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“Eight o’clock, Lieutenant?”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
“No, Lieutenant. Thank you. See you at eight, sir.”
“At eight,” Chay said, and disconnected.
Bianca sneaked under his arm. “Look at that smile! Something nice just happen?”
Chay swung her towards him. “We just snagged a table at a restaurant Aidan’s sister says we’ll love.”
Bianca raised her eyebrows. “Aidan’s sister?”
“A guy in my unit. The sister’s a travel agent.”
“What’s this restaurant called?”
“The Boathouse. It’s on the lake in Central Park.”
“Oh, I’ve wanted to go there! It’s supposed to be so pretty.”
“Pretty like you,” Chay said, linking his hands at the base of her spine.
“Prettier. It’s on a lake, remember? They say there are ducks in the water. And turtles. And frogs, too.”
“Ducks and turtles and frogs?” Chay’s expression turned serious. “Well, that might change things. I mean there’s you—and then there are those frogs… Ouch!”
“You deserved that slug, Lieutenant. Actually, you deserve even more.”
Chay gathered her in. “Damn right I do,” he said softly.
It was good that their reservation wasn’t until eight, because they were very busy for the next fifteen or twenty minutes.
• • •
There was an entrance to the park a block from their hotel, and the concierge told them that the restaurant was perhaps a five or ten minute walk from the entrance.
Chay started to ask the doorman to call a cab, but Bianca stopped him.
“It’s a beautiful night,” she said. “Let’s walk.”
They walked slowly, his arm around her, her head tilted against his shoulder.
There were other couples in the park. Bianca looked at the women and wondered if they felt as happy as she did—and then she wondered how she could be happy after the ugliness of the morning…
“Rule for the evening,” Chay said softly. “Only good thoughts permitted.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “You have a lot of rules, Lieutenant.”
“That’s one of the privileges of being an officer.”
He was teasing her, and she knew it.
But the strange thing was that she didn’t mind his having rules. She’d didn’t mind handing over control to him.
It was what happened when you started to care for someone. To fall for someone, Bianca thought, and the sudden realization burned its way into her heart.
• • •
