CHAPTER 25

"H ow does it feel, to have a woman holding you like this?" Carina asked.

"Surprisingly, really nice."

"Surprisingly?"

"Well, I thought I was straight up until recently. And, honestly, kind of up until you kissed me, I wasn't sure that I could do this. That's a shitty thing to say when we're on a date, huh?"

Carina was lying on the sofa, holding Kieran from behind and kissing her neck occasionally.

"I understand. I suppose, there's still a chance you might not like it when–" she paused. " If we get that far and you…" she faded out.

Kieran rolled over in her arms and smiled at her.

"Hey, we'll get there. I have faith in us. And if how good it felt when you kissed me is any indication, I will very much like that when we do it."

"Do it, huh?" She wrapped her arm around Kieran's waist and pulled her in closer.

"You know what I mean," Kieran replied.

"I do. And I know the movie isn't over yet, but I'm exhausted. Any chance we can get some sleep?"

"Sure," Kieran said before she leaned in and captured Carina's lips.

And it dawned on Carina that this was the first time Kieran had initiated a kiss. They'd made out over by the wall for a while, only stopping for Kieran to get the wine open and retrieve the glasses. Then, they'd moved to the sofa, where they'd kissed again, but that had also been because Carina had leaned in. Sometime during the movie, Kieran had moved to lie down, and Carina had just moved behind her. They'd stayed like that for most of the movie, with Carina applying soft kisses to Kieran's neck, and Kieran had been the one to pull Carina's arm around her own waist, moving back against her as close as she could get. Carina had loved every minute of it, but having Kieran just kiss her this time meant more somehow.

When Kieran stood and held out her hands, Carina took them and allowed herself to be pulled to Kieran's bedroom, which she still hadn't seen. It turned out to be sparse but clean and still had a bit of Kieran's personality in the simple decorations of the space. Carina liked it, but if they ended up living together one day, in the very far-off future, they'd have to compromise because while Carina's room overflowed with pillows and looked – to her, at least – comfortable, Kieran's room felt more practical. There was a bed with a thin blanket and a few pillows actually meant for resting a head on, not just for decoration, a couple of matching bedside tables with inexpensive lamps on them, a dresser without a mirror above it, a TV mounted above it instead, and not much else.

"I'll get you something to change into," Kieran offered. "Any preferences? I have sweats, some flannel pants, and–"

"I sleep hot, remember?" Carina said, sitting on the end of the bed.

"T-shirt and shorts. Got it."

"I could just sleep naked or in my underwear."

"So, you're trying to kill me?"

Carina laughed and asked, " Would that kill you?"

"I don't know. I do know that I'd like to see you both in your underwear and naked someday. Just not tonight."

"T-shirt and shorts, then, please," Carina replied.

Kieran pulled out the top of three drawers to remove a white T-shirt, and from the second drawer, she got a pair of blue shorts that she tossed onto the bed.

"Um… Kieran, this shirt will basically be see-through on me." Carina held it up and took in the thin fabric.

"Oh, no… That's horrible," Kieran joked. "Unfortunately, I am fresh out of any other spare shirts at the moment. I guess I need to do laundry or go shopping."

Carina laughed and said, "You were the one who just said I'd kill you if I slept in my underwear, so you're doing this to yourself." She stood and pulled off her sweater and undershirt in one move.

"Carina!" Kieran laughed.

"What? You're going to see them in a second, anyway."

Kieran turned around and faced the wall, though, which was adorable. Carina removed her bra and dropped it onto the bed before she slid the shirt on. Then, she also removed her pants, slipped into the shorts, and moved to Kieran, standing behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"I'm decent," she told her. "Now, do you have a toothbrush I can borrow?"

"In the bathroom," Kieran replied. "I'll change out here while you're in there."

"Okay." Carina kissed Kieran's neck.

"Am I being ridiculous? We're on a date, and we're going to share the bed, but–"

"Not ridiculous. We'll take this whole thing at your pace, okay? However slow you want to go. I'm not in a rush, Kieran. I'm having a great time with you on our first date. I'm just happy I get to sleep next to you tonight."

"Me too."

When they climbed into bed together, Carina let Kieran decide how close they should be. Kieran's head ended up on Carina's chest, which allowed Carina to wrap an arm around her, and her free hand went into Kieran's short hair.

"This is nice," Kieran noted.

"It is."

"You have boobs, huh?"

Carina laughed loudly at that and said, "Yes. Did you not know that?"

"No, I knew. I've been staring at them on and off for weeks now."

"Then, why do you sound surprised now?"

"Because one of them is just right here, and I've only snuggled like this with a guy who didn't have boobs. I can see your nipple. It's hard, Carina."

"Yes, your lips are right next to it. What did you think would happen?"

"Really?" Kieran asked. "Cool."

"Did you just say, ‘Cool,' about my nipples getting hard?"

"Yeah."

"Go to sleep," Carina said through her laughter.

"But now we're talking about hard nipples."

"Better or worse than farts?"

Kieran laughed this time and said, "Way better."

