by Amy Reece
“Hey, I’m sorry I’m—” Whatever else he’d been about to say froze as he stood with his mouth hanging open.
“Hi. What’s wrong?” She was concerned, as he remained stock-still.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Wow.” He gave her a once-over and smiled. “You look amazing, Chrissy. Wow.”
“Thanks. You look great too.” He was wearing dark dress slacks and a teal shirt, open at the throat. “Come in.” She stepped aside to let him in. She shut the door and they stood awkwardly for several moments. “I didn’t know where we were going, so I hope this is okay.” She gestured to her dress.
He smiled and stepped close to her. “You look perfect.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I made reservations at Antiquity. I hope that’s all right.”
She was glad she’d decided to go with the black dress. She’d never been to Antiquity, an upscale restaurant in Albuquerque’s Old Town. It was way above her pay grade. “Um, yeah. It sounds great. I’ve never been.”
“Let’s go then. If you’re ready?”
She nodded and picked up her purse. They walked to the driveway together and she was surprised to see a silver BMW. “Where’s your truck?”
He held the passenger door for her and jogged around to get in the driver’s side. “My truck is for work. I also left Bob home tonight.” He smiled and winked at her.
Good lord! Business must be good for DeLuca Construction. She admitted to herself she was a bit intimidated. It didn’t get any better when he pulled to the front of the beautiful adobe restaurant and allowed the valet to park his car. Once inside, they were seated in a quiet corner booth. She was used to looking for the cheapest thing on the menu, but sensed she needn’t do that with Hugh. Neither did she want to order the most expensive dinner, either. He suggested the Chateaubriand for two and ordered a bottle of Cabernet. They shared a Creme Brûlée for dessert, along with coffee. She was careful not to overeat, not wanting to look like a pig or start oozing out of her dress, but it was hard because it was delicious. She’d been worried they might not have anything to talk about during dinner, but her worries were groundless; they talked non-stop, laughing frequently. He was smart and funny, and she found herself relaxed and able to enjoy herself.
“Tell me something you don’t like, Chrissy.” He poured them each a final glass of wine as he spoke.
“Why?”
“Suspicious much? Because what you don’t like says a lot about a person.”
“Olives.”
He chuckled and set down his wine. “Olives, huh? You seem fairly passionate about your dislike.”
“It’s more of a hatred. They’re disgusting. So, what does that tell you about me?”
“Hmm. Well, it tells me intriguing things about the depths of your passions, which I look forward to learning about in the future. Personally, I’m conflicted. The Italian half of me is appalled. Mediterranean cooking features a lot of olives. The Irish half of me is fine with it, however. The Irish have little use for olives.”
She laughed. “You like olives, huh?”
“Love them. But I’ve been told I’m a bit of an olive snob. I don’t go for the rubbery, canned sort.”
“If I had to guess, I’d go with one of your brothers informing you of your snobbery.”
“Bingo. Seamus frequently lets me know I’m a snob of one sort or another. He seems to take great pleasure in doing it.”
“So tell me something you don’t like.” She was curious now that he’d brought it up. She wondered if he’d say something innocuous, as she had, or something deeper.
He reached for her hand on the table top and met her gaze. “I don’t like thinking about the kind of danger you face in your job.”
She clasped his warm hand and squeezed. “That’s sweet, Hugh. My job’s not terribly dangerous now that I’m a detective. It’s mostly paperwork and puzzles. I hardly ever even pull my gun these days.”
“Did you mean to kill her?” He referred to the occasion a few months previously when she’d pulled her gun and shot Lena before the woman could shoot Finn or Mel.
She smiled wryly and pulled her hand away. “We’re trained to shoot to stop the perp. That frequently means death, but not always or necessarily. So, no. I didn’t mean to kill her, and I’m glad she didn’t die. I shot to stop her. Now she’ll go to trial with a jury of her peers. I hope she goes away for a long time.”
“Does it ever bother you? Being a cop, I mean.”
She shrugged and sipped her wine. “Sometimes. But it’s what I do and I’m good at it. I like helping people. I guess I choose not to overthink it.”
He smiled. “I didn’t mean to get so heavy. Sorry about that.”
“Can I change my answer?” She felt silly for giving such a shallow answer to his earlier question.
“You don’t hate olives?”
“Oh, no. I still detest them.” She reached for his hand this time. “People who hurt kids. That’s something real I really hate.”
He nodded and they finished their wine. He asked if she wanted to grab a drink somewhere and maybe find a place to do a little dancing. She wasn’t ready for their date to end, so she agreed. He took her to a classy little jazz club downtown and they danced for an hour. It was the perfect, quintessential date. But they both had to work the next day, so as the clock swept toward midnight, he drove her back to Finn and Mel’s.
She wondered if he would expect to come in and she wasn’t sure what she would say if he seemed inclined. On one hand, she felt completely relaxed and comfortable with him; on the other hand, she was out of her depth with a man like him and not sure what their next steps were. He held her hand as he walked her to the door.
