Page 41 of Falling For You

"Travis really is something, huh?"

"He seems like an idiot, but he's actually really good at his job."

"Somehow I don't doubt that."

We walked for a bit. A few months ago she wouldn't have given any of us the time of day. Tonight she was one of us.

"I'll be honest. I didn't think you'd fold into the crew like that. I was almost convinced you hated us." I paused. "Or at least me."

"That's because you always flirt with me on scene, Brooks. There I am trying to do my job and you're treating me like I'm a girl at a bar."

"I don't flirt with girls at the bar."

"Well, you're not supposed to be flirting at work either."

"Fair. I'll keep it off the clock."

"You'll keep it to yourself."

"Noted. What about flirting on porches?"

She gave me a look that could've stopped traffic.

"I'll take that as a yes."

She tried to hold the frown but it cracked. Her mouth couldn't decide between annoyed and amused, and what came out was somewhere in between. Lips pursed, eyes narrowed, fighting a smile she refused to give me. She had no idea how cute she looked, and I wasn't stupid enough to tell her.

We were a block from our houses when it happened. A car took the corner too fast, headlights sweeping across the pavement, tires barking against the curb. Andy stepped back. I reached for her without thinking, my hand on her arm, pulling her in. Then she was against my chest. The car was already gone.

Neither of us moved.

Her hand was on my arm. My arm was around her. I could feel her breathing. Her ribs expanded against my forearm, her breath warm against my collarbone. The car had passed ten seconds ago and we were still standing like this, and I wasn't letting go first.

Andy stepped back. "Thanks."

I let go. "Yeah."

We walked the rest of the way without mentioning it. Twenty feet of sidewalk, her porch on the right, mine on the left. She went up her steps. I went up mine.

"Good night, Brooks."

"Good night, Walsh."

I went inside and leaned against the door. My arm still felt warm where she'd been pressed against it.

CHAPTER 17

Nancy Drew

ANDY

I'd been looking forward to this Saturday since Halloween night.

Doug and Diana were out of state visiting Diana's family, so I was spending the day on my porch with a box of pizza, a glass of wine, and Reid Gallagher. Reid and Elise Vaughn had spent most of the book wanting to kill each other, and now he had her pinned against his kitchen counter asking her what the hell she'd done to him because he couldn't stop thinking about her. I was completely gone.

Reid was about to close the distance between them when I caught movement at the bottom of my steps. Wyatt Brooks was walking up my porch with a box in one hand and his daughter on the other.

I set my Kindle down and stood up.