AllFreeNovel
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She was a woman who defied being put into a specific box. Some would say she was a cop, through and through. Others would say she was an exemplary squad leader. Fleet was sure her parents thought her the perfect daughter. And May, obviously saw her as the ideal cat-mom. But Fleet was coming to realize there were so many sides to the woman, he couldn’t wait to explore them all.
“Where do you find them?” he asked, carefully hanging up the one that she’d handed him. They walked companionably back into her living room.
“Antique stores, flea markets, yard sales…” she trailed off and shrugged. “It’s something I do in my off time; poke around in other people’s old stuff.”
Fleet had never indulged himself that way, always buying new because… Well, he guessed it was because he was lazy. He’d go to a big-box store, point to a display, and within days, whatever he chose was in his apartment. He’d thought his place was well-appointed and warm. But now, when he looked around Talia’s home, he realized he’d been living in a bubble. The items he surrounded himself with were sleek and beautiful, but they had… Fleet ran his hand over the scarred top of a table that sat next to her sofa.No character. No previous life to proclaim. No interesting past.
He groaned. “Damn. You’re going to hate my stuff,” he said with certainty, giving a self-deprecating snort. “The kindest thing I can say about my furnishings is that they have interesting Swedish names.”
Talia giggled and held up a finger before she bent to look under an armchair, retrieving a stuffed toy she’d obviously bought for May. “Like this?” she asked cheekily. “His name is Ratta.”
Fleet laughed. He recognized the iconic rat from his favorite store. “Ahh. So you don’t just shop for antiques?”
“Shop, yes.” She shrugged. “But sometimes Islumit at retail stores. Besides, here in Maine when it’s minus twenty degrees outside in the winter with snow up to your waist, those places are great to walk around and get some exercise. But you know about all that. You’ve been in town for sixteen years.”
“Right. Hence my décor,” he chuckled.
“I’ll set you straight and start messing up your perfectly pristine decorating,” she teased. “You may have just given me another reason to hang on to you.”
When he gave her a curious look, she laughed and explained. “I’m running out of space here to fill with fun things. If I have access to your self-proclaimed Spartan apartment, it’ll be like having a completely blank canvas to work with.”
Fleet could picture it, and it made him feel undeniably happy.
But he could also picture himself living here, with Talia. Maybe putting on a small addition so he’d have workspace…Right.He was getting ahead of himself. He actually didn’t even know if she owned or rented.
“Is this place yours?” She certainly looked well-settled in, like she had no intention of ever moving.
“It certainly is. Well, mine and the bank’s,” she allowed, laughingly. “But I got a great deal on it, and it came with three acres which gives me a ton of privacy. You may have noticed that I keep most of it in tall grass and wildflowers. I’m not big on mowing a lawn, so I only cut the fields down in the late fall so small trees don’t take over.”
Hehadnoticed when they’d walked out of her car earlier that the area surrounding the house was a tangle of leggy blooms, with the farther reaches having recently been shorn. Which made sense. October was just ending, so she was in the middle of her yearly maintenance.
“You’re a woman of many talents, Talia,” he told her, reaching for her wrist. When she didn’t object, he drew her close and threaded an arm around her waist, pulling her muscled frame up against his. “And to think I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface.”
She tilted her head up and nuzzled his ear with her nose. “As long as that’s the only thing you plan to scratch,” she warned. “If in the immediate future you’re aiming for another kind of itch, I have bad news.”
Dammit.He’d tried to put that out of his mind.
“Yeah. I know,” he groused. “No sex for at least six weeks. I’ve been warned.” The surgeon had told him to keep all strenuous activities off his to-do list until she cleared him. But, he brightened, that didn’t mean—”
“Nope. Don’t look like you’ve figured a work-around. I already had the forethought to ask aboutotherly-induced orgasms for you,” Talia said without a trace of contrition or embarrassment, “and the good doc put the nix on those, as well.” A big, disgruntled sigh left her mouth.
“You seriously asked about…?” Fleet snorted.
“I did. And she gavethatagenda four weeks. Something about not getting your blood pumping too hard.”
Well, that sucked. And newsflash, his blood was already pumping. But not in a dangerous kind of way. He pondered for a few seconds, and… Bingo. Just because he couldn’t come to completion, it didn’t mean he couldn’t do a few wonderful things for Talia, now did it?
He leaned down to her lips, brushing across them provocatively. “You know, I’m pretty talented with my fingers.”
He felt a quiver run through her body.
“But…that’s so unfair,” she demurred, but not aggressively. “I’m not sure I can let you…take care of me without giving back.”
Fleet grinned and shrugged. He already had her. “Look at it like a banking transaction. I’m making some wise deposits so I can reap the interest down the road.”
Talia slapped his chest playfully. “I’m not sure I like being compared to an ATM.”
“Mmm.” He took a small nip of her bottom lip. “Item A—my tongue, not a plastic card—into slot B. You can use your imagination for that one, all to receive a big payout.”
