His Best Mistake (Shillings Agency 6)

Ginny nodded, smiling again, and ate another bite of waffle.

“I love spaghetti,” Daisy said, stepping back and waving at the two sets of eyes that watched her go. “See you guys tonight.”

“Bye,” Mark said, resting a hand on Ginny’s chair.

The whole way to her apartment, the smile didn’t fade from her face. She was impossibly, irresistibly, irrefutably happy. So much so that it was almost sickening. At her building, she beeped three times then lowered the visor to check her hastily applied makeup. It was…good enough.

She’d never been big on obsessing over eyeliner.

There were bigger and better things out there.

When Tim came out and saw her in her car, grinning like a fool, he shook his head. He slid into the passenger seat, buckled up, and said, “You’re awfully smiley today.”

“Duh.” She slid into reverse, backed out of her spot, and pulled onto the road. “What’s not to smile about? My cast is finally coming off, and…” I have Mark.

That’s what she’d been about to say.

God, she was a goner.

“I’m happy to have you back,” he said, glancing out the window and resting his arm on the door. “Guess the wedding is off, huh?”

She laughed. “The wedding you never agreed to in the first place? Yeah, I guess it’s off.”

“Pity.” He grinned. “This Mark guy better treat you good.”

Her laugh died and turned into a frown. “How did you know it was Mark?”

“I’m a cop.” He shot her a narrow-eyed look. “Do you really need an answer to that?”

“Guess not,” she mumbled. “What gave us away?”

“Aside from the fact that he followed you to the bathroom, and then you avoided looking at him the rest of the night and snuck out of the apartment at midnight after trying to sleep but failing? Not much, I guess.” He shrugged. “Plus, I recognized his voice. Our walls are thin.”

She blushed at the reminder of all he’d heard. “Ugh.”

“How did meeting his kid go?”

She latched on to the change of subject gratefully. “Good. She’s a cute girl.”

“So you two are going public now? No more secret meetings in the bathroom?” he asked, nudging her playfully.

“Right,” she said, turning left onto Main Street and then pulling into the parking lot.

He grinned. “Ready to get your cast off?”

“Hell yeah, I am,” she said, smiling.

“Then we can go on patrol and wait for something to be called in, and for your reinstatement paperwork to go through.” He got out of the car and closed the door, smiling at her over the roof. “And it’s back to the good old days.”

She locked her doors. “Thank. God.”

He fell into step beside her. “So this Mark guy…he’s good?”

“Very good. He’s…he’s…”

“I get it,” he said gruffly. He elbowed her affectionately. “He’s in security?”

“Yeah, with Steven. He guards old farts.”