Macy narrowed her gaze and stepped into Sam’s direct path. “So you do know her.”
He nodded, his heart racing at the thought of seeing her again. No woman had ever made him feel so many things in such a short time. Protective, aroused, attracted . . .
“And you’re interested,” Macy concluded in the wake of his silence.
“No comment. I’m going upstairs. You can hold down the fort here.” This time he handed her his beer bottle.
Macy watched him, her stare too perceptive for his liking.
“And do not give my sister or brother the wrong impression. I just want to say hi and welcome her to town. Make sure she feels comfortable enough to come down and join us.”
“If you say so, Detective,” she said, using his brand-new moniker.
He still wasn’t used to the title or the promotion, but he’d worked hard for it, and nepotism—his brother being chief—had nothing to do with his new position.
He turned and headed for the back entrance of the bar and slipped out the exit. As soon as he hit the top of the stairs and stood outside the apartment door, he paused. Everyone he knew had lived here at one time or another, from Faith and Kelly Barron, to his brother, Mike, and then Erin’s husband, Cole. The place was a revolving door, a pit stop before people settled down for good.
Now Nicole.
He’d known her for a short time, when she’d been in Serendipity tracking her missing sister, who it turned out had been stalking Erin. Sam had arrested her lurking outside Erin’s condo, assuming she was her psychotic twin. But there was nothing unstable about Nicole . . . and she’d made a profound impact on Sam. From her dark hair to her big beautiful blue eyes, he felt like he could see inside her soul.
On first meeting, she’d been scared, then defiant, but ultimately he came to admire how she’d handled herself while in that small interrogation room. But the real turning point between them had come when Cole barged in. She’d immediately turned to Sam, as if assuming she could trust him to look after her. She hadn’t been wrong. And not just because he had a reputation for being the good cop in any scenario. With Nicole, the protective surge he’d experienced surpassed the normal doing of his job. It made no damned sense to him then, and it still didn’t now. Hell, her draw scared him as much as it pulled him toward her.
Once her sister had been arrested, Nicole had gone back to the city where she belonged before Sam could act on any stupid sexual or deeper impulse he might have. He hadn’t had an emotional connection with any female since Jenna’s betrayal, and he wouldn’t allow himself to be hurt that way again. But none of that seemed to matter now that she was back in town.
Sam couldn’t imagine why Nicole had opted to move to Serendipity—but there was one way to find out. Raising his hand, he knocked on her door.
Two
Nicole had spent the last couple of years—oh hell, why not admit it? She’d spent her entire life wearing, saying, and doing what was appropriate and expected of her. Not wanting to disappoint her parents, she’d always taken the path of least resistance, at least until she’d broken her engagement.
Tonight was the first time she could wear exactly what she wanted and be true to herself. Yet instead of being downstairs meeting new friends, she stood in front of her closet, unsure of . . . everything.
The good news was, although she’d spent her time in skirts and silk blouses, Chanel-style jackets, and pearls like her mother, that hadn’t stopped her from buying the kind of items she wished she could wear. On her way out of town, she’d dropped off all her Nicole Farnsworth, dutiful-daughter-appropriate items at the Manhattan branch of Dress for Success, where disadvantaged women would now have interview suits and clothing to start over.
Now it was Nicole’s turn to live for herself. She was just about to reach into her closet and pick something when someone knocked on her door. She figured it was Macy, wondering what had happened to her since she was already twenty minutes late.
She cinched the tie on her bathrobe. Used to being extra careful in Manhattan, she glanced into the peephole of her door.
The unexpected visitor standing on the other side made her breath catch in her throat and her heart begin a steady gallop.
“Sam,” she whispered, shocked right down to her toes.
He knocked again, and she fumbled with the lock before opening the door.
He braced one muscular arm on the door frame and grinned. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she managed in return, her gaze steady on his.
His smile deepened, revealing dimpled grooves in the sides of h
is mouth. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks,” she said as his husky voice rippled through her.
He hadn’t shaved, and with stubble and sexy messed hair, he looked even more delicious than she remembered. Her mouth ran dry and she ran her tongue over her lips in a desperate attempt to find moisture.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” she said, wincing as the words came out not at all like she’d intended.