Page 38 of Criminally Yours

“What did you say?”

He sucked in his cheeks. He was an expert bodyguard who kept politicians and world leaders safe, yet he accidentally spoke his thoughts aloud? “Do you want a sip?”

Strike held his mug out to her. She raised her eyebrow.

“It’s coffee. It’s safe, I promise.”

Millie’s lips twitched. “I’ll trust you, but just this once.”

She took it and held it between her hands, closed her eyes, and hummed.

Strands of hair had fallen from her bun. They lifted on the breeze. He cracked his knuckles, and she stared at him with a beady eye.

“You always liked strong coffee first thing,” he mumbled.

“And you always told me off for it while you drank basic cola.”

His chuckle turned guttural as she sipped the coffee, her throat pulsing with each swallow. Tiny drops of liquid saton her lips, and she swiped them with her tongue and hummed again.

A thick heat filled his belly.

She handed his mug back to him. “I remember you hiding in my shed, drinking that cola, so your parents wouldn’t find out.”

“And you ate sherbet lemons so your dentist parents wouldn’t find out about your secret sugar fixes,” he countered.

She giggled, and a grin pulled up his lips.

“When I got to the army, I used to miss those mornings and evenings spent in your shed, talking about anything and everything.”

“I forgot how fluffy your hair is in the morning.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “You’re more like a dog than a brutish, grumpy bodyguard.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Brutish and grumpy? You’ve worked out my brand way too quickly.”

“You’re easy to read.”

“I hope not, Doc.” He smiled. “My thoughts would make you blush.”

“You’d be surprised.” Her eyes twinkled, and he fought the need to demand more.

Eventually, they settled into a comfortable silence as she sat back against the bench.

“It smells so good out here. This is the opposite of my small apartment in London. I don’t know why I moved there.”

“Sometimes, we make decisions that appear right at the time. It’s good to get away, though, especially with your job. You spend your life helping others and ensure they’re listened to and respected. Don’t forget to give yourself therapy.” She gawked at him. “I have a place in London, too, but I miss the countryside and the water.”

He breathed in the scent of fir trees, water, andflowers. He wasn’t going to remind her of the night they’d gotten together in a forest, but his memories were relentless.

She glanced at him and pushed her glasses up her nose. “Do you remember that camping trip we took, the one where you… said what you said?”

At least he wasn’t the only one plagued by the past. “The second happiest night of my life? Yeah, daily.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “It was a good sunset that night,” she stuttered. “Those teenage years were nice. We had our worries, but it was nothing like this.”

She scratched Jeff behind his ears.

Strike stared at the lake where birds skimmed it while others bobbed. “I’m sorry again. I wish I’d been there for you when Casey and her group bullied you. I wanted to rage when you said they laughed about you in the toilets. I would have lost it if I’d heard that. She’s different now, but that doesn’t change what she and her friends did to you. What did they say?”

Millie shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “It doesn’t matter.”