Just Kidding (SWAT Generation 2.0 1)

When I was finally able to leave, I knew that I’d still be writing reports until late tonight on what happened.

That was okay by me, though, seeing as I’d have Rowen at my side while I did it.

“Thank you for the ride,” Avery said. “I really appreciate it.”

I nodded once. “Derek’s got your car. I’ll give him a ride back to the station when he gets here.”

We both looked backward as her vehicle pulled to the curb and Derek bailed out of it.

He took one look at Avery in her fancy skirt and high heels and shook his head as if to clear it.

He tossed the keys in her direction, and Avery, not expecting them, didn’t catch them in time. They hit her in the face.

“Sorry.” Derek said, then turned to me, gesturing with his head.

Fifteen minutes later, we were once again at his cruiser, and I was heading to pick my girl up.

When I arrived at her work, I was surprised to find every light blazing, and not one but two cars in the parking lot.

Parking at the front door instead of a designated parking spot, I went inside to see two of the last people on earth I expected there. And one very pissed off Rowen on the phone.

She was standing in the mouth of her office while Rachelle and Jerry stood in the receptionist area.

“What are you two doing here?” I barked.

Rachelle’s eyes came to me and froze.

Jerry didn’t freeze.

He looked pissed.

“What are you two doing here?” I repeated again.

When neither one of them spoke, I turned to Rowen who was still on the phone.

“…I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to work with them. There’s a conflict of interest,” she said. “And I don’t think I’d do them a good enough job. I didn’t want to say no in case you decided you… okay. I’ll tell them.”

When she hung up, her eyes were on mine.

“They’re needing a lawyer because of what we told them yesterday,” she said. “Jerry feels that you’ll take this farther and that you’ll do it just to spite them. So they’re contacting a lawyer to prepare for the inevitable.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Your boss?” I gestured to the phone.

She shook her head. “Doesn’t feel like we should take the case, just like I assumed she’d say. But she did give me some recommendations for them. I’m to share those with them and ask them to leave.”

I curled my hand around the side of her neck, bringing her in close.

Pressing a kiss against her lips, I pushed her away and gestured toward the two people that I knew were watching.

“Get that done,” I said. “I’m ready to get you home.”

After dealing with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, I got Rowen in my cruiser and started home.

“Do you want to stop for food?” I asked. “I think I have enough to cook some grilled chicken or something. But I don’t have anything to go with it.”

She shook her head.

“Honestly, I think I’d be happy with eating cereal for dinner if that’s all the same to you. I’ve had a really long day,” she admitted. “Jenny and Clancy’s caseload is unreal. I had no clue that they’d be so busy or popular.”

I was already nodding my head. “Clancy and Jenny set up practice out here when Todd Masterson retired.”

She was already nodding her head.

Everyone knew who Todd Masterson was—an ex-military old-school lawyer that was so good at what he did he’d never lost a case.

“He was the reason that I wanted to become a lawyer in the first place,” she said as she gathered her things.

Rachelle and Jerry had left in a huff about five minutes before, leaving us blissfully alone as she gathered her things.

“Really?” I asked as I leaned my ass against her desk and waited.

She shrugged her coat on, followed by her purse straps.

I stood up and offered her my hand as we walked together toward the door.

“Yes,” she said, answering my earlier question. “You know the circumstances of my real dad, right?”

Rowen’s real father had been an FBI agent. He’d gotten caught up in a lot of crazy shit and had ended up passing away during an operation gone wrong.

“Yes,” I answered. “I think.”

She grinned up at me and started sifting through her bag looking for her keys.

I held the door open for her and exited in front of her, my eyes sweeping the street and our surroundings automatically.

“Anyway, my dad left me some benefits that my step-mother’s family tried to get a couple of years after he passed away. And we had to go to Todd for help. He ended up getting us everything we wanted. I just thought that was so cool, though. Like how freakin’ exciting is it that he could walk into a courtroom, lay out his case, and win it against one of the most aggressive lawyers I’ve ever seen?” She shook her head as she locked the door up and turned to me. “I try my first case tomorrow.”