The corner of my mouth kicked up. “She’s great with the boys. Charlie’s made her his second best friend. Drew already proposed.”
Nash let out a bark of laughter at that. “Good. Maybe he’ll stop hitting on Maddie.”
I chuckled. “She even has a way with Luke. No matter what he throws at her, she just keeps calm. Steady.”
“Sounds like you scored on the nanny front.”
“No question.” But I knew it was so much more than that.
Footsteps sounded on the linoleum, and I lifted my gaze to see Daniels and Reed coming in from patrol.
Daniels lifted his chin in greeting. “Met your new nanny this morning, Chief.”
Reed let out a whistle. “The body on her. Think I could get her to tuck me in at night?”
Nash muttered a curse as he shoved his chair back.
But I was already on my feet, striding toward Reed. “What did you say?”
His eyes went wide. “Shit, boss. I was just joking around. She’s hot, that’s all.”
“Think that’s information you should’ve kept to yourself,” Nash said.
“We don’t talk about women like that in this station. Especially not those taking care of my children,” I growled.
But I knew that wasn’t the whole of it, not even close. The idea of this asshole creeping on Hallie was enough to get my blood boiling.
Nash clamped a hand on my shoulder, squeezing hard. “He heard you. Isn’t that right, Reed-y?”
Hall was only a handful of years younger than me, so having Nash put him in his place wasn’t exactly welcome. His eyes went hot, and he opened his mouth to say something stupid, but I stopped him.
“Don’t,” I clipped. “You say something else, and I’m writing you up.”
Reed snapped his mouth closed as his partner gave him a little shove.
“Come on,” Daniels said. “Let’s fill out that paperwork and grab lunch.”
Reed jerked his head in a nod but gave me and Nash one last glare as he stalked away.
Nash squeezed my shoulder one more time. “Breathe. I really don’t want to have to bury a body in the woods today. Ground’s frozen. It’d be a real bitch.”
I knew he wanted me to laugh, but I couldn’t quite get there. Because my mind was running in circles. Where had he met Hallie? What had he said? Had he scared her?
The urge to call her was so strong my fingers twitched. But what the hell would I say?
I clenched and flexed my fists. “No gravedigging today.”
Nash slapped me on the back. “Good. Because that burrito is damn good, and it’s getting cold.”
Daniels turned back to me. “Sorry, Chief. He doesn’t mean any harm.”
Anger surged again. “If he doesn’t mean it, then he should catch a clue and not say moronic things. And if I find out he’s bothering Hallie—”
“He won’t,” Daniels assured me. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Good,” I clipped.
But Daniels made no move to follow his partner. “What’s her story anyway?”
