BAD Beginnings by Shelley Wall Page A

girls approached before darting a glance at the table of law enforcement. “Looks like we don’t have to worry about safety or robbery tonight, right?”
    Gemma laughed nervously. That’s the least of my worries at the moment. “Don’t mind them. So—”
    A chair screeched in the corner and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Uh-oh. Doby started their way. She knew that look. It was the time-to-mess-with-little-sis look. She prayed for a wreck or a burglary. Anything to get him moving somewhere other than the table she occupied. With Logan.
    “Gemma? What are you doing out this late? Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Doby nodded at Logan. “Hey.” Code for who-the-hell-are-you?
    “Very funny. Logan, meet my brother-in-law. Soon to be ex if he doesn’t behave.”
    Logan’s face paled. She’d seen that reaction before. People either adored, hated, or feared cops. Which was it with him? She studied his features for a sign. He cleared his throat. “So I guess I know who to call next time I have a ticket. Gemma, I don’t remember you mentioning a sister or cop in the family.”
    “You never asked. And I don’t think I’ve mentioned anything about my family at all. It’s never come up. I gathered you didn’t want to know.” Not to mention, she had no desire to tell.
    Doby kissed his wife and squeezed her tush. “I ordered for you, babe.” Ignoring a burst of laughter from his table, Doby slid into the seat by Gemma. “So, when are you gonna give our girl here a break?” He focused on Logan and waited.
    “Excuse me?”
    Silence. Tick. Tick.
    “You know, a vacation. She hasn’t been to a single family outing in two years. And by the looks of her, she’s aged five years in the process. What exactly are you doing to her?” The heavy innuendo wasn’t lost on her intended dinner partner.
    Logan seemed to come to terms with the cop-thing and squared his shoulders. He shifted in his seat to add height before speaking. “You’re the cop. You tell me. To what exactly are you inferring, man? This is a business dinner with my employee where we had intended to discuss work. Wherever your mind went, I suggest you rein it in and think before you say another word.”
    Doby blinked. He grabbed Logan’s water glass and stole a sip. “I’ll be watching you. I don’t care who you are. We…” he darted a finger between Gwen and himself, “will be watching you.”
    Logan nodded. “Fair enough. Hopefully I won’t bore you to tears in the process.”
    Doby took his wife’s hand and escorted her to the waiting table of food. Gwen waved sheepishly over his shoulder.
    Whew.
    *
    Baden tried to keep his attention on Gemma but years of awareness made that difficult. In his experience, a uniform of any type wasn’t to be trusted. A rare few deserved respect. Was her brother one of those? Something about the man rang familiar. He’d seen the guy before. No idea where, but he had.
    That changed everything.
    “So, now that the interruptions are over with…what was it you needed?” Their waitress refilled drinks then left. “Oh yeah, you wanted to show me something?”
    He had considered setting things straight before. Now, he needed to think. What would happen if he just laid his cards on the table and explained? Would she believe him? Would she report him to her brother-in-law? I am not walking out of this damn restaurant in handcuffs. He slid Logan’s phone her way. “My password isn’t working and I need to check messages.”
    Gemma cocked a brow. “Seriously? You called me here for that? How am I supposed to know what you set it to? You’ve never shared things like that with me.”
    “I know but surely you can call the service and have them reset it or something, can’t you?”
    “Don’t tell me you changed it too and forgot already.”
    That would make sense. He grinned. “You caught me. Look, I have work to do and I need to pull my messages. I was expecting a call.” From my real self or someone who