“Sunny, I snort jalapeño seeds for breakfast. You’re definitely good there. You understand there’s nothing more delicious than homemade salsa, right?”
“Aside of breakfast burritos?”
“Of course.”
She smiled proudly. So damn cute. “Good cause the only things here that weren’t made by these two hands are the chips and the wraps. Your wraps, cause?—”
“Gluten free, I remember.”
She winked. “Okay, dive in. Here we go. Good luck.”
We clanked forks.
Her shoulders tensed as I dipped the burrito in the salsa and took a bite.
It wasfreakingdelicious.
“Oh my…” I smiled around a full bite, a piece of egg tumbling out of my mouth. “Good. Sunny—good.”
Her face lit with a child-like excitement.
With salsa smattered on my lips and eggs on my chin, I leaned forward, wrapped my spare hand around her head and pulled her in for a kiss.
She kissed, then yanked back, licking her lips and laughing.
“Sorry, lady, that’s what you get. This isdamngood.”
“Good. Bon Appetit,” she said with flourish, but instead of digging into her own food, she crawled to the edge of the blanket and began undoing my boots.
I froze. Legit, froze.
I watched her unthread each lace and gently pull off each boot. The evening breeze swept over my hot skin like silk. I wiggled my toes. God, it felt good.
She looked up and smiled.
It was my second, cat-got-your-tongue, shocking moment in the last ten minutes.
A woman taking care of her man.
Sunny crawled back up and settled beside me. I stared at her a solid ten seconds.
“Sunny. Thank?—”
“Shhh…eat. Dinner’s always more relaxing with shoes off… and those boots look miserable. No offense.”
I looked back at my feet, bare against the darkness, the comfort of it. Little thing—yet so big.
“Eat,” she repeated. “Relax.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We ate like two starving POWs, watching the last ray of sun dip below the horizon. The lake faded into one black mass in front of us, waves rippling in the breeze. Stars began to twinkle around the biggest full moon I’d ever seen in mylife. Fireflies sparkled around us. They seemed to gravitate toward Sunny.
I understood how that could happen.
The best part, though? The easy, casual conversation we fell into. No death, no murder, no brutal attacks, just light, fun conversation. We talked about cooking, gardening. We talked about the Moon Magic Festival happening that night, and all the traffic and hodgepodge of people that had invaded the small, sleepy town. I was so glad I wasn’t out there. Honestly? There was nowhere else I’d rather be at that moment.
Max had sauntered up sometime in the middle of our conversation, covered in burrs and Lord knew what else. He scored a few pieces of bacon then disappeared back into the woods. I don’t think he liked the dock. It was the first time, since I could remember, that I’d forgotten about my cases. Murder hadn’t crept up and stolen the few moments of peace I was allowing myself.
