Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

One Month Later

STEPH WAITED while Tate pulled to the curb of her home, then went to join him. He hugged her. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks. So do you.” A wave of shyness swept over her. Which was incredibly weird because she’d never been shy a day in her life. She pulled her coat tight and slid into the passenger seat. He waited until she was buckled to shut the door.

Gentlemen did still exist.

Tate settled into the driver’s seat, his leather-gloved hands gripping the wheel. “Sure is nice of James to have us all over again.”

“The weather’s been so good I’m sure he wants to take advantage of it.”

“He and Lainie set the date for their wedding, did you hear?”

“Of course.” She shot him an amused look and realized he was slightly nervous as well for some reason. “New Year’s Eve. I can’t think of a better way to spend the evening.”

“Yeah, me too.” His fingers flexed on the wheel, and he aimed the vehicle toward the road that would take them up the mountain to the lake house. “Cherry coming?”

“She is.” Could this conversation get any more awkward? What was going on with him? She didn’t think he did nerves. “This is her first outing since ... everything. Thank goodness Lainie was there. She and her medical expertise are the only reasons Cherry lived.”

“I heard.”

More stilted dialogue. Steph decided to just go with it if it made him feel better. “Anyway, she’s finished with her rehab and ready to start living again. I think she’s excited and terrified all at the same time.”

“I know the feeling,” he muttered.

“Sorry? What was that?”

He cleared his throat and shot her a sideways glance. “Nothing.” He paused. “I know she visits Benji and her father—or tries to. They still won’t see her?”

“Not since they heard she was going to testify at their trials. She still has a hard time reconciling that her father was the one in the parking garage looking for a way to attack me. And was also the guy at the library. And the one who attacked Stan, trying to frame him. Talking about all of that on the stand ... well, it’s safe to say she’s dreading it.”

“I’m sure that’s hard for her.”

“Terribly, but she’s determined.”

“Tell me about Stan. How’s he doing?”

Steph often visited Stan in the rehabilitation center and was touched that Tate asked about him when he knew she’d been to see her former boss. “Recovering. He’s still got some memory loss. I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to him.” The man had basically been a stooge, but he’d also made his choices.

“Time will tell.”

They fell silent, but finally, it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. Quite the opposite. She found she enjoyed being in Tate’s company whatever they were doing.

Except dodging bullets and people trying to kill her. “When you texted last night, you said you wanted me to meet your parents. Tell me a little more about them. What are they like?”

“They’re awesome. Mom’s a high school science teacher and Dad’s a financial advisor.” He glanced at her. “I can’t believe we haven’t already had this conversation.”

“We’ve been a little busy.”

“True. Anyway, I believe you’ll really like them. They’re good people and they’re very excited for me to introduce you.”

Her stomach fluttered at the thought and what it all could mean. But she was excited too.

He cleared his throat. “I have a question.”

“Sure.”

“I know we haven’t seen much of each other since the ... event, but I keep wondering how you knew to drop like you did when Cherry was talking to her mother.”

That was his question? Maybe the silence was more awkward for him than it was for her. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just felt like she was trying to tell me something even while she was keeping her mother mostly calm. Then when she said ‘drop,’ I dropped. I had no idea she was planning on tackling her and wrestling with the gun, but I think she saved me.”

“She definitely did.”

“So now I have a question. How’d she get away from you?”

He cleared his throat. “Ah, well...”

She studied the flush creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. “You knew she was up to something, didn’t you? You let her go.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.” He paused. “But yes, we needed to calm Helen Bolin down and give her something to make her believe we were listening.”

“Well, it worked. So thanks.”

He finally pulled into the lake home driveway, parked, and came around to open her door. Then he took her hand, his warm and endearingly a little damp, and led her down to the dock.

“Wait,” she said. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re coming. I wanted to get here a little early so we could talk.”

“Okay, sure.”

On the deck, the wind was chilly coming off the water, and she pulled her gloves from her pocket.

“Too cold?”

