An Unfolding Crime: A Psychic Cleaner Cozy Mystery by S.E. Babin

Author:S.E. Babin [Babin, S.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-16T13:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

We waited until there was no sign of him. Ryan and Liam stood, brushing off the seats of their pants. A long silence fell between us. Liam looked between us, gave me a sympathetic glance, and turned to go sit in the car. Smart man.

He waited until Liam’s door shut before he rounded on me. “What were you thinking?” he hissed.

I stiffened. “You don’t even know what I did!”

He tilted his face up to the sky. “Of course I do. Something heroic. Something that will get you killed!”

Okay. Maybe he did know what I did. Or close enough. I crossed my arms. “It got you back here, didn’t it?”

Ryan sighed and reached for me, his hands over my upper arms. “I am not as important as you.”

I scoffed. “That’s not true. You’re the backbone of the police department. I’m new here. Few people know me.”

He shook his head, sadness and something else flickering in his gaze. “That isn’t what I mean, but I find it terribly sad you think that way.”

I blinked and took a step back, shrugging his hands off. Ryan took one toward me. “Kate.”

My breath caught. “Yes?”

He pushed a stray lock of hair away from my face, then ran a finger down my jaw. Ryan stepped closer until there were barely inches between us. His gaze flicked to my lips and back up to my eyes. “I mean to me. I don’t care what anyone else in this town thinks about you, though you’re wrong about your worth here. I care about you. You mean everything to me.”

Tears formed in my eyes, threatening to spill down my cheeks. I lowered my eyes and took in a shuddering breath. He tilted my chin up. “Kate,” he whispered.

Emotion simmered in his whiskey-colored eyes, and the truth in my heart unfurled like a flower. From the second I moved into this town, he’d been there supporting me, backing me up, rescuing me, talking to me, and being a friend. More than a friend. A confidante, a mentor. Someone…I exhaled a breath.

Someone I could love.

Ryan lowered his head and captured my lips in his own, a chaste initial kiss but warm and breathtaking, nonetheless. His lips lingered against mine. My eyes fluttered shut as his arms went around me, holding me tight. “You always scare me so much,” he whispered against my lips before he kissed me again.

When we broke apart, Ryan pulled me against his chest and tucked my head against his shoulder. He kissed me on top of the head. We stood that way for a moment before he pulled away. “We have twenty-four hours to come up with a plan. Then after that, you and I are going on a date.”

Stunned at the sudden turn of events, I nodded mutely and followed him back to the car.

Liam cleared his throat and started the car. As soon as we pulled onto the main road, he chuckled. “I won the pool.”

Ryan snapped his head to Liam. “What?”

“The office pool.” He grinned at me in the rearview.

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