He tickled her ribs, causing her to gasp. “Focus on me,” he instructed. “There’s a moratorium on deep thoughts until your community service is finished.”
“I don’t remember that being a rule.”
“Well, it his.” He rested his cheek against her forehead and sighed. “I just want to get through this. The faster you’re finished, the faster we can focus on the wedding. That’s what I want to talk about.”
“I don’t have much to report about the wedding. We’re still on target for the big day. It’s only a few weeks from now ... and I’ll be totally done with community service by then.”
“That’s exciting.”
“Yes. We’re both excited for that.”
Jack was silent for a beat as he rubbed his fingers up and down her narrow back. “I can’t wait to be your husband,” he whispered, moving his mouth to hers. There was a neediness in the gesture and it stole Ivy’s breath as they sank into the exchange.
When the finally parted — which was difficult for both of them to manage — they were breathless, eyes wild.
“We really don’t have time for this,” Jack groaned as he stroked his hand through her hair. “How I wish you weren’t a criminal.”
She elbowed his stomach and laughed. “What a thing to say to your future wife.”
“You’re already my wife in my heart, Ivy,” he offered. “I can’t wait until it’s official, though.”
“Yeah.” She pressed a kiss to his scar and then rolled to her back to stretch. “I need to get ready for community service. I don’t think it will go well for me if I’m late. Greg doesn’t strike me as the understanding sort.”
“Greg is a jerk,” Jack agreed, propping himself on his elbow as he watched Ivy move toward the bathroom. “If you want, I can drive you to your rendezvous today. That way you don’t have to worry about your car on the highway. I can drop you off and pick you off.”
“Oh, well, that sounds ... nice.” Ivy hesitated near the bathroom door. “That’s not fair to you, though, especially if you have to be somewhere else to get information for Sasha’s case.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. She was a terrible liar. That was one of her claims to fame. “That’s not why you don’t want me to drop you off.”
She let loose a heavy sigh. She couldn’t withhold the truth from him. They’d promised never to utter big lies to one another. It was a hard and fast rule ... that stuck. “You’re bad for my street cred.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or glare. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She wasn’t in the mood for a fight but she recognized she needed to hold her ground on this one. “Those people don’t trust me now that they know my fiancé is a police officer. I don’t want to remind them in case ... well, in case they decide to make my life hard or something.”
Jack’s heart did a hard roll as he watched her stare at her feet. She was embarrassed she’d brought this into their lives. He understood the emotion, but it was completely unnecessary. “It’s going to be okay,” he reassured her quickly, forcing a smile he didn’t really feel. “We’re going to get through this and then it’s going to be nothing but a funny memory, a story we tell our kids eventually.”
“Oh, we’re never telling this story to our kids.” Ivy was adamant. “It will give them ideas. I mean ... what if they say things like ‘Mom has been arrested so it’s okay for me to be arrested’? I don’t like that idea one little bit.”
He barked out a laugh, amused despite himself. “Fine. I’ll never tell.”
“Good.” She rested her hand on the door, considering. “I’m going to park at Max’s lumberyard today. The spot where we’re meeting is only a quarter of a mile from there. I think it will be convenient.”
Jack nodded. Max Morgan, Ivy’s brother, would be close enough to keep an eye on her today. That made him feel better ... even if his fiancée didn’t know Jack had put him on the job. He liked that idea. “Okay. I’ll try to leave messages with him if anything important comes up.”
“That would be nice. I’m actually going to take lunch today. I can’t make it through an entire shift without eating again.”
“I think it’s smart to take food.” He searched her face for signs of fear and found nothing but resignation. “It’s only a few weeks, honey. We’ve been through a lot worse than this.”
“I know. I just wish we were already on the other side of this.”
“We both wish that.”
“HEY, JAILBIRD.”
Max was behind the front desk in the main office when Ivy parked at his lumberyard. She was expecting him to make fun of her so the taunt glanced off her shoulder without sticking.
“You should be nice to me,” she chided. “I’ve been hardened by the system. I now know how to shank people.”
Instead of laughing, Max frowned. “Please tell me people aren’t threatening you.”
“It’s been fine ... other than finding a body yesterday.”
“That was you?” Max’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”
“It wasn’t technically me,” she clarified. “It was my group, though. One of the guys felt the call of nature and found her.”
“That’s ... lovely.” Max made a face. “They should at least have respectable facilities for you guys to use.”
“I’m pretty sure, when you’re on probation, respect goes out the window.” For a moment, Ivy considered wallowing in self-pity. That wasn’t who she was, though. She wanted to take her punishment with as much dignity and respect as she could muster. Besides, if she whined to Max, he would say something to Jack. It wasn’t that he was a tattletale as much as a worried brother. He would assume Jack could do something to fix things — which he couldn’t — which would result in Jack ultimately feeling worse than he already did. Ivy didn’t want that.
“I’m fine,” she reassured Max. “Honestly, it’s not
