Sandra leaned closer, bringing them face-to-face in her small dining room with afternoon sunlight streaming around them. "Then maybe you should stop thinking and start doing."
Terry's hands came up to cup her face, his thumbs brushing across her cheekbones with a gentleness that made her knees weak. "You sure about this?"
Instead of answering, Sandra closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that started soft and sweet before quickly becoming something deeper and more urgent.
Terry kissed like he did everything else… with complete focus and devastating competence. His mouth was warm and sure against hers, his hands threading through her hair as he angled her head for better access. When his tongue swept across her lower lip, Sandra made a small sound of pleasure that seemed to snap something loose in both of them.
The kiss turned hungry and desperate—two people who'd been circling each other for weeks finally giving in to the attraction that had been building between them. Sandra's hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer as heat raced through her system like wildfire.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Sandra felt like the world had shifted on its axis. His hair was mussed from her fingers, his eyes dark with desire, and she had to resist the urge to pull him back down for another kiss.
"Well," she managed, her voice slightly hoarse. "That was..."
"Yeah." His forehead rested against hers. "It was."
They stood there for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms in her sunny home, both of them trying to process what hadjust happened. Sandra felt giddy and nervous and completely overwhelmed by how right it felt to be in Terry's arms.
"I should probably get back to work," he said reluctantly, though he made no move to step away from her.
"Probably." Aloud, she agreed but was equally reluctant to end the moment.
When Terry finally kissed her goodbye, it was a softer, sweeter kiss that somehow felt more intimate than the passionate one they'd just shared. She leaned against her closed front door with her fingers pressed to her lips, wondering how she was supposed to concentrate on legal briefs when all she could think about was when she'd get to kiss him again.
Over the next two weeks, Sandra got her answer. Terry found excuses to meet her for coffee, for lunch, for brief conversations in the courthouse hallway that always ended with stolen kisses in an empty conference room or behind the building where no one could see them.
Each encounter left her wanting more time, more conversation, more of those kisses that made her forget her own name. They were like teenagers, grabbing moments wherever they could find them, limited by their professional schedules and the complexity of his life as a single father.
"This is insane," Sandra whispered one afternoon as Terry pressed her against the wall in an empty courthouse corridor, his mouth moving along her neck in a way that made her pulse race. "Anyone could see us."
"Let them," Terry murmured against her throat, his hands spanning her waist. "I'm tired of pretending I don't want you."
Sandra was also tired of stolen moments and rushed conversations, and tired of wanting more time with him than their careful scheduling allowed. But she was also aware that they were moving toward something bigger, something thatwould involve his children and change both their lives in ways they were still figuring out.
"Terry," she said softly, her hands coming up to frame his face. "We need to talk about what this is becoming."
"I know." His eyes were serious as he studied her face. "Are you ready for that conversation?"
Sandra thought about his children, whom she'd heard about but never met, about the complications of dating a single father, about the way her careful, orderly life was about to become beautifully chaotic.
"I'm ready," she said, meaning it completely.
5
Terry found himself checking his phone obsessively throughout the day, waiting for Sandra's lunch break text or the brief call that had become part of their routine. Weeks of stolen moments over coffee meetings that turned into lingering conversations and heated kisses in her kitchen had only made him hungrier for more time with her.
The woman was driving him crazy in the best possible way.
"Captain, you're distracted," Jeremy observed during their afternoon briefing, not bothering to hide his amusement. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Terry replied, perhaps too quickly. Pete and Jeremy exchanged knowing looks that Terry chose to ignore.
At the end of the workday, his phone buzzed with a text from Sandra.Court wrapped early. Coffee?
Terry typed back.Your place? More private.
The three dots appeared immediately, followed byYes!
"I need to follow up on a lead," Terry announced, grabbing his jacket. "See you both tomorrow."
