“I got a little.” The look in her eyes said that sleep had been a struggle. She no doubt had nightmares. “How’re you doing?” She asked, her eyes taking in the myriad of scratches and bandages covering his face and hands, there were many more beneath his clothes that she couldn’t see.
“I’m fine.” He brushed it off. The scariest part for him had been the fear of something happening to Sydney. They’d gotten the pleasantries out of the way. Now it was time to say what he’d come here to say. “Given everything that’s just happened, this might not be the best timing, but I was wondering if you want to spend the day with me. I don’t have to go to work, and I thought we could maybe go to this little bookstore that I know of and then maybe go for a picnic.”
There—he’d said it.
It was out there.
It was done.
Now he just had to see what Sydney was going to say. He hoped she’d say yes. The bookshop idea he was pretty sure would swing her if she was wavering, but he wanted a real yes. The beast inside him had been vanquished last night when he’d fought for their lives. He was ready to be a man again. He was ready to have a life again.
Dante hoped Sydney said yes.
7:00 A.M.
* * *
Dante was standing on her doorstep.
Tall, dark, and handsome. He was looking super sexy in his tight-fitting jeans and simple gray shirt, and those dark eyes were mesmerizing, she could stare into them forever. Sydney couldn’t deny that it was hard to resist the urge to throw herself into his arms and kiss him like she had dreamed about in what little sleep she’d had before the nightmares came.
He had a bouquet of roses in his arms, and a picnic basket sat at his feet. Sydney knew that his idea of going to a bookshop was because he knew that she would love that.
And she did.
It was a very sweet idea for a first date.
So, she had Dante here at her house at seven in the morning, asking her out on a date.
This was what she wanted, right?
It was certainly what she had dreamed about last night. She had dreamed that he did a whole lot more than turn up on her doorstep. Her dreams were more along the lines of clothes being thrown off, a lot of kissing, and some passionate lovemaking.
She wanted to take that dream and make it a reality. Only she was pretty sure it was inappropriate to throw yourself like that at a guy you’d just met. It was inappropriate for her, anyway. She didn’t have sex with guys on the first date.
“Sydney? You’re not saying anything. What I’ve learned about you after the last two days, is that you talk. A lot,” Dante said with a small smile.
That coaxed a smile out of her. He was right. It was abnormal for her not to talk. But he’d just asked her out, and as much as she wanted to say yes, she was nervous. It was one thing to want to move on, it was one thing to daydream about how hot the sex would be, but it was another to have fallen for someone so quickly.
And she had fallen for him already.
“I’m really glad you came here,” she started. “I was thinking about you all night, and I am happy you’re here, but I … I can’t because I just can’t … But I want to. I really want to. It’s just, I’m a widow, and you’re practically a widower, and I don’t know how well things will work out. Not to mention the fact that we’re both different. You’re a cop and you work all the time. I’m a librarian whose idea of a fun time is curling up in my favorite rocking chair, snuggled under a blanket, reading a book. I don’t know that you’d really enjoy doing that. So, it’s not that I don’t want to, because I do, I think I said that already, it’s just that I’m not sure—”
Dante—having learned that she truly did not stop talking when she was nervous until someone made her and already knowing the perfect way to get her to stop talking—broke off her rambling by wrapping an arm around her waist, dragging her up against him and crushing his mouth to hers.
Without even thinking, she curled an arm around his neck while her other hand tangled in his dark hair as she returned his kiss and pressed closer.
In that kiss, all her doubts melted away. It was like Mitch’s voice was in her head telling her that it was okay to move on. That he wanted her to be happy, and that if Dante could make her happy then she should grab hold of that and never let it go.
“Are you crying?” Dante asked, pulling back so he could see her.
“Happy tears,” she assured him. “Want to take this inside?”
“Do you really have to ask?” He winked.
“Uh-uh.” She shook her head.
Dante lifted her feet off the ground, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her lips brushing against his as he carried her into her house.
There were hard parts about moving on but there were good points, too, and this was a good point. It had been a long time since a man had held her and kissed her like all they could think about was ripping her clothes off and making love to her. It was nice to feel desirable again, to feel special and wanted. She was always going to love Mitch, but there was room in her heart for someone else.
There was room in her heart for Dante.
She didn’t know what the future held. She didn’t know if she and Dante would make it as a couple, and while she thought they stood a good chance, even if it didn’t work out, at least she’d have taken the hardest step of moving on.
The first one.
Only Dante wasn’t making it all that hard.
He had told her last night as they sat at the side of the road and waited for his colleagues to arrive about his own loss. They had both reached the lowest lows of life, but the timing was right for both. They were both in that place where they were ready to cherish the past in their hearts and move forward.
Sydney sighed delightedly as Dante laid her down on the couch and stretched out on top of her. There definitely were good parts about moving on, and she couldn’t wait to experience all of them.
* * *
THE END
Meet a serial killer with an obsession with blood, a woman who just lost everything, and a cop with trust issues and start the Count to Ten series for FREE with One.
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Jane has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in because, well, who doesn’t love romance?! She has several series including the complete Detective Parker Bell series, the Count to Ten series, the Christmas Romantic Suspense series, and the Flashes of Fate series of novelettes.
When she’s not writing Jane loves to read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies. She has a black belt in Taekwondo, a 200+ collection of teddy bears, and her favorite color is pink. She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!
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