Page 64 of Tied Over

“Stop.”

He waggled his eyebrows for me and took a breath. “It was good, what you and Crouse did that night, Jed, getting Petrov and all. I don’t know Crouse, but you backed him up, and I appreciate that.”

“’Course,” I murmured, studying him. “FBI… That’s why you never get away on vacations, am I right?”

“I get away for big holidays, like you, and I have time with my family, but stuff like this—oh, let’s all meet in Seattle—that’s not always gonna happen.”

“And Hayden thinks that’s insane,” Angie told me.

“Which is why when he said he was marrying a marshal,” Zach said, widening his eyes like that was nuts, “I had to wonder if he was drunk or stoned.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but Bodhi’s a smart guy. He would know if Hayden couldn’t handle the—”

“Bodhi looked shell-shocked when I met him at New Year’s, and even more so after Hayden proposed,” Zach apprised me. “And at first I thought, maybe Bodhi just wants to be married, but I see in him the same commitment I have to my job, so I was really confused until I got here.”

“What do you mean?”

He grinned and then walked away.

“What does he mean?” I repeated to Angie.

She gave me a smile that said I was an idiot.

“I’m missing something.”

“Yeah. You are. You’re missing Bodhi.”

“I—”

“Every time I’ve seen Bodhi, and yes, it’s only been three, no, wait, four—five? No, four,” she said firmly. “The four times I’ve seen him, he seemed nice but a bit overwhelmed, and I thought it was the whole oh my God, I’m so lucky to have this man, but what I realize now is that it was him convincing himself he was happy.”

“No. You’re wrong. He is happy, and he would never marry Hayden if he didn’t love him,” I stressed to her. “He’s honest in all things.”

“Except that I suspect he thinks it’s time to get the marriage part of his life wrapped up, so he’s checking a box with Hayden.”

“I think you’re deluded.”

“And I am, a bit, but this is Psychology 101. Bodhi’s estranged from his family, he needs a home base, he craves stability in his life, and so he’s going with the solid, financially stable, upstanding-member-of-society lawyer.”

I shook my head.

“Believe what you want, but my husband agrees.”

“You’re both—”

“Let me tell you a story.”

“Oh no,” I grumbled.

She grinned at me. “Once upon a time, I was engaged to a perfect man. I mean, he was kind, smart, handsome, his stock portfolio was robust, and if I’d married him, I could have been a stay-at-home mom and not felt guilty about buying myself whatever I wanted.”

“But?”

“But he didn’t get under my skin and make me want to scream, and he didn’t make me laugh,” she said with an exhale as she looked over at Zach. “He also had no idea how to fix a washing machine, hang Christmas lights, build a treehouse, and there was no way he would have been able to catch the bats that got in the house and then put them back outside with a stirring rendition of ‘Born Free.’”

I couldn’t help smiling.

“He also wouldn’t have bought insulation and had his buddies come over after the house was bat-proofed for three thousand dollars—which is highway robbery, by the way—and installed it. His friends wouldn’t have done it just for beer and pizza.”