“Do you, um, want to come in?”
He smiled and stepped close. “Of course I do. I’ll dream about it all night. But I won’t.” He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her skin. “I would like to kiss you goodnight, however. Would that be all right?”
She was amused that he would ask; he hadn’t asked earlier in his office. “I think that would be nice.”
“I hope it’s a notch or two above ‘nice.’” He murmured the last word against her lips.
It was. It started soft but quickly deepened as she opened her lips to his hot tongue. He pulled her closer and his hands curved around her bottom. She could feel his arousal pressed against her stomach and was thrilled to know she caused it.
He let her go with a soft groan. “Will you go out with me again, Chrissy? I don’t want to play games and wait to call you. I want to date you.”
She raised her eyebrows at his honesty. It was refreshing and terrifying. Was she ready to jump into another relationship? She wasn’t at all sure, but she stared into his icy blue eyes and nodded. “I’d love to go out with you again.”
Chapter Six
Hugh
“Does that feel good?”
“Oh, yes! God, Hugh. Don’t stop.” She moaned as her head fell back against the sofa cushion.
He grinned and moved to the other foot. “I think I’ve found your weak spot.” He massaged for a few minutes in silence, trying to work the soreness away. “It’s been a rough week at work, huh?” She’d been pulling ten hour days and it was starting to catch up with her. They’d gone out the night after their first official date and gotten together after work every night since. For the last few days he’d met her at Finn and Mel’s in the evening. He and Bob would stop for take-out or groceries, then head to his brother’s house where he would feed Fluff and CJ and wait for Chrissy. They had cooked together the first few evenings, but then one of her cases became extremely active, thus her late nights.
“I am beyond ready to get my partner back. Maybe I’ll take a couple days off next week.” She closed her eyes and slid lower on the sofa. Her feet were propped in Hugh’s lap as he rubbed the tension out of them. She’d seemed surprised when he scooped them up and tossed her shoes away. She’d objected, saying they probably reeked, but he didn�
��t care.
“That sounds like a great idea. Finn and Mel get back tomorrow, right?” He let his hands move up past her ankles and began massaging her smooth calves. He loved touching her. He’d let his hands wander a bit more each time they kissed, but wasn’t trying to rush her into bed. They were both wary of getting deeply involved in another relationship, and thus didn’t want to jump in too soon. For now, he was happy to simply spend time with her.
“Yeah. I’ll move back to my apartment around lunchtime. Their plane should get in around one o’clock. Mmm, you have magic hands.”
He chuckled and pushed her feet off his lap, reaching for her hands. “I’m glad you think so. Come on. Dinner is ready, and you need to eat before you fall asleep.”
“You’re spoiling me. How am I ever going to face cereal for dinner again?”
“As long as I’m around, there will be no cereal for dinner, young lady. You deserve a little spoiling.” She was such a conundrum: tough talking and fierce as a detective, but soft and feminine as a woman. At least soft in all the right places, as he was discovering. She was also incredibly strong and fit, something he admired. They’d gone running together a couple times in the past week and he’d had to push himself to keep up. “You want to change while I set the table?”
She smiled and put her arms around his neck. “Have I told you how much I appreciate you?”
“Not today. I would be willing to accept any small expressions of gratitude you care to send my way.” He pushed her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled into her gray-green eyes.
“You would? Well, let’s see what I can do.” She placed her lips on his and kissed him sweetly. “Thank you, Hugh.”
He rubbed his thumb across her soft lips, then kissed her again. He had to force himself to pull away, knowing she needed food and rest right now more than passion. “My pleasure.”
He’d prepared grilled chicken breasts with a basil cream sauce, risotto from a box, and a green salad. He’d found himself perusing the internet earlier that afternoon for recipes he could handle and wondered how in the hell he’d become so domesticated. But then he’d thought of Chrissy and how tired she would be when she got home and shrugged. She was worth it. Besides, it turned out he was a decent cook. He poured them each a glass of the Vinho Verde wine he’d bought after a short conversation he’d struck up with another customer in the wine aisle and felt her arms hug him from behind.
“This looks amazing and smells even better.” She kissed the back of his neck, causing shivers of pleasure to streak across his skin.
He set the wine down and turned, swooping in for a quick kiss. “You look beautiful,” he said as he held her at arm’s length. She’d changed into a greenish-blue sundress and he loved the way it left her shoulders bare. He pulled her chair out and handed her the glass of wine. “Try this.”
She sipped and flashed him a half-smile. “It’s bubbly. And not too sweet. I love it.”
“Good. Me too.” He told her how he’d discovered the Portuguese wine and filled her in on the rest of his day, uneventful as it had been. “So, tell me about your day. Did you track down that suspect you mentioned last night?”
“Are you sure you want to hear about police procedurals during dinner? I don’t want to bore you to death. This chicken is great, by the way.”
“I love hearing about your day. It’s never boring. My job is the boring one, except when we’re digging up long-dead corpses,” he said with a grin.
