“You think?”
“I know. You’re brilliant at what you do. And you deserve to do it on your own terms.”
“It’s scary though. Starting over. Building something new.”
“Most worthwhile things are scary.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “But you’re not doing it alone. I’m here. For whatever you need.”
On their last night at the cabin, they sat on the porch watching the stars.
“I don’t want to go back,” Nora admitted.
“Me neither. But we have to sometime.”
“I know. It’s just...this has been perfect. No stress. No danger. Just us.” She leaned against his shoulder. “What if real life isn’t this good?”
“Then we’ll make it this good. We’ll have dinner together every night we can. We’ll take weekends away when work gets too heavy. We’ll build a life that feels like this—safe and happy and ours.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple. It’s us against the world. And we’re pretty good at facing challenges together.”
Nora thought about everything they’d been through. The stalking. The attacks. The fear. And they’d survived it all. Stronger together than either of them could have been alone.
“Yeah,” she said. “We are.”
Carson stood and pulled her up with him. “Come on. Let’s go inside. I want to make love toyou one more time in this cabin where we figured out how to be us.”
“Just once?”
“Maybe twice.”
“Now you’re talking.”
They went inside, and as Carson carried her to the bedroom, Nora thought about how much her life had changed in just a few weeks.
She’d gone from being terrified and alone to being loved and safe.
She’d gone from not trusting anyone to trusting completely.
She’d gone from hiding to living.
And it was all because of the man holding her. The detective who’d believed her. The protector who’d fought for her. The partner who’d chosen to love her.
“I love you,” she whispered as he laid her on the bed and covered her body with his.
“I love you too,” Carson said. “Forever.”
“Forever,” Nora agreed.
And for the first time in her life, she believed in forever.
Believed in happy endings.
Believed in love.
Chapter 17
The drive back to Blackridge felt different than any drive Nora had taken before.
