Page 63 of Unmasking Her Shadow

“Would it help if I told you I’ve basically been living with you for months so nothing you do will be of any surprise to me?”

She rolls her eyes and sighs. “You know everything there is to know about me, but I’m still getting to know you.”

I nod. “You’re right. We will take it day by day. See you for lunch?”

“Mhm.” She nods, giving me a quick peck on the lips before leaving to go back home. With a smile, I fall backward onto my bed to stare at the ceiling, thanking the universe for putting her in my path. I’ve already told my mom that she’s the one. I’m going to have to keep her away from my family for a while because they will start hounding her about wedding dates, and I don’t think my pup is quite at that point yet. Soon. I can feel it. Once part of your heart lives in another, you can’t resist the pull.

When I’m dressed, I send her a selfie of me in my uniform, and she responds with a drooling emoji.

“You want to know something? That dog didn’t let me pet it not one time while I was there. She would either walk away or move her head away from my hand until she fell over. Ridiculous. All dogs love me. Why doesn’t that one?” Ryker complains on the way to the station.

“She loves her owner, and that’s good enough.”

“Of course you would say that. I’m going to buy her treats. Or maybe a steak. Then she will warm up to me…” He’s still talking as we walk into the station, but I half ignore him. He sees a challenge, and he’s going to take it.

* * *

The smile that graces Sam’s face when I walk into the spa to retrieve her for lunch makes my heart skip a beat. I pinch myself, making sure I didn’t fall asleep watching her on my laptop and this is a dream. Without a second thought, she walks straight to me and falls into my embrace. I smile against her neck, squeezing her back. When she pulls away, she leans up and presses a kiss to my lips before grabbing my hand. Well, okay then. She’s perfectly fine with everyone knowing we are a couple. Thank fuck.

Emily is walking back towards the door when we open it.

“I left my door open and now my battery is dead,” she grumbles.

Sam looks at me, and I nod. “Come to lunch with us. We’ll deal with your car later,” Sam tells her, grabbing her arm and tugging her along with us, not allowing her to decline.

“I’ve never been in the back of a cop car before,” Emily whispers to Sam in the backseat. We didn’t have time to go back to the station to swap vehicles before Sam went on break. We take them to eat next to the water again after stopping to grab our to-go orders of pasta and breadsticks. Sam mentioned yesterday that chicken Alfredo sounded good. She beams at me when she opens her container to discover just that. What my baby wants, my baby gets.

“Xan said he will come jump my car when he gets off work. I’ll just let him do it so you two can get back to catching bad guys after you drop us off.”

“You sure?” Ryker asks with his mouth full of lasagna.

She laughs, nodding and hands him a napkin.

He hasn’t once tried to flirt with her or make any teasing remarks. As much as he won’t admit it or even talk about it, I’m pretty positive he has a thing for Taylor. I caught him covering up a hickey the other morning while mumbling, “She’s fucking crazy,” to himself.

“We need to create an outdoor spa,” Sam tells Emily. “Wouldn’t somewhere like this be nice to relax in?”

“Mmm,” Emily hums, studying our surroundings. “We could have our boss buy the lot next to us and create a version of this there. She could have retractable walls and stuff for when it rains and close it off in the winter.”

Sam scrunches her nose. “It wouldn’t be the same.”

Now I’m determined to buy her a sanctuary like this for her to run her own business. Just for her, so the environment doesn’t get tainted by noise and distractions. As much money as we have obtained over the past couple of years, she wouldn’t have to work for anyone else. She can do whatever her heart desires.

When she closes her container, I spread my legs so she can lie between them and rest her head in my lap. I run my fingers through her hair while I finish eating one-handed. Emily giggles, watching the interaction, and takes a picture of us, and then Sam’s phone chimes with the incoming message.

“I’ve never seen her so happy. Just thought you should know,” she says to me, and I smile, looking down at my love who has her eyes closed, so content and relaxed.

When it’s time to leave, Emily and Ryker gather up the trash, and Sam seizes the opportunity to climb into my lap and straddle me as we hide behind the tree. “You look so edible in your uniform,” she purrs into my ear, and it goes straight through my ear to the apex of my thighs. “Will you wear it for me tonight? All of it?”

“Handcuffs included?” I ask, giving her ass a squeeze.

“Well…I’ll be wearing those,” she laughs, nuzzling into my neck. I hold her to me like a clingy koala bear until Ryker blares the siren.

“We have to go, love.” I kiss her on the cheek, and she stands up with a groan.

“I don’t like going back to work once I’ve seen you. Maybe I’ll become a detective so I can ride along with you guys all day.”

“Love,” I sigh. “If you knew how many times I was in your house while you were also inside before I made myself known, you would understand how shitty a detective you would be.”