Chapter 13

Ryan

I had only been teasing her about defining work hours when she"d pulled off the road for a wild and crazy romp before heading back to work. As if I could think straight after that. I was worthless the entire rest of the day, too absorbed in watching and fantasizing about Gracie. We"d found the feather and the match, confirming it was connected to the others, but I couldn"t bring myself to believe Vance had anything to do with it.

The day was cut short. We"d started to narrow down the timeline and knew he struck in the late evening or wee hours of morning. Regardless, that meant a short day, evening nap, and then a tentative watch over night. I was kind of excited about it, but even more excited about taking Gracie back to my place for that nap. Of course I"d have to wear her out first.

"What are you grinning about?" she asked as we were loading up into her Jeep.

"Just looking forward to tonight. It"s been a while since I was on a stakeout of any sorts."

"You? On a stakeout?"

"Yes, me. I told you I studied forensic science. I got to sit in on a few stakeouts over the years. While I was good at evidence, I was equally good with investigative science and profiling."

"A man of many hats."

"That I am."

"You seem to enjoy this kind of stuff, so why become mayor?"

"Maybe I just enjoy spending time with you."

The look she gave me was borderline comical.

"I honestly thought you hated me."

"I don't do the things we did with someone I hate, Gracie."

I didn"t do some of that with anyone but her. I thought it best to omit that part though.

She blushed and looked around. I already knew we were alone.

"Technically we"re off the clock and everyone else has left, so I"m not breaking any rules," I whispered as I closed the gap between us and kissed her. "Come home with me tonight."

She sighed. "Okay."

I couldn"t believe she"d just said yes. I prayed she wouldn"t change her mind.

We even managed to make it all the way to my apartment complex before she started to waiver.

"Wait. Someone will see me or at the very least question why my Jeep is here. Maybe we should stay at my house."

I liked her place. It was warm and cozy. I especially liked that it smelled like her. But I had this ridiculous need to take her back to my place. It was insane really, because I never brought women back to my place.

Sometimes Gracie annoyed the piss out of me. She questioned everything when people rarely did around me. She was stubborn and pigheaded. And she was messy. She liked to take risks, but then again if she hadn"t we wouldn"t have had this opportunity to work together and really get to know one another.

The more I got to know her, the more I really liked her, maybe even more than liked her.

I definitely liked her enough to take her home.

"It"ll be fine. Please. Stay with me this time."

She slowly nodded as she followed my instructions on where to park.

She sat there for a second and I knew she was weighing the pros and cons of this decision carefully. If it had been a burning building, she wouldn"t have thought twice about it. If I had dared her to join me, I had no doubt we"d already be upstairs and naked. But this wasn"t something she was doing to just dive right into. I liked that about her. It told me that this meant something to her too.

"Okay," she finally conceded.

Before she could change her mind, she was out the door and walking towards the elevator. I had to scramble to catch up.

I"d always thought of Gracie as a careless free spirit. Not that she didn"t care about anything, just that she lived life in spite of the consequences. She acted before thinking. But apparently when it came to the important things in life, she did stop and consider things first.

I hit the button to the top floor. When we stepped off, the hall was clear.

"You and Elias are the only people who live on this floor?"

"Yup."

"I"ve been here before Ryan. There are more than a dozen apartments on each level."

"True. Just not this one. He owns half and I own the other half."

"That"s insane. Your place didn"t look that big this morning."

"It"s bigger than you think, and I haven"t fully finished all of it. There just hasn"t been a need for so much space when it"s just me."

"So you plan to live here forever?"

I shrugged. "I don"t know. Maybe."

"Are you going to get mad if I don"t refill the toilet paper roll?"

"Mildly irritated for sure."

"What if I spill red Kool-Aid on your white sofa?"

"You"d have to smuggle it in with you. I don"t have any of that here."

She gave me a side-eyed glare, but I just smiled back.

"You can be as messy as you want, Gracie. I"ll just clean it all back up."

I was surprised to find I truly meant that too. Even my own family drove me insane, not putting things back where they belong or leaving crumbs behind and not cleaning up after themselves. But for some reason, the thought of those things done by Gracie didn"t bother me. Not bother me much at least.

"Relax. You"re gonna pop a blood vessel or something. I will try not to destroy your home."

"Well, thanks, I guess."

I let us into the apartment and had this insane urge to carry her over the threshold. I did refrain though.

"Make yourself at home."

"Oh, I have a no clothes policy unless guests are over, so you probably don"t want me to actually make myself at home here."

My dick jumped in my pants.

"You"d be very wrong then. If that"s the case, I absolutely want you to make yourself entirely at home here."

I watched her closely. Her chin jutted out in defiance just a fraction and I knew she had just taken my words as a dare. And if that"s what it took to get her naked quickly and stay that way for hopefully the rest of the night, then I was more than okay with it.

