Seductive Reasoning

by Melissa Schroeder

  He chuckled. “They were worried about you.”

  “I have you to take care of me. That’s all that matters.”

  He nodded, sitting down beside her, taking her hand again. He kissed her bruised knuckles.

  “You really put up a fight, didn’t you?”

  “Sean taught me well,” she said, feeling herself start to drift.

  Before she fell asleep, she felt his mouth on her hand again, a simple kiss. Content, she let herself relax and dream.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Del frowned as they walked up the steps to TFH. He didn’t want to stop on the way home from the hospital, but Emma had insisted. She wanted to see everyone and thank them. He had wanted to get her home so she could rest. Of course, she won the argument.

  If she had looked bad the day before, she looked ten times worse today. The bruises had blossomed on her face, but at least Sean refrained from saying anything. Sean, Jaime, and Randy had shown up that morning and helped him check Emma out of the hospital. Del agreed to bring her to their house in a couple of days to keep Sean from following them back to Del’s house. His plan had been to keep her in bed to rest once they got there.

  Emma had other plans.

  She was still a little wobbly when they reached the door.

  “I told you we should go straight home.”

  She shook her head. “We have to stop by my flat anyway. I need to get some clothes.”

  “Jaime did that for you already. She stopped by my house and left them in a bag.”

  “Oh,” she said. “That was sweet of her.”

  He nodded. It had been, especially since she had her hands full with two very irritated men, who wanted to take Emma home and watch over her themselves. Forever. There had been discussions of taking her to Japan too. Jaime had calmed their tempers and had been instrumental in making sure that Sean did not claim Del’s couch.

  Del held the door open for her, since she had her arm in a sling still. He still didn’t like the way she looked.

  The entire team was standing in the squad room, and began to clap when they walked in. Emma turned around as if to see who they were clapping for.

  “They are clapping for you, love. You caught the killer.”

  She shook her head, and he nodded.

  “No. I caught the rapist. You all caught the killer.”

  Adam chuckled. “She has you there, Boss.”

  Adam stepped forward to give her a kiss on the cheek and a gentle hug.

  “It is so good to see you looking okay.”

  “My heart about stopped when I showed up there and had to help Del,” Marcus said. “I thought I was going to lose you both over that lanai.”

  “And you did help us catch the killer,” Cat said.

  Emma shook her head. “We all did. It was a team effort.”

  “And, we got you a treat we know you love,” McGregor said, picking up a box from Liliha Bakery. “A wee treat for a mighty, wee lass.”

  She laughed, and it was music to his ears. She had been somber for most of the day, thinking things over. She blamed herself for not picking up that there had been two perpetrators. He knew it was part of the job, and that she was going to go over it again and again. They all were.

  “Thank you.”

  Charity walked in then. “I heard there were coco puffs.”

  “There are indeed,” Emma said.

  “You don’t look too bad,” she said.

  “Thank you. My brother said I looked horrible.”

  Charity shook her head. “Brothers are the worst.”

  “You sit. I’ll get some paper towels,” Del told her.

  She smiled at him and then sat in the chair as he went into the break room. He turned and found Adam standing there.

  “So, when’s the date?”

  “What date?”

  “I took a phone call from your mother. Seems that she couldn’t get hold of you today, and called here looking for you.”

  Damn.

  “And?”

  “She said, tell him I have his grandmother’s ring, and will send it to him as soon as he wants.”

  He shook his head. Geraldine Delano did not know how to keep her mouth shut. He’d called her this morning while Emma was taking a nap. His mother was on Eastern Time, so she was up before the crack of dawn Hawaiian time. She had promised to get his grandmother’s ring out of the safety deposit box and get it to him. He thought it might take her several days, not several hours.

  “Listen. Don’t say anything yet. I haven’t had a chance to ask. What with the whole serial killer trying to kill her thing.”

  “So, did she say yes?” Marcus asked when he came in.

  “What the hell, Adam, did you tell everyone?” He looked at them both. “And there better not be a bet on whether or not she will say yes.”

  They both suddenly found the ceiling interesting.

  “Hey. I mean it.”

  “Okay, sure, Boss,” Adam said. Del didn’t feel that reassured.

  He sighed and walked out into the squad room. “Oh, one thing.”

  He turned to face Adam. “They moved Stanton over to HPD, then they will transfer him to Halawa.”

  Del nodded.

