Beneath the Badge (First Responders 4)

“I’m not laughing. I’m dead serious. And now that I know you’re home from work, I’ll be right over.”

“You can’t! I mean…I thought we weren’t going to do this.”

He pressed the phone more firmly against his ear. “Oh, we’re going to do this. I’ll bring a bottle of wine and see you in twenty minutes.”

“Matt… Jesus.” She let out a breath. “Make it twenty-five,” she conceded, her voice husky.

Satisfaction rippled through him, along with a healthy dose of anticipation. “I’m counting down starting now…”

The phone clicked in his ear.

He detoured to the liquor store and picked up a bottle of red wine, something that wouldn’t require chilling that they could open right away. And then stopped at another shop to kill time and bought a box of dark chocolate truffles. She was bound to like those, and if he had his way he’d feed them to her in bed later.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he made his way to her house, parked his car and took a breath.

He was nervous as a schoolboy, which surprised him. He never got this way. He was always sure of himself, laid back. And she’d capitulated when he’d called, just as he’d expected. So what was different?

When she opened the door his heart caught in his throat. She was so beautiful. She’d been the other times they’d seen each other too, but those times she’d been dressed in either her lab coat and work clothes or jeans and maybe a cute top. Tonight she was wearing a simple black dress that looked like it wrapped around her middle and tied at the hip, and her hair was up. Her feet were bare too, and he saw crimson painted toenails as one foot rested on the footplate as she held open the door.

It made her look feminine and willowy and slightly intimidating. Dr. Lindsay Swan was out of his league.

“Twenty-five minutes? More like twenty-two,” she chided, stepping back so he could enter.

“I tried,” he confessed, lifting his shoulders in a what-are-you-going-to-do? way. “And it was obviously long enough. You look good enough to eat.”

Ah, there was a little of his mojo back. Her cheeks colored prettily as her gaze skittered away from his.

The door shut behind her. Matt handed over the bag with the wine and chocolate. “I thought we might relax with a glass of wine first,” he suggested.

“First?” She lifted her eyebrows as she took the bag.

“Well…you know.” And didn’t he feel himself blush, the heat rising to his cheeks. Him. Blushing over a woman. He cleared his throat. “You want me to open it?”

“I can do it. Come on through.”

He followed her into the house. It was as gorgeous and classic as she was. She’d kept the dark woodwork but the walls were painted a pale, sage green. The floor was the same dark wood as the trim and banister that led up the stairs. To her room? Would he be making that trip later this evening?

The kitchen was at the back of the house and large windows made it much lighter and cheerier than the hall he’d just come through. Plants sat on deep sills, making the room seem more like a sun room than a kitchen. A carpet cat tree was in the corner, a few toys at the base.

“Mr. Boots,” she explained, following the line of his gaze. “He’s a rescue and fairly shy of strangers, so you may or may not even see him. He’ll probably hide out in the basement.”

She pulled the wine out of the bag and opened a drawer to retrieve a corkscrew. “Glasses are in there.” She nodded towards a glass-fronted cupboard. He reached inside and took out two gorgeous blown-glass goblets, deep red with gold accents.

“These are nice,” he commented, putting them down on the counter.

She poured the wine and smiled. “I got them a few summers ago from this little shop in Cape Breton. If they hadn’t been so dear I would have bought a whole set.” She held up her glass. “What are we toasting, Corporal Parker?”

He met her gaze. “Schedules that finally match up,” he murmured, touching the rim of his glass to hers. He took a deep sip of the wine, tasted the ripe fruit and chocolaty notes on his tongue.

“I was starting to think you didn’t like me,” she pouted, curling her lip down in an exaggerated expression.

“I was on nights, remember?”

“Oh. Right.”

“And I came by on Sunday but you weren’t here.”

A shadow passed over her face but she erased it by pinning on an unconvincing smile. “Oh, well, I had some errands to run.”