Page 66 of After Tonight

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They slept ’til 10:08. Or at least Riley did. She blinked at the clock on Derek’s bedside table. He clearly had light-blocking curtains on his windows because his room was still gloriously dark even though it was halfway through the morning.

Riley stretched, rolling onto her back, feeling well rested, completely satisfied, and pretty damned happy.

Last night had been intense. Good, but intense. She’d helped the cops track the girls to a rundown hotel on the outskirts of Chicago. They’d not only found the three from Lincoln, but four other girls. Five guys were in custody, and the hotel owner was being questioned.

She’d felt good about the work and ecstatic for the outcome. But it had also been draining. Those five guys, those seven girls, were just a drop in a huge bucket, and while she was fully dedicated to do everything she could now, it was depressing that there was so much work to be done.

Riley hadn’t been shocked to find herself on Derek’s porch afterward. She hadn’t been surprised to find his front door unlocked either. And she hadn’t been surprised by how good it felt to slip into bed beside him and ask him to hold her.

He’d done a great job of it. She hadn’t slept that hard in a long time.

And now it was late in the morning and she was…alone.

She looked over at the other side of the bed. And frowned. What about the shower sex?

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Riley ran her fingers through her hair and looked around. She spotted one of Derek’s T-shirts flung over the chair in the corner. She grabbed it, pulling it on as she headed out of the bedroom.

But he was not just missing from the bed. He wasn’t in the house at all. And there was no coffee brewing or breakfast being made. No chocolate chip pancakes for sure.

Okay, so she didn’t need to know where he was or what he was doing. It was sweet that he’d let her sleep. Shower sex would have been great, but they could do that when he got back from wherever he was. It wasn’t a big deal. She just kind of wanted to know where he was.

She started the coffee and headed into the living room to grab her phone from her purse. She had a text, but it was from Peyton, not Derek.

Heard you were kick-ass last night. Thank you!

Riley smiled. She had been kick-ass last night. It had really, overall, been awesome. And it had truly energized her to get the education and advocacy program off the ground.

In fact, she had a little time now. Might as well work on some ideas.

It was a great excuse to kill time at Derek’s house. It wouldn’t look like she was stalling so she could see him. Probably.

She settled down at the table with her computer and a cup of coffee. It was nice here. Quiet. The sun lit the kitchen up this time of day, and she found it soothing and easy to concentrate.

So much so that she didn’t hear Derek come in until he walked into the kitchen and came up short in the doorway.

“Oh, hey.”

She looked up quickly. “Hey.” But her smile died. He looked surprised to see her. As if he hadn’t expected her to still be here. “I was…” She gestured at her computer. “I was just getting some work done on the sex trafficking program.”

He nodded and moved toward the coffeepot. He was wearing jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. Both were streaked with mud.

“What have you been up to?”

He turned with his full cup and a slight frown. “Got a call. Kind of early. Didn’t want to wake you.”

She gave him a little smile. “I wasn’t shy about waking you the past few mornings.”

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. “But we both know I’m a nicer guy than you.”

“Indeed. I’ve never been much of a guy at all.”

The corner of his mouth curled. “I noticed.”

“Not until recently.”

“Oh, way back. I ogled you good a few times.”

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