“I think my eyes agree with you.” She laughed.
Boone smiled against her shoulder, his lips resting there. Christ, she smelled good. She fit so perfectly against him. More importantly, she broke him wide open; it was those damn sweet eyes and warm affection drawing him in.
He closed his eyes, and his mind was blissfully quiet.
“Boone?” Peyton whispered a few minutes later.
“Mmm,” he barely managed.
“I’m really happy you came back to Stoney Creek.”
Warmth hit his chest so hard, his breath caught in his throat. He locked his arms around her and kissed her shoulder again. “I’m really happy you came to Stoney Creek.”
Chapter 12
“I’m really happy you came to Stoney Creek.”
Something that Boone had said to Peyton before she had drifted off to sleep last night repeated in her mind the next morning. In her bed, she lay on her side, with her hands pressed beneath her cheek. The sun shone outside the window, the blue sky held her focus without a cloud in sight. Last night, after Boone had chased away the nightmare with his warmth, he gathered her in his arms until a peaceful darkness settled in.
Her heart reached for him after she’d learned what his ex-wife had done to him. And for the first time since she met him, she finally felt like she was giving something back to him in the same way he was giving back to her. This all started as fun and games, but if she looked back, and she was honest with herself, Peyton knew her connection to Boone had been immediate. A connection that far exceeded lust…and certainly didn’t feel casual.
Outside the window, birds circled each other in the sky before swooping down and out of sight. Peyton knew she’d come to Stoney Creek in search of a new life. And damn did she get it, though none of her plans involved falling for a sexy detective or having a target on her back for reasons that she didn’t know.
Her mind then took a hard right in another direction, the only direction it could go. Could her life in Seattle be linked to the murder in her shop? Now that she thought about it, it did seem unbelievable all these terrible things could happen to one person, but crazy coincidences happened all the time. And that’s what this had to be, just a big coincidence. She stared off in the distance and sighed, feeling like she had no answers for anything.
“Trouble on the mind?”
Peyton screamed, jerking upright, her hands flying to her—thankfully nightgown-covered—chest.
Kinsley laughed softly, resting on the edge of the bed, wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans. “Hi.” Kinsley smiled.
“I told her not to bother you,” Remy said, standing at the doorway.
“It’s okay,” Peyton said, fluffing up her pillows behind her, then leaning against them, reminded of something else. “Congrats on your engagement.”
Remy smiled. “Thanks, but I’m more worried about you.” She strode into the room, set down a small ceramic bowl, then dumped some red and black stone-looking items into the bowl and lit them on fire with a lighter.
Smoke immediately infused the air. “I can’t decide if that’s aftershave or a cherry air freshener,” Peyton said, eyeing the smoke.
“It’s dragon’s blood,” Remy said, then leaned against Peyton’s dresser.
“Dragon’s blood?” Peyton repeated, side-eying Kinsley, who slowly shook her head.
“I know, it’s a weird name.” Remy laughed softly. “It’s a really expensive tree resin and it gives fiery energy that works wonders for protection.”
“Well, thank you, I’ll take what protection I can get,” Peyton said.
Remy smiled.
“Boone asked us to come and stay with you while he went to work,” Kinsley said. “I was going to let you sleep but then heard you sighing. Everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, everything’s great,” Peyton said dryly. “I could have died in a car accident yesterday and now Boone thinks someone might actually want to kill me.”
Kinsley frowned before she took Peyton into one of her warm hugs. It helped chase away the cold of Peyton’s reality…a little.
“I can’t believe this is all happening to you,” Kinsley said, leaning away. Peyton had talked to Kinsley on the p
hone in her bedroom last night while Boone called Asher and Rhett telling them her most personal life story. Kinsley paused, then shrugged. “I mean, we have crime here, but nothing like this.”