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The smells of fresh-baked pastries and coffee hit my nose when I open the door to The Sweet Spot.
I glance around the sitting area and find my very sexy boyfriend sitting in the back corner, scrolling through his phone. Two white cups and pastry bags sit on the table in front of him.
With a grin, I make my way around the line, waving at my cousin Amelia behind the counter. As I approach the booth, Caleb spots me and sets down his phone. He stands and pulls me into his arms, kissing me boneless.
When he pulls back and says, “Hi, babe,” my heart skips a beat.
“Hi. Wow, I like that greeting.”
He leans down, his mouth at my ear. “Well, the way I really wanted to greet you isn’t fit for the public.”
A shiver goes down my spine at his husky words. “I guess you’ll have to show me when I get home tonight.”
“Done.”
He drops a quick kiss on my lips before I slide into one side of the booth and he takes the other.
“How’s your first day back?” I ask, pulling my muffin from the bag.
He nods. “Not bad. If I’m going to have to ride the desk for a while, I think I’m going to like going in early when there’s hardly anyone there. I can get through the reams of paperwork before it gets busy.”
Caleb isn’t back to full-time work as he’s still healing from his injuries, and there are steps to go through before he can get back on patrol. And that doesn’t even include the standard protocol investigation of the accident.
“How about you? Ready to take over the practice?” he asks, his eyes twinkling.
I take a deep breath. “I think so. Well, I’m not taking it all over. Not yet. My uncle is still going to work some. But yeah.” I nod, smiling, feeling the tendrils of fear dissipate when I look at him. I don’t know how he does it, but all he needs to do is look at me and I can see everything I can be in his eyes. “I’m ready.”
The day after I sang my heart out to him at the Silver Moon, we went back to Dallas and spent the next week packing up my apartment. We also christened every room. I showed him some of the places I would miss, and he went with me to the hospital so that I could have one last lunch with the few people I’d made friends with at work.
Thankfully, we didn’t run into Samuel.
When we arrived back home, my uncle approached me about working with him in his practice so he could semi-retire. I jumped at the chance to work with the man who made me want to be a doctor in the first place. I couldn’t think of a better mentor.
Caleb brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. “You’re going to kick ass, babe.”
“Well, hello, dears.”
The Poker Posse—four of Madison Ridge’s oldest residents and hustling poker players, all wearing matching track suits—stand next to our table. Their unspoken leader, Faye, dressed in her requisite turquoise, smiles at us.
“Hi, Mrs. Casteel,” we say in unison.
Before we can say more, the twins, AnnaMae and EllaMae—in pink and purple respectively—start in on how handsome Caleb is in his uniform. They aren’t wrong. He’s sex on a stick in his sheriff’s uniform of khaki tactical pants and the black polo that hugs his well-defined biceps. He sends me a look ofplease help mewhen they start squeezing said biceps, but all I can do is giggle.
Clarice, in her sunny yellow, grumbles, “For God’s sake, he’s an officer of the law. Stop manhandling him.” She gives me the side-eye. “If I were you, missy, I’d make an honest man out of him sooner rather than later.”
With that, she stomps off over to the counter to pick up her order.
“Okay, let’s move along, ladies,” Faye says, ushering the two snickering sisters along. She smiles at us. “My bet was right after college.”
And then she walks off, waving at various folks in the bakery.
My mouth drops open and Caleb’s brow furrows. “Bet? What is she talking about?” he asks.
I lean my head back and laugh. “Sara told me the town was taking bets on when we’d figure out we were in love with each other.”
“Are you serious?”
I laugh. “Yep. Apparently, they’ve kept it a secret from us for years.”