  “They have him on suicide watch,” Marcus said. “That is one crazy fucker. You should have heard all the stuff he was spouting off about the goddesses and how they must be destroyed.”

  “And Morgan wasn’t much better from what Emma told us. The idea that those two found each other out of all the millions of people in the world turns your blood cold.”

  “Yeah, it does, but thank God we stopped him before he got out of Hawaii,” Adam said.

  “Did you see Jin before you left the hospital?” Marcus asked.

  “No. Elle was returning as we left. Said they are keeping her there, mainly for her mental situation, but also because she was severely dehydrated. She’s going to stay with her and help her get counseling.”

  But they all knew that the emotional scars wouldn’t completely heal because of the memories. They would all be there for as long as she lived.

  “Where are those paper towels?” Emma called out.

  “Look, she’s already ordering him around,” Marcus said with a chuckle.

  As Del walked out into the squad room, he stopped. They were all sitting around the table, chatting and laughing, and they looked like...a family. They were in a way, and from all the good wishes—not to mention the constant text messages in the hospital—he knew they accepted her as one of their own.

  And now he had to step up his game before one of those idiots told her about the ring.

  In the early evening, Emma and Del sat on his small lanai, which looked out over the Hawaii Kai canal. She liked where his house was situated. It was close enough to the beach that she could feel the ocean breeze, but it was quiet, as if it were in another world.

  “I like it here,” she said.

  He glanced at her. “I think you took too many pain pills.”

  She rolled her eyes. Emma was still embarrassed by her behavior the night before. She had never had pain pills or even liquor.

  “I did not. And I like it here. I liked it when I stayed here before.”

  He took a long draw off his beer.

  “Then why did you move to Waikiki?”

  She had to fight a smile. He might think of himself as an outsider, but he already thought like a Kamaʻāina. Hawaii Kai was less than forty minutes from Waikiki on a good traffic day. Only a local would refer to living in Waikiki as if she had moved to another state.

  She shrugged. “Sean found the condo. I looked here, but there was nothing that would work.”

  He slanted her a look. “I thought you didn’t like me then, but you wanted to live in my neighborhood?”

  “I liked you, but you didn’t like me.”

  He smiled. “You did hit me with a two-by-four.”

  She asked, “Why do you keep bringing that up?”

  He gave her what J
aime called puppy dog eyes. “It really hurt.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “It did. I still have issues with the injury.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Been knocked senseless ever since then. First the board, then that amazing mind, and, finally, your sweet heart.”

  She blinked, as tears filled her eyes. “Oh, why do you say things like that to me, Del?”

  “Because I love you. And, you love me. You yelled it at me last night.”

  She blinked. “I did?”

  He nodded. “Yes, you said you didn’t know why you loved me.”

  “Well, that’s rubbish.”

  His smile faded. “What the hell does that mean? Everyone heard you yell it at me.”

  “What I meant was that I know exactly why I love you.”

  His expression eased. “Yeah? Why?”

  “You’re tough, smart, kind, and you think I’m beautiful, even when my face is a mess. On top of all that, you make my brain melt when you kiss me.”

  His lips curved as he leaned closer to her. “That sounds good.”

  He brushed his mouth over hers, slipping his free hand up to cup her face. He pulled back a few inches. “Marry me, Emma.”

  “Oh…marriage?” Panic filled her at first. Marriage meant forever, until the end of time. She didn’t do forever with anyone.

  “Yeah.” He studied her for a long moment. “And that is not what I thought you would say.”

  “It’s that…marriage. I never thought I would marry.”

  “Well, think about it.” He popped up out of his chair and started to pace. “Damn, woman, I get all romantic, blah blah, and you do this.”

  She bit her lower lip and tried not to laugh.

  “What? Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

  Then, she let the giggles spill out of her. Only a man who understood her and loved her would still be around. She’d hit him with a two-by-four, walked out on the job, and drove him crazy on a daily basis.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?” he asked, his voice distracted.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He stopped and looked at her. “You will?”

  She nodded. He set his beer on the table, then scooped her out of the chair.

  This time, he kissed her loudly. “Ow.”

  “Oh, sorry,” he said, his voice filled with regret as he kissed her gently.

  When he pulled back, she said, “But nothing big. Justice of the Peace.”

  “No. We have to at least have a ceremony. My mother will want to be here.”

  Oh, lord, the mother. A whole other reason to panic.

