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Damn, he’d wondered so many times why she’d left so abruptly. He wondered if he’d come on too strong. Now he had his answer. And he almost wished the real reason was because he’d scared her off.
She pulled her legs up, leaning a little on her side to face him better. “When I was younger, my dad flew me in to stay with Auntie Rose to get me away from the fighting for the summers, I guess. I got the job at the summer camp just for fun and something to do. But that summer, my mom dragged me out to prove to my dad she had won. By eighteen, I was done with the fighting and being used as a pawn in their divorce. Besides, they both had new families and new kids, and I don’t really fit into the mold of their new lives.”
He didn’t like what he was hearing. And suddenly, he began to wonder what going through that experience would do to a woman’s heart? “So that’s why you came back here after all this time away?”
She nodded. “Maisie demanded I come when she heard I’d be spending Christmas alone.”
He liked Maisie Carter. She was a little bit like Penelope, a free spirt, only slightly less free, since she didn’t get the police called on her for skating on a fountain. “You’re close, you two?”
“We were the best of friends when they lived in California.” She tossed a grape into her mouth. “It was kinda heartbreaking when the family picked up and moved here after their grandfather got sick. But that’s why my parents sent me out here for the summers. I loved it here.”
He watched the fire a moment, still coming to grips that it hadn’t been his fault she’d left after he kissed her. He’d thought for years that it had been because he’d told her he wanted to kiss her forever. He still couldn’t believe he told her that. He took a long sip of his coffee to gather his thoughts and then turned back to her. “Where does your family live now?”
“My mom still lives in Cali, and my dad moved to Portland. When they divorced, I think they both wanted to rediscover themselves, so I moved out and traveled across the US working odd jobs, until I could bartend, then I worked in everything from pubs, to resorts, to dive bars, to tourist traps, and even some night clubs along the coast.” She paused to shrug again. “My parents’ new families are just…different. I don’t fit in.”
“You’re strong and a free spirt,” Darryl stated, somehow feeling the need to point out what assholes her parents were. “That can intimidate people.”
She grinned, leaning forward, staring at him deeply. “Does that mean I can intimidate a big, bad cop like you?”
Christ, the heat she brought in a single second blew his mind apart. One second, nothing. The next, her whole being seemed to light up with desire. In that regard, Penelope hadn’t changed one bit. She still made him hungry very easily. He had to fight the pull of his body to lean forward and find out what would happen if he played with that heat a little. “You could try.” He grinned some of the need back at her.
Her lips parted in an invitation, and it took all of his strength not to claim the kiss she was offering him. She was trouble. That he knew for a fact. He needed to be squeaky clean until Christmas was over, since everyone in the department was looking at him for his possible promotion. But his promotion wasn’t here in his house with them right now; all the worries he thought of before now were gone. It was just him and her, and he was slowly beginning to think she might be the right kind of trouble.
Chapter Three
The night crept up fast, and Penelope almost regretted that. She’d enjoyed the day with Darryl, far more than she originally thought she would this morning, considering she was hungover and embarrassed to her bones. Darryl had a lot of stories, funny ones, and they’d watched two movies and talked throughout both. She guessed this was what people did during the holidays. Relaxed, spent time with friends and family, and stayed cozy inside by the fire. She hadn’t spent a day like this with anyone for a really long time. Most of the time, she worked all night long and slept through the daylight hours or traveled. And after her low-key day with Darryl, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about that. Had she been missing out on life?
They had sandwiches for lunch and played a game of cards. Then they’d made lasagna for dinner, and she’d been washing dishes when Darryl’s back porch caught her eye. He’d ventured off to the washroom, and when she finished the dishes, she hurried out the door, grabbing the warm blanket on her way. She slipped into Darryl’s big winter boots, and like some kid, she dragged her feet through the snow until she stood in middle of his backyard.
She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders tight to keep out the brisk air and tipped her head back, opening her mouth and letting big snowflakes fall on her tongue. The light from the porch spilled out, and the night was quiet and peaceful. There wasn’t a speck of green or brown anywhere. White coated the world; a cold, bitter night that was somehow the most beautiful thing she’d seen in a while.
“Here.”
She glanced next to her, finding Darryl offering her a mug of hot chocolate.
“You keep little marshmallows in your house?” she asked him.
He shook his head with a dry laugh. “I have these hot chocolate packages for a Christmas event that’s coming up. Figured you might like one.”
She took a tiny sip of the piping hot chocolate, steaming up in the cold air. “I do, thank you.” She turned back to the evergreen trees around his yard, with its branches dropping from the heavy snow. “It’s so beautiful out here.”
“It’s also freezing,” he said, zipping up his coat.
“But pretty too,” she countered, unable to look away at the glistening snow. “I’ve been traveling around so much that I think I forgot how pretty the snow really is.”
“You don’t have a home base?”
Penelope glanced sideways at him, finding his gaze soft. She shook her head. “I haven’t for a really long time. I get antsy whenever I stay somewhere too long. I like the wind in my hair and the adventure that awaits me.”
“Sounds like a fun way to live.”
“It is.” But even as she said that, it seemed like a half-truth. At one time in her life, she loved picking up and going anywhere. She lived for the adventure. Now, she wondered if there would ever be a place that would make her stick. “Did you join the force right after college?” she asked before taking another sip from her mug.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yup.”
“Kinda one of those always-knew-what-you-wanted-to-be types of things.”
He nodded. “My father was a lowlife. I didn’t want to be like him, so I made sure I was the exact opposite.”
