I pushed off the door and cleaned up the room before changing into the sundress I’d packed for today. Throwing my hair in a messy bun, I took a deep breath before heading down the stairs.
With only three steps to go, I abruptly stopped when I heard his mom.
“Oh, Mike, she’s so pretty. You guys will make beautiful babies. I need more grandbabies.”
I nearly tripped down the rest of the stairs but caught myself and froze.
Babies? Babies? Babies?
We’d been dating for about a minute and she was talking babies. I had to slow my breathing down.
Sit. Sit before you faint.
If I fainted with his mother here, she’d think I was pregnant. Mike seemed as stunned. Finally, he spoke. “Mom, let’s not put the cart before the horse. We need to get to an actual proposal.”
Thank goodness we were on the same page. The song we’d sang as kids went in an order for a reason.
First love.
Then marriage.
Then baby carriages.
Paula needed a reminder of that rhyme. A huge reminder. Maybe a neon sign might work.
The sound of pots and pans clanking together filled the room for a second. “Oh, you can’t turn your blender on now and drown me out. So, yes, I want more grandbabies. Don’t mess things up with her. She’s a vet, Mike. That makes her beautiful, smart, and a nurturer.”
“Let’s stop all the baby talk. Otherwise you’re going to scare her off.”
“What baby talk? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The woman was a riot. Mike chuckled. “That’s perfect. But seriously, Mom, Sydney is different. I don’t want to ruin things.”
“Just give her your heart, Michael.”
“I think I already have.”
I felt the same way. Mike Murphy was it for me.
Mike
“I got donuts!”
Dad walked into the kitchen, a wide smile on his face. The kind of smile that screamed, “I got lucky last night!”
I shivered and tried to chase the memory away.
My mother took the donuts from my father, put them on the table, and then turned Dad to face Sydney. She had only walked into the kitchen a few seconds earlier.
“Dex, meet Sydney.”
My father pulled Sydney in for a hug. Her eyes went wide but quickly softened.
“This is our Sydney, huh?” Dad asked, giving her a once-over and then looking back at me. He winked, not even trying to hide it as he sat down at the table. “Beautiful and smart. You’ve got good taste, like your father.”
Sydney’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. God, she was so beautiful.
“Dex, do you have your list of places you want to visit?” Sydney asked, clearly changing the subject.
Mom huffed. “Does he have his list? He’s been talking about it for days. I have the damn thing memorized.”
The toast popped up behind me, and Mom quickly got to work putting Sydney’s plate together. Then she worked on Dad’s while I leaned against the counter and drank my smoothie.
“The Salem Witch Museum is a must.” Dad said.
Sydney nodded, taking a bite of eggs.
Dad took a few bites of food as he scanned his list. “The House of the Seven Gables. Paula wants to see that one, too.”
“Oh! The Witch House and the Dungeon Museum, too!” Mom added.
I couldn’t help but smile. Even I could hear the excitement in her voice. When I’d decided to leave the Chicago PD and move back to Massachusetts, I thought my mother would be upset. She had been sad, of course, but now that I thought about it, she hadn’t been that upset. Maybe at the time I thought it was because of Karen. Now I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of dad as well. Me being closer to Dad gave Mom more of an excuse to come visit him as well.
Nausea rolled through my stomach as I thought of last night.
“Mike? Darling, are you okay? You look sick.”
I lifted my gaze to my mother. “No, I’m fine. Just had a flashback of something.”
Sydney shot me a look and covered her mouth to hide her smile.
“The Beverly John Cabot House is also a great stop,” Sydney said.
Dad picked up a pen and said, “Yes! We are adding that to our list.”
“Dad, you don’t even know what it is,” I said with a chuckle.
“If our Sydney recommends it, then it is going on the list.”
I glanced over at Sydney, who raised a brow and gave me a saucy smile.
“What’s with the our Sydney. She is my Sydney.”
Both of my parents looked over at me.
“Now, now, no need to fight. We can share. There is enough of me to go around.” Sydney chuckled. “And the Cabot House is a museum. The style is Georgian, and it was built during the Revolutionary War. It was the first brick house built in Beverly.”
My father looked at Sydney and then me. “We have our very own private tour guide.”
“And she’s pretty, to boot,” I added.
“I love Salem, so being your tour guide is exciting. My grandpa loved history and educated me about it through scavenger hunts,” Sydney said.
Clapping her hands, Mom motioned for everyone to finish. “Eat up so we can get the day started!”
After helping clean up the kitchen, I pulled Sydney off to the side.
“I’m sorry we can’t drive to Provincetown today.”
With a half shrug, Sydney looked up at me. “I’m disappointed, but I’d much rather do this and get to know your parents more.”
“They adore you already. I hope that doesn’t scare you off.”
“Not at all. We’re going to have fun.” She held up a finger. “However, I do not ever want your mom to catch us almost having sex again.”
“Deal.”
I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out Sydney’s panties. Her eyes grew wide before she went to grab them from me. I pulled my hand back.
