Page 49 of Rescuing Baylee

He hesitated at Baylee’s door, wondering if she was pissed at him. They were supposed to have gone out tonight. They had reservations and everything, but he’d been called out to a B&E. And it had been a chaotic mess. Morgan was still at the station, doing paperwork, and it was past nine o’clock.

Tonight was supposed to be their first real, official date since the shooting. Baylee had returned to work today, and she’d seemed understanding when he’d texted her, but he needed to see her face, just to be sure.

He knocked on her door.

Landon heard footsteps beyond, then the sounds of the locks clicking open. Baylee opened the door and gave him a broad smile. Her golden hair was hanging loose around her, and she was the most beautiful thing he’d seen all day.

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping forward.

“Don’t worry about it,” she admonished, leaning in to meet him.

Landon took her mouth in a hard, needy kiss. They’d been together almost every day for the past week, and he’d felt her absence sharply today. They couldn’t be together all the time, he knew that. They had jobs and lives and other people that counted on them, but she was becoming an integral part of his happiness.

Baylee met him just as hard, her hands curling into his suit jacket as she pulled him inside. Landon slammed the door shut behind them, then wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet.

Baylee pulled away from the kiss, laughing, her bright green eyes shining. “Put me down before you hurt yourself.”

He set her on her feet, but he didn’t release her. Landon shook his head, feeling his tiredness wash away. “I don’t ever want to let you go,” he said, and her expression softened.

“I missed you today,” she said.

“I missedyoutoday,” he repeated, frowning. “And I’m sorry about the date. We got a late call-out, and we had to go.”

She shrugged lightly. “I’m not worried about it. Honestly, I was kind of tired after work.”

“Tell me about it,” he said, and he led her in to the couch. They settled together, her hand holding his.

“It was okay. There was a little awkwardness. I think people were expecting me to be fragile or something.”

Landon quirked a brow at her. “They obviously don’t know you very well, Warrior Woman.”

She snorted, shaking her head. “Yeah, some of them I haven’t known long. I found myself kind of getting frustrated with them, though. The kids were the highlight of my return. They acted likethey hadn’t seen me for a month, rather than a week. And they knew nothing about the shooting, which was nice.”

“Good. They don’t need to know about that kind of stuff.”

She shook her head. “How was your day?”

“Not bad, at least until the end. I finished up some paperwork on a couple of cases that had been waiting for me to get back.”

“The week was kind of surreal, wasn’t it?” she asked softly. “I look back at it and can’t believe everything that happened.”

Landon ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. It was definitely out of my normal too. I mean, I met this amazing woman, and took a cat on a high-speed chase, avoided being killed by a gang patriarch…”

They laughed, and Baylee shifted, leaning up to kiss him again. Landon tugged at her, and she moved further, straddling his hips. Immediately, he was hard as a rock beneath her, his tiredness forgotten. Baylee looked down at him, her mossy green eyes going soft with need. Landon loved that look because it was just for him. And he never wanted to lose that look.

“I love you, Baylee,” he said, and then felt a moment of pure fear. Had he really said that out loud? He definitely hadn’t planned to say it.

Baylee went still above him. Then her eyes filled with tears, and she leaned down to kiss him again.

“I love you, too,” she said, peppering kisses along his mouth and jaw. Then she drew back. “Are you sure? It’s only been a week. And a crazy week, at that, like you said…”

Landon covered her mouth with a finger. He wasn’t surprised she was leery. “I’m sure. Hell, I was half in love with you before I even knew you. Between people singing your praises and your lovely ass, I was already set up to fall.”

And that’s exactly what he’d done. Fallen. Hard and fast.

“I talked to my friend Olivia earlier, and I told her I loved you. She said not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Landon quirked his brows. “I’ve never met Olivia, but I completely agree with her assessment.”

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