Page 94 of Playing With Danger

I made it to my first appointment with five minutes to spare.

I heard the garage door go up and something settled in my tummy.

Valentine was home.

He came through the laundry room door and stopped. When I glanced over my shoulder my smile died.

“Everything okay?”

“I love seeing you in my house. I love you in my bed. I love waking up to you. But fuck, I love coming home to you.”

The air in the kitchen grew hot, or was that my skin heating at his gruff declaration?

Holy Moses.

If he promised to come home every day from work and said those same words I’d vow to learn how to cook. I’d go so far as taking one of those cooking courses at the local college.

“Not as much as I like you coming home to me.”

When he didn’t move or say anything else I asked, “Good day at work?”

He tossed his gym bag on top of the dryer and came to me at the stove, kissing my temple before he asked, “Low-key.”

Low-key for a cop sounded like a good day.

“Did you make these?”

I turned to see Valentine holding Khloe’s muffins.

“No. Believe it or not, Khloe made them.”

“Khloe?”

“Yep. Maybe I was wrong about her and she’s a nice gal who just can’t get over Hayden having a female roommate. Though since she’s been around I’ve barely been there. But anyway, she seemed genuine today when she gave them to me. She even went as far as to ask Hayden what my favorite was.”

I watched him pull the lid off the container before I went back to stirring the ground beef. This was normally my issue with cooking. I got bored and didn’t pay attention, then I burned stuff or under-cooked it depending on what had caught my attention while I was in the middle of cooking.

“Jesus,” he grumbled.

I turned down the burner before I turned and asked, “What?”

“This is the worst blueberry muffin I’ve ever tasted.”

His face clearly conveyed his thoughts.

“She said she was really good at baking.”

Valentine held a small piece out in offering.

“I’m not one of those people who has a compulsion to smell or try something when someone says it’s gross. I believe you.”

“This is so bad you have to take a bite to believe it.”

“Hard pass.”

Valentine tossed the piece in the trash, then dumped the others.

“Christ. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she was trying to kill you.”

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