Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

“When I said I wanted this ring, she kissed me on the cheek. I think maybe there were tears in her eyes.”

“She knew I’d like it, that’s why. Kim makes some modern rings that I don’t care for.”

“I saw those, but I couldn’t see you wearing one of them. Do the rings fit? Will you have trouble getting them off?”

Sara’s fingers curled up and she put her hand under the small of her back. “I’m not removing them. Ever.”

He turned to look at her. “You have to. If the people of Edilean see the rings before Stefan gets there, they’ll talk. Mitzi will hear, and she might call her son and warn him. As much as we want to, we can’t tap into those throwaway phones they use.”

“I guess you’ll just have to figure out a way to keep my rings from showing because I am not removing them.” She said this in her fiercest voice, letting him know that no matter how much he tried, he wasn’t going to win.

But Mike didn’t protest. Instead, he just lay there beside her, his arm under her shoulders.

“I, uh … I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said at last.

Here it comes, Sara thought, and her body went rigid.

“As soon as this case is done, meaning that the Vandlos are taken away, I have to go back to Fort Lauderdale. I have three other cases pending, and I need to take care of them. The Vandlos aren’t really my problem. I was just asked to help out because I have a sister here and …” He trailed off.

“And what?” she asked in a whisper.

“I was pretty angry that they burned down my apartment, but it worked out well, didn’t it? That place the captain got me is nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“A bit big though,” he said.

“Quite large,” she answered.

He was silent for a moment, and she almost didn’t breathe.

“Sara,” he said at last, “I know your life is here in this town and all your friends and relatives are here, but—”

“So are yours.”

“My what?”

“All your relatives are here. And you and Luke seem to be hitting it off. And I think you’ll like Ramsey.”

“Yeah,” he said, “but that isn’t what I meant. I can live anywhere. But you’ve only lived here in this little town, so leaving it might be too much for you.”

Slowly, it was dawning on her what he was saying. “You think I couldn’t bear to get away from my mother who thinks it’s her duty to tell me how to live? That I can’t be away from snooping relatives who click their tongues at me because they thought the man I dated for four years ran off and left me? Get away from their pity because I was swept up by a man nobody can stand? Is that what you’re asking me?”

She could feel his smile.

“Actually, that’s exactly what I was asking. I know we don’t know each other very well, but we’ve hardly ever argued and we seem to agree on most things.”

“Except for food and the right to lie down for three straight hours to watch TV without doing even one form of exercise. And—”

When Mike laughed, Sara moved her hand to his flat, hard stomach. She could feel the ridges of muscle there.

Moving onto his side, he propped his head on his hand. “But we do agree on the fundamentals.”

“Such as that you think I should do exactly what you tell me to every minute of the day?” she asked innocently.

“I was thinking of important things, like music.”

“You like opera and I like—” She broke off because he kissed her, and her arms went around his neck.