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This time she didn’t argue. “Okay.”
“I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
He made it in eight.
CHAPTER 16
It was after midnight when the officer taking the report had left and Reed was satisfied that the house was secure, his wife was unharmed and the damned dog, who had apparently saved the day, wasn’t injured.
“This has something to do with the investigation,” he decided, forgoing a nightcap and stripping off his clothes. They were in the master bedroom and Nikki had already slipped between the covers. Her hair was still damp, surrounding her face in ringlets, her face without any makeup, her eyes following his every move.
God, he loved her.
Never had he met a woman who could stir so much passion in him.
And no one could piss him off so deeply.
“So from now on—”
“I know, I know, you’ve said it, like, twenty times or maybe thirty. ‘Double-check all the locks, keep my phone with me at all times and keep the dog at my side.’ Is that about it, Detective?”
“About,” he admitted, tossing his slacks over the back of a side chair where his crumpled shirt and tie were already draped. He threw his T-shirt onto the growing pile. “Just be careful.”
“Got it.”
He sank onto the bed beside her and decided it was time to be totally honest. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
She smiled and cuddled up to him. “And I don’t want to lose you.”
“I think this has something to do with the investigation.”
“So you’ve said.” Her head was propped against his shoulder, her hair smelling fresh and clean, her skin warm. “You’ve been asking around.”
“Mmm.” No denial.
“You should stop.”
“Says you.”
“Right.”
“It’s my job, Reed. And look, I don’t need a lecture, okay?” She propped herself up on her elbow to stare at him, then winced from the pain and slid back to lying next to him, head back in the cradle of his arm. “I feel awful. Just awful. Guilty and sad and worried and ashamed and . . . and everything.” She blinked and let out a sigh. “But I never intended for any of this to happen. I had no idea Morrisette would jump into the river, that she’d be hit by debris that . . .” Her voice trailed off and he waited. “Okay, I should have, I know. I was trespassing, potentially messing up a crime scene and . . . and I was pregnant.” Her voice caught and she had to clear her throat. Her expression turned regretful. “But even though I’d . . . I’d miscarried before, I didn’t think, I mean, I didn’t believe I’d have to be like this hothouse flower who couldn’t do anything.”
His arm tightened around her. Being this introspective was hard for Nikki, facing her flaws almost impossible, but then, wasn’t it for everyone?
“You get it,” she charged, “but yeah, if I could do it all over again, I would make different choices. Better ones.”
“And you’d listen to me.”
“I always do, but, hey, you can’t just order me around, Reed. Even if you think it’s for my own good. Or . . . our own good.” He caught the movement of her hand touching her naked belly and he felt his own sliver of pain.
“You haven’t been known to be willing to talk things out,” he said gently.
“I’m trying, okay? And I’ll try harder, but I am who I am. The woman you married.”
“I know.” And he did. He kissed her forehead. “Just try to be careful and I’ll try not to be so . . .”
“Closed off? Distant? Self-righteous. So damned authoritative—”
