Bantering Series 5: Bantering With A Runaway

“He’s the interim police chief. I’m the woman who keeps a foster teen in her office.” 😌 And yes, the coffee goes cold while the tension stays hot.

Banter’s life is color-coded chaos before romance interferes. She’s got a nearly paid-off mortgage, three kids, two dogs, and a husband who thinks “security plan” is a flirty bedtime topic. Corey calls it being prepared. Banter calls it foreplay with spreadsheets, which makes it worse. You get that sweet married-couple banter where he’s steady and bossy in the way that should annoy her. It doesn’t. It absolutely does. Then she strolls into the station with a baby on her hip and a dog on a leash, and Patsy drags her straight to Livia, a foster teen left sitting in the lobby for hours. Banter hands Livia chips, a soda, and a chair in her own office like she’s claiming her. You’d do it too. And just when Banter thinks she’s heading home, the door opens.

“Ma’am… why is that child on the sixth floor?”