I gave him a look. “It’s fine.”
“You realize that’s a ceramic-tile floor?”
“I’ll make it work.” It was certainly better than my closet.
“I get it if you’re uncomfortable, but I promise I won’t touch you.”
I didn’t want to admit I was uncomfortable. That was need-to-know information.
I gestured at him, like Look at yourself. “We wouldn’t both even fit in that bed, dude.”
Now an actual, wry smile, and I felt glad to have led us to a less painful topic. “I’ve squeezed girls into it before,” Jack said.
“I prefer the floor,” I said, to settle it.
“There’s no way I’m making you sleep on the floor.”
“There’s no way I’m sleeping in your bed.”
“Let’s not be fussy.”
“I think I’m being remarkably unfussy, actually.”
He thought about that. “Yes. You are. Thank you.”
I hadn’t expected to be thanked.
“But,” he went on, “you still get the bed.”
“I really don’t want it,” I said.
“Neither do I.”
“Fine. We’ll both sleep on the floor.”
Jack studied me like I was odd. “Are you saying that even if I sleep on the floor, you’ll also sleep on the floor?”
This might be my only area of autonomy for a month. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll be on the floor no matter what.”
“You’d rather sleep on cold, hard, ceramic tile than sleep next to me?”
“I bet you don’t get that a lot.”
Jack smiled like he was impressed. “Absolutely never.”
“It’s probably good for you,” I said.
Jack shrugged, like Maybe so. Then—and it’s possible a gentleman would have fought me a little harder—Jack said, “Suit yourself.”
That settled, I looked around.
I honestly had no idea what this assignment was going to mean for me. Almost all my normal responsibilities had been shifted over to the remote team, which had secured an off-site rental house just across the farm road as an operations base. They were handling video surveillance, monitoring the perimeter of the property, watching social media, and doing all the things I’d normally do.
Plus we were at threat level yellow.
And we were in the middle of nowhere.
In a house surrounded by five hundred acres of pastures. So there wasn’t even that much to do. Besides possibly track the positioning of the cattle.
I mean, it might as well be threat level white.
A paid vacation, everyone said. But there was a reason I never took vacations. What, exactly, was I supposed to do with myself all day?
I’d be technically working. I just wouldn’t have … any duties.
But before I could panic, there was a rap on the door as loud as a shotgun.
We both jumped.
Through the door, we heard Hank. “Jack, I need to talk to you.”
It wasn’t until all of Jack’s tension snapped back into place that I realized how much joking around about our sleeping arrangements had relaxed him.
Even his posture shifted. He straightened up and left the room.
Should I follow him?
I hadn’t been invited.
In a normal job, whenever I was on shift, I always kept the principal in my sights. But this was anything but a normal job.
Still uncertain, I made my way back to the kitchen, but I stopped when I neared the back door. Jack and Hank were just past it, on the screen porch. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear their voices through the open kitchen window.
And they were talking about me.
“You actually did it,” Hank said. “You actually showed up here with that girl in tow.”
“You seemed fine with it at the hospital.”
“Yeah. I seemed fine with a lot of things at the hospital.”
“What am I supposed to do? Mom invited her.”
“Only because she thought you wouldn’t come without her.”
“Mom was right. I wouldn’t come without her.”
“You’re making things harder on Mom. And you don’t even care.”
“You’re making things harder on her. And I care about that very much.”
“Doesn’t she have enough to deal with right now?”
“I’m only here because she asked me to be.”
“She wants to see you. Not some stranger.”
“Hannah’s not a stranger. She’s my girlfriend.”