Page 60 of Death Raiser

His lips quirked up at the corners. “You are like a ray of sunshine when you enter a crime scene. I mean…generally, you look like you just sucked on a lemon, but you still manage to lift the mood.”

“Would you prefer I smiled maniacally while I dispose of the chickens?” Sucked on a lemon? How dare he?

“Of course not,” he said. “But even with your pissed off expression, you give us all something else to focus on. Instead of thinking about the brutality laid out in front of me, I’m worried about the feelings of a fucking chicken.”

“They’re sweet birds,” I huffed and folded my arms. “Very misunderstood.”

“They’re deranged remnants of dinosaurs, but we’re not arguing semantics. Besides, it’s quite obvious to me and Jacobs that sacrificing the chickens is one of the parts of your job that really bothers you.”

“Sacrifices aren’t supposed to be easy,” I whispered.

“You’re nothing like I thought you’d be when my chief first told me I’d be working with a necromancer.” He studied me thoughtfully. “At first, I was angry and insulted he thought we needed help from a death raiser, but I’m glad he made the call. You’ve been instrumental in solving so many cases.”

“And you like me.” I fluttered my eyelashes.

His lips twitched. “That made it easier in some ways, but also harder.”

Do not make a joke about making things hard. Do not make a joke. Don’t do it.

Connor would react and while every cell in my body ached with anticipation, I wasn’t an exhibitionist. He’d been teasing me all night, taking his time to build a fire. He’d let his gaze and touch linger, he dropped suggestive comments and innuendos. If he touched me now, I’d probably combust and take out the entire block. I didn’t trust either of us to wait for privacy to put out the fire.

I cleared my throat and mentally searched for a safer comment or question. “So why didn’t you ask me out sooner?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” He shrugged. “I thought you hated me.”

And at times, I did, but not for the reasons he thought. “What gave me away?”

His smile widened. “Our dance.”

My skin heated as the memories of that dance surged up. Yes. That dance. I’d like to say that it was all Connor, and the dancing skills definitely were all his, but our dance had been more than great technique with a partner, our dance had been all chemistry.

And we had a lot of it.

The thing with mixing chemicals, though, was we could either create something truly magical or get burned.

Only time would tell.

* * *

I walked up the front steps to my apartment building acutely aware Detective Connor Kang followed. He placed his hand on my lower back and heat spread through my body as first date jitters tied my stomach into a giant knot. I dug my keys out of my purse, thankfully finding them on the first attempt. That didn’t say much, I hadn’t brought my regular monstrosity.

I didn’t want tonight to end. As far as I was concerned, this had been the perfect date.

The sunset had been beautiful, and our conversation was open and honest.

We’d returned the dogs to the shelter. Apparently, Connor had a key and a standing agreement he could come and go, day or night, to spend time with the dogs.

When I’d questioned him on it, he’d merely shrugged and told me it was cheaper than therapy.

Connor stepped closer and leaned down, his hand cupped my face, and his gaze swept over my body.

He was going to kiss me. And I would love it. Every second of it, and then I’d invite him up to my apartment and do very, very naughty things to him and with him.

I licked my lips.

Something vibrated.

Connor flinched before refocusing on my face.

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