“I’m glad that doesn’t happen too often. It’s too damn hard to figure out who they are when they’ve been dead for three decades.” She told him about the case she’d been dealing with for the past week, one which had been on the back burner for months but suddenly heated up when a friend of the number one suspect called with some damning information about the supposed alibi. Without Finn there to help, all the reports and interrogations had fallen on her shoulders. She never complained, but Hugh could see how tired she was.
“How about we curl up on the couch and watch a movie after dinner? Or I can take off if you want to hit the sack early.”
“A movie sounds great. I don’t want you to leave.” She sipped her wine and said softly, “I like spending time with you.”
He picked her free hand up from where it lay on the table and kissed the backs of her fingers. “Good, because I like spending time with you too. Listen, my parents are having a welcome back dinner Sunday night for the newlyweds. Will you come with me? It’d be a great time to tell the rest of the family about us, all at once.”
“Um, yeah. If you’re sure. I don’t want to horn in on your family time, though.” She appeared adorably unsure.
“I’m positive.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “I want to introduce them to my new girlfriend.” He watched to see how she reacted. They’d been dating for barely over a week, but he wanted her to know it was exclusive, as far as he was concerned. He was fairly sure she felt the same way, but it was always a risk to blurt it out the first time.
She bit her bottom lip, but smiled. “Your girlfriend, huh? I like the sound of that. So, that makes you my boyfriend. Okay. It’s kind of scary, but I like it.”
“It is kind of scary, but I like it too. Thanks for not freaking out.”
She laughed. “No problem. My heart’s about to pound out of my chest, though.”
“I know what you mean.” He joined her laughter, then sobered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to go through all the beginning stuff in a relationship. I hope I’m not screwing it up too badly.”
“Hey.” She reached for his hand. “As far as I can tell, you’re doing great. It’s been a while for me too. I think we’re stumbling through it pretty well. I’m happy.”
“Me too, Chrissy.” Scared, but happy. She was growing to be extremely important to him, and he feared she was well on the way to becoming integral to his continuing happiness. He had no idea if this was a good idea or not, but he was powerless to stop it. Something about her drew him; it always had, even when they’d first met at Finn’s hospital bed. He’d tried valiantly to ignore it for months, but to no avail. He prayed everything worked out, because he didn’t think his heart could stand to break again.
She refused to rest while he cleaned up, so they did the dishes together, then settled on the sofa to find a movie. They decided on an old Eddie Murphy flick and Chrissy curled against him to watch. She lasted approximately fifteen minutes before he felt her breathing even out and her head relax against his shoulder. He gently shifted her until she lay with her head pillowed in his lap and let her sleep until the final credits. He considered letting her sleep on the couch while he quietly let himself out, but she woke when he eased out from under her head.
“Mmm. Sorry I fell asleep. I’m not a fun date lately.”
“It’s not a problem, Chrissy.” He kissed her forehead. “Go to bed, sweetheart. I’ll lock up.”
***
Chris
“You’re nervous.”
“No, of course not.” She spoke around her finger, then realized he’d caught her biting her nail. “Maybe a little bit.” She clasped her hands in her lap.
“I don’t suppose it would help to remind you they already know and love you?” He pulled into the driveway of his parents’ house as he asked.
She’d been a guest at the sprawling adobe-style home several times in the past few months and had always thought it lovely, but it now towered above her, menacing and judgmental. “That was before we started dating. They may think differently about me now that I’m your girlfriend.” She loved saying it; she still had a hard time believing it, and she wasn’t sure how well his family would respond. She dragged herself out of the car and met him in front of the hood.
He took her hand as they walked up the path. “I guarantee they’ll like you even better now. You look gorgeous, by the way.” They reached the front door, but instead of reaching for the handle, he reached for her, pulling her close. “Don’t worry.” He whispered the wo
rds against her lips.
The door opened and Finn stood, beer in hand, and a grin spreading across his face. “I go away for two weeks and come back to find my big brother and my partner hooking up. What is the world coming to?”
Mel squeezed by him and launched herself into Chris’ arms with a squeal. “I’m so excited for you two! Pay no attention to my husband.”
Finn laughed and stood aside so they could enter. “I’m glad Hugh finally had the good sense to realize what a catch Chris is. I hate to break it to you, but this,” he gestured to Chris and Hugh, holding hands again, “is not exactly a huge surprise.”
“Whatever. It’s good to see you, Mel.” Hugh hugged his new sister-in-law. “Did you have a good time in Hawaii? I hope my idiot brother allowed you to do some sightseeing or go to the beach occasionally.”
“Hey!” Finn objected. “Mel’s the one who kept me chained to the bed day and night. I was hoping to get a tan, but my wife had other ideas.”
Mel blushed and swatted him on the shoulder. “Hush, you! Let’s go in. I’m dying to see the look on Cara’s face when she sees who Hugh’s new girlfriend is.”
