Chapter Twenty-Six
Keller
Keller opened his eyes and glanced to the left. Molly was already gone. He figured she would be. In her place was a folded piece of paper.
Didn’t want to wake you :) Have a great day!
Love, Molly
He smiled and put the little note in his nightstand. He knew the guys would give him hell for keeping a note from his girl, but he didn’t like the idea of throwing it away. Last night with Molly had been the best night of his life. He knew he should probably count the night they mated to be the best night of his life. But it wasn’t. And the fact that she agreed to move in with him meant he got to relive last night all over again. Whenever he damn well pleased.
Keller had just closed his eyes, hoping to catch another thirty minutes of sleep when he heard his microwave ding. What the hell? He grabbed the baseball bat from under his bed and slowly made his way through the living room. He rounded the corner to the kitchen, bat raised and poised to swing. Then he groaned and dropped the bat by his side. “Coop. What the hell are you doing in my kitchen at eight o’clock in the morning?”
Corey smiled brightly at Keller, her eyes darting down and then back up again. “Nice wood, Kel. What is it with you guys and your baseball bat weapons? Get a gun, much more effective.”
Keller turned around and headed back to the living room, collapsing on the couch and pulling a pillow over his lap. “Seriously, Coop. It’s early. What’s up?”
“First of all, it’s not early. I know for a fact that you have a class to teach in like forty-five minutes. Second of all, I checked my email this morning and it looks like it’s my day to talk to the Feds.” Corey sat down opposite him in the leather armchair. She blew on her reheated chocolate croissant before taking a massive bite.
“Good god, Coop. Not very lady-like.” He wrinkled his nose as he watched her inhale her pastry. “What does your interview have to do with me? This was Baze’s brilliant plan. He’s supposed to go with you. I already had to sit through Riley’s.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He was by no means complaining, but he was exhausted after last night with Molly. Yoga did a body good.
“I don’t want Baze to go with me. I want you to go with me. Please. Baze gets all moody and pensive. I’ll buy you lunch afterwards.” Keller picked his head up in time to watch her polish off the croissant in one more giant bite. She immediately frowned like she was sad it was gone.
He narrowed his eyes are her. “Liar.”
“What? I promise. I’ll buy lunch. Anything you want, except Greek food. I’m not feeling very Greek today.”
“No, you’re lying about why you want me to come with you instead of Baze. I can tell. Your pulse sped up and your palms started sweating.”
She rolled her eyes, wiping crumbs on her yoga pants. That’s all she wore these days, and he knew for a fact she never actually went to yoga anymore. “I just ate a mound of chocolate and butter, and I’m pregnant, I’m always sweating.”
Keller shook his head. “Nope. Tell the truth or I won’t go with you.”
She let out an irritated sigh. “Fine. But you have to promise not to make a big deal about it, okay?”
“I’ll do my best. Now, spill.”
“After I thought about things we talked about last night, I realized why Dom was so nervous about my going head to head with Brooks. It all kind of sank in that it’s not just me anymore, you know? I need to protect our daughter. Baze wants answers. I feel like you’ll stop me from saying or doing something detrimental long before he will. And Linc? Please. He would forget why he was even sitting outside that room in the first place.”
“Well, that was sweet. Damn. How can I say no to that?”
Coop hopped up and sat on the couch next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “You can’t. And thank you.”
Keller put his head on top of hers. “You’re welcome.” He’d liked Coop from the moment he’d met her. She was spunky and funny and beautiful. Now that she was mated to his friend and part of his pack, he loved her like a sister.
Corey slapped his bare thigh harder than necessary and stood to leave. “Now go get dressed, lazy bones. I’ll come by your office when it’s time to go.” A very annoying sister.
Keller let his head fall back on the couch as soon as the front door closed. He only needed like fifteen minutes. A little power nap and then he would go get in the shower. When he heard his front door open back up he growled, “Coop, I say this with so much love in my heart. Go the fuck away.”
The sound of Molly’s laughter had his eyes flying wide. “You really shouldn’t talk to women that way.” She closed and locked the door behind her.
Keller held his arms out, inviting her to come curl up on his lap. He was pleased when she complied. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.” He kissed the top of her head and then took a deep breath full of her fragrant shampoo.
“I only have about forty-five minutes until my next class, but I wanted to see you. I had breakfast with Agent Brooks earlier this morning.” She paused, no doubt able to feel when his body tensed under hers. “I didn’t learn much. He’s from west Texas somewhere, no girlfriend, married to his job, and not willing to talk about the investigation.”
He shrugged quickly. “Well, can’t say you didn’t try. Glad that’s over. Now, how about we spend the rest of your forty-five minutes not talking about Brooks?”