With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane Read Free Book Online

to a world where Cubs fans and White Sox fans can peacefully coexist.”
    “Maybe. But he almost had a conniption when he found out I cheer for the Sox. This is the man who could put you back in prison in a second. Do you  really  want to get on his bad side?”
    “Good point.” He began shrugging out of the jacket.
    “Madsen, is that you?” Jerry growled from inside the office. “Get your ass in here!”
    Grant’s eyes widened in alarm. “I gotta hurry!” He now held the jacket crumpled in his hands, and Sophie admired the length of lean brown arms extending from a heather-gray short-sleeved T-shirt. The shirt’s brown piping accentuated his sinewy triceps.
    “I can’t leave the jacket out here or somebody might take it. Here!” He thrust it into her unsuspecting grasp. “You hold it for me.”
    Sophie was about to protest when he opened the door wide and dashed inside, leaving her alone in the hallway. She glanced down at the jacket.  But I can’t wait outside for you. I have an appointment.
    She sighed, stuck in a moment of indecision. Why hadn’t he just taken it with him, hiding the logo? She walked toward the exit, carrying the stranger’s jacket. Would there be any way to return it to him before next week? She drew up the collar of the jacket to see if his name or phone number was written inside.
    Unfortunately there were no identifying marks, but as she held the jacket so close to her face, a subtle scent of aftershave wafted toward her nose. Sophie stopped walking and inhaled deeply, mesmerized by the masculine scent of bergamot and sandalwood. She closed her eyes and breathed in the tantalizing scent.
    Suddenly she glanced up, her eyes darting guiltily to discern whether anyone had caught her, lost in a horny trance. She shook her head slowly. Apparently Officer Stone was a wise man in mandating therapy for her. She needed some serious help! She scurried away to hail a cab, hoping Dr. Hayes could set her straight.
    * * *
    “What was the holdup, Madsen?” Jerry demanded.
    “Uh,” Grant stalled as took his seat. “I thought I saw a guy I knew in the hall—a guy I ran into at the Cubs game on Sunday.” He was surprised how easily he spun a lie, thinking on his feet. Dishonesty must run in his genes. “But it was a false alarm. It wasn’t him.”
    Jerry brightened considerably at the mention of the Cubs. “ I  was at that game. Where were your seats?”
    Grant squirmed. “Uh, behind third base?”
    “No wonder you’re so tan,” Jerry observed. “Those seats are right in the sun.”
    Or the glare off the water after working on a ship the past week, Grant thought, but he went along with it. “Yeah, it gets pretty hot in the sun.”
    “Who’d you go to the game with?”
    Grant paused. “My uncle?”
    “I thought you said you didn’t have any family in town.”
    “No, sir, I have lots of family. They’re just, um, not the kind of people I want to associate with. Except for my uncle. He’s a commander in the Navy, and he’s always been there for me.”
    “A commander in the Navy? He must have been pretty pissed off about you getting kicked out after your conviction, huh?”
    “That’s putting it mildly, sir.” Grant had never felt more ashamed than when he had to tell his uncle he’d been arrested for aggravated robbery.
    “Is your uncle on your dad’s side of the family?”
    “No, he’s my mom’s brother.”
    “So, where’s your mother? Is she one of the family members you don’t associate with?”
    Grant felt the familiar ache in his heart, and he broke the parole officer’s gaze, looking down. “No, sir. She’s, uh, dead.”
    “Oh.”
    “She died when I was twelve, from pancreatic cancer.”
    “Pancreatic cancer?” Jerry repeated. “How long was she sick?”
    “Not long—a couple of months? The doctors said it was one of the deadliest cancers. Back then, anyway.”
    Jerry frowned, feeling a kinship with the man across from him. So, his own mother probably