  He laughed. “I don’t think I have ever seen that particular look on your face before.”

  “It’s just, I never had a real relationship before, and I definitely didn’t meet a mother.”

  He cupped her face. “She will love you.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Because, I love you, and you are going to give her grandbabies.”

  She felt slightly dizzy. “Babies. I hadn’t thought about that, either.”

  “Whoa, there, Emma. You look like you’re going to pass out.”

  “I am not so sure about this baby thing.”

  He frowned. “You don’t want kids?”

  How did she explain this? “I’m like my mother. A lot like her. My issues come from hereditary genes.”

  Understanding filled his expression. “First of all, I do not think there is anything wrong with you.”

  She took a step back from him, the air seemingly evaporating in her lungs.

  “I have meltdowns if things get too overwhelming.” Like right freaking now. She was about to have a meltdown. Her first thought was to run. This was dangerous, this could hurt. He could turn away from her when he realized that she would produce children that had her personality.

  He nodded and slipped his hands around her waist and held her tight.

  “First, I don’t find that too challenging. I once had a girlfriend who had to have her sheets match her underwear.”

  She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. “You did not.”

  “I did. She wasn’t that smart, but she did have about ten sets of sheets.”

  A giggle tickled her throat, but she fought it. This was too serious to joke about.

  “Face it, Del, living with me forever, or a whole bunch of little Emmas, is going to be difficult.”

  “My father always said to marry a difficult woman.”

  “Now I know you’re lying.”

  “He did. He said that women who always agreed with you and were easy to please were boring.”

  “Still...”

  “Besides, my genes are far more superior since I am Italian. You’re kind of a mutt, and probably not as strong in the hereditary line.”

  She blinked again. “Excuse me?”

  “You know, survival of the fittest, and all that crap.”

  “All that crap?”

  “Yeah. What do you have in there? Some Thai, English...what was your father? Doesn’t really matter, because I’m just about one hundred percent Italian, so there is a good chance those kids will take after me. Add Sean into the mix and you definitely have inferior genes.”

  Irritation and amusement threaded through her. “That is a bunch of rubbish.”

  He grinned. “Yep, it is. Because the truth is, I don’t care if we have five little Emmas running around our house spouting theories, or telling me why American football is just stupid. Or five very handsome Martins showing you why you are wrong. All that matters is that we are together.”

  Her vision wavered, and she knew she had tears in her eyes again. “Yeah?”

  He nodded and kissed her. “They will be beautiful and brilliant, just like their mother. And they will all know how to beat the hell out of anyone, as long as they have a two-by-four.”

  She laughed. “That’s true.”

  “Emma, marry me.”

  Joy exploded within her as she rose up on her tiptoes to brush her mouth over his.

  “Yes, let’s get married.”

  And there, with the sun setting over the Pacific, she kissed him, knowing that she had finally found her home.

  Thank you so much for reading SEDUCTIVE REASONING. I hope you loved Emma and Del and if you did, please think about leaving a review at your favorite online retailer or review site.

  Next up is Graeme and Elle in Hostile Desires!

  1-click—>HOSTILE DESIRES.

  As a cold case heats up, two former adversaries discover there is a thin line between love and hate.

  This may be Melissa Schroeder ‘s best book yet!...Hostile Desires is romantic suspense at its finest.

  Buy the book—>HOSTILE DESIRES.

  If you want to read the book that introduced Del and Emma to the world, check out A LITTLE HARMLESS REVENGE!

  Loving someone doesn’t mean you can save him from himself.

  One-click—>A LITTLE HARMLESS REVENGE.

  Also by Melissa Schroeder

  The Camos and Cupcakes World

  Camos and Cupcakes

  The Fillmore Siblings

  Juniper Springs-coming soon

  The Santini World

  The Santinis

  Semper Fi Marines

  The Fitzpatricks

  The Harmless World

  The Harmless Series

  A Little Harmless Military Romance

  Task Force Hawaii

  Check out the rest of Mel’s books by:

  Interest

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  Entire Backlist

  About the Author

  From an early age, USA Today Bestselling author Melissa loved to read. When she discovered the romance genre, she started to listen to the voices in her head. After years of following her AF Major husband around, she is happy to be settled in Northern Virginia surrounded by horses, wineries, and many, many Wegmans.

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  If you would want contact Mel, email her at: melissa@melissaschroeder.net