Sworn to Be His ( The Archer Family 3)

"Flynn looked unhappy enough. Isn't that the main goal?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. It's just weird. A bunch of people said things like 'what took so long?' while they were walking by." Her brows knit together.

"Because if they were you, they would have tried to bag me a long time ago. Now come on. We've got a case to focus on. The big night is coming and you've got plenty of paperwork to do." He tried to smile, but then he thought of the look on Flynn's face again, and the grin died on his lips.

"Yeah, right," Jade said, then got up and strolled out of the room.

* * *

Jade tapped her pencil against her desk and stared blankly at Freddrick's collection of troll dolls. Not because their blank, unsettling expressions fascinated her, but because if she focused hard enough she could just spot whether or not Zac was coming or going from his desk.

He'd been there all morning, resolutely pouring over the files on Scaglietti and his friends. And when he wasn't busy doing that, he was off in the debriefing room, studying the case board she and Derrick had revised earlier that morning.

Jeez, Derrick.

Pursing her lips thoughtfully, she glanced past Freddrick's desk over to place where her friend sat, tapping away mindlessly on his computer. He'd hardly said a word to her today, even when they were working the case together. She'd messed up while she was coming into the room and hit herself in the face with the door.

He hadn't even laughed.

Weird. It was all weird. Just like their stilted, awkward conversations after their kiss yesterday. She'd had half a mind to call him up when she got home and tell him to forget about the whole thing, that she'd figure something else out. But then she wondered if he'd think she was a bad kisser.

And, deep down, she lamented not being able to kiss him again.

Which was a crazy, wild thought. She didn't even know where it had come from. If anything, the way she felt was just some weird reaction to not having anyone in her life for so long. The human contact had felt good—better than good—but that had nothing to do with Derrick.

That had to do with her. Her and her womanly needs. And if she'd taken care of those womanly needs as a result of the kiss later that night? Well, that was natural.

When Zac finally moved from his desk, Jade got up and followed him until the two of the them were alone in the debriefing room. When the door closed behind them, he turned to face her, apparently unaware of her until now.

"Jade, just the girl I wanted to see." He turned his thousand watt grin on her.

"Is that so?" She smiled back.

"Yeah, I've been reviewing this case all day and I think I'm missing a few pieces of information."

"Oh," her heart plummeted into her stomach. "Right."

"There are some sources in the files that are blacked out—can you help me sort out who they are?"

"Well, not really. All that stuff is classified. You know that."

"Right, right." Zac glanced at the giant cork board behind them, then fingered a piece of red yarn on the table. "I'm just thinking...a few of the notes are sketchy. I wonder if we have false information, and it's hard to go back and check that kind of thing when you don't know who to talk to."

"Right, I get that." She gazed out the window to where Derrick was sitting and for a moment she thought she'd caught him glancing back at her, but just as quickly he was facing his computer, typing away again.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just so distracted because of this new thing with Dare."

"Right, totally." Zac nodded, though he didn't bother to look at her while he spoke. In fact, even his voice sounded far away. Like he was only half paying attention to her.

"He's just so great, you know?" She tried again, a little edge to her voice, but he traced a photo on the board and nodded.

"He seems like a great guy. I'm a little surprised. He doesn't seem your type, but," he shrugged. "I haven't seen you in years so what do I know?"

"Not my type?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've always been the girl who goes after the brains, right? An army guy like that doesn't seem like someone you’d be into."

She blinked, not sure what to say and oddly stung by the remark. "Are you saying Derrick is stupid?"