by Dana Marton
“That’s threatening a police officer. Technically.”
“What are you going to do?” She flashed him a teasing smile. “Arrest me?”
He bent his head to hers, all the way to her ear. “Stick with me and there might just be some handcuffs in your future,” he whispered.
She laughed out loud. “I’ll take that as an incentive to speedily recover.”
Chapter Seventeen
One month later
“Ready for the closing?” Sophie asked as they sat around her kitchen table. She felt content, happy, and somehow whole in a way she hadn’t before. Maybe love had done the trick. Love and Bing.
“I still can’t believe it sold so quickly,” he was saying as he finished his second serving of vegetarian lasagna.
She liked that he liked her cooking. She pretty much liked everything about him.
“I feel like I should pay you commission.” His lips stretched into a sexy smile. “According to the Realtor, the first thing every potential buyer commented on was the landscaping.”
“Are you looking forward to the cabin being finished so you can move in?”
His smile turned wicked. “I don’t mind hanging out here.”
He’d moved in the same day she’d come home from the hospital. He’d asked. She’d said yes.
“How are Luke and your father doing?”
“Amazingly, they’re good for each other.”
For some reason, Luke attached himself to the old man. And the kid looked at Bing as if he was some comic-book hero. He loved the horses. He hadn’t gotten into any trouble since he’d started working with them.
Bing shook his head. “Apparently, the old man decided he shouldn’t be drinking around Luke. So far, he’s been pretty good about it. Wish he thought about that when he was raising Hunter and me, but I guess it’s better late than never.”
He was wary about the sudden change, but pleased too, she could tell. And she was pleased for him. “How long before your house on the hill is finished?”
“A couple of months. When it’s ready, maybe you could come and stay with me for a while. Or forever.” He lifted a hand. “And I’m not suggesting that you’re not perfectly capable of living on your own. I like being with you. Okay?”
She grinned. “Okay.”
“Peaches would have room to run. He deserves the best.”
“Yes, he does. If he wasn’t here, Taylor would have gotten me that night he broke in.”
“I thought he had an alibi for that night.” Bing winced. “He faked the computer time stamps. I should have caught that earlier. The time stamp comes from the computer time, which can be adjusted by the user to anything.”
“Could have told you that.” She grinned.
“Maybe you can sign on at the PD as our IT consultant.”
Sounded interesting. “Maybe.”
“You wouldn’t even have to come in. I could bring things home to the farm. If you lived there.” His sexy lips stretched into a beguiling smile. “You could learn how to ride a horse. Cross a few more things off your IFIL list.”
“I already agreed.”
“But I had a whole very convincing speech rehearsed.” He gave a mock frown. “You giving in right at the beginning throws me off stride.”
“Oh yeah?” She played along. “What other enticements were in that speech?”
“I was going to point out that if we lived together permanently, you’d have unlimited access to this.” He gestured with a hand at his body like the hostess at the board on The Price is Right, while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
She laughed out loud. She definitely wanted full access. More than she wanted to learn horseback riding. “Ever thought about going into sales?”
He gave a look of mock shock. “Of this?” He gestured at his body again. “That’s completely against the law. I’m a police captain.”
She laughed again. Seeing him lighthearted and playful like this was wonderful. He’d been walking around like a wounded bear while she’d been recovering. He’d been worried about her. “This is it, right? We made it. The bad stuff’s behind us and the good times are here.”
“If there’s more bad stuff, we’ll handle it together.”
She liked the sound of that. “It’s good to let go of the past.”
“There’s one thing we’re not taking to the new house with us.” He glanced at the mug in front of her. It was the one with the crimson staircase.
She drank the last sip of her water, then chucked the mug into the garbage can from where she sat. How was that for problem solving? “So what was the whole investment-club thing?”
All she knew was that Jeremy had lost money. He’d complained about that bitterly when he’d come to see her at the hospital.
