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“So have I. And I’m pretty sure I’ll do more. I’d like to have you by my side while I do it. If we make bad choices, we can make them together.” He twisted his fingers together in a best friends move. “You and me. Like peas and carrots. But with guns. And you can kick ass.” He bumped me with his shoulder again. “You think you could teach me to kick ass like that?”
I laughed. “I’ll think about it.”
“When you first walked into my office, I thought you were fucking nuts,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Thank you,” I replied sarcastically.
“Then I realized that you just see things differently than other people do, and I like the way you see them. And I’d like to see them with you, exactly like you do. I want you to be my partner—both in my business and in my life.
“You mentioned babies last night.” I shuddered at the thought.
“I want whatever you’re willing to give me. And anything you’re not willing to give me, I can live without. I want you. Just you.”
I had never been enough for anyone. Not until now. A feeling unlike any other I’d ever had swelled up in my chest.
“If you start crying, I’m going to call you a pussy,” he teased.
I laid my face on his shoulder and breathed him in. Then I suddenly sat up. “How did you know where to find me last night?”
He ran his finger below the clasp of my friendship bracelet. “I put a tracker in your bracelet,” he admitted.
“Oh, sneaky,” I crooned. But secretly, I loved it.
“I put one on your car, your shoes, your handbag, and your keys, too. If I’m being honest.”
“I put one in your wallet. And one in your gun holster.” I grinned when his mouth fell open.
“And I already knew about your IUD because I hacked your medical account.”
I laughed. “I feel like you’re finally speaking my language.”
He waggled one eyebrow at me. “Or maybe you’re speaking mine.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the friendship bracelet Aubrey had passed to me. “Want to be my BFF?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said, as he dragged the side of his nose down the side of mine, and then he kissed me, softly and slowly. “I want to be more.” He held out his arm and I put the bracelet on him anyway.
“You’re sure you want me?” I asked hesitantly, hating that I even had to ask.
“I’ve never wanted anything more.” And then he kissed me. And every time he kissed me, he made me remember who I was.
And that was the best part about loving William Clark and being loved by him.
Epilogue
Shelly
Lynn and Aubrey sat across the green room from me, and Lynn chewed her fingernails, a tell-tale sign that she was nervous. I adjusted the fit of my jacket in front of the full-length mirror. It wasn’t every day that you were invited to discuss your and your husband’s work with the police department with one of the most famous talk show hosts in the world.
“I don’t know why you’re nervous,” I taunted Lynn. “You’re not the one who has to walk out there in front of millions of people-”
Lynn cut me off with a snort. “There might be a hundred people in the audience, tops.”
“And a few million watching from home,” Aubrey tossed in.
I lifted my hand for a high-five from Aubrey. She grinned and slapped her palm against mine.
“Is this how it’s going to be from now on?” Lynn asked. “You two tight like two peas in a pod?” She gestured from Aubrey to me and back. “Last time I checked, Aubrey was my friend.” She pressed her palm to her chest dramatically.
