It swallows her frame, and for some reason that makes something primal in me want to throw her over my shoulder, jog back to my place, and never let her leave again.
Instead, I reach for her, catch her chin between my fingers, and I kiss her.
She blinks up at me, startled.
Then she melts.
Soft and sure, her lips part, and I take advantage, deepening it for just a second longer than I should.Her hand finds my chest, not pushing away, just resting there like she needs the contact as much as I do.
I pull back reluctantly.“Good morning, Agent DiNapoli.”
She squints.“Did you just bribe me with a kiss, so I won’t yell at you for dragging me in here before sunrise?”
“Bribe?”I smirk.“No.That was a tax.”
She snorts and turns around, muttering something about “cop math.”
We slip through the side door into the station.It’s empty for now—quiet, almost peaceful.
I grab two mugs from the break room and pour coffee.
She’s mid-sip when the bell over the front door jingles.
Enter chaos.
Delilah barrels in from the back hallway, squealing.
“MORNING!”
“What the—?”Megan turns just as Esmerelda glides through the door, serene as always, in full-length black linen and heels sharp enough to gut a Demon.
In her hands?A giant Tupperware container stacked with what I swear are homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Behind her, Preacher lumbers in, looking like he crawled out of a crypt and lit a cigar to celebrate.
“Are those your Peppermint Schnapps Devil’s Food cookies?”Delilah doesn’t hesitate.
She zooms past us like a sugar-seeking missile and launches herself at the cookies.
Esmerelda lowers the container just in time to avoid a collision.
Then she stops —“Wait—did you two bang?Already?!Wow!Fast work, Sheriff.”
I snarl.
I can’t fucking help it.And yeah, that’s pretty much the start of what’s bound to be a just another day in Arrhythmia.
After a round of uncomfortable questions followed by some snarling and jaw snapping, we’re ready to start talking, only Delilah is still chomping cookies.
“Good gods, child,” Esmerelda chides, “those are still hot!”
Megan’s mouth opens.Then closes.Then opens again.
So fucking cute.
Preacher excuses himself to take a call—“Another soul in need,” he murmurs, and just shrugs.
The whole while I’m watching Megan, wondering if and when she’s gonna freak out and leave running.
