“I’ll try to bulk up.”
She laughed, shaking her head.
“I have a new last name, by the way.It’s Flynn.”
“Paul Flynn,” she said, and took a ragged breath.She studied his lean physique and stylish clothes.“This will take some getting used to.”
“Are you willing to date a mounted police officer instead of a grumpy handyman?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
She smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt.“Can you wear the tool belt on weekends?”
He crushed his mouth over hers, kissing her with two months’ worth of pent-up passion.She kissed him back with the same fervor, overwhelmed with emotion.He tasted like mint and salt and endless longing.More tears slid down her cheeks as she twined her arms around his neck, clinging to him.
Before she was ready to let him go, he broke the contact.“We don’t have to pick up where we left off,” he said huskily.“I’m not in any rush.We can go out on a few dates, take things slow.”
She shut him up with another kiss and he lifted her off her feet.With a low groan, he carried her toward the bedroom.She wrapped her legs around him and threaded her fingers through his short hair.They fell onto the bed in a tangle of grasping limbs.She yanked at the buttons on his shirt.He shrugged out of it.
She kissed the scar on his shoulder.Her eyes were still wet with tears.They refused to stop coming.
He cupped her chin, rubbing his thumb over her lips.“Why are you crying?”
“I’m crying because…” Her face crumpled.“I’m in love with you.”
His hand stilled.“You are?”
She nodded.
“That is distressing.”
She smiled and kissed him again.“I told you I loved you in the interrogation room.”
“You hinted at it.”
“I said I was afraid you’d die thinking I didn’t love you.”
“I wasn’t sure you meant it.”
“I meant it.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
They got distracted by a deluge of physical sensations, mouths and bodies colliding.He pulled her T-shirt over her head and nuzzled her lace-covered breasts.“I understand that falling in love can be nerve-racking.”
“Yes,” she said, breathless with anticipation.
“You might experience an accelerated heart rate and racing thoughts.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll have to check your vital signs.”He pressed his lips to the base of her throat as his hands encircled her wrists.He trapped her arms over her head and held them there.She moaned, arching her spine.
“Your pulse rate is elevated.”
