Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“Oh, that smells so good!”
Gavin looked like he was about to fall over.
“Gavin, go to bed.”
“I’m fine.”
“You worked all day.”
He chuckled. “So did you.”
“But,” I replied with a smile, “I got to take a nap in the ER. Seriously, go to bed.” I opened the chips, took out a couple, and put them inside the meatball sub.
“What are you doing?”
Glancing up, I asked, “What do you mean?”
He pointed to my plate. “You’re putting chips in your sub.”
“I need the crunch.”
Gavin watched me as I cut the sub in half and took a bite. I closed my eyes and moaned in delight as the slightly spicy marinara sauce hit my tongue.
“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. That is so good.”
“Are you eating it or having sex with it?”
Opening my eyes, I looked at Gavin. “If this meatball sub could give me an orgasm, it would only make this experience that much better.”
After staring at me briefly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “I think I do need to go to sleep, because that sounded about right.”
I laughed. “Go to bed. I’ll be up shortly.”
“You don’t need anything?” he asked before kissing me.
“Just my meatballs and black cherry cookies.”
Frowning, he pointed to the food and asked, “Should I worry about this?”
I patted his hand. “Nope, I’ll always prefer your balls over these balls.”
“Yep, I’m going to bed.”
Gavin
It wasn’t often I worked weekends anymore, not since Declan had come on board at the police department and we’d hired another full-time officer, Jeremy Stein.
The sounds of someone approaching my desk had me lifting my head. “Hey, Jeremy, how’s it going? Settling in?”
Jeremy was fresh out of the police academy, and I swore if I didn’t know better, I’d think the guy was nineteen and not twenty-nine. He was originally from Dallas, Texas, and his short brown hair and blue eyes instantly made him popular among the single ladies in Moose Village.
With a smile, he nodded, pulled out the extra chair, and sat down. “I’m loving Moose Village. I worked the Festival of Lights the other weekend, and that was fun. I grew up Jewish, so when I told my mother about it, she was pretty happy.”
I leaned back in my chair and asked, “What brought you to New York? Pretty far from your family back in Texas.”
He nodded. “It was hard leaving them, but it was the best thing for me. My mom’s very traditional, and she’s been pressuring me for a number of years to get married. I just needed some breathing room. I thought I’d end up in New York City, but when I saw the posting for Moose Village, I knew this was the place for me. I’ve lived in a big city my entire life, so this is a breath of fresh air.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it here.”
He fidgeted in his seat some before clearing his throat. “I met Tina Browning the other day at the coffee shop. She works there and lives above it?”
I nodded. “She does. She’s Harper’s youngest sister. And, I might add, Mayor Browning’s baby girl.”
He grinned. “Declan already gave me the whole talk about that. I like Tina. She’s fun to be around.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there?”
“There is. I really want to date her…but…as you pointed out, she’s the mayor’s daughter.”
I shrugged. “So what? Declan is marrying Harper, and she’s the mayor’s daughter too.”
“That’s true.”
“Officer Quinn?”
I looked over to see Ami, our receptionist. “Yes?”
“There’s a gentleman here to see you. His name is Denny McCain.”
“Thanks, Ami.” Standing, I said, “Sorry, Jeremy. Gotta go. Denny’s my best friend and the father of the baby my girlfriend’s carrying.”
His eyes flew open wide.
“Oh, no, wait. She’s a surrogate for Denny and his wife. The baby is one hundred percent theirs.”
“She’s just carrying it for them?” Jeremy asked.
I nodded and let out a humorless laugh. “It’s complicated.”
“I’d say,” he said, as he turned and headed in the opposite direction.
Making my way to the lobby, I tried to think of all the reasons Denny might come to the police station to see me. None of them were good.
Denny looked up as I approached. Holding out my hand, I said, “Hey, man. What brings you here?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you at work, but I figured you’d be here writing up your end-of-day reports.”
I nodded, but before I could say anything, he added, “Can we speak somewhere in private?”
“Um, yeah, sure.”
I led him down the hall and into a conference room. After I shut the door, I immediately asked, “Is everything okay?”
He held up a hand. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“No worries,” I said, as I sat and motioned for him to do the same.
Once he sat down, he let out a long breath.
“What’s going on, Denny?”
He slowly shook his head. “It’s just been a long couple of months with the pregnancy…how Evelyn’s been dealing with it. And now the holidays are coming up.”