Chapter 30 Merger
Merger
Amy’s mouth hung open. Was he serious? Was she delirious?
“I’ll always come for you.” He meant it, too.
She could feel the truth of it vibrate in every fiber of her being.
Did she need more than that? This was a man whose character she knew after watching him for years, when his guard had been down, when he hadn’t been trying to impress her or make her think he was something he wasn’t.
He was loving, kind, honorable. Protective. Playful. Handsome. Not merely handsome—Hot. As. Fuck. And oh, the way he moved in bed! He was the complete package. More than she ever could have hoped for. If she turned him down, she would be delirious.
His hopeful eyes bored into hers. “I went too far, didn’t I? Like I said, it’s been building for a while.”
“You’ve thought about me, about us, this whole time?”
“On some level, yeah. I wanted to ask you out in the very beginning, but I couldn’t imagine you wanting to go out with me, and I was tongue-tied whenever I was around you. You were this stunning, beautiful … beauty.” He grinned. “See? Still tongue-tied.”
“And here I thought the handsome deputy wouldn’t want anything to do with a woman who didn’t have blue eyes, fair skin, and who smelled like coffee.”
He kissed a line along her jaw. “Well, you were wrong. I love that you smell like coffee because coffee’s my favorite drink.” He trailed more kisses along the other side of her jaw. “And I love your skin because it reminds me of … coffee. With milk. A latte. As for your eyes—”
“They remind you of coffee?”
“Beans.” He nodded.
“So what you’re saying is that you love me for my coffee. I feed your habit.”
He feigned shock. “It’s that obvious?”
She started to laugh but shrieked when he suddenly scooped her from his lap and tossed her flat on her back as if she weighed nothing.
He crawled up her body, lifting her sweater as he went.
The kisses he dropped on her skin grew more languid yet somehow more insistent.
He added his tongue and teeth and moan-inducing sucks as he peppered her stomach, her rib cage, her chest with gifts from his wicked mouth.
And when he latched on and did that thing with his tongue, an explosion of tingles raced through her bloodstream.
“What were you saying about merging?” she gasped. He lifted his head, and she tunneled her fingers through his sandy hair. “I think I want to merge with you, Deputy Shane.”
“As in merge, or merge?”
“Yes.”
He gave her a cockeyed smile. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret this, Barista Amy.”
“Less talking, more merging.” She tugged his short strands, and he chuckled as he returned to the business of making her body sing.
Shane leaned in so close his breath warmed her cheek. “Are you going to tell me what your conversation with Leo Cantrell was about?”
They sat beside each other on barstools in the Miners Tavern, Amy’s hand clasped in Shane’s against his thigh.
This was their official coming-out. No formal announcement, just hand-holding, subtle looks, and casual caresses.
Beneath it all, happy butterflies flapped in Amy’s stomach.
The crowd surrounding them seemed to take it in stride.
Guys like Noah and Charlie clapped Shane on the shoulder, while Hailey and Dixie sent Amy knowing winks and sly smiles.
It had been an emotionally draining day that had also included two extended lovemaking sessions and one frisky shower in a space so confined they’d both had to do their yoga-bendy best to reach that glorious end goal and still get clean. Amy was sated, ravenous, and basking in a warm glow.
“I asked Leo if I could set up a kiosk or a coffee cart in the lobby of his resort while I wait for Mountain Coffee’s reopening.”
“That’s genius! What’d he say?”
“He said no.”
Shane’s face fell. “Why not?”
“Because he’d rather I set it up by the lounge, where they serve wine and apps during happy hour.” She beamed at him. “Coffee service will stop before happy hour starts, so the hours will be similar to the ones I’ve been keeping.”
“That’s a ten-mile drive. You up for that every morning?” One eyebrow dipped with concern.
“It won’t be every morning. Luanne has asked to take some of the shifts.
I think she likes the idea of working at Silver Summit.
And guess what else?” He shook his head.
“I suggested we have a special blend made just for Silver Summit that guests can buy in his gift shop, and he agreed. He also agreed to a very friendly profit split.” When Amy had questioned Leo about his generous offer, he’d merely said, “Flood the lake, and all boats rise,” on a twist of the idiom about rising tides.
Shane high-fived her. “Nice! Wait. If you’re working up there, I won’t be able to just stop by and get a refill whenever I want.”
“You will when my store opens back up.” She moved in a little closer and dropped her voice. “In the meantime, we’ll have to take care of those ‘refills’ before I leave in the morning.”
His mouth curved with a wicked smile. “I like how my girl’s dirty mind works. It runs on the same track as mine.”
Holt Gunderson and one of the SAR team members tapped him on the shoulder. Relinquishing her hand, Shane sent her a wink before he swiveled to talk to them.
