Jesus, he f**king hoped so.

She wasn’t done but she moved her fingers from his mouth to cup his jaw before she kept talking.

“I’m glad you like me. I’m glad to know you’re not sharing with me not because you’re testing me but because of why you explained you aren’t though that’s crazy but, whatever. Take your time. I’ll be here and after, I’ll still be here. And I’m glad you thought that was hot. Because I read a lot of romance novels and my toy got a lot of um… uh… you know, use before you so, um… you’re going to get a lot of um… use now too.”

Chace Keaton stared down at Faye Goodknight, her head against the pillows of her bed, her body under his and he wondered how in the f**k six years of misery led him to all the promise that was her.

He’d wanted her for years not having any f**king clue how much of her there was to get, how deep it ran or how sweet it was.

“Now,” she went on, taking him out of his thoughts, “I need to clean up and get some sleep. Malachi is getting sorted tomorrow and I need to be on my game. You can take from that I’m not kicking your ass out. I’ll tell you now, I do have a temper so that doesn’t mean you won’t one day be sleeping on the couch. I know this because Dad did this on occasion and I am a lot like my Mom. But your behind will never be out. And you can take from that that I’m falling for you too. But you know that since you know I already did it thirteen years ago. I’m just glad to know now I picked really, fraking well.”

His heart pounding in his chest which got tight, his hands moved swiftly, framing her face, holding it steady and his voice was thick when he whispered, “Do not say that shit unless you mean it.”

Her hands moved to frame his face too and she whispered back, “I wouldn’t. You know it. I held out for a hero and I don’t give a frak if you don’t think you’re one. I know you are and even if you weren’t one to the whole town, you’re one to me and you can take that to the fraking bank.”

Fuck.

Cute.

Sweet.

His.

That constriction in his chest relaxed and when he asked, “Take it to the bank?” his voice was suddenly light and her eyes narrowed.

“Don’t tease me when I’m being serious and we’re talking deep.”

“Sorry, baby, you just said I could take something to the bank. No one says shit like that except cops in 70’s cop shows. You talk like that I have to give you shit. Got no other choice.”

She started glaring and then she started bossing.

“Get off me. I’m leaking and I don’t like to sleep in a wet spot.”

“When do you ever have to sleep in a wet spot?” he shot back.

“Well… never,” she answered. “But I don’t want to start.”

Cute.

Sweet.

His.

Christ.

He dipped his mouth and touched hers.

When he lifted away, he whispered, “All right, clean up.”

She shifted under him, muttering, “Fine.”

But as she moved, his arm circled her waist, detaining her, and her eyes came back to his.

“I know what you think,” he started to warn gently. “I know why you think it but you made a decision just now so when you get it all from me, darlin’, and you decide to run, you gotta know I’m not letting go.”

“Fine by me,” she replied immediately, lifted up, brushed her bubblegum lips against his then rolled out from under him.

Her short, chocolate brown satin nightie glided down to settle over her ass as she got out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. Chace watched it then watched it move under the fabric until she disappeared.

Then he rolled to his back, her toy rolled into him so he tagged it and replaced it in her nightstand. After, he again settled on his back but this time he lifted his hands and covered his face, pressing the pads of his fingers into his forehead and digging deep.

He did this hoping with everything he was that Faye didn’t lie.

He did this hoping what she read in him was true. Not that he was who she thought he was because he knew he wasn’t.

But that she could take the dark he had inside him without breaking free to run to the light, leaving him behind in black.

He dropped his hands when he sensed her coming back and watched her walk across the room and turn out the light before she climbed in bed.

The instant the covers were over her, he reached to her and pulled her into his arms, face to face.

She hooked a leg over his hip and pressed deep.

“Faye?” he called.

“Yeah,” she answered quietly.

“No way in hell no matter how pissed you get I’m sleepin’ on the couch.”

“We’ll see,” she replied, still quiet.

“We won’t. We work it out before we sleep or you suck it up. You do not sleep without me.” He paused then finished, “Ever.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, pressing closer.

This meant she was done with the conversation.

It also meant she was giving in.

Then again, she always did when it was important.

He pulled her even closer knowing one thing.

He wasn’t falling anymore for Faye Goodknight.

He wasn’t halfway there.

He was gone.

Chapter Fifteen

Potatoes

I locked up the library and moved to the steps, on my way home.

It was Wednesday. It had been a week and a day since they released Malachi from the hospital.

As seemed to be the case since Chace came into my life, this time had not been uneventful. Not even a little bit. It had been eventful and busy.

But surprisingly, Malachi settled in with Mom and Dad relatively well. He had some issues with Dad and the first night I left, he got agitated, very much so, so I didn’t want to leave. But Chace and Dad took me aside and told me something I knew logically but didn’t like all that much. This being that I was doing him no favors hovering when he had to get used to his surroundings. So I left with Chace. And I didn’t like that either.

