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“It is indeed.”
He checked for traffic and led her across the street and then turned to head to Seraphim. They passed several people and Slade nodded in silent greeting. He found it odd that most didn’t return the acknowledgement.
“That’s odd,” he remarked to Fiona.
“Don’t take it personally. Yesterday they all crossed the road or ducked into doorways.”
“Doesn’t that bother you? I mean I could understand if they wanted to avoid me for arresting you, but you’ve lived here most of your life. They’ve shopped in your store, had you find out-of-print books for them, and drank your coffee, and one idiot cop arrests you and they turn their backs?”
“Not much happens in Angel’s Rise, and if any details about Daniel’s death came out, they could easily jump to the same conclusion as you.”
“But I didn’t know you and was caught up in my emotions about Daniel.”
“Small towns thrive on gossip. Now that I’ve been cleared, and especially as you are making a big show of walking around town with me, they’ll switch from wondering if I killed Daniel to wondering if I’m sleeping with you, but then you knew that when you headed the wrong way when we left my place.”
Slade chuckled. He found he did that a lot with Fiona. “My ruse has been found out.”
“I don’t think you were trying that hard to hide it. You wanted to make sure as many people saw us walking about town and going to Seraphim as possible. When did you make a reservation for a window table?”
He would have to remember that putting anything over on her or keeping her sidelined would be nearly impossible. “Before we left Bangor.”
“Because you figured I’d be scorned by the town. I’d accuse you of trying to play the white knight, but you didn’t want me to know which just means you did it because you truly are a white knight, riding in to save me.”
“Baby, I don’t think for a minute you couldn’t extricate yourself from almost any situation. And if I’m any character in one of those books, it’s the dragon.”
With Fiona laughing, he opened the door and ushered her inside Seraphim. Chef Stuart met them as soon as they entered. “Fiona, how good to see you again, and this must be Detective Rafferty. I understand from Went that our girl has been completely cleared of any and all charges. I salute you, Detective Rafferty, for owning up to your mistake and for bringing Fiona here for lunch by way of an apology.”
Chef Stuart couldn’t have done better if he’d paid him. The chef showed them to a premium table at the front of the restaurant. Once again, Slade held her chair as she sat down. The chef left the table, and Fiona leaned over to Slade.
“Did you write that for him?” she asked, laughing.
“No, but I did let him in on why I wanted the table. I think if it had been for any other reason, he’d have had me seated by the kitchen so the wait staff could bang into me as they went in and out.”
They enjoyed a sumptuous meal, shared more about their day-to-day lives, and found that they had far more in common than they might have thought.
As they began to share a decadent flourless cake with raspberries, Slade confessed, “You do know that the coffee and books were not the only reasons I used to stop by. I was happy just to glimpse you as you glided through the stacks—your fingers grazing along the titles, straightening things here and there. The soft light through the window created a soft, almost ethereal glow around you.”
By the time they left the restaurant, they’d enjoyed another lovely meal and the people who came and went changed from gossiping about Fiona and her role as a murderer to Fiona and her new love interest. The conversation went from didFiona kill Danieltodid Fiona sleep with the detective.The answer was no to both, although he planned to change the latter.
Slade walked her back to her staircase.
“I should probably come upstairs to make sure your loft is secure,” he said.
“I think, Detective Rafferty, you’re using my safety as a subterfuge to get me back up in my loft and all alone with you.”
“And if I am?”
She leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Then to paraphrase Mary Chapin Carpenter, shut up and fuck me.”
Slade was stunned for a moment. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she threw him another curveball. Of course, he wanted things to progress in that direction, but he hadn’t expected her to move that fast, and he did want to make sure she was safe.
Fiona was halfway up the stairs when she stopped and turned to look at him. “Coming, Detective?”
He didn’t need to be asked a second time and bounded up the stairs, getting to the landing right behind her. Daniel’s killer could wait. The woman he’d been casually lusting over for almost a year and who had now had his cock on full alert had asked him to make love to her. He and his dick had no intention of telling her no.
CHAPTER13
FIONA
