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“That’s it?”
“Well, it is for me. Even if I were fully qualified to investigate, it’d be a conflict of interest. But if I had to guess, I’d say Troy is more likely than Chet. He’s made retaliatory moves toward others in the past. Admittedly, not this extreme. But he is really pissed that I seem to have stolen what he believes is his.” Hoyt’s arms tightened around me in emphasis. “I’m not going to let any of this scare me off. First, because that would let an asshole win, and that’s not gonna happen. And second, and much more important, because you matter to me. I meant what I said to him that night. I know a good thing when I see it, and I have no intention of giving you up. Not unless you want out.”
This was exactly what I’d wanted to hear and hadn’t dared let myself imagine. He still wanted this. He still wanted me.
My throat had gone thick with emotion, so I just shook my head. I didn’t want out. But I still worried about how our involvement could impact him. Cuddling closer, I pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the steady, reassuring thump of his heart.
“What if this isn’t the last time? What if this isn’t the last thing?”
“We’ll be on closer guard. The police are going to have Troy and Chet under a damned microscope, so I don’t think either of them will be able to pull off anything. As far as I’m concerned, we continue business as usual. Morning coffee cuddles and cooking dinners together and dating like normal people.”
“Just like that?”
“Just exactly like that.”
Beneath my palm, his pulse didn’t change. He truly was that laid back and relaxed about all of this. I realized a big part of what I found appealing about Hoyt was how solid and unshakeable he truly was.
One big, broad palm stroked my arm. “In the name of doing all that dating like normal people, I want you to come to dinner at my parents’ place. Meet everybody properly.”
The entire idea of facing down the rest of the McNamara clan absolutely terrified me. “I don’t know about that. It seems like kind of a big deal.”
“You’re a big deal.”
Well, didn’t that make my heart go all fluttery? “Hoyt, meeting the parents is a serious thing.”
“I’m serious about you.”
Flummoxed, I could only stare at him. “But isn’t this kind of fast?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know that there’s a specific timetable on such things. Do I need to slow down? Give you a chance to catch up?”
That was the thing that scared me most. I didn’t need time to catch up because I was right there with him. “No.”
“Then come to dinner.”
It was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t expect the meeting to go well. His parents couldn’t be thrilled with the idea of him being with me. But he’d done so much for me. Going to this dinner and meeting his family seemed like the least I could do.
“Okay.”
“We’ll get it scheduled for our next mutual night off. Now—” He tightened his hold, cuddling me closer. “Give me some sugar to sweeten up this last crappy day.”
Settled at last, I framed his face between my palms and pressed my lips to his. We both sighed into the kiss, melting into each other as we took comfort in this little piece of intimacy.
“Hey, Caroline, what do we have for breakfast? Rios is—Oh!” Gabi’s voice cut off on a delighted little laugh. “Sorry about that. We’ll get breakfast ourselves. Carry on.”
As her footsteps retreated, we broke apart with mutual frustrated groans.
Hoyt pressed his face against my throat. “Maybe we should relocate inside. You could come and have a nap with me. I was up most of the night, and I’m beat.”
A nap sounded good. Being wrapped up in his arms sounded even better. Dangerous, maybe. But I’d been thinking about crossing that line with him almost from the beginning. I wanted him. He wanted me. That was easy math.
I debated with myself as he led me into his room and over to the actual bed with a grown-up mattress and tugged me down onto it. When he hauled me into him as little spoon, wrapping me up tight, I decided now wasn’t the right moment. I wasn’t quite ready for anything more than this.
But as I slid toward sleep with the soft warmth of his breath stirring against my nape, I knew it had to be soon.
15
Hoyt
