He was tempted to give a flippant reply about liking his privacy, but he knew that attitude was a flimsy shield against Julie’s persistence. “Because the last time I camped out at Perry’s I was an angry and scared teenager. I don’t want to revisit that time of my life.”
“I can understand that.” Julie curled her arm around his chest and held him close.
Eric stilled in Julie’s casual embrace. He couldn’t decide whether to pull away or to enjoy her touch. “Perry gave me my first after-school job,” he said in a rush, trying to conceal his discomfort.
“At his agency?” she asked with a yawn. “Weren’t you kind of young?”
“At first I did odd jobs or errands. Some light cleaning.” Eric slowly relaxed in Julie’s arms. “Anything to get money in my pocket and food in my stomach. I was at Perry’s agency more than I was at school or at home, and I started learning basic investigative skills. It turned out I was good at it.”
“Why didn’t you work for Perry?”
“I was going to, but Perry thought I needed more structure than he could give. He encouraged me to join the army when I graduated high school. He felt it was the only way I could make a clean break from my past. He was right.”
“So, when you got out of the military, you went to work for ICE.”
“I couldn’t resist,” he said as he stroked Julie’s hair. “I get to travel the world and never stay in one place for long. I developed my investigative skills because I’m on call every minute of the day. It was—is—the perfect job for me.”
“Did you ever try to use those skills to look for your mom?” she asked cautiously.
His fingers flexed against her hair. “Yeah,” Eric admitted.
“It’s what got you interested in investigations in the first place, wasn’t it?”
He looked down at her face, but her eyes were closed. “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch,” she murmured. “Did you ever find her?”
“I tried for years, but it was all cold leads and dead ends.” It was probably for the best. Any reunion would have been painful and disappointing. “I wanted my mom back, but it was clear she didn’t want to be found. I gave up the search when I joined the military.”
Julie snuggled deeper into his shoulder. “You are lucky to have Perry.”
Eric agreed. “He didn’t have a family, but he took his role as godfather very seriously. I would have taken a very different path if he hadn’t been around.”
“And Perry is lucky to have you in his life.”
He didn’t know about that. He was an inconvenience and a troublemaker, but Perry was always one step ahead of him. It had been as if he knew what Eric was going through.
“And I’m lucky, too.”
Her words pierced his heart. “Why?” he asked. “I’m not perfect.”
“Who wants perfect? Perfect is boring,” she said as she drifted to sleep. “I’d rather have you.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING JULIE yawned as she slipped on her stiletto heels. She smiled tiredly as she listened to Eric hum as he shaved at the bathroom sink. The man couldn’t carry a tune but it sounded a little like one of the songs played last night at the club.
It was definitely a sign that they had spent too much time at the nightclub. Maybe Eric was right in insisting they take a weekend trip to Mount Rainier. She drew the curtains open and saw a clear view of snow-covered mountain.
She leaned against the glass and stared at the majestic sight. The morning sky was smudged with pink and purple. It looked quiet and peaceful. She wasn’t looking for peace and she wasn’t much of a nature person, but she was willing to try if it meant having Eric to herself before he returned to Washington, D.C.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to take the trip right now?” Julie called out to Eric.
“There hasn’t been a good time, so let’s make the time.” He stepped out of the bathroom with a bath towel slung low on his hips. “I haven’t seen much of this area other than the office and a few nightclubs.”
“I know, but timing is important.” She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his sculpted chest. She licked her lips imagining how his wet skin would taste. For a moment Julie couldn’t remember what she was talking about. “I need to contact the authorities about Mercedes and Tiffany.”
“We can do that when we get back,” he said as he walked to his closet. “There’s not that much we can tell. We don’t know who they’re working for.”