“Ah, now you’re doingit.”
“Doing what?” Iasked.
“Thinking too hard aboutus.”
“Like there’s anything to think too hard about.Us.” I tried to make it sound flip, but it came off as a question. Darnit.
“Go to work.” Calm,easy.
His smile said other things. His eyes said other things. And when he stood and kissed me, his lips said oh so much more: Yes, there was an us. Yes, we were still good. Yes, this thing was going to last another week, anothermonth.
Yes, this was good and he was here, a part of this strange little life I lived in this strange little town I helped take careof.
Yes, all that, all me, was still enough forhim.
I wanted to hear that from him. Wanted to know that he knew we were something that would last. Wished we had a promise between us, a pledge. Because I worried. Hogan had traveled. He was smart and successful. There was no place in the world where he couldn’tbelong.
Sometimes I wondered if he could really be satisfied living here. Happy being here. Not just with this little town, but withme.
Experience told me the odds were not good on that. Most of my ex-boyfriends had left town the first chance they got. Had leftme.
But there was a part of me that hoped this would be enough for him. That he’d stay here, and live here for a very longtime.
He cupped my cheek with his palm and kissed me again on the forehead, a benediction, a habit, a good-bye ritual he’d done ever since I’d been hit by a car a month ago. “Besafe.”
“At my desk? Not a problem.” I patted his butt, because who could resist that? Certainly not I. “Hatter’s going to take the graveyard shift patrol. It’s allgood.”
“I know.” And that smile. Thatsmile.It was secret, joyful, open, reckless. It was somehow all these things, all theseHoganthings, all the parts of him I wanted to hold. All the parts of him I wanted tokeep.
“That grin is so much trouble,” Isaid.
He chuckled and gave a passing effort at innocent eyes. “I like your hair all orange and purple.” He drew his fingers through the long wet strands ofit.
“Flatterer. You better clean up the dishes and don’t forget to hit a save point before you switch over to rivertravel.”
He didn’t need me to tell him any of that. But I hoped he heard the things I had tried to wedge in between mywords.
That I liked him. A lot. That I wanted him to stay in my life. Maybe for a longtime.
I’m not a shy person. I never have any problem telling someone my opinion or giving them advice. I laugh things off, poke at the rules until they dent and bend, and generally act like life is not to be taken tooseriously.
Being the forever-baby sister of the town’s infamous Reed sister trio has its perks. We are police officers like our dad was. Delaney, my eldest sister is the bridge for god powers. She is the one and only way gods can step into town, put their powers in storage, and vacation likemortals.
My middle sister, Myra, is serious about her book studies. Most of those studies involve the wisdom and arcane knowledge in the ancient texts Dad left in her safekeeping, just as his dad left them to him. She has a knack for always being in the right place at the righttime.
And me? Well, I have the family gift of knowing when something really bad is going to happen. A month ago, that feeling was the only thing that gave me a split-second warning before a car had come barreling towardme.
I could have died instead of just been banged up alittle.
So it’s a good talent to possess, but it isn’t as important as the things my sisters do and the gifts theypossess.
Also, my gift isn’t without cost. Not that I’ve ever told anyonethat.
“Jean.” Hogan rubbed his hands down my arms. Long, strong fingers caught to weave between mine. “What’swrong?”
Nothing. That was the truth I wanted to believe. So I held onto it with both hands and all myheart.
“I’m late because some sexy son-of-a-bun is holding my hands like he’s going to ask me to go steady.” I grinned at him and batted myeyes.
He shook his head, but there was nothing but smile in him. Sunshine and warmth. Like a hearth fire. Likehome.
Was I that for him too? Despite my bravado, I couldn’t work up the nerve toask.
“I’ll see you soon.” He gave my hand one more squeeze, then flopped back down on thecouch.
And just like that, the moment to ask him if he wanted the same thing I wanted: for our five months of dating to turn into something more, for us to agree that we needed each other for more than a week, a month, a year, hadpassed.
I could hear the clang of the rock knight cutting his way through the cardboard cliffs before I’d even gotten halfway across my living room to thedoor.
