“Hey, don’t hide from me.” He tipped her chin up so that he could look her in the eye. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Sylvie. Strong, and brave, and so confident. And yet, you’ve let me in to see the vulnerable side of you.”
“Because I feel safe letting you in. Most people see only the cop, only the woman who works hard and never lets up. I have to be her all the time. But not with you. You give me a sanctuary where I can be soft.”
“Move in with me,” he said again. “I want to give you that all the time. Sell your townhouse and move in with me.” He lifted his hand to stop any protests she might have. “Even if it’s only while you’re looking for a new place. It doesn’t have to be forev—”
“All right.”
He blinked. “All right?”
She grinned and nodded. “Yeah. All right. I will.”
He wrapped her up and squeezed her tightly.
“Thank you,” he breathed into her hair.
“Thank you, Alex Hoff, for reminding me that it’s okay to be less than bulletproof sometimes.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed the tip of his nose.
They slept all night in each other’s arms. Alex awoke feeling happier than he had in years. The smart, gorgeous, sexy woman beside him had agreed to move in. Now it was his job to make sure she didn’t have a moment’s regret in trusting him.
He slipped out of bed and dressed, then left her sleeping deeply as he headed for the kennels to get Mac, Champ, and Chewie. Jodie was exercising all the dogs in the yard, including Valkyrie; Brock had texted that he was bringing her back last night. He was surprised that Kyle wasn’t there; it was early morning, and he was in the habit of visiting the dogs after helping Arden with the animals at the ranch.
Jodie shrugged when he asked her if Kyle had been and gone already.
“Nope. He called down and asked me to get the dogs up and going instead. Something’s up, Chief. I can hear it in his voice.”
“Yesterday rattled him. Rattled all of us.” He started to tell her about the arrest the day before, then stopped himself. No, he couldn’t tell Kyle about it either. Sylvie wasn’t supposed to be there at all, and considering how much trouble she was already in, he risked getting her into more if he didn’t keep his mouth shut. He hated this. Secrets and half-truths.
Alex leashed the three dogs and walked them down a quiet path through the pines to his house. He let them in through the back and they settled into their dog beds. It looked like Sylvie was still asleep—the coffee pot was still full minus the cup he’d poured for himself when he made it that morning. He crept back into the bedroom.
He was wrong; Sylvie was wide awake—smiling at him from the bed and holding the cord they’d played with before.
“Oh my,” he said as he approached her. “Thought you were still asleep since you hadn’t touched the coffee.”
“I can think of something more stimulating than coffee to get me going.” She ran the cord through her fingers.
Alex unbuttoned his shirt.
* * *
Sylvie’s phonebuzzed from the other room, waking them from a light doze after making love. She groaned and pressed her face against Alex’s chest. Then as she started to pull away, he pulled her back.
“Stay here.”
“I have to get that,” she protested. She kissed him again and he let go reluctantly, though he enjoyed the view of her ass as she walked naked to the front room. What he didn’t enjoy was that she came back in fully dressed. And he downright hated the worried look on her face.
“No,” he said.
“Yes. I have to go.”
“Sylvie—”
She put up her hand. “It’s my job, Alex. We went over this.”
“At least tell me where you’ll be.”
