Chapter Twenty-Eight

Colton didn’t like that Angel had put herself in danger of being caught, but given the circumstances, he knew he would have done the same thing. And he was awfully glad she’d saved his dog.

“If you think it’s not safe for me to stay, I can go. I watched the house to see if any cops went by. I didn’t see anything suspicious, but that doesn’t mean I’m in the clear. It’s your call.”

It wasn’t his call. At least it wasn’t his brain’s call. His heart had already made the decision.

“Stay. If anything happens, we’ll face it together. I think we would have seen something by now if the vet had called the police. They wouldn’t wait around giving you time to flee.”

This was true, but not the reason he wanted her to stay. Coming home to an empty house this afternoon had nearly ended him. He didn’t want to be alone. He’d face whatever happened from this decision, as long as she was there when he got home tomorrow.

When they were done discussing the attack of the bumblebee, she asked about his day.

“Seriously? You expect me to tell you about my day after that story? I can’t compete with that.” His days of having exciting stories to share were over. Now he lived a mundane, boring life. His dad would call it an anybody job—his term for a job anyone could do. Being a cop was a somebody job, meaning you had to be somebody to do it. Somebody special.

Lately, Colton had begun to feel like nobody, special or otherwise.

Angel rolled her eyes. “Is that what we’re doing? Competing? I kind of thought it was called sharing.”

His own eyes went wide. She wanted to share something with him? This was big. Bigger than big. He cleared his throat, wanting for anything to share with her, wishing there was something more exciting to tell than the bookcase collapse.

“It was just a normal day.” He couldn’t help but frown.

“I don’t know what a normal day is.” She shrugged. “I’ve never had one. So I’d like to hear about yours.”

“Okay.” He shook his head, and told her about his day.

Eight minutes later, he wrapped up the story with the part where it all collapsed. She laughed and his heart yearned for something different.

For the last year, he’d missed her. Like crazy. He wished she would have stayed in his life, but back then it had just been loneliness. Now he saw what life could actually be like with her. Sharing stories about their day. No matter how mundane those stories were.

She assisted him with dinner, and he realized how much fun it was to cook with someone else. Especially when that someone was Angel.

It wasn’t just about sex and a good time. It was all the parts that made up a life. He wanted all of them with her.

“Thank you for coming back,” he said quietly, meaning it to the tips of his toes.

She nodded, but didn’t say anything in return.

“You almost didn’t?” he guessed. He was certain that had been the plan.

“I shouldn’t have come back. The longer I stay here, the more I’m putting you at risk.”

“Shouldn’t that be my decision to make?”

She shrugged, but it was clear she didn’t agree. Pudge had rested his chin on her leg at the sad sound of her voice.

“Did you train him to do that?” she asked.

“What? The puppy dog eyes? No. He came with those. Standard equipment.”

They laughed, and the tense moment was over. She was here for now. Colton would enjoy the time he had with her. Even if he didn’t know how much time he had.

“Before Pudge munched down a helping of bumblebee cordon bleu, did you find anything on the internet?”

“Actually, I had a lead, but lost it.”

“I wouldn’t be upset if it takes at least two more days. The school year is almost over.”

“No problem, Colton. We can put off our secret agent mission long enough for you to hand out report cards.”

“Thank you for being so accommodating.” He winked, and the smile she gave him in return hinted at more than just friendship. Lust gripped him by the throat as well as the balls.