Page 165 of The Woman By the Lake

When he ended it, she whispered, “Murphy just stole your marijuana.”

“He’s like that. He says I hog it, but he uses it as his excuse to be a mooch.”

She giggled again.

“Having fun?” he asked softly.

She gave him a little shake with her arms around him. “You have good friends.”

“Yeah.”

“I really like Murphy,” she said.

He grinned. “Me too.”

“And he really loves you.”

His grin died, but not for bad reasons, for the best ones.

“Yeah.”

“Not to mess with the mood, but you should know, another reason, outside you and Ledger, why I was considering Misted Pines is that you have a big family. They’re everywhere you turn.”

He heard her, and he got it.

She’d lost the last of hers five months ago.

He slid his finger from her temple to behind her ear to slide her hair away from her face, then he tangled his fingers in it. “Maribeth is good family too.”

She nodded and turned her head into his touch. “She totally is. But Chicago is big. You’re always a bit alone in a big city. You can get lost in it. And after what happened, I knew it wasn’t healthy to be lost. I think maybe I didn’t realize it while I was doing it, but I picked somewhere like Misted Pines so I wouldn’t be lost. But I got here, and I didn’t know how to get found.” She gave him another shake. “Until you found me.”

“Princess,” he murmured, curling his fingers around her head and feeling what she said heat his chest in a way he liked a fuckuva lot.

“Thank you, Riggs.”

He pulled her to him again and kissed her.

They were straight up making out when “Steal Away” slid into, “Make It with You.”

He’d been waiting for that song to come on, and he was glad it happened when they were right there, just as they were.

He slid his cheek against hers and said in her ear, “Picked this one just for you.”

She stilled, listening to the song.

He tugged her head back so he could watch her face in the firelight while she did it, and he ran his thumb along her cheekbone and lips as the lyrics hit her, and they did this hard.

But that wasn’t in a bad way either.

No, thank Christ, he could see it was really fucking good.

The song moved into, “You Make Lovin’ Fun,” when she said, “I wish they hadn’t stolen that wine.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I think there might be reason I’d want to keep that bottle forever.”

That made heat light up his chest too, and he was about to reply, but he heard a sharp, “Doc. Hup,” coming from his right.

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