“At Shreff Financial, Taylor and two other brokers set up an investment fund on the side, invited some of their clients, and tried to make some money. One managed the clients, another the legalities and taxes. Taylor did the stock picking and investing. He ran the account. He was siphoning off funds after Shreff went down and he lost his big annual bonuses. Then some clients wanted their money out, but the money wasn’t there. Taylor was at the pharma company by then. At first, he might have devised the stock-option scheme so he could put the money back into the investment fund. But at one point he decided to grab the money and take out anyone who knew about his scam.”
She blinked. “Okay. That makes my head hurt.”
“I always say if people put half as much effort and thought into legitimate work as they put into crime, they’d do just fine. Obviously, Taylor wasn’t stupid. He just wanted more, faster.”
He reached across the table and took her hand, rubbing his thumb across the top of her fingers. “Even if it turned out that Greg Buckner killed Stacy…the heart—” He held her gaze. “It wouldn’t have mattered. No matter what, I love you and I want you, and that’s never going to change.”
Her heart melted. “I know. And I love you back.”
The luckiest day of her life had been when she’d walked up Bing’s walkway with that lost-dog poster. She’d found Bing and Peaches on the same day. And she wasn’t going to let go of either. She glanced at the plaque above her sink, the last three words crossed out and overwritten so now it said: WONDERFUL THINGS ARE ON THEIR WAY HERE.
Bing had done that.
Peaches stood by the back door, wanting to go out. Bing pushed his chair back. “I mowed the lawn; you do the dishes?” He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think you’re gonna milk that measly bullet wound forever.”
“Another week?”
“Not a chance. Peaches and I have manly playtime coming to us out back.” He walked to the sliding glass doors, and Peaches ran around him in spasms of joy.
The dog practically radiated happiness in visible waves, like saints radiated light in the stained glass windows at her mother’s church. He had a way of filling the whole house with that sheer joy for life. It was hard to fathom now that she used to be scared of him.
Mango was lounging on the back of the sofa, casting a bored look after them. He wasn’t impressed, and he didn’t mind if everybody knew it. But for the most part, he got along with Peaches, and only got his back up if Peaches licked his face.
“Talking about good news,” Sophie called after Bing, “Dr. Pratt called back with the latest test results just before you got home. Looks like I’m all recovered from the gunshot. My heart is completely okay.” She smiled at him expectantly.
“And there you were trying to get out of dishes.”
She hinted a little harder. “I’m cleared for semi strenuous activity.”
Understanding dawned on his face, putting some heat into his eyes. “You mean like—”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, Peaches.” He let the dog out, tossed some treats after him, and closed the back door. Then he stalked toward Sophie.
She tried to wave him off. “What about dishes?”
“Dishes can wait.” He lif
ted her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs.
Peaches barked outside.
Mango, from the back of the couch, flashed them a smug grin.
- - -
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More Books by Dana Marton
What’s next from Broslin? DEATHWATCH, an August 2013 release. (I’m going back to tell Murphy’s story.)
If the best of the FBI couldn't protect her from the country’s most notorious assassin,
does a burned-out small town cop have a prayer?
She's a government witness hunted by an assassin, the only person who can identify the most notorious hit man in the country. The witness protection program is supposed to protect her, but when her safety net fails, Kate Bridges has to run for her life. Murphy Dolan is in the Army Reserves, returning from his 2nd tour of duty, only to find a stranger hiding in his house. She's scared spitless. He's completely burned-out on violence. Neither of them has any trust left to give.
If you’d like to be notified when DEATHWATCH is released, please visit my web site at http://www.danamarton.com and sign up for my newsletter. I only send out a one page note when I have a new book out, usually four times a year, so I promise not to overwhelm your email!
If you don’t want to wait that long to read another romantic suspense story from me, check out DEATHSCAPE, my #1 Amazon bestselling romantic suspense.
After a near-death experience, artist Ashley Price is compelled to paint visions of the dead, and fears she's gone crazy. Then she paints a man buried alive and, recognizing the surroundings, she rushes to save him.
Instead of being grateful to her for rescuing him, Detective Jack Sullivan accuses her of being in league with a serial killer. He swears he will put her behind bars. Except, the more time he spends with her, the more he falls under her spell. Can he trust her, or is he walking into another deadly trap?
AGENTS UNDER FIRE, my romantic suspense trilogy is also available now in print and ebook.
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