Page 5 of Starts With a Bang

Sven had already returned to perfection by the time I’d tugged my Henley back down. He’d even slid his feet into his calf boots and plopped down into the seat beside mine. “What else do you keep in here for your stakeouts?” He lifted the console between our seats and sucked in a breath when he found my cache of snacks. “I don’t know the last time I ate.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Turn the lights off if you’re going to scowl at me like that. I don’t have an eating disorder. I ate breakfast, but my day got away from me, and I don’t think I’ve eaten since.”

Stress had that effect on some people, but I fell into the group of emotional eaters. I’d gained an easy twenty pounds since moving out of the house I shared with my husband. I turned off the flashlight and blinked until my eyes adjusted to the dark.

“Help yourself to anything you want,” I said.

“Anything?” If a voice had eyebrows, Sven’s would waggle them.

“Food,” I said. “Behave yourself, or I’ll have to toss you out.” And it was the last thing I wanted to do. I spent my days and nights solving cases that involved assholes and cheaters. Sven was a breath of fresh air, even without the mind-blowing orgasm.

“Fine.” A chip bag rattled beside me, followed by crunching and moaning. “Cheez-Its are still the king of snacks.”

“But which variety is best?” I asked.

The crunching stopped, and I wasn’t sure if Sven had swallowed or paused chewing to consider the question. Aftera few seconds, the crunching resumed. I fumbled around in the dark and grabbed a snack without looking. I’d packed the stash, so my choice would naturally be something I liked, but sometimes I preferred salty over sweet snacks. Ripping open the bag, I sniffed my prize to see what I’d chosen. I’d plucked the perfect treat because the miniature peanut butter sandwich cookies were both a little salty and sweet. I popped one in my mouth and chewed, thinking the night couldn’t get any better.

I received an explosive orgasm from the sexiest man I’d ever seen, though I should probably be ashamed of how quickly I came. But Sven had been just as horny and had lasted only a little longer. And guilt should’ve ridden my conscience hard, but I was too content to fret about Kerry’s opinion at the moment. I could wrestle those demons alone in my shitty apartment later. I had wonderful company and cookies to keep the loneliness at bay.

“Traditional cheese but extra toasty,” Sven finally said. “I hate the white cheddar ones with the intensity of a thousand suns, but I do like some of the duo options.” And here I’d thought he couldn’t be any more perfect.

“Mmmm. The duo with the bacon and cheddar crackers is my favorite.”

“Marry me,” Sven said. “Right now. Let’s go to Vegas.”

My sharp inhale sucked cookie crumbs down the wrong pipe, and I started to cough.

“Oh no!” Sven cried. “Do not choke to death in here. How will we explain it? Thank goodness your jeans aren’t still around your ankles.”

I wheezed and swallowed hard so I could speak. “I won’t be explaining anything if I’m dead.”

“Oh fuck! That’s right. At least my cousin is the sheriff in this county. That should save me from wearing prison orange.” Heshuddered hard enough to shake the van. “I look terrible in that color.”

His outrage made me laugh, which made me cough harder.

“Surely, you have drinks in your shagging wagon.”

“Cooler,” I gasped. “Behind the seat.”

Sven brushed against my shoulder as he leaned between the captain’s chairs. He cursed a blue streak as he fumbled around for the cooler, which I found both adorable and amusing. I wasn’t on the verge of blacking out. I just had an irritating tickle in my throat. This happened to me more often than I wanted to admit. Eating too fast and laughing too hard had always brought it on, though the latter trigger hadn’t been an issue for several months. Hell, tonight might’ve been the first time I laughed in a year or more.

“Found it!” Sven exclaimed. He threw open the lid and then cursed some more. “Juice boxes?” The incredulous tone in his voice turned my dry cough into laughter. “You’ll die before I can penetrate the hole.” He snickered and continued digging through the cooler. “That sounded kind of dirty.”

I cleared my throat. “And I’ll probably juice myself before I can get the straw to my mouth.”

Sven stilled. “Are we still talking about drinks?”

The gathering heat in my belly said we weren’t. “Yep,” I lied. “I usually squeeze the box too hard and end up wearing half the contents. I rarely buy them, and that’s probably why they’re the only thing left in my cooler. Time to restock my stakeout supplies.”

I turned on my phone’s flashlight and held the device over my head to assist Sven, even though the coughing fit had nearly subsided on its own.

“Aha! There’s one mini water at the bottom.”

I turned the phone off and set it on the console between us once he returned to his seat. He opened the bottle and passed it to me.

“You need some LED candles in here or something,” Sven said. “Mood lighting.”

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