“The undercover detective in me is still very much alive. I think I’ll keep these, though.”
“Keep them?” she asked, her face bunching up in the most adorable way. “Why?”
I winked.
“Why, Mike Murphy, do you have a naughty side?”
“You haven’t even seen naughty yet, Syd.”
She swallowed hard.
“Kids! Let’s get a move on. The day is proceeding without us!” my mother called out.
“Ready to play tour guide?”
Sydney’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “You bet I am!”
The morning had been jam-packed with a bunch of the places Dad and Mom wanted to see.
“You guys grew up in Boston, and you’ve never been to Salem?”
“No, my mother always thought the town was possessed,” Mom answered.
Dad added, “I guess when I was younger, I didn’t really care about the history. Now that you’re here, Mike, it gives me an excuse to come more often.”
Sydney and I exchanged a quick look. I knew what she was thinking.
Get those locks changed.
“How about some lunch now? I know I’m hungry,” Sydney announced.
Mom sighed and nodded her head. “Lunch sounds amazing. I heard about a place I wouldn’t mind trying out if you guys are up for it. Turner’s Seafood.”
“That’s a great place to eat,” Sydney said. “It’s right around the corner, a short walk away. And…”—she looked at my dad—“they have great cheesecake.”
“That sounds like my kind of place!” Dad said.
The moment we walked into the restaurant, I heard Marie let out a squeal of delight.
“Sydney! Mike!”
She hugged Sydney and said, “It’s about time he manned up and took you off the market.”
Sydney gasped, took a step back, and said, “Marie!”
That was all it took for my mother to jump in.
“Hi, Marie, I’m Paula, Mike’s mother. This is Dex, his father.”
<
br /> Marie’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July as she shook both of my parents’ hands and then turned to Sydney.
“You’re meeting the parents. Things must be serious. I knew you were holding out on me at the clinic. The girls are going to be elated.”
I groaned internally at the idea of the gossip mill flowing now.
“They came into town to visit Salem, and I offered to show them around,” Sydney clarified.
“After she got dressed and came downstairs from Mike’s room,” my mother threw in.
I ran my hand down my face and groaned. My father leaned in and said, “And you wondered why we got divorced.”
“We should probably take our seats, the hostess is waiting for us,” I said, prompting my mother to say good-bye to her newly appointed best friend, Marie.
Lifting her hand in a wave, Marie called out, “I’ll be over in a bit before I leave!”
On the way to the table, Sydney poked me in the side and pointed.
“Look! Your dad is checking out your mom’s ass.”
I curled my lip and looked away. The memory of my father and mother having sex last night hit me right in the gut, causing me to instantly lose my appetite.
Thankfully, lunch progressed without any talk of panties, babies, or images of my parents getting it on. Mom had started to mention babies, but one quick look of warning from me had her changing the subject quickly.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see it was the station. “It’s the station; let me grab this outside.”
There was a back door over by the restrooms that led to an outdoor area. I quickly made my way there as I answered the phone.
“This is Mike.”
“Mike, it’s Bill. Listen, I know it is your weekend off, but would you mind coming in for just a few hours tomorrow? My niece is being baptized at our church in the morning and the officer who was going to cover me is sick. I would really love to be there.”
“Sure, I don’t mind at all. Why are you working on a Sunday?” I asked.
He sighed in frustration. “I’m trying to cover a few extra shifts to buy Louise a trip to Hawaii for our anniversary. And hopefully it will help with the whole ‘trying to get pregnant’ thing.”
I smiled. “I don’t mind at all. I’ve got my dad in town, so I’ll probably let him ride along with me.”
“Great! Thanks so much.”
“No problem at all, Bill.”
I hit End and headed back in. Marie was at the table, talking to my mother. “This isn’t going to turn out good,” I whispered.
Sydney looked up and smiled at me as I walked back to the table. Leaning down, I kissed her on the cheek.
“Everything okay here?” I asked, taking my seat again.
She nodded and quirked a brow. “Your mom has been invited to the Red Hat Society tea tomorrow.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Sydney pressed her lips together tightly to keep from laughing as she shook her head.
“Syd, maybe that’s not such a good idea.”
“They’re going to gossip regardless. But maybe if they’re drunk, they won’t remember the gossip. It’ll be fun for her. And Marie would give me hell at the clinic if I intervened. Look at how well your mom and Marie are getting along. Marie will keep her distracted… hopefully.”
We turned to look at the two women. They were deep in conversation. I glanced to the right and saw my father talking to a guy at the next table.
“Who is Dad talking to?”
With a half shrug, Sydney replied, “No clue. He struck up a conversation with him.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled a breath. “They exhaust me.”
Sydney took my hand in hers and flashed me a naughty grin. “This would be the perfect time to sneak away, Officer Murphy. You did promise…”
Licking my lips, I let my gaze drift to her mouth and back up to those beautiful eyes. “If I didn’t think my parents would somehow manage to find us, I would say let’s do it. But we still have an afternoon of sightseeing.”
