Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
HAYES
Ihadn’t planned on telling Trick about my decision to move into the farmhouse with Tempie. I didn’t want to rub salt in my brother’s wounds, but knowing me like he did, he immediately honed in on the unusual spring in my step and started asking questions.
“About time you got outta that shithole you’ve been livin’ in,” Trick stated after I finished telling him about my morning.
“Whatever.” I chuckled. “It worked just fine for me, but now it’s time to move on.”
“True enough. So this is really it, huh? You guys are jumpin’ in with both feet.”
I could hear the concern laced through his words, and I understood it, but at the same time, Trick didn’t know what Tempie and I had been before.
“Don’t dance around it,” I ordered. “Say what you really mean.”
My partner hesitated for a moment before speaking bluntly. “You don’t think this is goin’ a little fast? I mean, I’m happy for you, man. You know that. But it’s only been a couple weeks.”
“It’s been more than twenty years,” I shot back. “I fell for her when I was fifteen, and that hasn’t changed one goddamn bit in all the years that have passed. The only difference between what I felt then and now is that it’s even stronger.”
“You know what I mean,” he countered.
I did. And I got that the current circumstances of his personal life would easily make him question what I was doing. But Tempie wasn’t his wife.
Resting my elbows on my desk, I replied, “Yeah. But you know me, brother. The last thing I am is impulsive.”
His eyes traveled up and over my shoulder, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “No, I don’t suppose you are.”
I turned to see what caught his attention and found Tempie taking the last step up into the bullpen.
Just one glimpse of her and I had to struggle against going hard right there in the middle of the goddamn police department.
Her jeans hugged her from hip to ankle, showing off her delectable curves.
Her pale pink sweater was loose at her waist but fitted to her incredible tits and hung off her left shoulder, hinting at all the wonder that lay beneath.
Her feet were in a pair of sexy-as-fuck short boots with a tall, thin heel that did miraculous things to her figure as she pranced past the desks with a grace she was born to.
I might have been jealous that every man with a functioning dick took notice—it was impossible not to—but she only had eyes for me.
Her gaze landed on me instantly and grew light with excitement like she hadn’t seen me in days, not the few hours that had passed since that morning.
“Hey,” she said, her voice like honey as she reached my desk and bent at the waist to press a kiss against my lips. She inched back, her cheeks flushing, as if suddenly embarrassed as she lowered her voice. “Sorry. Am I allowed to kiss you here, or is that against some macho, badass cop rule?”
I chuckled, reaching up to grab her by the back of her neck and pulling her back down for a harder, longer kiss before releasing her and teasing, “Macho, badass cop rule?”
She stood tall and shrugged while clearing her throat and looking across my desk to greet my partner. “Hi, Trick.”
“Hey, darlin’. You doin’ okay?”
“Yeah, I’m doing great,” she replied, her voice practically radiating with happiness. “Thanks for asking.”
“Not that I don’t mind the surprise visit, but what brings you by?” I asked, drawing her focus back to me.
Turning on her heels, she propped her round ass on the edge of my desk. “I thought I might drop by the hospital today, see about getting a job there. What do you think?”
I fucking loved the fact that she was solidifying Hope Valley as her new home even further. “I think that’s great, angel. But I thought you were happy at the diner.”
She chewed on her lip for a second, giving that some thought.
“I am, but that was only supposed to be a way to fill my time before I went back to Chicago. Now that I’m staying here, I want to go back to helping people.
You have your way of doing it, and I have mine.
” Her shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I miss it.”
“Then I think it’s a great idea.” Her chest rose on a heavy inhale, as if my approval was all she’d been looking for. “But just so you know, I’d support you in anything you wanted to do.”
“I also got you a present.” Tempie rifled through her purse and held up a tiny box with a little gold bow on top.
“I stopped at Makin Hardware and had this made for you.” Her eyes went so warm that I could feel the heat against my skin as she handed the box to me.
I pulled the lid off and lifted the silver key from inside.
“It’s to the farmhouse,” she said, her voice brimming with happiness when I looked up at her with curiosity. “Our farmhouse.”
Rising to my feet, I stepped in front of her, holding the key in one hand and sliding the other beneath the heavy fall of her hair, wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck. “Thank you, angel,” I said softly. “Best present I’ve ever gotten.”
Lifting on her toes, she pressed her lips against mine again and muttered, “Welcome home, honey.”
Christ, I loved her something fierce. I was completely overcome with my need for her right then, and I had to take a step back before I did something that would have gotten me not only fired, but also arrested.
My fingers clenched one last time before I released her neck and took a necessary step back. “Go on, now. You’ve got things to do, and I’ve got bad guys to catch.”