“No, not at all.” She walked over to the firepit and cranked it up. “We have it all to ourselves.” She chose the cushioned love seat–sized swing hanging from the wooden structure James and Cole had built last month. He sat next to her as she’d hoped he would.

He turned to face her and took her gloved hand in his. “I’m not very good at small talk, Steph. You probably noticed that in the car.” She chuckled and he quirked a small smile at her. “So I’m just going to throw something out there.”

“Throw it.”

“I like you. A lot.” He drew in a deep breath.

“I like you too, Tate.” Then she stayed quiet, letting him figure out how he wanted to say what he wanted to say.

“For what seems like my entire life, because of what happened to my friend, I’ve been focused on making detective. I’ve been determined nothing would derail my plan and I’ve sacrificed a lot. Including personal relationships. And since I’ve met you, I’ve realized something.”

“What?” She kept her voice low, almost a whisper.

“That I don’t want whatever might be there for us to be part of that sacrifice.” He cleared his throat and squeezed her fingers. “The last few weeks have been so busy I haven’t had time to really see straight, but when the day is done and in those moments before I drift off to sleep, you’re on my mind. I think about you, I want to see you, to talk to you. More than can be said in a few short texts. And I wonder about you.”

“You wonder about me? What do you wonder about?” This she had to hear.

He laughed. “What you’re doing, who you’re with, if you’ve had a good day. How you’re doing processing Brenda’s death and everything else that went on.”

“I see.”

“Full disclosure?”

“Absolutely.”

He pushed stray hairs behind her ear, leaving a trail of heat that had nothing to do with the flames from the firepit.

“Mostly, I wonder what it would be like to kiss you.”

She let a smile curve her lips and leaned toward him. “Then why don’t you find out, because I’ve been wondering that too.”

Apparently, that was all the encouragement he needed, because his lips were on hers almost before she finished the sentence. His kiss was sweet, respectful ... and hot. Definitely hot. Holy wow. She kissed him back, feeling his simmering passion and restraint while they both reveled in discovering the wonder of that first kiss and all the questions it answered.

Like she could do this for the rest of her life and die a happy woman.

He finally lifted his head and let his eyes lock on hers. “That was better than what my limited imagination came up with.”

She laughed, a sound that came from her soul. “Same.”

“Think we need to do that again and make sure it was real?”

“For sure.”

He started to pull her in for another round when the sound of footsteps on the dock stilled them both. “Later,” he whispered.

“Later.”

James and Lainie stopped next to the swing. “Glad you feel comfortable enough to make yourself at home,” he told her. But the look in his eyes said he was happy for her.

Lainie elbowed him and he caught her to him and kissed her forehead. “I’m going to get stuff for the s’mores.” He eyed Steph and Tate. “You two don’t look like you want to move, so...”

“Yeah,” Steph said, “why don’t you and Lainie go get the goodies while Tate and I finish our conversation.”

“That’s what it’s called these days?” He narrowed his eyes at Tate. “Remember that’s my baby sister.”

“A baby sister who’s about to start telling all of her brother’s secrets if he doesn’t go away.”

James frowned. “Now, see here—”

Lainie giggled. “Stop it. Both of you.” She dragged her fiancé back toward the house. “Oh, look, Jesslyn, Cole, and Kenzie are here. Let’s go keep them away from the dock for a few more minutes.” She looked back at Steph and mouthed, “You’re welcome.”

Steph laughed and Tate chuckled, then gazed down at her. “Now, where were we?”

“Winding up a conversation if I recall correctly.”

“Ah yes.” He kissed her again. Long seconds later, he tipped his forehead to hers. “I like conversing with you.”

“I see. So how should this conversation end?”

“With, ‘Where would you like to go on an official first date?’”

“I don’t care as long as it’s with you.”

He grinned, and Steph couldn’t wait to see how the rest of their story unfolded. If it should end with “and they lived happily ever after,” filling in the details sounded like a lifetime she could look forward to.