He smiled. “I’m sure she’d love that. I’ll ask her.”

“I invited someone else too.” I paused. “Well, two someones. Bruce Wayne and David.”

Mason studied me for a moment. “Bruce Wayne is always welcome. Besides, it’s your house, Rose, you don’t need my permission.”

“I know, but it involves you too.”

“It sounds like it’s turning into a party.” He beamed at me, happiness radiating from him. “I like it.”

“I guess you’re right.” I laughed. “And I like it too.”

We finished our lunch, making small talk about my current landscaping job and which type of cranberries we preferred for Thanksgiving dinner. (Mason liked real berries and I liked cranberry Jello salad.) To my relief, he purposely avoided all mention of the bank robbery. The entire incident was catching up with me and my stomach was in knots.

I only ate half my sandwich and Mason—being the observant man he was—noticed. “Are you not feeling well? You were starving when you got here and you always have a healthy appetite after working at a job site.”

I pulled his apple pie out of the bag and set it on the desk. “I’m fine. It’s just nerves.” Between the bank robbery and the financial mess Violet had gotten us into, it was a wonder I could choke down anything at all.

“I know things were tight, but how much trouble are you in without the money in that deposit bag?”

I knew in a heartbeat that Mason would whip out a check and write it for any amount I needed—if he had the money. But he didn’t. There was no sense making both of us miserable. “Not to worry. We’ll figure it out. We’ll come up with some creative juggling.”

“Maybe you should take the afternoon off and go home and lie down. You’ve had a rough morning.”

“I’ll be fine. Eat your pie.”

“I don’t feel right eating in front of you.”

“Please,” I laughed, leaning back in the chair. “I thought you had sworn to uphold the truth, Mr. Prosecutor, and that’s an outright lie. You ate half a batch of cookies in front of me just last Sunday.”

“And you know full good and well why I did.”

I lifted my eyebrows in mock reprimand.

“It’s a well-known fact that every batch that comes out of the oven has to be sampled. I was merely performing my civic duty, as any good ADA would.”

“So you were motivated by pure selflessness?” I teased.

He leaned over and pulled me out of the chair and onto his lap. Before I even knew what he had in mind, he was kissing me senseless.

“And what was that?” I asked when he finally lifted his head.

“With all the hours I’ve been puttin’ in these last two weeks, I’ve left you sorely neglected.”

I rubbed his shoulder with my fingertips, then lifted them to his face, staring into his warm hazel eyes. It was easy to get lost in them. “You’re not neglecting me, Mason. We’re makin’ it work. Surely this won’t last forever.”

“The DA is up for re-election next fall. Hopefully, he’ll get replaced and we’ll have a more fair judicial system in Fenton County.”

“Dare to dream.” As far as I could tell, Mason was the only cog in the Fenton County wheel of justice that gave two figs about being fair. “Say, you haven’t had a chance to re-open Dora’s case, have you?”

Guilt flooded his eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I’ve been working on all the charges associated with the fiasco in the sheriff’s department, as well as a special project that’s taken precedence.” He sighed. “In fact, I suspect that the DA has caught wind of my project, and all the extra work he’s thrown my way is his attempt to create a roadblock.”

I sucked in my breath. “Can you tell me about it?”

He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “I’d rather not for now. You’ve got enough to worry about. But I’ll let you know when I’ve made some headway. Okay?”

I knew I could trust him. Mason didn’t keep secrets from me, a refreshing change from Joe, whose entire existence was clouded in secrecy and half-truths. “Okay.”

“Which brings me to another potential issue,” he said, closing the lid on his partially eaten slice of pie. It had to be serious for him to not finish his pie.

“And that is?”

“We’re going to have a problem with the mug shots.”

I blinked. “Why?”

“Because I can’t get them on my own. I’ll need to use the police department to pull them. They already second-guess everything I request, and they’re going to be extra suspicious if I request mug shots for an unfiled case, hours after my girlfriend was involved in a bank robbery.”

“So what does that mean? We give up?”

“No, there’s another way.” He hesitated. “The sheriff’s office has access. We can get someone there to pull them.” His gaze settled on my face, watching for my reaction. “One deputy in particular.”

My stomach dropped. “Joe.”

He nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. “Since this isn’t official, I wanted your permission before contacting him.” He sighed, worry filling his eyes. “We both know he wants you back. It’s the only reason he took the chief deputy position. Hell, he just lost a state senate race and his father is J.R. Simmons. He could fly a hell of a lot higher than the Fenton County Sheriff Department.”