Hailey slid her a fresh glass of champagne. “Sorry, but Dewey’s a little backed up in the kitchen. Your order should be coming up soon.”
“Good, because I’m getting hangry,” Amy snorted.
“I could tell.” Hailey made the universal sign of “I’m watching you” and turned to fill a different drink order.
Amy tipped the flute to her lips and sipped.
When she set the drink down, she inhaled the smell of grilling onions and meat, and she was reminded that living in an apartment equipped with a hot plate and a twenty-year-old microwave was not a great long-term plan, even if the place did come equipped with its own Deputy Shane.
That alone made the cramped quarters completely worth it.
Dixie delivered their stacked burgers and piles of fries, and Amy dug in without waiting for Shane, who was now hailing Charlie to talk about installing the security cameras at Amy’s store.
It was in these countless little ways that Shane let her know she was always top of mind for him, and her heart swelled to bursting.
God, she loved him! No, it was more than that. She was head over heels.
She was munching on a fry and staring at the back of his head with googly eyes when Dixie began tapping her long fingernails on the bar top. Hailey had reappeared and looked on, a smile quirking her lips.
Amy dabbed burger juice from her mouth with a napkin and glanced between the two women. “What? Haven’t you seen me eat before?”
Hailey gave her the big innocent eyes. “My mind was wandering, and my eyes just sort of landed on you. You’re like an anchor point.”
“Gee, thanks?”
Unamused, Dixie leaned the heel of her palm on the bar and leveled Amy with a look. “Winona says you haven’t been staying at your new place. She’s worried you don’t like it, and after her getting it nice and fixed up and all.”
Amy hadn’t exactly written the place off, but she would forever associate it with the trauma of her kidnapping and Dalton Brown, even though the apartment never figured into any of it. If she moved past her block, it would have to be by force, and she didn’t relish that idea either.
“Um, well, I didn’t realize how small it is, and honestly, I’ve been staying at, um, Shane’s.”
Dixie’s painted eyebrows arched into her brassy blond bangs. “His place is even smaller!”
Amy dragged a fry through catsup, giving herself something to do beside fidget. “Yes, but it’s closer to my work.” True, though the difference in distance was minimal.
Hailey bounced on her toes. “Are you guys moving in together?”
Amy’s butterflies flapped with force, but she kept her voice even.
“We’ve talked about it.” To Dixie, she said, “And if we do, I don’t think Winona would let him move into her rental.
The lease forbids firearms, and well, he’s not giving those up.
He kind of needs them for his job.” When he got reinstated, which of course he would. Amy was thinking positive thoughts.
Now Luanne poked her head into the conversation. “Is Winona putting her cute little place back up for rent?”
Dixie pulled back and stared at her. “Why? Do you want to rent it?”
“I was interested, but it went so fast, I never got a chance to apply.” She gave Amy a pointed look.
“Ain’t it kinda small for you and Cade?”
“Cade’s moving into the office at Micky’s garage until he can find his own place”
Dixie looked all kinds of put out—probably because she wasn’t the first to learn the latest town gossip on the hot sheets. “Why is Cade moving into Micky’s garage?”
“Micky’s going to be locked up for a while, and he asked Cade to take over so he doesn’t lose his business,” Luanne explained matter-of-factly, but her casual words fired an arrow of sadness that pierced Amy’s heart.
Locked up for a while. A mild way of putting it.
Dixie turned her blue-eye-shadowed gaze on Amy. “Did you know this?” Amy nodded. Dixie hmphed.
Hailey piped up. “What if Luanne moves into Amy’s place and Cade moves into Shane’s place?”
Amy gaped at her. “Where are Shane and I supposed to live?”
Hailey’s eyes shifted to her brother-in-law. “Hey, Charlie.”
He turned toward her with a smile. “What can I do for you, Hailey Bailey?”
“Didn’t you tell me the Freemans are thinking of selling the Loose Moose?
” The Loose Moose was an adorable miner’s bungalow Charlie had restored for the owners, who lived out of state and used it as a short-term rental.
Hailey had stayed there when she’d first landed in Fall River.
It wasn’t big, but it was a single-family home on Bowen Street with a yard, and it had more room than either Shane or Amy’s apartments.
In other words, it was the perfect size for a couple.
“Yep,” Charlie confirmed. “They’re tired of being long-distance landlords. Why? Know someone who wants to buy it?”
Hailey jerked her chin first at Shane, then at Amy. “Maybe.”
Shane whirled on his barstool and stared at Amy, his eyes bright. “I love that place,” they said at the same time.
Dixie bobbed her head, and her hoop earrings danced. “There! See what happens when we put our heads together? We just solved three problems at the same time.” She brushed her palms together in dramatic fashion, as if she’d orchestrated the whole thing herself, and Amy let go a whoop of laughter.