Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(131)

“Listen for a second, all right? Jees. I’m sorry.”

I didn’t like being this close to him, nor did I like being cornered. I opted for appeasement to speed this along. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. Mandy had no right to say that stuff to you. We, uh, actually got into a huge fight about it and, well,” he tugged his hair, “we split up.”

I wanted to feel happy about that but the truth was that I didn’t feel anything at all. It was rather liberating, and quite surprising. I actually didn’t care one bit. Huh! Randy actually looked quite pathetic. “Sorry to hear that.”

He leaned one hand up on the wall, creating a barrier with his body. My hand brushed over the cold metal rack pressing into my shoulder. I was trapped.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and, well, I miss you.”

“Oh, God.” I needed to run—fast. Or throw up. Or throw up and then run.

He leaned closer; so close that I could smell that familiar cologne he wore. That scent once made me stupid. Now it just made me sick. I folded my arms across my chest, creating a barrier between us, thankful for the pungent smell of bleached linens behind me. Did he actually think I’d jump back in his arms and be grateful for leftover scraps? “You’re kidding, right? You’ve got some nerve—”

“Am I interrupting something?”

My head snapped up at the deep rumble, seeing a wall of black uniform and Adam glaring like he wanted to tear Randy’s head off. A tinge of panic flooded my nerves, hoping Adam wouldn’t think he caught me doing something wrong. The second Randy eased up from the wall I made my break for it, shouldering him out of my way.

Adam pulled me into his side, tucked me under his left arm, and faced off with Randy.

That was the moment it all hit me.

Randy meant nothing to me. The feelings of loss that once consumed me were gone. It was as if they never affected me to begin with. There was no gaping hole in my heart. There was no harbored resentment or even a hint of longing. He was nothing more than a stepping stone, a piece of history to be filed and forgotten.

And I was falling in love with Adam.

Adam’s body was rigid and tensed, like a panther poised to strike.

He switched between gazing down at me with concern and glaring warnings at Randy. “You okay?”

Correct that. Not falling. I’d already fallen into that scary phase of relationship newness, where being unsure, petrified, and humming with renewed excitement wrapped itself around blind hope.

I nodded, putting an inch of breathing space between us, though Adam didn’t let me separate that far. I was at work after all. I needed to keep public displays of affection to a respectable limit, though my body was craving every ounce of his attention.

Adam didn’t give a shit. He leaned down, cupped my face, and kissed me anyway. Even though he had never met Randy before, he made sure whoever he was got the message. I felt woozy.

“He’s still standing there. You going to introduce me?” Adam muttered privately.

I wished Randy would just disappear into thin air but much to my chagrin, he was still behind me, appearing quite nonplussed, I might add.

Whatever.

I waved a hand between them, trying not to make the side-by-side comparison, although my loyalties and attraction to Adam were unquestionable. “Adam, this is Doctor Randy Mason. Randy, Detective Adam Trent.”

Adam reached to shake Randy’s hand. His smile turned very predatory. “I ever see you caging my woman in like that again, I won’t be this nice. We clear?”

“Your woman?” Randy’s forced smile fell into a deep scowl. He yanked his hand back and shook out his fingers. “Relax. We were just talking.”

Adam was much more astute than that. “Then please, continue.”

Randy cut his eyes to me. “I think we were done. For now.”

Adam’s fingers flexed on my shoulder and then he let go and captured my hand in his. “That’s what I thought. Word of advice? You need to talk to her you can do your talking out there where it doesn’t look like you’re trying to make a move on her. Erin may be forgiving, but I’m not.”

Randy took a step back, stammering. “Yeah, okay. We’ll talk later, Erin.”

Numerous replies to that swirled around my tongue, none of them being anything that could be delivered without screaming. My teeth locked together. “I don’t think that’s necessary. There’s nothing left to be said.” I didn’t wait for him to utter another word. I led Adam in the opposite direction.

“Was that the ex?”

“Yes.”

Adam tugged my hand. “Do I need to be worried?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Good. Where we headed?”

“Away from him.”

Adam’s deep rumble was sexy. “So you’re positive the vic said ‘Carter Mancuso’?”

“Shh.” I hoped none of the people rushing around us would overhear. The conference room at the end of the hall was vacant. I flicked the light on. “Yes, I’m positive.”

“Where’s the vic now?”

“Patient.”

Adam rolled his eyes.

I pulled him deeper into the conference room. “Look, I don’t want to get into trouble with this. I’ve already told the other detective what my patient said to me. But I didn’t tell him about your case or that I recognized the name.”