She frowned. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t know, but honestly, it’s all I want to do. I’m going to kiss you if you don’t stop me.”
“Why would I want to stop you?” She gave him an enticing grin.
He circled his arms around her waist and pulled her slender body tight against his. He locked lips with her, hers cold in the December night, but they quickly warmed to his touch.
A foreign emotion overcame him. A powerful emotion. He never wanted the kiss to end. He vaguely heard a car pull to the curb and stop, but he could no more stop kissing her than he could stop breathing.
His mind was reeling as she curled her arms around his neck and dug her fingers into his hair, drawing his head down tighter.
“Ah-hem,” a female voice wound its way into his brain. “Your PDA will get all the neighbors talking.”
PDA. Public Display of Affection. Right.He’d lost control. Was making out on a quiet residential street with potentially nosey neighbors.
He tried to lift his head, but Teagan held firm for another few seconds before releasing her hold.
He looked into her eyes and found the love she spoke of burning there. He probably was looking at her with the same longing.
Mackenzie stepped closer. “I knew this was simmering beneath the surface.”
“Thought we hid it better than that,” Teagan said, not looking away from Drew.
“Maybe from the average person but not a former detective.” Mackenzie laughed. “I’ve finished talking to the officers in charge of the investigations. Nothing new, but you’ll have my report by morning.”
“Thanks. We wrapped things up tonight.” Teagan updated Mackenzie.
“Congratulations.” She looked at Drew. “It looks like we’ll still be seeing more of you.”
“Likely,” Teagan answered. “I’ve invited him and his mother to Christmas.”
“Then be warned to get a lot of sleep the night before,” Mackenzie said. “Our tree hunting experience is pretty cutthroat. The team who wins gets the golden tree and bragging rights for the entire year.”
“Golden tree?” he asked.
“Our take on an Oscar.” Teagan smiled at Drew. “You’ll see when our team wins.”
“Hold on, now.” Mackenzie’s tone was steady and lower pitched. “There’s no way we’ll let the two of you be on the same team.”
“You can’t stop it,” Teagan said, her gaze pinned to Drew. “It’s the luck of the draw, and since I met Drew, I feel lucky. Very, very lucky.”
26
Christmas Eve, and the unusual cold snap had Drew drawing his jacket closed and zipping it up. He opened the car door for his mother and took a long look at the Steele’s farm. A big two-story white house with black shutters and wrap around porch sat ahead of him. A traditional farmhouse. Or at least from what he’d seen on TV and in movies. Down a slight hill in the distance stood a red barn that looked old but well-kept. A green tractor sat out front of the barn’s big open doors and someone moved in the shadows inside.
His mom shielded her eyes from the early afternoon sun and looked around the area. “I never figured you to fall for a farm girl.”
Drew either. “Teagan’s lived in the city all her adult life. If she hadn’t told me she was raised on a farm, I wouldn’t have had a clue.”
The shadow morphed into a person who exited the barn. A woman wearing overalls over a flannel shirt, paired with heavy boots and a baseball cap hefted a bale of hay into the tractor’s bucket and then slid the barn door closed. It groaned along the metal tracks. She climbed onto the tractor, the engine rumbled to a start, and she backed out. At the bottom of the drive, she paused to look at them and grinned.
Teagan.It was Teagan. His pulse kicked up.
He hadn’t seen her since the family dinner three days ago, which had gone quite well. As she predicted, her parents fully understood his UC role and forgave him for misleading them. Her dad had given Drew a solid stare, and said, “That doesn’t mean we condone lying. If you ever do it again for any reason other than job confidentiality, we’ll have a special talk. Just you and me out by the woodshed.”
Teagan had groaned, but Drew didn’t mind the warning. It showed how much Hugh loved his daughter, and Drew would never lie to them again unless his job required it. Which he doubted as his UC days were behind him. They’d gotten Vito to turn on everyone on the drug and antiquities charges, and surprisingly, Oliver caved too, in hopes of a reduced sentence. And they all denied anything to do with the murders. DNA confirmed Jabal on those charges, and they didn’t uncover any evidence to charge the others.
Now they all awaited trial where some high-priced lawyer would try to get them off. Drew and Teagan would be there to do their best to stop that from happening.
