Page 69 of Bachelor Cop Finally Caught? (Hot off the Press! 2)

“I meant it, you know.”

The smile that accompanied his words was so sweet that her eyes filled again. “Stop that. Right now,” she ordered a bit desperately.

For the first time since she’d turned to find him standing behind her, he reached out to touch her. He wiped a tear from her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “You still haven’t given me an answer. Is it too late?”

“I’ve been in love with you for most of my life,” she whispered, gazing up at him. “It would’ve taken me a lot more than a few weeks to get over you.”

He cupped her face between his hands—and once again she felt this very strong man tremble. His lips brushed hers lightly, gently. Almost reverently.

But that wasn’t what she wanted from him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him down to her, rising on tiptoes to crush her mouth against his.

He responded with a fervor that he must have been barely holding in check until then. He pulled her so high into his arms that her toes dangled above the ground. His tongue slipped between her lips, and she eagerly welcomed him back.

She’d known she missed him, but only now did she realize exactly how empty she had been. It was as if she’d been in stasis—and was only now coming back to life. She could almost feel the warmth spreading through her body again, tingling in her fingers and toes, pooling deep inside her.

It felt so good to be fully alive again.

“Can we go inside now?” he murmured against her lips. “I really am too old to make love on a beach. At least without an air mattress.”

She giggled into his mouth. “Would you stop with the old-guy routine? You aren’t even forty yet.”

“Okay, I’m a mere kid. But I still don’t want these rocks cutting into my bare—”

She covered his mouth with hers again. When she finally released him, they were already moving toward the cabin.

Dan was true to his word when they returned to Edstown. He courted her. Publicly.

He called. He sent flowers. He brought candy. He took her out to eat. To the movies. To official functions. He did everything but hire an airplane to write across the sky that he was dating her. He rarely spent an entire night with her—that, he said, would have caused too much negative talk about her—but he no longer tried to keep it a secret that there was more between them than friendship these days.

After the initial buzz of interest, their friends and neighbors had accepted the relationship quite well. They weren’t quite as surprised as Lindsey might have expected. Apparently, she hadn’t been as discreet about her feelings for Dan as she’d thought, during the past couple of years.

There were some who expressed mild amazement that Dan was being quite so attentive to her. He’d always been so careful to keep his personal life private. Even during his marriage to Melanie, he’d spent more time on the job than at home. That was changing now. He was even starting to take off weekends, though his pager and radio were never far from his hand, of course.

Lindsey should have been deliriously happy. She couldn’t quite understand why she wasn’t.

“Everything’s going okay with you and Dan?” her brother asked during a telephone call early in May.

“Oh, sure. Things are great,” Lindsey assured him heartily. B.J. was one of those who had expressed no surprise about Lindsey’s feelings for Dan, but found it a little harder to believe that Dan was equally committed. It wasn’t that people who knew him thought of Dan as cold or hardhearted. He was just known for being very reserved. Extremely reticent about expressing his feelings. And, of course, a hard-line law enforcer with a deep-seated wariness of the media.

Lindsey couldn’t blame anyone for expecting a few conflicts to crop up between her and Dan. She told herself it was ridiculous that it bothered her that no such problems had occurred.

“This really is great, you know,” B.J. said. “I know you’ve had a thing for Dan for a long time, and I’m glad he’s finally realized you belong together. I spoke to him yesterday, and he seems very committed to this relationship.”

Almost relentlessly committed, Lindsey was tempted to add. Dan seemed to be working harder at this relationship than he had at anything in a long time. If this was meant to be, should it really be so hard for him?

She didn’t share her concerns with her brother, but chatted amicably for another few minutes about other subjects before they disconnected. B.J. promised to get home as soon as he could for a visit. Lindsey warmly urged him to do so. As she hung up the phone, she told herself she was being uncharacteristically apprehensive and pessimistic to wonder if she and Dan would still be together when B.J. arrived.

She was kept late at the newspaper office the next day, arriving home at almost six-thirty. Dan was already there. He even had dinner started. He greeted her with a smile and a kiss. She couldn’t help noticing that he looked tired, even though he’d put in a shorter day at the office than usual. “Hi. Running late today, I see,” he said.

“Mmm. Early day for you?”

“No, I left at the usual time. Just after five.”

Lindsey shook her head. “Since when is eight to five a ‘usual’ day for you?”

“Since I decided to set different priorities in my life,” he replied, popping a slice of carrot into her mouth.

She crunched and swallowed, then said, “You know, I really don’t mind if you work late sometimes. I tend to have long hours, myself, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. I certainly don’t want to interfere with your job.”

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