CHAPTER 27

"Y ou're a really good kisser. Have I told you that?" Carina asked Kieran as they kissed in her kitchen.

Their dinner was in the oven, and all they had left to do was set the table, but Kieran had been talking about her visit with Marin, and Carina hadn't wanted to interrupt her and suggest they go sit down. Kieran had hopped up on the kitchen island like she'd done it a million times before, though, and something about that just made Carina's heart thunder inside her chest.

"Thank you?" Kieran replied. "You are, too."

"Better than Diego?" she teased from her position of standing between Kieran's legs.

Carina's hands were on Kieran's thighs, and her lips were on her neck now.

"Yes." Kieran laughed a little. "Way better," she added. "But it's not a competition, you know?"

"No?"

"No. But am I a better kisser than–"

"If you say Tan ley, I'm shoving you off this counter," Carina told her, laughing.

Kieran laughed a little and said, "I like this." Her arms moved around Carina's neck.

"Which part?"

"All of it, really. But I meant that I could have a shitty day, and you're here making me feel better."

"I'm sorry she reacted that way."

"I don't know how I expected her to react, honestly. And she's defended herself this whole time, but I don't know how I can look past this second murder. How can I find out if she really was in Tampa and not Miami at the time?"

"You probably can't. But Frank could," Carina replied.

"Can I just get the info on where she says she was from her and fly there? I can ask some questions."

"Babe, that's Miami's job. Frank will tell them about her alibi, and they'll investigate. If they can find out that she was in Tampa at the time of the murder, they'll drop the charges."

"And if they can't?"

"Then, she'll go to trial here, and whether or not she gets convicted, Florida will want to try her there, too."

"But why? If she's already in prison, what's the point?"

"Because here, there are mitigating circumstances." Carina ran a hand into Kieran's hair, massaging her scalp. "So, the judge could take that into account for her sentence. It depends which way Frank wants to go. He could decide to say that she did it, but it was in self-defense, so even if she gets convicted, the sentence might not be for life. Florida will want to make sure that if she serves a sentence here and is still alive, that she'll go there to serve the rest of her life there."

"Can I ask you something?" Kieran cupped Carina's cheek.

"Yes."

"Do you think she did it?"

"Oh, babe. I–"

"First, I like when you call me that. It just kind of rolls off your tongue like you've been meant to do it forever."

Carina smiled up at her and asked, "And second?"

"Second, it's okay if you do. I just want to know."

Carina pulled back then and leaned against the cabinets opposite the island. Clenching her hands together in front of herself, she wasn't sure why she was doing it.

"No, I don't."

"You don't?" Kieran looked at her in confusion. "Wait. You don't ?"

"No," she replied. "And I can't tell you why. I just have this inexplicable feeling like she's telling the truth."

"Does that feeling have anything to do with the fact that you're dating her sister, who also happens to believe her and may or may not be na?ve for doing so?"

"You're part of it, but not how you think," Carina said.

"No? Then, how?"

"It's not in a feelings way; it's because you're a logical person. You're generally cool, calm, and collected, and you've understood this entire time that there's a ton of evidence against her, but when you say you believe her, it makes sense. It's like she is believable."

"She is to me."

"And when you told me her story tonight, it's believable to me, too." Carina moved back into Kieran and placed her hands on her thighs again. "But that doesn't mean anything."

"I know. They have the evidence."

"And she's probably going to be convicted, babe."

"Here and in Florida."

"Florida might be different; I don't know. Maybe it really is just a coincidence that he was killed the same way, and they'll find her alibi somewhere. Here, though, with what they've got on her, I can't see a jury letting her off."

"What about the number twelve bus?"

"You've put in your request. Frank did, too. He's just a little behind, but he'll probably still get it before you do since he's representing her. We'll watch the footage, and, hopefully, she's there. If not, he can argue self-defense, or maybe he can find another viable suspect."

"Right," Kieran said. "Let's talk about something else. I don't want to bring the night down."

"You're not," Carina replied. "This is part of it, Kieran; this is part of being with someone. I don't know how it was with Diego, but I'm not looking for someone to run away from when I get home. I don't want to disappear into an office every night instead of spending time with someone. I want to have this when I come home from work: someone I care about sitting on our counter, talking about her day, while we cook dinner together."

"You know Diego's type, don't you?"

"I've met enough men like him, yes. But you've also told me a little about how he was, and I didn't get the impression that that was making you happy."

"It wasn't. I left, remember?"

"Yes. And you're here now," Carina replied. " We're here now. I know it's only our second date, but I want you to know what I want. And I hope you want the same things, but it's important to me to get it all out in the open now. I didn't do that with Tinley, and we ended up in completely different places, despite us living in the same house."

"Okay. Well, I want what you're talking about, too. And I might like getting married again one day, but that's not a requirement, like we've talked about." Kieran wrapped her arms around Carina's neck again. "I don't want kids. I want my own office in any future house."

Carina laughed and said, "For your whole setup?"

"Yes. I'm not working from the kitchen again."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Well, if Marin is convicted, I guess I'd want to live somewhere reasonably close to wherever she ends up so that I can visit. The prison they say she's going to is over two hours away from here, so I can do that once a week, but if they send her to the one five hours away, that will get hard."

Carina placed a hand on Kieran's chest and said, "I understand."

"You're going to be the DA here. You can't just up and move if–"

"Hey, why don't we at least get to the third date before we start worrying about, like, two years in the future."

"I thought lesbians were all about moving in together. Isn't that what all the stereotypes are about?"

