“I’ll give us another chance. Because I’m in love with you, too.”
Just like that, his world tipped back into proper alignment. There were a hundred questions he didn’t know the answer to, but right here, in this moment, he knew she loved him, and that was the only thing that mattered.
Ethan slid his hand around her nape and drew her mouth just a breath away from his. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”
When he tugged, she flowed into his lap without resistance, wrapping her arms and legs around him as if she wanted to eradicate all the emotional distance they’d endured. Ethan could absolutely get behind that idea. He took her mouth and drank in the taste of her, as if they’d been apart for years instead of hours. A fresh urgency began to beat in his blood. She wiggled, putting just enough space between them that she could reach the buttons of his shirt.
“Wait just a sec,” he gasped. With quick, efficient fingers, he unhooked the radio mic from his shirt and removed his duty belt.
She went back to work, stripping him out of the shirt and the vest, as he tugged her sweatshirt up and off. He yanked off his undershirt as her hands fought with his belt, his zipper. He freed her breasts from the plain cotton bra. Then she had her hands around the length of him and he dropped his head back on a curse.
“Got a logistical problem here,” he rasped.
Miranda glanced down at her yoga pants, then back up at him. “Counter.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Gripping her thighs, he surged to his feet and carried her the short distance to the break room counter. Almost as soon as her butt hit the surface, he was reaching for her waistband, dragging down the pants and her underwear. For half a second, he tried to slow down, to find some measure of control.
But she reached for him. “Now. Hurry.”
Bracing his hands on the counter, Ethan slid inside her. As her body closed around him, he groaned out her name. She wrapped those long, long legs around his waist, digging her heels into his ass to pull him even deeper.
“Ethan.” She pressed her brow to his, skimming her hands over his shoulders.
For a long moment, they held there, all the distance gone. Then she kissed him again, and he began to move. Past the doubt, past the hurt, chasing the heat that built between them, until there was nothing left but need. He took her screaming over the edge and emptied himself.
She trembled in his arms, pressed her lips to the thundering pulse in his throat. His own legs shook, but nothing on Earth could’ve gotten him to move just yet. For the first time in a long time, he felt whole. As if she’d filled all the empty places inside him. Burying his face in her hair, he tightened his arms around her. “I love you.”
She stroked his nape. “I love you, too. And I really want you to take me home so we can do that all over again in a bed.”
It turned out he could make himself move if properly motivated.
They dressed and set the room to rights. She cleaned the countertops and put the rest of the pie into the fridge. As they stepped into the hall, she paused and peered at the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking to see if this door really does have a lock.” Her dimples winked. “We might need it again someday.”
Ethan found himself grinning. “Legs, I like the way you think.”
Chapter 20
“I’d like to get my hands on whatever asshole did this.”
Miranda felt the same way, but also about a million times lighter than she had during her rage cleaning the night before. She swung an arm around Piper’s shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “I appreciate you taking time away from the baby to come help sort things out.”
“It’s fine. Myles is working from home and pacing his office wearing her in the sling. He’s under the impression he’s already training her for journalistic greatness, and it’s the cutest thing ever. As I have zero plans to give her a brother or sister any time soon, my ovaries needed a break. So what’s the plan here?”
“Patient rooms and sterilization are priority. I did the drug inventory last night, so that’s taken care of, but we still need to finish reorganizing and inventorying the other supplies, and deal with the nightmare that is the files.” Before Ethan had arrived last night, she’d scooped them all into boxes for sorting.
Shelby cracked her knuckles. “I’d like a half an hour alone with the asshole and your surgical instruments.”
Ethan straightened from his position against the wall. For once her staff hadn’t commented on her police escort to work. “I assure you, I’m doing everything I can to find out who’s behind this. With that in mind, I’ll be talking to each of you individually this morning. Delaney, I’d like to start with you, if you don’t mind. Miranda, you too.”
Delaney’s cheeks paled, but she didn’t argue. The poor girl already had reason to be nervous around cops. Ethan’s accusations hadn’t helped.
Miranda couldn’t resist slipping an arm around her. “It’ll be fine.”
Because it was one of the few rooms that didn’t need touching, they retreated to the break room and shut the door.
“Have a seat.” Ethan gestured toward a chair, an air of polite expectation on his face.
Reluctance in every line of her body, Delaney sank into one of the other chairs. Ethan and Miranda took two of the others.
It took everything Miranda had not to look at the counter. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d sat there, bare-assed, with Ethan buried inside her. Her body heated at the memory and her cheeks flushed.
Ethan didn’t look at her. Probably for the best. He pulled a notepad from his shirt pocket and flipped it open to a clean page. “Before we get started, there’s something I need to say to you.”
Delaney’s gaze darted from him to Miranda and back again. “Okay.” The tone was measured and her shoulders were stiff, obviously bracing for a blow.
He folded his hands. “I’m sorry.”
The utter shock on her face was almost amusing. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry for accusing and upsetting you. Given what you went through before, I’m sure all that was difficult. I never set out to do that. I won’t apologize for looking into you or asking the questions—that’s my job—but I wanted you to know that you’re no longer a person of interest in this case. At least not from the standpoint of being the perpetrator.”
“I don’t understand. What changed your mind?”
“Two things. One: You have a staunch champion.”
Miranda smiled as his gaze turned to her, the corner of his mouth lifted in a rueful smile.
“She didn’t doubt you. Not once. She made very convincing arguments that sent me looking elsewhere.”
Delaney’s blue eyes were suspiciously shiny as they shifted to Miranda. “Thank you.”
Miranda reached out to grasp her hand, wanting to comfort. “No need to thank me for telling the truth.”
“You and I both know you’ve done more than that. I don’t know what I did to deserve that.”
“You’ve been a solid employee, and you’ve worked your ass off to make up for what you did. I believe people can change, and you did. That’s it. I knew the woman you are now would never have done the things somebody’s done to me. All I did was tell him so.” Which, okay, was probably glossing over some of the realities. But in the end, that’s what she’d done.