Page 65 of The Gift
“Anytime,” he drawled with a hint of amusement.
“I bet dealing with a torrent of tears after sex was a first for you.” She searched his face, suddenly vulnerable in a different way. “I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
His thumb brushed along her still-damp cheek. “I meant what I said. Whatever you need.”
He drew her in for a kiss, tender this time, nothing frantic about it. When he raised his head, she sighed. “Do you think we’ll ever get to the point of going slow?”
He considered that. “A novel approach. Maybe in a month or a year.”
“Or never?” she suggested, more than pleased he was thinking that far ahead.
He grinned. “That works too.”
Headlights swept over them briefly, breaking the moment.
“I think it’s time to go inside,” he said softly.
She stopped him with his hand on the door. “Will you stay?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes.”
“Then try to stop me.”
Chapter 18
Coop drove with one hand on the wheel, the other gripping the gearshift, his mind cycling faster than the engine.
He’d left her at first light. She’d been half awake when he kissed her goodbye, her fingers curling around his wrist, not wanting him to go. He hadn’t wanted to. That was the problem.
After years of keeping work and anything that mattered separated by a clean line, Erica didn’t blur that line. She erased it.
He replayed what she’d told him, plugging Kedrov into the vision even though she hadn’t seen him. It wasn’t hard. He was only beginning to grasp how vast his crime network was. But how did Shannon Carter figure into it? Was the vision a warning?
Her fragmented visions left too few answers. The questions kept grinding in his head as the station came into view and he parked.
O’Reilly was already at his desk, shuffling papers with obvious annoyance. No one he knew minded the job, except for all the paperwork. And the junior partner got stuck with most of it as a rite of passage.
He kept his tone easy. “Good turnout yesterday.”
“You mean for my game-winning walk-off double?” he smirked.
“What else?” Coop said dryly.
O’Reilly whistled an off-key version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” as he sorted the stack of forms in front of him.
He took his good mood as an opening. “Did Shannon enjoy her first Ranger Roundup?”
He grunted, shaking his head. “McNabb’s ridiculous name for it. Yeah. She had fun. Said she liked everyone.”
“Did she say anything else?”
That got his attention. “She said Erica felt sick. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. A little tired from everything.”
“You two are getting close,” he observed. “Think that’s a good idea?”
