“Steve!” Colton and I yell at once.
Colton swallows hard, looking like he’s just choked down the last of his patience. “Can you just give us one minute to talk?”
“Well, I’m all done now, so I guess the floor is yours. But I hope you don’t mind, I’ll still have to hold your arms until Officer Childs gets back.”
Colton closes his eyes. “That’s fine, Steve. Just.”
“Right, not a word from me.” Steve zips his lips shut.
Colton takes a small step in my direction, his brilliant blue eyes so focused on me, my knees go weak. “Before the winners’ interview, Bill suggested that we keep our relationship quiet. He said that he and Maria had been constantly flocked by reporters after they made their relationship official during the Olympics, and it didn’t stop when they got home. They knew firsthand how crazy it could get with the paparazzi and people wanting to know more about their televised relationship. So Bill suggested that in order to keep the paparazzi from prying into our relationship after the show, we angle the closing interview to our advantage and act as if our relationship was nothing more than a strategy.”
My lips start to quiver, hope building inside of my chest until I feel I could burst.
“Bill and I had barely finished our conversation when Shannon pulled me onto set. I had no time to talk to you before the interview, so Bill said he’d do it. He said he’d speak with you. But then he saw Maria’s injury, and he forgot. He tried to call you when he got off his flight, but he couldn’t get a hold of you. Then he called me, and I rushed over here, and …”
“Colton,” I choke out.
Colton steps closer, holding me with his eyes in the way his arms can’t. “I didn’t mean it, Missy. It was all real. You, me, our relationship. It was real to me.”
I press my lips together, trying to hold back a sob.
“Tell me I didn’t mess it up for good,” he says, a breath away from me.
Feeling like I’ve just walked into rain after the most terrible drought, I rest my forehead on Colton’s chest. Exhausted, yet so relieved. Our relationship wasn’t just for show.
He ducks his head next to mine. “When I get out of these cuffs, I have something I need to tell you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I whisper, pulling just far enough from him to see the sincerity pouring out of him.
“Yeah,” Colton says with a smile meant just for me.
An authoritative voice cuts through the moment. “Officer Kiffer, we’re needed at 38th and Baker Street,” Officer Childs says with his walkie-talkie near his face.
“What about the criminal?” Steve asks.
“Criminal—really, Steve?” Colton tosses a look at the gangly officer over his shoulder.
Officer Childs clips the walkie-talkie to his belt. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Our former senator will take it from here. You can uncuff him.”
Steve unlatches the handcuffs with a series of clinks, and Colton briefly rolls his wrists before he finds my hand, his fingers intertwining with mine.
Finally. I curl into his side, standing beside my criminal.
“Colton. Missy.” Officer Childs nods in our direction, then to Colton’s dad. “Senator, I look forward to seeing you at the Policeman’s Ball.”
“As do I,” Senator Downing says.
The glass doors swing shut behind the officers. For a second, I feel as if the storm has passed, but then I see Senator Downing’s face and realize the past five minutes were just the calm before the storm.
“You didn’t have to deal with that, Dad,” Colton says.
“Who else would have?” Senator Downing snaps.
“Me. I would have. I’d go to the station. I’d get out of this bind like any other person.”
Senator Downing scoffs, shaking his head. “Why are you here, Colton? You should be in a meeting with your new division.”
Colton’s fingers tighten around mine. “I turned it down, Dad.”