"Wait, if I"m naked, then you better be too. No clothes means no clothes."

I"d never much walked around my house naked before. On occasions when I went for a flight, sure. But just because? Never.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, knowing it was a loaded question.

"For food, yes. Food first at least. We skipped lunch."

"What would you like to eat?"

"What are my options? Where are you ordering from?"

I scoffed. "I"m not ordering out. We can cook here."

"By ‘we,' I hope you mean you. I"m not kidding when I say I"m a poor cook. The guys were so excited to have a female rookie join the team. They expected gourmet meals freshly cooked every night I was on call only to learn I struggle just boiling water."

"By ‘we,' I did mean me. Chicken, steak, or lobster?"

"Seriously? Lobster," she said, and I was pretty sure she was teasing me because her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when I retrieved two full Maine lobsters from the freezer.

People were always impressed with a lobster dinner, but to me, it was just good food and easy to fix.

I put on a pot of water to boil and got to work peeling some potatoes.

"Potatoes and asparagus okay?"

"Uh, yeah."

I felt ridiculous cooking in the buff, but I was fully aware that Gracie was watching me.

"It"s kind of hot watching you cook."

"Turning you on?"

"It is," she admitted.

I liked that, and I really liked that she was willing to admit it.

Maybe naked cooking wasn"t such a bad thing after all.

No sooner had I thought it, my front door burst open and Kim stormed in. I was so shocked that I jerked back causing the lobster pot to shift and splash right onto my chest.

"Sonofabitch," I yelled. "Ow."

Gracie jumped up and ran to check on me while I was trying to cover us both, even if all I could reach was a kitchen hand towel.

"Would you stop and let me look at that burn? I am a certified EMT, you know."

"I didn"t know. Kim, get the hell out of here."

She crossed her arms over her chest, and I knew she wasn"t going anywhere.

"She"s mated to your brother. She"s seen a penis before," Gracie reminded me. "Hell she"s even seen a Davenport penis before."

"Not this Davenport"s," I said.

Gracie blew on the burn mark on my chest, causing a reaction that was definitely not appropriate with Kim"s presence.

"You know, this is why you"re not supposed to cook in the nude, Ryan."

"This is why you"re supposed to knock and wait to be invited in. I know I locked that door, how"d you even barge in here?"

"You know we have a spare key."

"For emergencies."

"Oh, you want to talk emergencies? How about my brother being in the hospital?"

I groaned. "He made me swear not to tell you. He didn"t want you to leave work or worry."

"You know, if that was coming from Gracie, I"d accept that. She has an allegiance with Andrew over me. But you? Ryan, we"re family. You can"t leave me in the dark over something like this."

"Andrew begged him not to tell you or Elias, knowing he"d for sure run and tell you. I was there, I heard him," Gracie said, coming to my defense.

"You should have still told me."

"I"m sorry, Kim. Really, I am. It"s been a busy day, week even."

"I can see that," she said with a sly grin.

"Kim, this isn"t . . ."

"Don"t you dare say this isn"t what it looks like. Eli and I were already making bets on the who you were seeing, and after seeing the two of you together in here this morning and your surprise shift on our balcony, your brother was already convinced it was Gracie. I was struggling to see it, but I certainly can now."

"Kim, this isn"t . . ."

"If you say this isn"t what it looks like, I"m pretty sure Gracie will punch you in the nuts. You have never had a woman over here in the time I"ve been here. And from what Eli says you never have, aside from family. Your place is off-limits, so that says a lot."

Gracie opened her mouth to protest.

"Don"t bother," Kim said. "I"m not a gossip, and I don"t rat out family."

"Then you can understand why we didn"t tell you about Andrew."

Kim started to protest, but Gracie just smirked and shook her head.

"He"s my family too. You know that better than anyone."

She sighed and nodded. "Fine, but please, next time just tell me. I don"t want to have to find out through the gossip chain that my brother"s in the hospital with burns covering nearly a quarter of his body."

"I"m really sorry you found out like that. I was only trying to abide by Andrew"s wishes."

"Okay. I"ll let you two get back to your, uh, dinner."

"Kimberly," I warned to her retreating back.

"You know I don"t keep things from my mate. But otherwise, your secret is safe with me. I won"t even tell Gia about this. It"s just really nice to see you happy."

She left before I could reply.

"I"m happy. I"m always happy," I said aloud anyway

"Are you sure you"re okay? You may need to shift and let that heal."

"Later," I said as I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.

Kim was far too observant. I really hadn't been this happy in a while, maybe ever, and I was pretty sure it had everything to do with the crazy woman in my arms that I couldn"t seem to get enough of.

Before things could progress further, she pushed me away with a giggle.

"You promised me a lobster dinner, and you aren"t going to ruin it with a distraction."