 Lucas sipped his drink and shrugged. “I don’t know.” Forge leaned his elbow against the bar and swiveled so he faced Lucas. “What don’t you know about?” “I….” Lucas opened his mouth and didn’t know how to put his feelings into words, so he shut it again. “Luke, you are my friend. As your friend I need to remind you I am a bored detective stuck at a boring political event wearing a tie Declan tied as if he were trying to strangle me with it, and I’m armed. I’m begging you, save me.” That made Lucas laugh. Forge always cheered him up. “Sometimes, once in a while, I miss the old days. I love Declan, but this bonding thing sort of snuck up on me, you know? I guess even for me, change is…a challenge.” “What was it you told me when Blair came to Boggslake? You don’t give up all the people in your life when your soulmate comes along.” “I said that?” Lucas asked. “More or less,” Forge said. “Look, you can’t decide yes or no on a soulbond. We found out how well it went with Blair and me. Anyway, that ship’s sailed, my friend. You and Declan are bonded—” “That’s not the issue,” Lucas cut him off. “It’s just that sometimes there is too much togetherness. Sometimes I’d like time alone or with my friend. It’s something I found I really liked, and I miss it.” Forge nodded. “I get it. With a little….” He held up one finger and frowned. A quick look around the room and Forge’s gaze settled on a man and woman. Lucas leaned closer so he could hear what was being said through Forge’s earbud. “We can’t identify that couple. They weren’t here earlier, and they’re not on our list. Do you know them?” It was Samuels’s voice. Lucas met Forge’s gaze and shook his head. Forge turned so it looked like he was talking to Lucas and said, “No, neither Dr. Coate nor I recognize them.” Tapping Forge’s forearm, Lucas dipped his head at Declan and grinned. “We’ll get you some ID. Give me five minutes,” Forge said. He pressed the earbud and removed it, dumping it in his pocket. The wristband followed a second later. “It’s better they don’t know about this part.” He stood, straightened, and whispered, “Declan. See the woman in the red dress and the man with her at my three o’clock?” Across the room Lucas watched as Declan casually turned, gaze sweeping the area before he tugged on his sleeve once. “That’s a yes,” Forge told Lucas. Using two fingers he pretended to reach into Lucas’s pocket, then said quietly, “On both.” Reaching out, he put one arm around Lucas’s shoulders and guided him toward the door near where the couple stood. “You must have eaten a bad crab cake.” Lucas made a big show of slouching against Forge and making retching noises. A few people looked at them and moved out of their way. He got a glimpse of Declan leaning in to talk to Blair. Then they both looked at the spot between Forge and Lucas and the couple. Coughing and holding his stomach, Lucas stumbled away from Forge and into the woman. “Oh, I’m…sorry…I….” The woman turned and with lightning speed Forge reached out and bumped her elbow, causing her to upend her drink all over herself. Lucas’s gaze shifted to Declan and Blair. They were in one spot across the room, and in the next instant the exit doors on the other side of the room swung shut. “The ladies’ room is right through there.” Lucas pointed the way. He tried wiping her off with napkins he snatched from the bar, but she stormed off, her gentleman friend following her. Forge took his elbow and nodded to the exit. “Come on.” Lucas had to quickstep to keep pace with Forge. They left the ballroom for the hotel’s main corridor leading to the lobby. Forge looked one way and Lucas the other. Snagging Forge’s sleeve, Lucas said in a low voice, “Over there.” Code Name Jack Rabbit is available in eBook, paperback and through Kindle Unlimited.    
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