He grinned, his face inches from hers. “Awesome, huh?”
She laughed. “Scared the hell out of me at first, but yeah, definitely. I had no idea you could get this close.”
His gaze scanned her face, pausing on her lips, tracking down her neck, then back up. “Yeah, the view’s pretty amazing this close up.”
Her body warmed under his stare, her heartbeat picking up tempo. She turned back toward the sky, hoping her voice would come out steady. “So can the people in the plane see us down here?”
“No, I don’t think so. Not at night. I’ve landed on this runway during the day and all you can see of the park is the pond and trees.”
“Must be pretty neat to see it from that perspective. I’ve never been on a plane,” she said, an unexpected wistfulness tingeing her tone.
He shifted onto his side, propping himself up with his elbow and looking down at her. “More of a road-trip girl?”
She shrugged. “I don’t exactly have room in my life for vacations.”
His eyes searched hers. “No time for trips, no time for dates, what’s got you so busy, Brynn LeBreck? You’re not secretly working undercover for the FBI or something, right?”
She laughed. “Why? You have something to hide?”
He leaned in a bit, like he was going to tell her a secret. “Only that I’ve got a mad crush on a girl who won’t even tell me the littlest thing about herself.”
The balmy notes of his voice moved over her like a caress, turning her insides liquid. She attempted a lighthearted smile. “There’s just not that much to tell. I’ve been going to community college for two years and am working to save money so that my sister and I can move to Austin in the fall. I have a scholarship to UT. That’s about it. My life isn’t exciting like yours.”
He sniffed. “You think my life’s exciting? I go to summer school, and then play the political game for the rest of the afternoon.”
She turned onto her side, mirroring his pose, needing to get some space between them. “You don’t seem to mind playing the role at work.”
“Being good at something and enjoying it are two totally different things. I hate the whole song and dance of politics. Drives me nuts. I just want to tell all those people who are trying to kiss Uncle Patrick’s ass via mine to fuck off. But he’s done a lot for me, so I smile and shake hands like I’m supposed to.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why do you live with them?”
“They’re the only family I have around here.” A glimmer of sadness crossed his features. “My mom died of cancer when I was twelve. Aunt Roslyn took me in, and she and Patrick adopted me officially a year later. Hence, the Jamison last name.”
“I’m sorry. Losing your mom that young had to be hard.”
“Yeah, I didn’t handle it so well. Gave my aunt and uncle hell for a few years. I was pretty angry at the universe. But then I realized my mom would’ve kicked my ass if she saw how I was behaving, so I got my act together.” The corner of his mouth tilted into a wistful smile. “I wish she were still around. She was awesome—really got me, you know?”r: Roni Loren
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.
FOUR
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.”