I’d been internally defending my actions since I’d been home, so I was ready for his question. Maybe too ready. “Listen, I don’t know what it is, but something about that detective makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t play around when it comes to my daughter. So, I put away anything I thought might give away too much information about our personal lives,” I said and waited for him to laugh or criticize me.
He did neither. Instead, a look I can only describe as pure protective determination washed over his face. “He will not bother you or Ariel. That I can promise.”
“Ink,” I started, but my words were cut off when his lips met mine. His hands came up to cup my cheeks as he stepped closer to me.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything but melt into him as he consumed me.
He broke the kiss before I was ready and stepped back to meet my eyes. “He will not bother you or Ariel,” he repeated. From the tone of his voice and the resolve in his eyes, I believed him.
At least I did until the rational part of my brain came back online. “You can’t promise that.”
He grinned devilishly. “Yes, I can.” Then his lips were on mine again.
It had been a long time since I’d been kissed, and I was enjoying every second of it. Until the sound of the garage door opening had me jumping away from him and quickly wiping my mouth. “Ariel’s home.”
He nodded in understanding and took a seat on the couch. “Come sit down so it looks like we’ve been sitting here talking.”
Moving to the opposite end of the couch, I covered my face with my hands and mumbled, “I’m not normally like this.”
“Like what?”
“Flighty. Anxious. Paranoid. Well, I mean, I am, but I usually hide it a lot better.”
“You’ve had a lot going on lately. It’s understandable.” His response made me stop and think. Most of the men I had encountered romantically ran away at the first sign of emotions, but Ink had seen me during some pretty heavy moments and didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Actually, he seemed to care about my well-being and my daughter’s.
“You’re different,” I blurted.
He chuckled. “Is that a good thing?”
“Yeah, I think it is.” I was going to say more, but Ariel walked into the living room.
She looked around the room and cocked her head to the side. “Where is everything?”
“I put it away because I don’t want that detective to know any more about us than he needs to,” I explained.
“Gotcha. Do I have time to have a snack before he gets here?”
“I think so,” I said.
After she went to the kitchen, I asked Ink, “What do you think he wants to discuss with us?”
“I’d guess he wants to talk to you about Elsie, but you’ve already told him everything you know,” he said.
“That’s what I was thinking, too. I don’t know. The whole thing seems weird to me. Why couldn’t he ask me whatever he needed to ask over the phone?”
Ink glanced toward the front door. “I guess we’ll find out soon. I think I heard a car door out front.”
Grabbing my phone, I quickly opened the security app and tapped the camera. “Yep. He’s here.” I didn’t mean to sound so dreadful, but that’s how it came out.
When he rang the doorbell, Ink insisted on answering the door. The detective looked at Ink, then glanced at his notes and the house number. “Hello. I’m here to speak with Presley Calloway. And you are?”
“I’m her guest,” Ink said and stepped back to allow the detective room to enter.
“Well, if you could give us some privacy?—”
“I’m staying,” Ink said.
“Miss Calloway, I’d prefer to speak to you and your daughter in private,” Detective Coleman said.
