Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(114)

She smiled. “Should I go ahead and take a pain pill now?”

He bit back a smile. “I know you don’t believe this, but I’m really a good agent. When I’m around you I…” He paused, unsure how to say

it. “I end up thinking more about you than what I need to be doing.”

Her eyes widened. “So I should take the pill now?”

He laughed. “I think I’ve learned my lesson.”

They left the hospital, and while he never stopped checking their surroundings, they made small talk. Weather. Where she’d traveled. Their

favorite restaurants.

Right before he turned down her street, she asked, “Did your girlfriend love the bracelet?”

He pulled into her driveway. A black sedan sat outside the house—the agent on duty. Shawn ran his hand over his steering wheel.

“We broke up.”

The tension in the car rose.

Then she chuckled. “Why? Did you put her in the hospital, too?”

He laughed. “No. I think I was a rebound relationship for her. The guy came back and she bounded right back to him.”

Lily made a sad face. “Sorry.”

“I’m okay with it. There was something missing between us.”

She tilted her head to the side a little as if listening to his heart. Then she met his gaze. “Maybe we’ll see each other later.” She got

out of the car before he could say anything.

Shawn watched her until she got in the house and knew she was safe. “Yeah.” Smiling, he pulled away. “Maybe we will.”

*

Wednesday evening, Perry drove Burnett’s new car to Mrs. Conner’s. He’d seen her yesterday at the agency and she’d all but threatened to

neuter him if he didn’t show up for dinner. Then today, during lunch, she’d called to remind him. He’d gone to her house before, but to make

sure, he’d taken down her address.

He hoped she didn’t plan on a late evening. He missed Miranda so badly his toenails hurt. They’d spoken on the phone for two hours last

night, but he hadn’t gone to her place—hadn’t slept with her in his arms. Not just because he’d been exhausted from running down leads but

because of how hard it had been to hold back with her the night before.

She’d asked him to wait until this was over, and by damn he was going to wait. Tonight he hoped she’d be wearing something really ugly to

sleep in.

Glancing down at the files on the passenger seat, Perry’s hands on the steering wheel tightened. All of his leads on Caleb and the warlock

gang had been a wash. They had a few more addresses to check tomorrow before Perry would admit failure.

And his dad had texted to say Jax wanted to meet tomorrow night.

The thought of turning up empty-handed at Jax’s hurt like a toothache. Not because he gave a damn what his * half brother thought, but

because he needed to win his trust so he’d hand over information about the warlock gang.

The plan was if they didn’t get anything in the next two days, they’d storm Jax’s house and hope like hell Jax, or one of his men, would

turn over the information on the gang that held Tabitha. His worry was that Jax or his men wouldn’t turn over anything. Perry had to find

something out and fast. But how? How could he get his brother to trust him enough to tell him things?

Perry reached into the backseat for the flowers he’d bought for Mrs. Conner. When he told Miranda about his dinner tonight, she’d suggested

he bring flowers. Call it silly, but he liked her making sure he did the right thing. It made them feel like … a real couple again. Probably

because he’d heard Holiday tell Burnett things like that.

Getting out of the car, Perry went around and checked all the locks. The fact that Burnett had offered to let him use his classic Mustang said

a lot. The man loved his cars.

At times Perry wondered how he could tell an undemonstrative vamp how much he cared without sounding mushy. Maybe he should ask Miranda.

He rang the doorbell.

Mr. Conner, also a were, greeted Perry at the door. “I’m glad you came. She was going to send me after your butt if you didn’t. She

purposely left out garlic from the meatballs just for you.”

Perry laughed. Mr. Conner still had a couple of inches on Perry. Everyone described the couple as Mutt and Jeff. He was a gentle giant, his

wife was a tiny spitfire.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Perry said. “She threatened to have me neutered if I did.”

“And she’d probably do it, too,” the old man said. “She got me neutered after our fourth kid.”

“Is it Perry?” Mrs. Conner called from the kitchen.

“Yup,” Perry answered.

“Come and let me show you my spoon collection now that I’ve got them all up!”

After oohing and aahing over the spoons and the photos of her grandkids, she found a vase for the flowers, and they sat down for dinner. Her

table was set with expensive-looking white plates and cloth napkins, but Perry would bet no one tried to put the napkin in his lap. Mrs. Conner

told a few stories about when she worked the field as an FRU agent. The woman might stand less than five feet, but Perry didn’t doubt she’d