grab it for you.”
He held up a hand. “No, it’s late, and the sooner you’re out of this neighborhood, the better. Why don’t you just give me your sister’s key and you can leave? I’ll get the key back to you on Monday.”
She paused, evaluating him for a moment, then glanced down the darkened street. “Yeah, okay, but just make sure everything’s locked when you leave.”
She slid the key off her key chain and handed it over. Trusting him.
Guilt flooded him, but he charged forward with his plan anyway. “No worries. I’ll just run in and then lock back up. And
I promise I’ll touch base with you tomorrow if I can find anything out.”
“Thanks.” She pulled her seat belt across her chest. “Good night, Reid.”
“Drive safe, sugar.” He shut her door and waited on the curb, watching her taillights fade around the corner. As soon as he was sure she was far enough away, he jogged back up the stairs and let himself into Kelsey’s apartment, locking the door behind him.
Surveying the room, his eyes honed in on the boxes he hadn’t been able to explore while Brynn was there. The ones labeled Mom’s things. Thinking about what could be in those boxes had made his heart pick up speed. Last week when he’d visited Hank in jail, he’d told Reid that Kelsey had called him—said she may have found something that could help him get an appeal. Reid had planned to contact Kelsey to see what she had come across, but now…
He tapped down the guilt about being there uninvited and went into the kitchen to grab a pair of rubber gloves from under the sink. If he found anything of use, he didn’t want his fingerprints all over it. He hoped what he needed was in one of those boxes. But if it wasn’t, he wasn’t going to leave the apartment until he’d searched every inch of the place. If Kelsey had some key to getting Hank out of jail, he was going to do every damn thing possible to get his hands on it.
Even if that meant he’d have to hunt down Brynn’s sister himself.
then
Mr. Jamison stepped out of his office with Reid not far behind. Brynn smiled as the older man stopped in front of her desk.
“Ms. LeBreck, it’s almost seven, what are you still doing slaving away?”
She held up a stack of envelopes. “I told Mr. Ackerman I would stay late tonight and stuff these.”
He leaned over her desk and looked at the piles of flyers on the floor. He shook his head. “You work late all the time. You’re too young to work that hard. Go home, my dear. Take a night off. I’ll make sure you get paid overtime for the evening.”
Reid broke into a wide grin behind his uncle.
Brynn smiled. “That’s really nice of you, but I don’t mind staying.”
He tapped his palm against the desk. “That’s an order, Ms. LeBreck. Get out of here. I’ll close up behind you.”
Well, she wasn’t going to argue with that. Mr. Jamison strolled off toward the copy room, and Reid replaced him at the front of her desk. She raised an eyebrow at him and pulled out her purse. “What’s with the shit-eating grin?”
“I have a date tonight.”
She choked back the bitter taste that stole across her tongue, knowing that she had no right to be upset. She and Reid had fallen into a comfortable friendship at work over the last few weeks—their playful banter the bright spot in her long days. But she’d never given him any indication she was interested in anything more or told him that when she finally lay in bed at night, that it was his face she pictured, his hands she imagined on her when she touched herself.
She couldn’t tell him. Their lives were so far apart from each other, they might as well belong to different species. She gave him a stiff smile. “Good for you.”
He laughed and held out his hand. “Come on, LeBreck. Let’s go.”
She stared at his open palm. “What are you talking about?”
He smirked. “I’m talking about a date—me, you, some food, all congregating in the same general area. You told me the day we met you didn’t have time for a burger. Now you’ve been given two hours you didn’t plan on having, so you owe me a date.”
She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears. “Reid—”
He wagged his finger at her. “Nope, can’t turn me down. You don’t want to be responsible for crushing my fragile ego, do you?”
She snorted, but slipped her hand into his and let him help her to her feet. “Your ego is about as delicate as a freight train.”
He pulled her closer to his side and guided her toward the door. “It’s just a burger, Brynn.”
A few minutes later, Reid turned his truck into the drive-thru at the Burger Haven and ordered their meals. She shifted in her seat, the leather sticking to her bare legs. “I thought we were going to eat here.”
He pulled up to the window and paid for the food, then handed her the greasy paper bags. “The grub here is good, but the ambience leaves a lot to be desired.”
She snuck a fry from one of the bags and popped it in her mouth. “So where are you taking me, then?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “My evil lair.”
“No, seriously.”
He laughed. “And I thought I was a control freak. Relax. We’re not going far.”
Reid drove a few miles off the highway and parked next to a tree-lined pond, shutting off the engine right as the final edge of sun slipped beneath the horizon. Brynn peered out the window at the small park, its only occupant a lone goose wandering around one of the benches that lined the water’s banks.
“Looks like a real popular place,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.
He chuckled. “It is during the day. People just don’t realize how cool it is at night.”
She looked out the window again. Obviously, coolness was in the eye of the beholder. “Yeah, I bet serial killers and drug dealers find it very appealing.”
That earned her a snort from him before he stepped out of the truck and came around to her side to open her door. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
She handed him the food and stepped down, the warm breeze lifting her hair off the back of her neck. He grabbed her hand, his fingers interlacing with hers. She couldn’t fight the smile that played around her lips. Reid was making an effort for this to feel like a date, which she appreciated. She’d been out with a few guys during high school, but usually the “dates” consisted of hanging out at each other’s houses and having awkward make-out sessions before their parents came home. Although, in her case, she always made sure she went to their place instead of bringing them to hers.
Reid
