Chapter 26

Jake’s POV

 "When's my next appointment?" I asked.

 "An hour from now," Kristen replied. 

"It's only two blocks away, so you still have a while left." 

"Right," I nodded.

 "Thank you, Kristen." 

"Of course, sir," she nodded. 

There were two other people from the department in my office today, Matt and Samantha who were coordinating a few things with me. Because of their presence, Kristen and I were forced to maintain an air of stiff professionalism and formality. She had seamlessly fallen into calling me sir again, and I had changed my tone to one of impersonal indifference.

It was harder than I expected to look at Kristen without smiling and to keep my eyes from wandering to her even in small, quiet moments. She was wearing a white dress with a high collar. Her auburn hair was turned up into a tight knot at the back of her head, and her hazel eyes looked particularly bright this morning. She looked l