What you saw with Claudia was what you got—and I liked what I saw.
A lot.
Too much.
But being with her was amazing enough to forget about stupid things like self-preservation.
Would I ever be capable of loving someone so much that I wanted them to be in my life permanently? I honestly wasn’t sure, but right now, here with Claudia was the only place I wanted to be—whether it meant now or in the future.
“I’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone,” Keith told me and pulled Claudia into a hug. “I’m proud of you, kid. Glad you’ll be sticking around for good.”
“Thanks, Uncle Keith,” she said, exhaling an audible sigh when she pulled away. “That means a lot.”
“We’re all happy you’re here to stay. My niece, my great-niece and…” Keith shot me a wry grin over his shoulder. “And others, I’m sure.”
Subtlety was never Keith’s thing.
“Come on, boss lady.” I grabbed her hand and led her away from my desk and all the prying eyes too into our business to do any work.
“Boss lady. I still don’t feel like one yet, but the sound of it is pretty awesome.” Claudia waved to all the officers staring at us as we made our way out of the station.
“Do I get to ride in a police car?” Claudia asked, almost bouncing next to me as we ambled through the small parking lot.
“I’m glad police stations and cruisers excite you. Gives me the illusion of being cooler than I am.” I opened the door to my cruiser and held it open. “It’s close, but we can take a ride.”
“Thank you! And I think you’re plenty cool, Sergeant.”
Her throaty whisper ofSergeantwent right to my cock. I needed to keep myself calm as there wasn’t much room to hide in my uniform pants.
“I can go in the front?” Her eyes flicked from me to the car. “You don’t have to put me in the back seat?”
“Well, that depends. Did you do anything bad?”
“No.” She eased closer, tracing the gold chain peeking out from under my collar. “But I’m thinking about it. Does that count?” She peered up at me, her voice a soft purr that was going to distract me all damn day.
“If it does—” I bent to whisper in her ear, dipping my head low enough to spot the trail of goose bumps along her shoulder “—then I’d have to climb into the back seat with you.”
I let my lips graze her cheek as I inched back, too tempted to trail the tip of my tongue down her neck to check if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
A blush stained her cheeks as her eyes fluttered.
“Let’s put a pin in that. That sounds like a really good idea.” She pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and slid into the passenger seat. I shut the door and came around to the driver’s side, my cheeks aching from the wide smile I couldn’t hold back.
I couldn’t remember a time when I’d looked forward to anything or felt this alive.
Maybe because there wasn’t one.
“Sergeant, good to see you,” Billy, the deli owner, said when I approached the counter. “Usual order to go?” he asked before his gaze traveled over my shoulder to where Claudia was standing behind me.
“No. The chief told me to take a long lunch for once, so we’ll eat on one of the benches outside. This is Claudia.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said as she slid her arm through the crook of my elbow.
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Billy.”
“Billy opened the deli at about the same time I came back to Kelly Lakes.”
“That’s right,” Billy said with a slow nod. “I grew up here and moved to Boston for a while, but I guess we always come back, right?”
