable. Even with that firm dose of reality, she couldn’t deny the tightness in her throat or the hot prick of tears behind her eyes.
She loved Cade Rossi. Nothing and no one could change that. But as she watched Gardner walk away, she was unable to shake the feeling that she could all-too-soon find herself in the same position.
Chapter Eight
“What do you want to do?”
Cade cycled through his usual list of date places, trying to come up with something to occupy him and Jaz for the rest of the day. Since their afternoon together wasn’t really a date, he was chagrined to realize he didn’t have much in his repertoire. Other than a few weekly pickup basketball games, his life consisted of work and dating and little else.
God, was he really that shallow? He could come up with three places to do a wine tasting, four parks that offered shaded areas to snuggle, and at least a half dozen restaurants that catered to a lingering lunch crowd. Ask him to come up with something that could occupy two friends for an afternoon and he was lost.
At least he thought they were friends, and maybe even something more. Despite the weird middle ground they had fallen into, taking Jasmine to a shaded area of the park seemed out of place. Like he was jumping to the main event before they put a bit more definition behind whatever it was they were doing with each other.
Which only showed just how far gone he already was, because he never worried about definitions or labels or any pesky detail that suggested he was moving too fast with a woman.
He never really thought about it at all.
Shaking it off, Cade decided to ignore his already-jumbled thoughts and focus on what he could control. He’d spoken to Emily Carmine, and she’d already put out the alert on Barrow. The string of curses that had lit up his phone still burned his ears, and he took satisfaction that her fury would ensure more than a few people would take serious hell for the way Barrow had been released. He’d added some additional notes to the file and then given her his mobile number for emergencies before wrapping up. Jaz had come back, sans Gardner, and then promptly disappeared with Daphne. He’d yet to ask her what had happened. Neither had she offered any details.
It was the lack of facts that had him wondering as he walked her toward the precinct elevators.
“You don’t have to entertain me for the day, Cade.”
“I’m spending the day with a friend and entertaining myself. Is that so bad?”
“It’s not necessary. You’ve got alerts out, and half of Brooklyn’s keeping an eye out for the guy. Barrow’s parole officer has been notified. Things are fine.”
Things were hardly fine—especially since no one could get a lead on the vanished Barrow—but Cade refrained from pressing that point. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight, no matter how much she argued.
“I hate to break it to you, but you’re stuck with me. All day. Tomorrow too, if we can’t find this jerk. So settle in and enjoy the ride.”
She gave him a solid side-eye as she pressed the button for the elevator. “Daphne said you’d hunkered down on this.”
“Daphne’s right.”
“But I can go to my parents.”
“Will you?”
Since he knew Jaz had found a way to avoid the subject of her assault with her parents, he could tell her “sure” was half-hearted at best.
“So what do you want to do? We have a long afternoon, and I will gladly spend it standing here arguing with you if it will keep you in my sight.”
“You’re impossible.”
He extended a hand and gestured her into the elevator. “I’m determined. There’s a difference.”
The space was small, the elevator a throwback to the early days of the precinct. He normally avoided the shuddering heap in favor of the
stairs, but had to admit the enclosed space had its benefits. Using the limited room to maneuver to his advantage, he moved into her space, pressing her back against the wall and caging her within his arms.
“Cade!” Her voice squeaked, and she swallowed hard before she spoke again. “What are you doing?”
“I’m curious.”
“About?” She pressed herself against the wall. The move wasn’t fearful—he’d have backed up immediately if it were—but there was a distinct wariness in her eyes. The added quaver at the base of her throat drew his attention, and he lifted a finger to trace that small dip just above her collarbone.
“You’re making me think you don’t want to spend the day with me.”
“I didn’t say—” He lifted that same finger, pressing it to her lips to silence her.
“It’s not a criticism. I’d say it’s just a reminder that maybe I need to work a bit harder on convincing you.”
“You’re overprotective.” She swallowed hard before pressing on. “And you don’t need to be. I’m fine.”
Fine.
She’d been fine for as long as he could remember. Their adult years flashed through his mind like a movie on a loop. Family events. Outings with her, Daphne, and groups of friends. Even casual encounters around town.
How are you Jasmine?
I’m fine, Cade.
“Why do you brush me off like that?”
“Like what?”
“You’re always fine. Or good. Or never better. You don’t answer me.”
The elevator doors swished open, and she used the momentary lurch of the car to escape from his arms, exiting through the door. The quaver he’d seen beneath her skin transferred to her voice.
“Because I am fine. Or good. Or never better. It’s called friendly banter.”
“It’s a lie.”
The accusation slipped out, the sharp words echoing off the cavernous lobby of the precinct. Cade wasn’t sure whether it was the lack of bystanders on a Saturday or the fact that he’d finally pressed her past her tolerance, but the fiery soul who came lashing back at him was anything but fine.
