One Good Man by Alison Kent

about starting a family. Maybe she’d never wanted one at all. Maybe she wanted one now more than ever. He didn’t ask because he didn’t want to stir things that had settled.
    But then she went on. “The married-with-children thing is a long-running joke between me and my mother. She takes the blame for me being single.”
    Coming up on a slow-moving vehicle, Kell eased the SUV’s cruise control to coast before changing lanes. It gave him time to let what Jamie had said sink in. “Why would she think it’s her fault?”
    “Because of her hovering.”
    Strange, he mused, passing the car on his right, the sun that shone through the window glinting red through Jamie’s hair. “She seemed concerned, protective even, but I didn’t get a sense of her hovering. Or of you letting her.”
    Jamie laughed, a wonderful sound, fearless and full of life. “Trust me. There’s no letting involved. She does it. I put up with it. And we love each other to death. End of story.”
    “Love makes all the difference,” he heard himself saying before he thought better of going soft. “Between crowding and caring, I mean.”
    “It can still be crazy-making,” she said, the smile on her face wry.
    Kell understood. He had a few crazy-making memories of his own. “I lucked out being the oldest. My mom still had Terry and Brennan at home to fuss over. Then Brennan left for school and Terry got the full baby-of-the-family treatment.”
    Jamie chuckled. “And you weren’t jealous at all.”
    “Jealous?” He shook his head. He didn’t begrudge either of his brothers anything. “But I did miss the attention.” And then he heard himself admitting, “I liked being spoiled. Still do.”
    Several seconds passed before Jamie responded, and Kell began to wonder what the hell he was doing. Getting the kiss out of the way had been one thing. Turning the conversation back to the personal was another, and not very smart.
    He did not like the direction the attraction between them was driving him. He’d told her twice now another time, another place, and was thinking he should tattoo a reminder on the inside of his eyelids, a road sign telling him where not to go before he found himself unable to shift gears.
    Finally, she moved, shifting in her seat, her voice low when she said, “The right woman will do that, you know. Spoil you.”
    It wouldn’t do any good to pretend she was talking about someone’s mother when she was talking about all the things he’d wanted from her last night, the things he’d denied himself, the things he could’ve had right there in her driveway.
    He couldn’t let himself think she was making him an offer, or read anything into the one she’d made him last night. She was a case he was working. That’s all they had between them. “Yeah? The right woman and a Faustian bargain?”
    She sat back with a huff. “No wonder you’re still on your own.”
    He wanted to laugh, to tease her, to play until they reached their destination, but mostly he was desperate for a way out of this detour, so he grabbed the opening she’d given him instead. “I’m not so good at leaving my work at the office. I’ve never thought it would be fair to saddle someone with my life, what I have to deal with, what I see. I’m not always the best of company.”
    He knew she would understand his concern. Because of what she’d lived through, it had to be something she’d considered. He didn’t for a minute believe she’d never been in a relationship, though he wouldn’t be surprised if her lovers had been only casual.
    Anything more would mean letting someone in, and neither one of them lived in a place that was very inviting. Jamie lived with the horror of her past, and would for the rest of her life; even if the killer was caught and put away, she’d carry with her what had happened.
    And Kell…He carried his cases in his head; his subconscious was always stewing on the ones he’d back-burnered while he feverishly stirred