“What about you?” he asked. “What’s with your newfound need to solve murder cases?”
He’d been honest with me. Now was my turn to share a piece of myself with Dane. “My dad had a stroke earlier this year. He’s okay now, but… it shook something in me. I’m all he’s got, and vice versa.”
I picked up a chip, dipped it, but let it sit in the cheese sauce.
“He always tells me to focus on the future and build something solid. You know? A legacy. That means something to him.”
Dane nodded and gave me a brief grin. “That sounds reasonable.”
“Yeah, so… that’s why this case is important. I want to leave my mark. Do something good for the world.”
That had to make sense to a man who gave up so much to protect people as well.
“I can see that,” Dane said. “You’ve got drive and a good heart.”
My smile was faint. “Except for killers. They get no sympathy.”
“I know you well enough to realize you won’t be satisfied until you leave some footprint in this world.” He grabbed the chip I left in the cheese dip and ate it.
I blinked, considering his words. They landed harder than I expected.
“Do you think it’s selfish?” I asked. “To want to be remembered?”
“No,” Dane said. “It’s honest, and I appreciate honesty.”
We sat in another bout of silence.
“Do you ever miss it?” I asked. “The Navy? Your SEAL Team?”
Dane broke a chip in half. “Sometimes. But I don’t miss the person it would have turned me into had I stayed.”
“I understand that.” I stole a chip from the small bowl of them in front of him.
Dane narrowed his eyes. “That’s war, princess.”
We grinned at each other like idiots. For those few seconds, everything in the world fit just right. I didn’t know how we were going to solve William’s murder, but I’d have Dane by my side, and that made everything okay.
“You two are so adorable,” a waitress in a black shirt and slacks said as she approached our table. “What are you celebrating?”
“The honeymoon,” Dane answered quickly and easily.
She laughed. “Let me get a picture.”
I leaned over the table to get closer to Dane as he passed his phone to her.
“No,” she said. “Get closer. Let’s get a kiss over the chips.”
7
“A kiss?” The question squeaked out of me.
Dane’s gaze met mine as he had half his body across our small table. “For the cameras, princess.”
Right.
For the cameras.
Because we were in Charleston on a fake honeymoon.