Chace took me home, poured me wine and he stretched out on my couch and watched some game. As he did this, his lips were tipped up because I was pacing and fretting, something he thought was funny, something I did not. Then I called my parents an hour after we walked through my door only to have Dad tell me Mom was reading Malachi The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and all was fine.

It took two days for Malachi to settle with Dad.

It would be the weekend before he let Chace in.

This was on Saturday when Mom and Dad were at Liza and Boyd’s for Jarot’s official ninth birthday party. It was decided it was too soon to introduce Malachi to Jarot and Robbie, much less a bunch of other kids, so Mom and Dad, Chace and I were taking turns looking after Malachi and going to Jarot’s party.

I had another volunteer look after the library for me in the afternoon and Chace and I were taking the first shift. They were leaving the party early and we were going later.

By this time, the bruising around Malachi’s face was gone, he was getting around on his leg very well and the bandages were off his hands because Dad decreed, “They need air.” That didn’t mean Mom didn’t gunk them up with Neosporin three times a day. They were healing really well and within a couple of days he had no problems holding the Kindle Dad bought him even with one arm in a sling.

He loved it. Mom downloaded a shed load of books on it and he was always in a chair or on the couch, eyes glued to it but his fingers hitting buttons, testing it out, seeing what it could do. He messed it up a couple of times so Mom and I had to sort it but he learned from what he did and by the weekend, he knew more of how it worked than I did my Nook.

Chace had noticed his fascination with this so on Saturday, while I was at work in the morning, he’d gone and bought Malachi a portable Nintendo and a few games.

Although Malachi no longer got visibly anxious around Chace, he still held back from him. So when we got to Mom and Dad’s, I gave him the game but told him Chace bought it. Then, not knowing much about it, I fumbled my way around showing him how to use it.

Obviously, and fortunately, I fumbled too much. This meant Malachi got impatient and gently pulled it out of my hands and carefully wandered to Chace, handing it to him.

I tried not to cry as, without a word or making a big deal of it, Chace crouched beside him and explained how to load the game cartridge and use the Nintendo while Malachi stood close, head bent, eyes riveted to it. Then Chace handed it to him and, get this! He leaned into Chace as his thumbs tentatively moved over the game.

It… was… awesome!

As I deep breathed, Chace let him do this, watching him test out the game then he slowly straightened, guided Malachi to a chair and sat him in it, Malachi’s head bent to the game the entire time.

It only came up when Chace started moving away. Malachi made a noise in his throat, slammed his elbow in the arm of the chair so Chace went back, asking quietly, “What is it, buddy?”

He bumped the arm of the chair with his elbow twice, his eyes on Chace and they didn’t leave until Chace sat his booty on the arm of the chair and stayed close while Malachi’s head bent back to the game. Sometimes, he’d lift it up and point at things so Chace would show him what to do. But he didn’t let Chace leave him until he had it down and was absorbed in it. And more, with great patience, since sitting there watching a kid play a video game probably badly couldn’t have been barrels of fun, Chace didn’t leave him and acted like he could sit there for forever.

This was awesome too, a heart melting awesome that I didn’t know what to do with so I just felt it and let’s just say it felt great.

Half an hour later, Malachi came into where Chace and I were sitting at the kitchen table. He still had the Nintendo but also the other game and he handed both to Chace.

Then he again leaned into Chace as Chace ejected the game, set up the new one and showed him as he told him what to do.

And he stayed leaned into Chace, his thumbs on the game, his head bent to it as Chace and I resumed talking, me with a huge, fraking grin on my face, Chace often shaking his head at me in that way he did when he thought I was doing something cute, his lips tipped up.

Eventually I had to come down from my high when Mom and Dad got home and we had to go to Liza and Boyd’s.

But a half an hour later, my high came back with a whomp when Chace and I walked through Liza and Boyd’s door and Jarot and Robbie raced to him. Both grabbed a hand, hauled him in but it was Jarot who shouted to his gaggle of friends, “This is my new Uncle Chace and he’s a cop!”

Thus commenced Chace showing his badge around. This bled into Chace somehow getting conned into giving kids piggyback rides. And this somehow devolved into Chace being wrestled to the floor with a slew of nine year olds, near nine year olds and Robbie’s three six year old friends’ flailing arms and legs being mostly all I could see.

“Okay,” Liza whispered in my ear, she’d sidled up to me and at the glance I spared her after tearing my eyes away from Chace under a pile of kids she went on, “I get him. He’s hot. He’s the kinda hot a woman would forgive a lot of ass**le, he’s that kinda hot. But he’s that kinda hot without the ass**le part which is a plain miracle. So you giving it up to him, baby sister, I get it.” My eyes went back to her and she was grinning at me like a lunatic as she finished with emphasis, “Totally.”