Page 6 of Unexpected Redemption

Remorse scrapes at the inside of my chest. I suck in a huge swell of air to fight it off. “Although what we’re doing is important, living my life is important too. And you’re the best part of my life. Being with you ranks so far above everything else. I should’ve figured that out sooner. This place won’t crumble if I’m not here twenty hours a day. Even with this case. Besides, I have a night crew plugging away at that mammoth list on the wall. What we’re doing is working. We’ll take those fuckers down. In the meantime, I don’t want to stop living. If everyone else has managed to find a way to balance work and family, I can too.”

This time, when she rises, she brushes her lips over mine, offering me a petal soft kiss. Her sweet scent surrounds me.

“Take me home, Tomer.”

The soothing warmth of nostalgia pounds through my bones as her words send me spiraling back in time. To the night I cameto the club for her after that month apart. When I couldn’t stay away anymore. She said,“Take me home, James.”

Despite the fake name, it was powerful to hear the confidence she had in her decision to be with me.

But now?Fuck.

Words can’t describe the sensation flowing through every cell of my body. So instead of trying to articulate how she’s made me feel, I kiss her slowly.

Then I take her home. Toourhome.

Even if we haven’t moved her in yet, it’s still ours. What’s mine is hers. Wherever we are isourhome.

Chapter 2

Three things

LETTIE

After pushing my plate away, a contented sigh escapes me. “Mmm. That was so dang good. If it was on my head, my tongue would beat my brains out tryin’ to get to it.”

When he finishes snickering at me, Tomer dabs at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “Mrs. Mason is a fantastic cook. She came in clutch today because I haven’t shopped for groceries in a while.”

“Mrs. Mason, huh? She askedmeto call her Madeline.” I jokingly lift my chin to look down my nose at him. “Guess I’m pretty special.”

A crooked grin sneaks onto his face. “Nah. She tells everyone to call her that.”

His unexpected humor never fails to crack me up. Especially when his delivery is so effortlessly monotone.

As my chuckles diminish, I toss my napkin on my plate and pat my extremely full belly.

When Madeline and Boss Dad arrived at the office this morning, she brought in five casseroles, stashing them in thebreak room fridge for the people staying in the bunk rooms. She had one set aside for us since we’ve been staying there. All we had to do was pop it in the oven when we got home.

“Does she do this often?” My open palm gestures to the half-empty cheesy chicken casserole dish.

“Send dinner home for me?” He shakes his head. “Nope. First time. However, she has been known to make random bakery deliveries at the office. Her banana bread is the stuff of legend.”

Despite being stuffed to the point of exploding, my mouth waters.“And you’ve never brought any to me?Monster! I thought you loved me.”

He puts his palms out in surrender. “It never makes it out of the office. They go feral for it. You might lose an arm if you don’t get your slice fast enough. Got to have a strategy. In and out operation.”

“You draw up a battle plan on your grease board, don’t you?”

He shakes his head aggressively as if I offended him. “Then it would be visible to the others, Lettie. First rule of banana bread warfare is never let the enemy know what to expect.”

“Oh, really? What about the first rule of banana bread fight club?”

His turquoise eyes nearly disappear when he narrows his lids to crescents, and his voice takes on a hint of menace. “We don’t talk about that.”

Giddy amusement undulates through my midsection until it breaks free of my mouth in a huge blast. His stoic mask breaks rapidly, and he joins me in laughter.

Eventually, the hilarity dries up, and my meal settles enough that it’s not painful to move, so I start clearing the table. He jumps up to help.

“Hold up, babe. One more bite.” I dive my fork in for another taste before he puts the lid on the casserole dish.

---