She’d have herownhouse and land...someday. Someplace close enough to still work for the DPD, yet far enough from the city she could feel the same peace and comfort she did as a child.
I want to have that with Eric.
Riley blinked and stared back at her reflection, wondering where the crazy thought had come from. They weren’t in any sort of serious relationship. They weren’t evenina relationship. Not really.
She and Eric were...what? Lovers? Partners with benefits?
Okay, so she wasn’t surewhatthey were. But one thing Riley did know—the one thing she was absolutely certain of—was that she shouldn’t be making any sort of plans for a future involving the sexy Eric West.
None.
Nada.
Zip.
Not that she didn’t like the idea of having something more with the tantalizing man. Shemorethan liked it.
But losing her dad to prison, her mom to whomever her latest toy was, and her partner to a criminal who’d chosen to murder a cop rather than go back to jail—had broken something inside her.
Something she’d convinced herself could never be repaired.
Though their partnership was completely different than the one she had with Eric—Adam was twenty years her senior and had worshipped his wife endlessly—her former partner had become a staple in her life. Her rock when everything else around her seemed to crumble.
When Adam died, it was if she’d lost everything.
Knowing a good man had died because they’d both been distracted by an argumentshe’dinstigated had solidified Riley’s need for self-preservation.
Since then, she’d stayed hidden behind the impenetrable walls that were erected the day Adam was shot and killed. The foundation for those walls having been laid weeks before, when her father was arrested for investment fraud, among other things.
And then she met Eric.
Despite her refusal to get close to anyone ever again, the former Marine had somehow found a way past her protective shield. And he had absolutely no idea.
The cowardly part of her wishedhe’dbroach the subject of their non-labeled relationship. Riley wantedhimto be the one to start the conversation and tell her what it washewanted out of all of this.
But he hadn’t.
So, for now, she’d keep the status quo. Not rock the boat. Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Before Riley could think of another ridiculous cliché, she heard the sound of strong knuckles rapping against her door. Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, she got her head on straight and focused on what was really important.
A young girl had been murdered. Held captive by some lunatic. Possibly for days.
She needed to concentrate onthat, rather than dreams of a life that would never be.
Flipping off the bathroom light, Riley made her way through her apartment and to her front door. She grabbed her purse and keys as she went.
Checking the peephole—as she always did—she ignored the way her heart strummed each time she saw him, and let Eric in.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” His eyes darkened as they followed the braid in her hair. “You ready?”
Refusing to react to the way his taut chest stretched his collared shirt, or the fact that the brilliant blue of that shirt matched his heated eyes, Riley gave him a quipped “Yep” and stepped into the hall.
Several minutes later, they were on an elevator inside the building that housed the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office. Located just off of Stemmons Freeway, the structure was also home to several other forensic-based offices, including trace evidence, firearms, and more.
As the car began to move, Eric turned to her and asked, “So you really have no idea what this is all about?”
