Free Embattled Hearts 1 by J.M. Madden

talked briefly about a stakeout Roger was assigned. He held out his arms, and she had no problem taking a firm hug from him.
    “You okay, girly? John filled us in on what’s going on.”
    “I’m fine,” she told him honestly. “John’s here. Nothing’s getting through him.”
    Roger gave her that knowing look, and she gave him a reassuring smile back, telling him without words she really was okay. Roger knew how she felt about John. She had admitted it a month ago during one of their lunches. Actually, Roger was the only one that knew.
    “And when John’s not here, one of us will be,” he promised. “We’ll get these cameras up and catch this guy.”
    The living room turned into security headquarters, cluttered with wires and closed-circuit monitors. There were now seven cameras mounted in and around the exterior of her house.
    Shannon felt like she was living in a goldfish bowl. They even put one in her bedroom. When she objected, John overruled her. “It’s your most vulnerable place,” he told her simply.
    Which didn’t make her feel any better.
    He called her over to the table and motioned for her to sit down in the chair beside him.
    “I want to give you something.”
    Her heart slammed in her chest when he stretched a glittering tennis bracelet between his hands. Shock held her immobile for several long seconds before she held out her wrist. She felt blood rush into her cheeks and she struggled for something to say. “John, I—”
    “You need to keep this on twenty-four seven, even in the shower. It has a short-range transmitter in it that feeds to this GPS”—he pointed to one of the black boxes on the table—“but it only has a range of about five miles.”
    Shannon blinked at him, knowing she had “stupid” written all over her face. “Oh, okay.”
    “And I want you to start carrying your gun. Do you have a holster for it?”
    She nodded. “An ankle one.”
    “Good. Later we’ll get it out and go over its action.”
    John turned back to the monitors and she was left sitting in the chair with her arm still held out. She pulled it back and lurched to her feet, humiliated tears burning her eyes. Roger stepped forward to say something, but she waved him away and escaped to the kitchen.
    How stupid could she be? John would never have actually given her a piece of jewelry. They weren’t dating. They were barely even friends. She’d just let herself react before her brain had a chance to compute.
    At loose ends, she started to bake. In little time, she had a corn cake in the oven, and Mexican food simmered on the stove. The men entered the kitchen just as she removed everything from the burners.
    “Damn, girl, whatcha cookin’? Smells too good in here.”
    Shannon laughed at Roger. “Mexican food. Hungry?”
    “Even if I wasn’t I’d eat, just to have your cooking.” Eagerly, he grabbed a plate and began building a burrito.
    John was still in the doorway, brows furrowed, watching the banter between she and Roger.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    He nodded and rolled forward. “Fine.”
    Dinner was a fun escape for her. Roger made sure she didn’t linger on the heavy stuff, and instead steered the conversation to lighter topics. Shannon was a little uncomfortable with how John acted. He didn’t talk. He glowered. At Roger specifically.
    Roger didn’t seem to mind, he just kept talking. She couldn’t help but laugh at some of the stories he told her. And it seemed every time she laughed, John frowned all the harder. It was actually a relief when Roger said he needed to head out. It was after nine and he had work in a few hours, covering a shift for a buddy.
    Roger promised to see her the next day and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Snow fell heavily outside. “Maybe. Maybe not. Look at it.”
    “Aw, Shannon, it’s just a few snowflakes.”
    Roger pulled the hood up on his coat, and was gone. Shannon closed the door after him and leaned back against it as she glared at John.
    “Why