“We will,” he sighed, glancing out into the sunset with me. “But not tonight.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you need to go see her. You’ve been on edge since this morning, and she grounds you. Whether you admit it or not.” I opened my mouth, but had nothing to fire back with. Tanner handed me an extra file he copied today and nodded to my Jeep. “Take the evidence. Let her know what we found. Let her feel safe.”
I nodded, taking a step back as he went back to studying the evidence we had found today.
“You’re staring, Dalton.” He said, never glancing up from his paperwork until he finally peeked out from under his dark eyelashes and stared at me. “Planning my demise?”
I smirked, rolling my eyes as I took another step back. “Actually, I was wondering if you looked that serious in bed.” I turned as I said it, so he couldn’t see the grin on my face. “Or if you ever let it all turn off.” A noise of shock echoed from behind me as I headed to my Jeep, but I just waved my fingers in the air and called over my shoulder. “Hope you didn’t plan to see ourgirl tonight, because I’m actually going to take your advice and head over there.”
As I pulled the handle on my door a few empty spaces down, he finally replied. “And if I showed up to ruin it?” I paused, feeling that there was more to that statement to come before he was done. “Would you tell me to get lost?”
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder at him, and the fire in his eyes was impossible to miss. The last rays of the sun cut across his face as if the universe knew he belonged on a movie poster instead of in a sleepy little town working his life away as a cop.
Forcing my signature cocky persona back into place, I shrugged, letting my eyes travel down his body, where he was still leaning back against the side of his patrol SUV. “If you want to sit in the corner and watch, I wouldn’t mind teaching you a thing or two.” He scoffed and shook his head, breaking the intensity between us.
“Night, Dalton.” He replied, standing up and walking to his personal truck, which was parked across from my Jeep. “Tell Goldie I said hi.”
“Hmm.” I hummed as he jumped up into his truck without another word and backed out, driving off out of the lot.
I stood there at my door and watched him leave, wondering silently if he would show up at Goldie’s if I called him and told him to join us after all.
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
That was crossing boundaries I had never even contemplated before.
Even if I wanted to right now.
Instead, I made the quick drive across town to Goldie’s cute little home. I didn’t call, and I wasn’t sure she was even home, my bravado with Tanner was all for show when I told him I planned to spend the night with her.
I didn’t realize how badly I needed her until she swung her front door open and smiled at me with a sigh, as if she had been hoping for this moment all day long as well.
“Hi, beautiful,” I said before stepping in and shutting the door behind us. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your evening.”
She bit her lip and slid her arms around me, staring at me with her big, bright blue eyes, so open and trusting. “I couldn’t be mad at finding you on my doorstep if I tried.”
“Good,” I whispered, kissing her softly and running my hands down the gentle curve of her back to her ass. “Because I need you so badly right now. There’s so much noise in my mind, and my body feels like it’s running on a hamster wheel, and I can’t stop it.”
“I’m here,” she murmured, kissing me back and running her fingers up the back of my neck into my hair. “I’m right here.”
There wasa familiar electricity burning in Rhea’s eyes when I opened my door. Before I knew her intimately, I used to think it was a cocky energy burning there, just beneath the surface, fed by her sass and sarcasm. Now, though, now that I had felt that energy personally, I knew it for what it was.
Fear.
She was one of the bravest people I knew, yet she was filled with doubt.
And she covered it up, using that cocky, ball-busting personality to hide it like a professional game of smoke and mirrors. She couldn’t hide her skepticism and insecurities from me, though.
I knew her heart. Or at least I was learning it.
“I needed to see you,” she admitted. The fabric of her shirt felt soothing against the palms of my hands as I rubbed them over her sides and back. I had been getting ready to crawl into bed and read when she knocked on my door. And now, I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d stay the night and tune out the rest of the world. Because even though I hadn’t asked yet, I knew something was wrong.
“What happened?” I paused, slowing my kisses until I stared into her beautiful, warm eyes, “I can feel your stress in the air, it’s wrapped around you like a shackle.”
“Everything. The investigation. The lies.” She shook her head and closed her eyes, blocking me out. “I was right and I—” She sighed, “I should be glad that I was right, I usually am.”
