Five Points, Wednesday, August 4, Midnight

It was almost time.

Lori didn’t want him to go. She trailed her fingers along his bare torso. He shivered. She loved when her touch did that to him.

“You know what you’re doing?” Chet murmured.

“Umm-hmm.” She made circles around his navel with the tip of her finger and then moved downward. He gasped. Her fingers curled around him and the rock-hard feel of him was her cue. She rolled atop him, pushed up to a sitting position. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” She rocked her pelvis gently against his.

He groaned. “It’s late. What about that no spending the night rule?”

She ground fully against his erection, making him growl. “Rules are made to be broken.”

He reached up, wrapped his arms around her, and rolled her onto her back. She gasped.

“Don’t toy with me, Lori,” he whispered against her lips. “You know what I want.”

She did. Oh man, she did. Determined to maintain her independence, she had fought him for all these months. He wanted a real relationship. One with commitments. She had fully believed she wasn’t ready for that. That level of commitment hadn’t been in her five-year plan.

Two weeks ago her life had changed. That sick bastard Matthew Reed, Eric Spears’s protégé, had kidnapped and tortured her and two other women. He’d murdered one right in front of her. During those seventy or so hours one thing remained steady on her mind: this man. If she survived, she promised herself that she would not take him for granted ever again. She would take nothing for granted. Not her mother and her sister or her friends. Not one second of her life from this moment forward was going to be a throwaway moment.

She wanted to live every minute of it to the fullest.

“I want the same thing,” she confessed. “I really do.” She caressed his jaw. “It’s time.” She slid her hands over his back.

He rolled off her. Before she could ask what was wrong, he’d dragged on his boxers and walked away.

What the hell? She pulled on her abandoned tee and joined him at the kitchen sink. “Okay, so what did I say wrong?” Jesus Christ this relationship thing was as frustrating as hell.

“I know why you’re doing this and it’s a mistake.”

“I thought I was doing what you wanted.”

Disappointment flared in his dark eyes and she instantly recognized her mistake.

“What we want,” she amended.

“When you skate that close to death, it makes you afraid of what the next hour will bring. You grab on to everything you can as fast as you can so you don’t miss anything.”

So maybe she was more transparent than she realized. He’d zeroed in on exactly how she felt. “What’s wrong with choosing not to take life for granted?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. But this ferocity you feel will wear off in time. And then what happens to us?” He reached out, twirled a wisp of her hair around his finger. “I love you, Lori. I want you to want this because you love me, not because you’re afraid of what might come next. There are no guarantees when it comes to life. But I can guarantee that I will love you with all I’ve got for the rest of my life, whatever else happens. If that’s not enough, there’s nothing more I can say or do.”

“It’s enough.”

Chet pulled her into his arms. “If that’s really how you feel, what would you like to do about that?”

Her heart was thundering. Was she really going to do this? Yes. Yes, she was. “I think we should try out living together.” She laughed at how embarrassed she felt at saying the words out loud. “See if we can do it without killing each other or having it interfere with work.”

“There are more rules about that,” he warned. “I’m senior to you and we’re assigned to the same team. There could be career consequences.”

That was the only part that worried her. “I know.” She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with those issues. “I’ll talk to Jess. See what she thinks.” Lori looked him straight in the eye. “Jess’s friendship beyond the job means a great deal to me. I don’t want to lie to her. Ever.”

“Same here. I respect the chief too much to do that.”

Had they really made this decision? “So, what do we do next?”

He grinned. “We pick the place. Yours or mine?”

She backed out of his arms and walked to the middle of the room. “There’s no privacy here.” She turned back to him. “And when you have Chester he probably wouldn’t be comfortable here.”

A big grin spread across Chet’s face. “Do you have any idea how happy that makes me?”

Confusion had her making a face. “Your son being uncomfortable?” The kid was cute—for a kid. And he was the light of his father’s life. Lori recognized this was a package deal. She would adjust. Hopefully.

“No.” He was really grinning like a jackass now. “The idea that you would think about his comfort makes me extremely happy.”

She decided to say the rest of what was on her mind. There should never be any misunderstandings between them. “I wasn’t expecting to have children in my life at this point. I had that penciled in a few years down the road.” She tried to smile but her lips trembled with the effort. “But I love you. Chester is your son, and that makes me love him too. I want to be a part of his life because he’s a part of yours.” She took the few steps to the bed and plopped down on the foot of it. “After my father died my mother wouldn’t even think about another man, much less look at one.” Even as a teenager she’d recognized her mother’s loneliness. “I remember thinking how much she and my father must have loved each other for her to feel as if no one else could ever take his place.”

Lori pulled her knees to her chest and hugged herself. “But I was wrong about that. I mean, they did love each other that way. But years and years later, after my sister went off to college, Mom and I were talking and she said something I totally didn’t see before. She told me that at first the idea of another man was unthinkable. But eventually she got lonely, even with two girls to keep her running. But she never dared consider having anyone else in her life because she was terrified that she would be forced to choose, on some level, between him and us.” Lori blinked back the tears. “My mother sacrificed her own happiness because she was afraid. I don’t want to live in fear like that and that’s what that son of a bitch did to me. He made me afraid.”

Chet sat down beside her, wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight. “He did make you afraid. You would’ve been a fool not to be afraid. But you can’t let that fear rule you, the way your mother did. That’s the part that you have to get past.” He drew back, searched her eyes. “I don’t want to be a part of your fear, Lori. And if you’re afraid that refusing to move to the next level with me is going to make me give up”—he laughed—“that ain’t happening.”

For a long time they just held each other. No talking required. But she knew what she wanted. And he needed to know that, too.

“I vote for your place. Chester has his own room. There’s a backyard.” Not that she was looking forward to using a lawnmower. “As long as I get to do a little redecorating.”

He nodded. “You drive a hard bargain, Wells, but I can live with that.” He glanced around. “What about your place?”

“I’ll be keeping this place for a while. Just in case I find out all your man secrets and decide I can’t handle the real you.”

He laughed. “That might be a smart move.”

They held on to each other, and a comfortable silence settled around them. It felt good. Right.

“I’m worried about the Chambers kid,” Chet said eventually. “He’s only a few years older than Chester and the thought of what may have happened tears me apart.”

Lori hugged him closer. “I know. That’s the hardest part of this job. When a child is hurt or missing, it’s tough to take. I can’t imagine being a parent and having something like that happen.”

“I was just thinking about that, too.” He turned his face to hers. “If we have the time this week, we’ll pick Chester up for a few hours,” he said. “I think the two of you should spend a little time together. See how it goes.”

Lori prayed he didn’t spot the fear in her eyes. “Sure. Sounds good.” The thought sent another wave of terror roaring through her veins. She had met Chester briefly. She had looked at photo albums with Chet. But she had never sat through dinner with the child or played a game with him. Talking about him and planning for his being a part of their relationship was simple. Having the concept become a reality—this week—was way, way complicated.

What if he hated her?