Tempie threw her head back on a laugh and pressed her palms into my chest. “All right. I’ll see you at home later.”
“That you will, angel.”
I watched as she headed through the bullpen and disappeared down the steps. When I turned back to Trick, he was staring at me with a shit-eating grin. “All right, bud. I take it all back.”
“Take what back?”
“Thinkin’ that maybe you guys were moving too fast. You better put a ring on that woman’s finger and damn fast, ’cause you’re never gonna find anything better than that.”
He had no idea how right he was.
Temperance
I walked through the hospital parking lot on cloud nine after my meeting. I’d spoken with the administrator and the director of nursing, hitting it off with both women like we’d been lifelong friends, and left there with a really good feeling.
My cell phone rang halfway to my car, and I paused long enough to fish it out and grin at the screen before answering. “Hey, Carl. How’s it going?”
“Pretty good, darlin’,” he returned. “Just wanted to call and see if you were available to meet up for lunch.”
“Actually, yeah, that’s perfect. I’m leaving a meeting now, so I can meet you in fifteen if that works for you.”
He started talking, but a weird sensation crawled across my skin, taking my attention from the conversation.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking for as I slowly turned in a circle, scanning the lot, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me.
My gaze darted all around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Hello? Tempie, you there?”
Carl’s voice pulled me back. Brushing off the feeling, I started for my car again. “Yeah, sorry. I’m here. What were you saying?”
“Does El Toro sound good?”
El Toro was the Mexican restaurant off the interstate just outside of town.
Hayes had taken me there one evening for dinner, and I immediately took to the place and had demanded more than once that we go back.
They had some of the best enchiladas I’d ever had, and my stomach immediately began to rumble in anticipation. “Sounds perfect. I’ll meet you there.”
We disconnected, and I made the drive from the hospital to the restaurant, but the whole way there, that eerie feeling kept pricking at the base of my skull.
Part of me wondered if I should call and tell Hayes about the feeling, but he already had so much on his plate.
I didn’t want to add to his stress all because of a silly feeling, when the fact of the matter was, it was probably nothing.
So I went about my drive, forcing myself to push it from my mind.
Carl was already at a table when I arrived, and offered me a friendly smile as I made my way to him. “I haven’t ordered yet, but I made sure the chips and salsa were on the table before you got here.”
I leaned in and gave him a hug in greeting before hooking my purse on the back of the chair and taking my seat. “You’re a godsend. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until you mentioned Mexican food. Now I’m starving.”
He laughed as I dug into the chips like I hadn’t eaten in a week. “So how’s it goin’?” he asked after we gave our orders to the waitress. “How’s life in Hope Valley treating you?”
“It’s good.” I smiled, thinking of Hayes. “Actually, it’s pretty great.”
“That’s good to hear, sweetheart,” he replied with a genuine grin. “Don’t suppose the fact that you and Hayes having finally pulled your heads outta your asses has anything to do with things being so great,” he questioned with a small chuckle.
“So you heard, huh?”
He shook his head good naturedly. “It’s Hope Valley, Tempie.”
I let out a little laugh. “Yeah. There’s no such thing as a secret here.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “Not unless you work really, really hard at it.”
“He’s moving in with me.” My chest expanded as giddy excitement coursed through me and filled me nearly to bursting. “It’s like all those years never existed. I’m just so glad I’m back home.”
“I’m happy for you guys, darlin’.”
Reaching across the table, I placed my hand on Carl’s. “Thanks, hon. What about you? What’s new? I wanna know everything.”
He laughed and told me about his job and the house he was thinking of buying, and I told him about my meeting at the hospital.
It was really nice to catch up with an old friend, and I’d been able to relax after that weird feeling back in the hospital parking lot, but as we settled the check and got up to head out, that prickling on my skin started up again.
I looked toward the windows in search of whatever was giving me that feeling, but there was nothing there.
“Everything okay?” Carl asked.
I shook the feeling off and let him guide me from the restaurant. “Yeah. I’m good. It’s just a weird feeling I started having a little while ago.”
His face pulled a frown as he studied me. “What kind of weird feeling?”
I scanned my surroundings again, but there was nothing there. “I don’t know. It’s almost like... I’m being watched or something.”
Carl’s entire body seemed to go on high alert as he joined me in looking around the restaurant parking lot.
“It’s probably nothing,” I assured him. “I think maybe I’ve just been watching too many of those Investigation Discovery shows.”
I knew I’d appeased his concern when he turned back to me with a smile. “You might need to lay off all those murder shows for a while,” he teased.
My head fell back on a laugh. “You’re probably right.”
We said our goodbyes, and I headed back to the farmhouse. My man was coming home tonight... for good. And I needed to prepare to give him the best welcome home imaginable.