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“How about I pick you up after your shift and we go out to eat? Maybe celebrate the news with Gabby and Dane.”
Although he didn’t voice the last part as a question, it still came out tentatively. He didn’t want to hide anything from Gabby, but if Mia didn’t want to say anything yet, he’d respect her wishes.
“Should we tell them so soon?”
“Considering you have two dresses to design, I’m going with yes.” Then he sealed his words with a searing kiss, hoping to dissuade any other response from her.
His heart wouldn’t be able to take it if she wanted to keep what was happening between them a secret. But he’d understand if she did. She was nervous. Shy. It was a lot to take in. Hell, he hadn’t even processed it. How could one process the love of their life actually loved them back, especially after being pushed away for so long?
Well, okay, a few months wasn’t that long, but in his head, it felt like centuries. Before that, he had lived years with his love for her to himself. Not even Gabby knew how he had felt.
Shit. He didn’t have a ring either. He had to buy her a ring to make it official. Later today, he’d get her a ring and it should calm some of her worries. Hopefully. Maybe. Hell, he was winging everything here, hoping she didn’t call it all off and tell him to go away and never come back.
“I’ll call you later. I need to go, though.”
She nodded, her eyelids droopy, as he crawled out of bed. It was better she didn’t answer. He probably wouldn’t like the answer, and maybe it wasn’t how she truly felt. She was half asleep right now. When she woke up tomorrow morning, she’d have a clearer head and he’d be able to read her better. In the dark, he couldn’t see the true depths of her eyes and what she was thinking. Mia might think she hid her feelings from the world, but when it came to him, he always felt like he could read her like a book—most of the time, anyway.
Which was why he never told her how he felt. He always knew she wouldn’t take it well, and she hadn’t.
She was his now. She said so, and he’d do anything to keep it that way.
He got dressed, kissed her one more time, then left with his mind rattling with too many thoughts. Not good, especially since he had to put all his focus on a new case. It didn’t matter it was barely three o’clock in the morning. When he got handed a case, he put forth every effort and motivation toward it. No cop ever had a one hundred percent closing rate, but he always tried to veer towards that as much as possible. He took his job seriously.
About twenty minutes later, he made it to the apartment of a thirty-year-old woman, single, no roommate—that they knew of—strangled to death. He met Gabby as she was walking into the building.
She smirked as they entered the elevator. “Someone looks like they didn’t leave an empty bed?”
“What?” He finger combed his hair a bit. Hell, it was the middle of the night. Even if he would’ve been in his apartment, he still wouldn’t have combed his hair—much.
Gabby laughed, pointing toward his neck. “Not your hair, dumbass. It’s the big-ass hickey on your neck giving you away.”
He slapped a hand to his neck, his cheeks flaming hot.
Shit.
And he left Mia without getting a concrete answer of whether or not they were telling Gabby and Dane the truth yet. Now, what did he do?
Lowering his hand, he tried to remain calm. It was damn hard with Gabby snickering like a twelve-year-old teasing one of her classmates about their crush.
“That’s fifty cents you owe, by the way.”
“Whatever,” Gabby said, brushing a few strands of her unruly hair behind her ear. “You know when I’m half dead to the world, my swearing increases by like a hundred and twenty percent. And you changing the subject does not erase the huge-ass hickey on your neck.”
She started laughing once more as she pointed at his neck—again.
That’s what he got for not even making a trip to the bathroom before leaving. Not that he would’ve been able to cover up a hickey anyway. With what? A turtleneck? In summer? Yeah, that would’ve gone over so well with Mrs. Snickerdoodle standing next to him.
“Another quarter.”
Her eyes narrowed for a brief second. “I’ll add a ten spot later. Stop with the damn reminders.”
This time he chuckled. She wanted to rile him up; he could do the same right back.
“So, who’s the lucky lady?”
He tilted his head with a sly smile. “A guy never kisses and tells.”
Gabby rolled her eyes. “Umm…the guy with the huge-ass hickey standing next to me always does.”
