motioned to the officers. “I only ask because you two look like someone broke into your apartment and tried to beat you with a bat. The only one I think should be pulling off such a sour look is Mr. Fields, who fended off the bat-yielding intruder and saved my life.”
Hannigan snorted at that.
Nikki felt her eyebrow rise sky-high. Next to her she heard Calvin sigh and close his notebook.
“Oh, I didn’t realize the situation was funny,” she said, angling her body in direct opposition of the man. “Or maybe I just haven’t been assaulted enough to really understand the humor.”
Hannigan’s small smile faded. He cleared his throat.
“It isn’t funny you were attacked,” he defended. He shared a quick glance with Reardon, who decided it was his turn to piss off Nikki.
“We just thought it was funny how he doesn’t seem to hesitate in saving a naked woman but didn’t bother trying to save—”
“That’s enough,” barked Calvin.
“Real professional,” Nikki tacked on.
Reardon instantly went on the defensive. “Do you know who his father is? Can you blame us?”
The pain of the past flashed across Jackson’s face. Guilt was a feeling Nikki had grown used to over the years, too. Seeing that mirrored in the man who had just saved her life made her snap.
She’d had enough.
“Can I blame you?” she repeated, stepping closer to the man. “ Can I blame you for focusing on an irrelevant past detail that in no way pertains to the dead man in my tub or whoever it was who sent him? Can I blame you for the fact that the only person who has done anything helpful so far is this man you’re now treating with more attention than the dead man in my tub ? Can I blame you for letting your job take a backseat while you judge a man you don’t know, and seem to care so little about the dead man you don’t know in my tub ? Can I? Yes. I can. Thanks.”
In the back of her mind Nikki realized she might have crossed a line. Even though she was close to Calvin, that didn’t mean she had a free pass to say whatever she wanted to the other men. However, she found she couldn’t seem to help or care what the officers might dish out to her if they were truly offended. Her night had taken such an unexpected turn that her emotions seemed to be finding it hard to return to their normal state. Instead of pausing to weigh the officers’ reactions, Nikki continued. “Now, if you don’t mind, Jackson and I will be in the kitchen if you need us.”
Nikki didn’t wait for permission to leave the conversation and take her agent with her.
Last time she checked, it was still her apartment.
Even if there was a dead man soaking in her tub.
Chapter Seven
Nikki looked at her reflection and willed herself not to cry.
It was just after midnight and she was standing in Orion’s bathroom, toothbrush in hand, and dressed down in a T-shirt and sleep pants. To the best of her abilities, she was trying hard to feel normal. A hard objective to meet when pain throbbed along her side and elbow and part of her scalp was sore.
Curveballs on contracts, she was used to, but in her personal life? That was new territory and she was quickly realizing she wasn’t as prepared as she would have liked to be for any of it.
She felt her cheeks heat as she remembered standing frozen earlier. Sure, she had fought the intruder before fear had made her freeze up, but then...
What if Jackson hadn’t come?
“Stop it,” Nikki whispered to the empty bathroom. She had spent years giving advice to her friends and Orion employees to not focus on the unending road of what-ifs. It never led anywhere good. You couldn’t change the past, only try to make better decisions in the future. She packed up the rest of her toiletries and went back out into the grazing area, trying to clear her mind.
Another nearly impossible objective when the newest Orion agent looked up from his spot on one of the couches.
“You know I could fire you,” Nikki said.
Hannigan snorted at that.
Nikki felt her eyebrow rise sky-high. Next to her she heard Calvin sigh and close his notebook.
“Oh, I didn’t realize the situation was funny,” she said, angling her body in direct opposition of the man. “Or maybe I just haven’t been assaulted enough to really understand the humor.”
Hannigan’s small smile faded. He cleared his throat.
“It isn’t funny you were attacked,” he defended. He shared a quick glance with Reardon, who decided it was his turn to piss off Nikki.
“We just thought it was funny how he doesn’t seem to hesitate in saving a naked woman but didn’t bother trying to save—”
“That’s enough,” barked Calvin.
“Real professional,” Nikki tacked on.
Reardon instantly went on the defensive. “Do you know who his father is? Can you blame us?”
The pain of the past flashed across Jackson’s face. Guilt was a feeling Nikki had grown used to over the years, too. Seeing that mirrored in the man who had just saved her life made her snap.
She’d had enough.
“Can I blame you?” she repeated, stepping closer to the man. “ Can I blame you for focusing on an irrelevant past detail that in no way pertains to the dead man in my tub or whoever it was who sent him? Can I blame you for the fact that the only person who has done anything helpful so far is this man you’re now treating with more attention than the dead man in my tub ? Can I blame you for letting your job take a backseat while you judge a man you don’t know, and seem to care so little about the dead man you don’t know in my tub ? Can I? Yes. I can. Thanks.”
In the back of her mind Nikki realized she might have crossed a line. Even though she was close to Calvin, that didn’t mean she had a free pass to say whatever she wanted to the other men. However, she found she couldn’t seem to help or care what the officers might dish out to her if they were truly offended. Her night had taken such an unexpected turn that her emotions seemed to be finding it hard to return to their normal state. Instead of pausing to weigh the officers’ reactions, Nikki continued. “Now, if you don’t mind, Jackson and I will be in the kitchen if you need us.”
Nikki didn’t wait for permission to leave the conversation and take her agent with her.
Last time she checked, it was still her apartment.
Even if there was a dead man soaking in her tub.
Chapter Seven
Nikki looked at her reflection and willed herself not to cry.
It was just after midnight and she was standing in Orion’s bathroom, toothbrush in hand, and dressed down in a T-shirt and sleep pants. To the best of her abilities, she was trying hard to feel normal. A hard objective to meet when pain throbbed along her side and elbow and part of her scalp was sore.
Curveballs on contracts, she was used to, but in her personal life? That was new territory and she was quickly realizing she wasn’t as prepared as she would have liked to be for any of it.
She felt her cheeks heat as she remembered standing frozen earlier. Sure, she had fought the intruder before fear had made her freeze up, but then...
What if Jackson hadn’t come?
“Stop it,” Nikki whispered to the empty bathroom. She had spent years giving advice to her friends and Orion employees to not focus on the unending road of what-ifs. It never led anywhere good. You couldn’t change the past, only try to make better decisions in the future. She packed up the rest of her toiletries and went back out into the grazing area, trying to clear her mind.
Another nearly impossible objective when the newest Orion agent looked up from his spot on one of the couches.
“You know I could fire you,” Nikki said.
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