Page 106 of Breaking All The Rules
“Then that’s what you should do,” he murmured, when he finally spoke.
Bea shut her eyes. She didn’t need his permission or his approval, but she did need him to understand. “Thank you,” she said, then hung up the phone.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Three days later, Bea pulled her rental car up outside of Austin’s cabin, trying to quell the nervousness that had been ramping up since she’d landed in Denver a few hours ago. She’d called Austin’s mother to let her know she was about to do some major groveling to her son and ask if it was okay to do it at the ranch.
Margaret had been delighted. Over the groveling and the fact that Bea would soon be in town. “You’re here to stay, then?” she’d asked.
“Yes,” Bea had confirmed. “Whether Austin wants me or not, I’m here to stay.”
“Good. Credence needs people like you,” she’d said with a smile in her voice.
Margaret had instructed her to go straight to the cabin and let herself in, overriding Bea’s reluctance to take such liberties with assurances that Austin wouldn’t mind. The first thing Bea saw when she opened the door was not the magnificent vista through those huge windows but Princess curled up in the middle of Austin’s bed looking as regal and shabby chic as ever.
If she hadn’t known it before this minute, Bea knew it now—she loved Austin Cooper.
“Princess,” Bea murmured, crossing to the bed and crawling onto it, scooping the un-protesting kitty against her chest and hugging her tight. “I missed you,” she whispered into the patchy fur. “Thank you for looking after Austin.”
Although Bea would be lying if she didn’t admit to being a teeny bit jealous that Princess had been sleeping with her man.
Bea blinked—her man. She’d remembered Jill saying my man about Clay, and now she knew exactly how the other woman felt.
“Should we call Austin?” she asked the cat.
Ignoring Princess’s apparent disinterest in the question, Bea scrolled to his number on her cell. Her fingers trembled slightly as she tapped the screen.
He picked up on the third ring. “Beatrice?”
She sucked in a breath. His voice sounded guarded but so damn good. Her pulse fluttered, and Bea took a moment to gather herself, to make sure her voice was flirty rather than shaky.
“Yes…” She cleared her throat. “Officer. I’m just calling to report a crime in progress at the Cooper ranch.”
Bea didn’t miss the quick intake of his breath. “You’re…in Credence?”
Her belly tightened at the strained caution crackling over the airwaves, her anxiety cranking up a notch. She’d hoped that Austin would welcome her back with open arms—it hadn’t even been two weeks, after all. He couldn’t have fallen out of love with her in that time, surely?
But she didn’t blame him for being wary—she’d rejected him. And if the distance in his tone was like an icepick to her chest, then she only had herself to blame.
“Yes, I’m back.”
“Okay.” He paused. “For how long?”
“For good.” Bea hated that her voice trembled but she was almost sick with nerves.
There was silence at the other end, which turned the screw on the tension building between her shoulder blades. “Why are you at the ranch?”
She swallowed. “Because I thought it might be a private space for me to do some groveling.”
“There’s going to be groveling?”
Bea thought she detected a slight lightening of his tone and her pulse fluttered madly at her temple as she gave a nervous kind of half laugh. “There is.”
After a beat or two, he cleared his throat. “A crime in progress, you say?”
Bea smiled a wobbly smile as a cool flood of relief washed through her system. It wasn’t a green light but it was a start. “Yes. An abuse of the Gregorian calendar is currently taking place in the cabin between the main house and the barn.”
“Gregorian calendar, huh? Would you care to elaborate?”