She pouted, and it was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to tell her I was falling in love with her—that I had already fallen in love with her—but the last thing I wanted to do was scare her away. Sydney regarded me for a few moments before she said, “Now you’re thinking about something you don’t want to say out loud.”
Leaning in, I kissed her lips softly before saying, “Soon.”
Mike
The next morning, I walked into my kitchen to find Sydney sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in front of her. She had texted earlier that she’d be heading over, so she must have run into Mom on the front porch, where she drank her first cup of coffee each morning. Sydney looked exhausted.
“Morning,” I said as I walked in. I kissed my mother on the cheek and leaned down to kiss Sydney on the mouth.
“How did you sleep last night?” I asked, giving her a quick wink.
She curled her lip up at me. I smiled, knowing if I could have read her mind, she’d have some choice words she wanted to say to me.
“I slept like a baby. My morning run was fantastic,” she purred.
I mouthed “Liar” before I turned and poured everything into the blender for my morning smoothie. I caught her rolling her eyes, though, right before I looked away.
“How did you sleep, sweetheart?” Mom asked.
I turned the blender on with a chuckle. I was positive my mother was doing her own eye roll right about now. Once the machine turned off, she went in for the kill.
“You know, they say thirty minutes of sex a day helps you sleep more soundly.”
Nearly choking on my own saliva, I turned to look at her. “Who is they?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I read it somewhere.” Then she took Sydney’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’ll sleep much better tomorrow night, sweetheart. Dex and I leave for Boston in the morning.”
Sydney cleared her throat. “Oh, um, well. So soon?”
“Not soon enough,” I mumbled as I sat down and gave Maggie some love.
“I heard that, Michael.”
Dad walked into the kitchen, a wide smile on his face. “Good morning, family!”
He was already dressed and ready to go with me to work.
“How long will you be covering for Bill?” Sydney asked. “I was thinking of taking your mom around to a few shops before bringing her over to the Red Hat Society tea.”
“Sydney, you don’t have to entertain me!” Mom said.
“Nonsense. I want to spend time with you. It’ll be fun to have a girls’ morning.”
My mother beamed with happiness. “I would love that, darling.”
“It should only be a few hours. I can call you when I’m done.”
“Perfect! I’ll probably be back at the house.” Sydney said, giving me a smile and look that said everything would be fine. She had so much to learn about my mother.
So. So. Much.
I approached the passenger side of the car I had pulled over for running a stop sign.
“Morning, ma’am. I’m Officer Murphy. I pulled you over because you ran that stop sign back there.”
The older woman’s cheeks turned bright red. “I did! Oh lawrd. I don’t remember there being a stop sign there.”
“Is that right? Where are you heading?”
The woman screamed as my father popped up at the driver’s side window and asked, “Do you have your license and insurance, ma’am?”
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” she said, covering her chest with her hand. I straightened and whistled, causing my father to look at me over the car roof.
I shook my head and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m assisting you with a traffic stop.”
“I don’t need your assistance. What I need is for you to go back to the car, get in it, and wait for me.”
My father shot me a dirty look but headed back to the patrol car.
L
eaning back down, I took the driver’s license from the older woman.
“Lawrd, that officer scared me.”
“He’s retired, but he doesn’t seem to understand what that means.”
She laughed. “Here is my insurance, son.”
I looked everything over before handing it back to her. “The stop sign hasn’t been up for very long. There were signs, though, to indicate you were approaching the intersection.”
“I hardly drive this way anymore.”
Tapping on the car lightly, I smiled. “I’m going to give you a warning this time. Pay close attention, ma’am. Things are changing the more Salem grows.”
“Oh, Officer Murphy, I will! I promise you I will. Thank you.”
“Drive safely.”
As I walked back to the patrol car, Luke Evans approached me from the doorway of his barbershop across the street.
“Officer Murphy! Why don’t you come on in and I’ll give you a quick trim?”
Luke was always trying to get me to come in for a haircut. It didn’t matter if I was working or not. He couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t let him cut my hair, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was because his hands shook so badly I was afraid he’d cut my neck open.
That was Dad’s cue to get out of the car and make his way over to us.
“Hey, Luke. How is it going?” I reached out to shake his hand.
“I’m well. Doing well.”
Hitting the mic that was attached to my shirt, I called in to dispatch to let them know the stop I’d made was all clear and the violator had been given a warning.
My father’s brows drew in as he looked at me with a confused expression. I assumed he was waiting for me to introduce him to Luke.
“Luke, this is my father, Dex Murphy. Dad, this is Luke Roberts. He owns the barbershop right there.”
Dispatch came on in my earpiece. I stopped talking to listen to what she was saying.
“Ten four. One seventy-eight, advise if you are still at last location.”
“One seventy-eight. Yes, I am.”
“There is a disturbance call at one one one Kline street, officer requesting backup.”
“One seventy-eight. I’m ten or so minutes away.”
Another officer came on, stating he was closer.
Dangerous Temptations Page 16
