Page 61 of Her Baby, Her Badge

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dutton sank down onto the foot of the guest bed and felt the bone-deep exhaustion wash over him. Understandable, since he and Grace had been up all night, tying up some of the ends of the investigation, and it was now nearly nine in the morning.

And the tying up wasn’t over.

Maybe never would be. Soon, Grace would need to go back into her office and deal with the aftermath. Deal with any trauma her deputies and mother might have experienced, too. Along with speaking to the ME, who now had Cassie’s body, and interviewing Wilson.

Yeah, there was plenty to do.

First, though, he was hoping Grace could get some much-needed sleep once she’d finished her shower. Maybe a really long one, so the hot water could loosen what had to be tense muscles.

His muscles were certainly tense to the point of being painful. But there was relief, too, and he was certain once he could settle his thoughts, he would realize just how damn lucky they’d gotten. Cassie was dead, and that meant her killing spree had come to an end.

Later, he’d have to deal with the guilt that his breakup with the woman had spurred the string of deadly events. But Dutton wasn’t so drained that he couldn’t see that he wasn’t to blame for Cassie’s extreme reaction.

He just wished he’d seen it coming.

Wished he’d been able to stop her before she’d gotten started.

So, yes, he’d feel guilt over that and how close Cassie had come to killing Grace, their baby and him. Heck, Aileen, Bailey and so many others as well. Thankfully, though, Aileen was safe in her own home. Bailey, too.

Wilson, not so much.

The man had been arrested, and depending on what the DA said, he was facing some serious charges. It was possible that with a good lawyer, Wilson could argue diminished capacity, and he might just get away with that. Still, Wilson had killed Cassie, and Dutton figured the man’s life would never be the same because of it.

The bathroom door opened, and Grace came out, bringing the scent of his soap with her. She was wearing a bathrobe, one that his mom had given him for Christmas years ago, and it swallowed her. Maybe it would be comfortable enough for her just to fall into bed and sleep.

He stood, ready to relinquish the guest bed so she could dive right in, but he stopped when she lifted her phone. Hell. Dutton hoped something hadn’t gone wrong.

“Just got a text from Livvy,” she said. “Brian will be cleared of any charges related to the murders. I can’t charge him with being a cheating, lying slime,” she added and then shrugged. “We’ll have to let karma deal with him.”

True, and Dutton was betting Elaine’s parents would be firing the man. That was a small victory at least.

Dutton went to her and brushed a kiss on her cheek. He avoided any of the small nicks and bruises from the airbags and purposely kept it chaste, since he didn’t want anything interfering with her getting some rest.

“Go to bed,” he insisted.

He moved away from her, ready to head to his own bedroom and attempt to do the same, but she caught his arm.

“Stay in here with me,” she muttered.

Dutton felt some other emotions cut through the fatigue. One was hope. Another was lust. And dread, since he didn’t want lust playing into this, not when Grace had to be exhausted.

“Stay with me,” she repeated when she saw the hesitation in his eyes.

The hesitation would have stayed firmly in place had she not kissed him. Her lips didn’t land on his cheek, but rather on his mouth. And there was nothing, absolutely nothing, chaste about it. It was filled with heat and oh, so much need. More than enough need and heat that something inside Dutton snapped.

His resolve vanished.

And he forgot all about such things as fatigue and sleep. He only remembered this. The kiss. Being with Grace.

The memories came. Of other times they’d been together like this. Except this time was different. They’d survived going through hell and back, and they were alive. So was their baby, and that had Dutton stopping and taking a step back.

“You’re pregnant.” He hadn’t intended to make it sound like some startling revelation, but his mind was definitely questioning whether or not this was a good idea.

Grace smiled, a rarity with everything that had been going on, and she pulled him back to her. “Pregnant women have sex. We’re having sex,” she confirmed.

His pulse was already revving, but that amped it up even more, and this time when her mouth came to his, he was the one who deepened the kiss. He hauled her into his arms, and let the heat and need take over.

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