Not long after that, Kieran stopped talking, and not long after that , her breathing evened out to a slow rhythm that helped carry Carina off to sleep.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that because when she woke up to her alarm, which Carina hated the sound of, she was on her stomach, with the back of her shirt up to help with the sweating, and Kieran was on the other side of the bed, facing away from her.

"Off," Kieran mumbled.

"Working on it," Carina said, reaching for her phone.

She turned off the alarm and rolled over to see Kieran climbing out of bed.

"Hey, no time to cuddle this morning? Morning kiss, even?" Carina asked.

"Need to pee and brush my teeth."

"You're not a morning person, either, are you?" Carina said, smiling as she watched Kieran walk to the bathroom.

"Not a five-in-the-morning person, no. No wonder you need, like, nine alarms."

"It's six," Carina said loudly as Kieran disappeared.

Carina stretched and pulled her shirt down, realizing it had bunched up a bit in the front, too.

"Hey, can I shower here before I go home to change?"

"Sure," Kieran replied through the closed door. "I don't need to be at work for another, like, five hours."

Carina laughed and looked around the room. Seeing it in the semi-daylight for the first time, she smiled because she was in Kieran's bedroom. They'd fallen asleep next to each other after their very first date, which meant they'd probably have a second date, too. She lay there, staring up at the ceiling, pondering that, when her phone rang. Carina was surprised because no one called her this early, but seeing that it was from the office, she picked it up on the second ring.

"Kevin?" she asked.

"Yeah, hey. Sorry to call you this early, but they're a couple of hours ahead of us and called me. I know you're not on the case anymore, but I wanted to know if you knew something."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Marin May case."

"What about it?" She glanced at the bathroom door as it opened, and Kieran came out, looking sleepy and confused that Carina was on the phone.

"I had to take the deal you offered off the table. I called her attorney this morning; left him a message."

"Sorry, what?" She sat up in bed.

"Carina, she's killed before," Kevin told her. "Did you know she was married in Florida under a different name?"

"She was married again?"

"Yes. And that guy died, too. Gunshot wound to the head."

"What's wrong?" Kieran asked softly as she climbed back into bed.

"Kevin, where did you get this from?"

"Miami PD. They have a cold case of their own. It's about four years old, and there's a cop there who finally noticed the DNA match since we got Marin's DNA in the system. She killed Nick May, but also this guy."

"They have DNA?"

"Not on the gun; just in the house. But it was also burned. Not as much as the May house, but around the living room where this guy was shot."

"What evidence do they have that she did it, then?"

"None. But she fled after. Looks like she changed her name again after that. We have to take the deal off the table. I'm sure Miami will want to charge her, but if she's killed two people the same way, that goes to pattern, even if the whole cigarette burns thing won't."

"Shit," Carina muttered.

"What?" Kieran asked.

"Kevin, I've got to go. Thanks for letting me know."

"Sure. You didn't know about this, right?"

"No, I didn't know about it, Kevin," she replied, knowing that he was asking because the rumors had gone around about her recusing herself because of her friendship with Kieran. "And talk to Miami and see if they can send over whatever they have."

"You can't see it."

"Yes, I can. I just can't argue the case in court."

"Fine. But it probably won't get here today."

"I know. Just call me when it does," she requested.

"Will do."

Carina hung up, and in the few seconds she had, she tried to figure out how to tell Kieran what she'd just found out.

"It's about Marin's case, isn't it?" Kieran guessed.

"That was the new ADA assigned to the case. His name is Kevin. Good guy. Young, but good prosecutor."

"And?"

"And he had to take Marin's deal off the table."

"What? Why?"

"Because there's another murder, Kieran," she said, shifting in bed.

"What?"

"He said Miami PD got in touch with him about a cold case of their own. It's another murder of another man whom Marin was married to under a different name, and he died by a gunshot wound to the head. The place was burned, too, but not as bad as Nick's."

Kieran moved away from her in the bed a little.

"She was married again? I don't think I knew that."

"Sounds like it, yes. I don't have any more details than that yet, but I've asked him to get everything that Miami has so that I can review it."

"Can you even do that? Won't you get in trouble? We weren't doing anything really wrong before, but we are now."

"Because you saw my nipples through your T-shirt?" Carina joked, trying to lighten the mood, but when she saw Kieran's eyes fill with tears, she dropped her smile instantly. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't think." She took Kieran's hand in her own.

"She told me she didn't kill Nick. She swore it to me over and over. I'm still waiting on that stupid footage from the other bus stop because Diego never actually submitted the request like he said he would. I've submitted it myself since, but I don't have it yet. She won't be there, anyway, will she? She's not going to be on it because she killed her damn husband and, apparently, killed yet another husband that I didn't know she had, too."

"What do you need right now?" Carina asked as she pushed Kieran's hair back out of her face.

"I don't know." Kieran wiped tears from her cheeks. "She's guilty, isn't she?"

Carina moved into her and wrapped her up in a hug.

"I'm going to call in at work today."

"You can't do that," Kieran replied.

"Yes, I can. I'm not going anywhere, Kieran." Carina kissed her temple. "We'll figure this out, okay?"