Anita laughs. “Hmm, I wonder what kind of dreams you thought I meant?” She shakes her head with a grin splitting her face. “You go and see Ned.”
Glad to escape for once, I grab my jacket and head for the stairs. The exercise of running up them to the fourth floor will get the blood flowing in a different direction than the thoughts of Savannah do.
With one floor to go, I stop to gather my thoughts. The whole climb, I’ve been thinking of ways to see Savannah again. It’s been too damn long, and even if it’s only a glimpse, the need to see her is strong—a lot stronger than I realized before I made my way to see her uncle. I wonder what he’ll think if I ask for her number? Getting it from her is something I’d thought about during the lessons leading up to summer vacation, but I hadn’t quite worked up the courage. I wimped out, which I regret now that I’m itching to catch a glimpse of her.
I need to stop letting her distract me.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Shoving through the door on the fourth floor, I try to shove Savannah out of my head as I see Ned heading to his office moments after he passes some paperwork to an officer. Ned is someone I’d trust with my life; in fact, I have trusted him with my life on several occasions before I lost detective status. I’ve been to his house too many times to count, but I’ve never once seen Savannah, or have I? Every now and again, a teasing memory surfaces of a child in a dress with her hair up in a band at a barbecue. Before the full memory can be brought to the surface, it’s gone. I know from Ned that Savannah is a lot younger than I am, which on occasion has made me wonder what I’m doing obsessing over someone so young. But an eleven years age difference isn’t a problem for me. She’s twenty-five, not under eighteen, so there isn’t a problem.
Movement opposite Ned’s desk catches my attention, telling me he isn’t alone. As I walk closer, my heart sinks, and I can’t get my head to accept that the man who is engaged to Savannah is sitting in Ned’s office wearing the uniform of a sheriff’s deputy.
He isn’t someone I’ve ever seen here before. The few times I have seen him, he’s been at the field, on the occasions that he’s dropped off or picked up Savannah. I had no idea he was a deputy. For that matter, I’d never given thought to what he did. It just angered me that he had Savannah when she’s meant to belong to me.
Get a fucking grip, Jace. She doesn’t belong to you, no matter how much you wish that she did.
Ned catches my eye through the glass partition separating his office from the bustle of the detective’s room. Waving me inside, Ned stands and opens the door.
We shake hands in greeting, and I kind of miss the hug that usually accompanies the hand greeting. He’s familiar and a friend, and even though I’d rather not have the other guy in the room with us, I’m happy to see Ned.
“It’s been too long, Jace,” Ned comments, sitting behind his desk.
“A couple of weeks.” I smile, and take the remaining chair opposite his desk.
He chuckles. “You have me there.” He clears his throat. “Let me introduce you two.”
“We’ve seen each other before,” leaves my mouth before I can smother the urge.
Ned looks between us, and frowns. “I didn’t know you’d both met.”
“He’s dropped Savannah at the field few times, although we’ve never been officially introduced,” I reply before turning to him, “Jace Stone.” I hold my hand out and await his response.
I don’t have too long to wait, although I get the feeling he’d rather not respond to me at all.
Something to think about.
“Richard Tate, Savannah’s fiancé.”
Ignoring him, I turn back to Ned, wondering why he has us both in his office, all the while keeping an eye on Richard from the corner of my eye.
It’s clear that Richard thinks I’m a threat to his relationship, which tells me he isn’t sure of his woman. If he were, he wouldn’t feel threatened by me, and why he does when we’ve never actually met before is anyone’s guess.
Ned clears his throat as he shuffles some papers on his desk—a clear indication that he’s nervous. He glances between the two of us as the tension builds in the room. “Um, okay. You girls need to get along because I want you both to arrange a charity softball game benefitting the local children’s home, Golden Circle.” He pauses before continuing, “The two teams will be one from here and one from the academy.” He looks directly at me. “Jace, you’re on the academy’s team, so I can’t see any problems with you getting them together.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I really like this idea. So we charge per ticket and all money goes to the home, right?”
“Yes, we have the grounds,” Ned replies, before waving between Richard and me. “Richard is a transfer and he’s organized a few fundraisers before, which is where you,” he points at Richard, “come in. You both need to double check dates, make sure there’s enough time for the event to be organized, confirm the date with Joe, who looks after the field, and then away you can run with it.” Ned relaxes back in his chair and places his unwavering gaze on the two of us. “Also, Clint has offered to come in with the food stands and donate all the profit for the day to Golden Circle.” He eyes us both suspiciously. “Is there going to be a problem, or are you both going to be able to pull this off?”
I certainly don’t have any problems with this and it’s for a worthy cause as well. It’s something I can get sucked into so I’m distracted from the gorgeous redhead that is under my skin. I nod and say, “I don’t have a problem and would be happy to support the children’s home.”
Ned shifts in his seat and I realize that some of the tension around his eyes is starting to relax. He turns his gaze toward Richard, who has remained quiet.
Richard nods. “Do you intend to play?” he directs at me in an abrupt manner.
I’m surprised by his question, and for once, I’m silenced as my brain tries to spin into gear.
Luckily, Ned doesn’t have the same problem. “Of course Jace is going to be playing. I’ve already said he’s on the academy’s team.”