Dwyer, Dixie Lynn - SWAT Team Two and Miss Robin Hood [The Men of Five-0 #2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

telling herself that there was no way the cops would find out it was her who committed the hits, she was still concerned. She hoped that they didn’t know that she knew Bret.
    “Hey, Melissa, grab something to eat. You’ve been here all night,” Jamie stated as he brought her a plate of food.
    “I’m good.”
    “Eat something,” he suggested, but she sensed an almost order in his tone. The fact he had a sidearm and his badge hanging on his waist was intimidation for her, so she walked around the bar and joined him and the others at the table.
    They ate in silence, and soon the guys were having their own conversations, and Jamie spoke with her.
    He took a forkful of chicken marsala and asked her a question before eating it.
    “How’s that law degree coming along?”
    She swallowed her mouthful of salad and shrugged her shoulders. She almost felt as if he were reprimanding her.
    “Don’t tell me you quit trying to get it?”
    “No, I just kind of had to put it all on hold.”
    “You’d make a great attorney. Especially a prosecuting attorney. We could use your help to put away scumbags like Bret.”
    She swallowed hard and tried to act nonchalant.
    “Who?”
    He took a sip of beer and held her gaze. His interrogating expression caught her off guard.
    “I know you know who Bret is, honey. I’m just glad you got uninvolved with him as quickly as you got involved with him.”
    She placed her fork down on the plate and clasped her hands on her lap, and Jamie reached over and covered her knee with his hand. “Hey, I was worried about you when I found out, but the second I heard you dumped the asshole I was relieved. It’s got to be tough, struggling with money, trying to take care of an instant family, and your sick aunt while working around men like Bret. You know, all that ‘fuck you’ money and shit.”
    She held his gaze. “It was a mistake, but it was over quick. I fell for his good looks and exceptional charms. He sweet-talked me, and I was in a fragile state at the time. I’m only human, Jamie,” she added. He intimidated her but he also put her on edge. Who was he to reprimand her life or her actions? She didn’t want to make a scene or argue with him, but her gut instincts were pulling hard. Perhaps it was due to the conversation about Robin Hood earlier?
    He squeezed her knee and moved closer to her so he could whisper.
    “I know that. I’ve thought about you a lot, and I knew you were busy taking care of things. Hell, I left you messages to call me, but you never did. Why not?” he asked, sounding sad.
    “I’m sorry about that, Jamie, but I’ve had very little time to myself. It’s still like that now. Look where I am. I never met Paul before tonight. I’ve never heard of this men’s club or this private party room, yet this is the kind of work I need to do to survive. I’m just trying to survive, Jamie.” Just then her cell phone buzzed again.
    He leaned back into his chair and eyed her cell as she glanced at the number.
    “That’s some overprotective boyfriend you got,” he teased, but she knew that look. He was jealous and almost angry. She might as well pretend and get Jamie off her case.
    “Yeah, well, I’m not sure if I want him to be my boyfriend.”
    His jaw tightened and his nostrils flared as he inhaled then exhaled heavily.
    “Why’s that?”
    She thought for a moment, and the brothers popped into her head then she replied.
    “He’s real big and muscular. It kind of intimidates me.”
    “He’s not rough with you, is he?” he asked with concern then slowly took her wrist into his hand, slightly separating the black bracelets she wore, revealing her bruised wrist.
    She pulled it out of his grasp.
    “No. He most definitely isn’t.” She attempted to stand up, but Jamie stopped her, placing his hands on the arms of the chair she sat in.
    “How is Charlie’s place working out for you? I hear he has some regular clientele with big bucks supporting the club.”
    And