Carina laughed as her phone rang. She kissed Kieran quickly and moved to pick it up, seeing Dylan's name appear on the screen.

"You better not have bad news. I'm on a date."

"I have good news, I think, but never mind."

"Dylan, what's up?" she asked.

"I got him," Dylan said. "Fuck, Carina; I finally got him."

"Got who?"

"The bastard who killed Noah Cramer. I got him."

Carina moved back to Kieran, placing a hand on her knee for support, and said, "You got him?"

"What's going on?" Kieran whispered.

"I'm about to go arrest him, but I have him. He's the guy. I got a warrant approved for a wiretap and had an undercover talk him up. He's a pedophile. There's gonna be a whole child porn case attached to this, but he confessed on the wire. I'm about to arrest him myself, bring him in, and lock his ass up."

"Dylan, that's amazing. How's Ada? Her parents?"

"Her parents don't know yet. Ada doesn't want to tell them until he's behind bars. She's kind of in shock. I need someone here to watch her because she wants to go with me, but she can't."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm on my way."

"You said you were on a date."

"I am. Can Kieran come with me?"

"You're on a date with Kieran?"

"Dylan, later."

"Right. Sorry. Adrenaline. Yeah, she can come over. Kenna and Ripley are on their way over, too. I called Hollis and Raleigh, and they have to find a sitter for Eden first, but they'll be there. Can you just get here whenever you can? I don't want her sitting here by herself. She'll get in the damn car and drive around town looking for where we're arresting this guy, and I don't want her getting into an accident."

"Of course. Give me twenty minutes. We'll be there." Carina turned around and pressed the off button on the oven.

"Thank you. And tell Kieran I'm sorry."

"Not necessary. See you soon." Carina hung up, went to remove the dish from the oven, leaving it on the stove, and said to Kieran, "Dylan is arresting the guy who killed Ada's brother. She needs someone to sit with Ada, who's in shock."

"I'll get my keys," Kieran replied as she jumped off the counter.

Carina smiled because she'd never doubted that Kieran would do just that. She corked the wine she'd opened to breathe and slid into her shoes by the door, following Kieran outside to the driveway, where the woman had parked.

"Hey, if you want to park in the garage next time, I got Tinley's remote back, so I have a spare."

"This is you pretending like you don't already want to move in with me, isn't it?" Kieran joked.

"You're practical. I'm trying to help you adjust to this whole new thing by suggesting something practical."

Kieran climbed into the driver's seat. Carina got in beside her.

"How about you give me that remote when you're ready for me to have it, and we go from there?" She turned on the car.

"I'll give it to you when we get back, then."

Kieran just looked over at her, shook her head a little, and smiled. Carina watched the blush creep up her cheeks and reached for her hand the moment they were on the street. She moved it into her lap and toyed nervously with Kieran's fingers.

"Do you want to stop by your place and pick up a bag of your stuff so you can stay at my house tonight?" she chanced.

"I already did. It's in the trunk. I just didn't bring it in when we got there."

"You did? When did you–"

"You were on the phone with Kevin, finding out more stuff about the Cory guy. I just packed a bag and tossed it into the car. You didn't notice me carrying it out with me?"

"No. I guess I was too distracted by your ass."

"What?" Kieran laughed.

"Yeah, you have a great ass. And your jeans today are just really working for me. I've been a bit distracted since you put them on."

"Okay. Well, if you're admitting that, I can admit that I like that shirt you slept in last night."

"The shirt I borrowed from you?"

"Yes. But, specifically, I mean that I liked what I could see and feel through it."

Carina gave her a nod and said, "Breasts."

"I don't mean it as a joke, though. I mean that I've never been a big fan of them. I have them, and they're fine or whatever, but I've never understood people's obsession with them."

"Okay?"

"But yours are… really nice, and I wanted to touch them last night."

"Why didn't you?" Carina asked.

"Because I was scared."

"I wouldn't have stopped you."

"I know. But I've never touched another woman's breasts before, and I didn't want to be like some guy on a first date who just dives in and–"

"Dives in? You did not just say that." Carina laughed.

"Why? Want me to do that?"

"Yeah, I do. Someday," Carina answered honestly. "And many, many times, too. But only if you want to try it, and you end up liking it. Do you like it when it's done to you?"

"It was so rare; I'd have to think way back to the last time." Kieran put a finger to her chin and tapped it for a few seconds before she put her hand back on the wheel. "I guess I would describe it as fine."

"Fine?" Carina asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's kind of hard to focus on the orgasm when your husband constantly asks you if that's the spot, if you're close, and if he's doing it right or if he should try something else."

"Ah… Well, I can promise you that I won't rush you at all." She brought Kieran's hand to her mouth and kissed it. "I happen to enjoy being down there."

"You do?" Kieran's laugh was a nervous one.

Carina nodded and kissed Kieran's hand again.

"Yes, a lot. I like to go slow, too."

"Slow?" Kieran asked, shifting in her seat, which made Carina smirk.

"And fast when she wants that. But I'm never in a rush to get her there because I'm in a rush, if you know what I mean. God, making a woman come is the best thing in the world. Guys come so easily, but a woman doesn't always. In fact, some of us don't at all, or it takes a while, and I happen to enjoy the ride."

"The ride? Really? You can't make fun of me for saying, ‘Dive in,' and you get to say, ‘The Ride.'" Kieran laughed, but it wasn't a nervous one this time.

"Kieran?"

"Huh?"

"I like talking to you like this."

"Like what? Making fun of me?"

"No, like it's actually going to happen." Carina kissed Kieran's hand again.