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“For what?”
With her hands still framing his face, she ran a thumb along his chin. “For being here. For bringing me back from the fog. For making me feel safe.” She leaned forward and laid her lips on his. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’d pretty much do anything for you, you know.”
She smiled, tucking her head back into that perfect spot between his neck and shoulder. Her trembling subsided as they sat in silence.
“Do you need to get checked out by Doc?”
She shook her head, not wanting to move.
“You sure, sweetheart?”
“Positive,” she murmured.
“Let’s get out of here, then. I’m sure Roxie will let you take off early. Okay?”
“That’d be great.”
How could she not want to be with this man? She believed he meant what he had said. He’d do anything for her. All she had to do was trust him.
She knew she could. And should. Butwouldshe? That was the question.
Taking a deep breath, she sat up, and his arms loosely encircled her waist. “Can we swing by your office first? I think I should file a report. No. Ineedto file a report.”
“Of course.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “The flower delivery?”
She nodded, then hesitated, chewing her bottom lip.
Trust him.
“Also... well... there have been some phone calls.”
He tensed beneath her, and that crinkle between his brows popped. “What phone calls?”
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Alex sat on the uncomfortable guest chair in Quinn’s office as he tried unsuccessfully to get off the phone. She studied him. Noted how his dark-brown hair was just a little bit too long. How his forehead scrunched when he didn’t like what he was hearing. How he absently twirled a pencil in his large, calloused hand as he spoke. Even out of uniform, dressed in jeans and a corduroy button-down, the man had a commanding presence about him.
This was his element. This fit him.
She couldn’t imagine him doing—being—anything else.
“Sure. Right. Thanks,” he muttered, then hung up the phone. “Sorry about that. The mayor’s a talker.” An enormous exhale left him as he grabbed a notepad from his desk drawer. “Whenever you’re ready, Alex. Start from the beginning.”
You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing. It’s time to let go of the guilt and allow yourself to move on.
Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath in, then let it out long and slow.
“It started a few days ago,” she said, “but I’m not sure which day. It was just a phone call with no one on the other end. I figured it was simply a wrong number, you know? I hung up and didn’t give it much thought. Then another hang-up call happened last night when you were over. Um, when we were about to...”
“Kiss.”
Heat spread across her face, but she was determined to maintain eye contact. Even when the corners of his lips twitched. She cleared her throat. “Right. Again, I didn’t think anything about the call.”
Because you distracted me.
She cleared her throat again. She needed to force herself to stick to the facts and not random details like how it had been so hard to think straight with Quinn’s undivided attention on her.
