Page 30 of Kidnapped in Dark Waters
She grinned at him. “You’d do that for me?”
“In a short minute,” he replied.
She sighed. “I’ll just be glad if Daniel gets whoever it is behind bars.”
“He will,” Luke replied, confident in his friend’s skills as a lawman.
“He hasn’t done so well in my mother’s murder investigation,” she replied.
“That’s a different animal altogether. Knowing somebody is guilty and having the evidence to prove it are two different things. And it wasn’t just Daniel investigating your mother’s murder—it was me, too.”
“Do you think it will ever be solved?” she asked. Her gaze held his intently.
“Oh, I think it’s already solved,” he replied.
“Okay, wrong question…do you think Pierre will ever be arrested?”
He grinned at her. “Well, if you have anything to do with it, definitely.”
“Now, you’re making fun of me,” she said, and her lower lip jutted out in a mock pout.
He laughed. “No, I swear I’m not, but I still have little faith that at some point in time Pierre will dig up your mother’s missing book and we’ll catch him.”
“It could happen.”
He laughed again. “Yes, it could happen, and that’s why I’m here with you.”
“Speaking of being here for me. Want to spend the night? We could be snuggle buddies.”
Although her tone was light, there was something in her gaze that told him she wasn’t quite ready to be alone yet. “I love snuggling,” he replied.
“Then you’ll stay?” This time her tone was less casual.
“I’ll stay.” It would be another blunder in the long list of mistakes he’d already made today.
“Thank you,” she replied, her gratitude rife in her tone. “And speaking of bedtime, I should probably head to bed now since I have to get up so early in the morning.”
“Yeah, I’m tired, too,” he admitted. It had been a day of intense emotions, both good and bad.
She stood and he also got up. She doused all the lit lanterns in the room. The lantern in the bedroom made it easy for them to find their way. She grabbed a pink nightgown from one of her drawers and then disappeared once again into the bathroom.
Luke stripped down to his boxers and then got into bed. He was happy to snuggle with her if that’s what she needed, but he had no intention of repeating what they had shared in bed earlier. That had definitely been a blunder.
She came back into the room, looking beautiful in the lantern’s soft light. The pink color of the nightgown was perfectagainst her dark hair and skin tone. Her hair was loose and spilled down her back like a waterfall of shiny silk.
“I wasn’t sure which side of the bed you wanted,” he said. She slid in next to him.
“This is perfect.” She was next to the nightstand where she placed his phone and hers. “I’ve got my alarm set for five. I hate to wake you up so early. If you can, feel free to stay here and sleep longer when I leave for work.”
“Nah, I’ll get up with you and follow you into work and then I’ll force you to wait on me by sitting in your section. I’ll complain about the food and service and then I’ll leave you a five percent tip.”
She laughed. “You won’t do that,” she replied.
“No, I won’t complain no matter how bad the service is,” he said, making her laugh once again.
“Are you ready for the light to go off?” she asked once the laughter had passed.
“Whenever you are,” he said.
