Page 28 of Tangled With You

Tension seemed to melt from Trevor’s body. “Good to know.”He drew in a breath, then exhaled, a smile warming his eyes. And in thatmoment, Ollie truly wanted to kick himself, because that’s when he realizedjust how much he’d wounded this man he would never, ever, intentionallyhurt.

“And, yeah, I may have spent some time wondering if you’dhad second thoughts,” Trevor admitted. “Fortunately, I have a kidnapping caseto keep me busy.” The corner of his mouth ticked up. “Sorry. Bad taste. It’sjust—”

“No,” Ollie said emphatically. “You don’t owe me an apology.This is on me. I guess I was parsing out the rules, maybe? Overthinking? Beingan idiot?”

“Maybe a little of the latter,” Trevor said with a laugh. “Iguess it’s a good thing you’re so cute.”

Relief flowed through him, as warm as sunshine. “I am, aren’tI?”

They shared a smile, holding each other’s eyes in a way thathad Ollie wishing they could justify some down time. That, however, wasn’t onthe agenda just yet.

“So how are things going downstairs?” Ollie asked.

“We’re makingprogress, but it’s slow. Not unexpected, of course, and you know the drill. Butyou haven’t lived it before.” He frowned. “Sorry. Actually, I guess you have.”

He was right about that. Ollie had come as soon as he’dlearned about Anne’s kidnapping. And, of course, he was around when Nikki wastaken. “Yeah, I have.”

“But this is different,” Trevor said, something odd coloringhis voice. “Because you love her.”

“It changes things,” Ollie agreed. “I mean, I probablyshouldn’t be working this case at all, but there’s no way I’m walking now. Horowitzcouldn’t keep me away if he tried.”

They were still holding hands, and Trevor gave Ollie’sfingers a quick squeeze before releasing them. “No, you’d find a way to seethis through even if he locked you in a cage. That’s who you are.”

“Is it? Or is it just because this one eats at me more?”

“It’s personal,” Trevor said firmly. “It’s Courtney. Ofcourse it eats at you more.”

Ollie nodded, ridiculously grateful that Trevor understood.He glanced toward the stairs. “We should get back to it,” he said, and togetherthey descended, reaching the bottom just as Brax was calling for everyone’sattention.

“Bree made out our room assignments,” he said, gesturing tothe nanny, whose long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “You want totake it away?”

“Me? Oh. Um, sure.” Bree brushed a stray strand of hair outof her face. She was a mix of Cherokee and Jewish, with stunning features andhuge brown eyes. She was also incredibly poised despite being tossed into themiddle of what had to bring back hellish memories of when she’d been taken withAnne.

“You’ll be sleeping in shifts, obviously,” she began, “buteven so, some of you are going to have to double-up. I’m going to go around theroom and tell everybody where they’re bunking.” She glanced down, then lookedaround until her gaze landed on Ollie. “You know where you are,” she said,referring to the room he habitually stayed in when he crashed at the Starkhome. “Trevor, you’ll be—”

“Trevor’s with me,” Ollie said, searching the group for areaction, his stomach settling when he didn’t find one.

“No problem.” She pressed her pen against the clipboard.“Who has which shift?”

“We’re working and sleeping the same shifts,” Ollieclarified. “You can use the room for someone else during our awake shift.”

Bree nodded, made a note. “Got it.”

Trevor slid a hand around Ollie’s waist, then leaned in towhisper. “Nice move, trapping me with you like that.”

Ollie had to force himself not to laugh. “I’m sorry I was anass.”

“We’ve been over that. You weren’t. Besides I like yourass.”

He wouldn’t laugh. “Work harder on the jokes, Barone.”

“I’ll get right on that.”

After the room assignment, Trevor went to go get a statusupdate from Denny and Mario. At the same time, Brax sidled over. “I thoughtso,” he said casually. “You two look good together.”

“Thanks, buddy. I think so too.”

Chapter Nine