Page 44 of Cold Case Murder Mystery

They said their goodbyes and Zeke closed the laptop. He looked at Brooke, hoping she’d seem more settled. Relieved or calm or something. Maybe she couldn’t believe in all those thingshe’dsaid, but surely she believed in Granger.

If anything, she looked more upset.

“Brooke.”

She jumped up and started pacing. “I just don’t know what to do. I feel as powerless as when I was a kid.” She made jerky movements with her hands as she moved back and forth, Viola following her path. “Everything is happeningtome and I just—”

Zeke stood and stopped her by taking her hands in his. He gave them a reassuring squeeze. “Give yourself a break, Brooke. You’ve spent the past month studying a cave full of human remains. That’s going to weigh on anyone.”

“That’s myjob. And I’m good at my job,” she said, looking up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, but they didn’t fall.

Maybe that killed him just as much as actual tears would have. He moved a hand over her hair. “Sweetheart.” He remembered too late that she didn’t want him to call her that anymore. But she didn’t snap at him.

She leaned into him.

So he pulled her closer, wrapped his arms around her, hoping he could press some comfort into her. She didn’t cry, she didn’t speak. She just stood there with her cheek on his chest. And she breathed. In that old way of hers, careful in and out.

He could have stood with her in his arms for eternity. He’d been so afraid of that feeling four years ago. He didn’t even know what had changed to make it not so terrifying right now. He still had no real future, no real plans. No way to fold her into his life.

But maybe he’d watched Walker and Carlyle find ways to belong to someone else and that had... opened something inside him.

It hardly mattered because Brooke was pulling away. He’d had his chance and he’d messed it up years ago. No going back and fixing that. He could protect her in the here and now, but he had to stop thinking about love and—

“Oh, to hell with it,” she muttered, which sounded more like something he would have said.

But then her mouth was on his. Not wild and angry like the last kiss he’d initiated. Even when shewasangry, that wasn’t Brooke. This was soft, gentle. And, it turned out, everything he wanted. Softness and warmth. A sweetness he’d viewed as a weakness when they’d been together, even when he’d been attracted to it.

Yet here she was. Still so fully Brooke. Strong and smart and doing this incredible job, without hardening herself to anything.

It was a wonder. She was a wonder. And he wanted—

She pushed at his chest then stepped away from him when he released her. She took a few steps back. She inhaled shakily and looked at the front door as if expecting Hart and Royal to burst through at any minute. They wouldn’t, but it also wasn’t like this was some appropriate time to deal with... whatever was still between them.

Because it wassomething. But danger trumped it all.

“Do you have any ice cream?” she asked, chin up as if daring him to demand they talk this through.

The request made him laugh because he realized that any place he’d lived for any length of time, he’d kept ice cream on hand. Not for himself. He could take it or leave it. But ice cream had always been her favorite, her comfort food.

All these years and, somewhere hidden deep in his psyche, he’d been keeping ice cream in his freezer with her in mind. Wishing for this moment.

“Yeah. Let’s have some ice cream.”

Chapter Fourteen

Brooke worked very diligently not to think about the fact she’d kissed Zeke. She’d just set it aside. Pretended it hadn’t happened.

Because this was like some kind of backsliding. Calling Granger for help. Falling all over again for this man. It was... a past she’d left behind. She couldn’t fall back into it just because of some danger.

But it was a really good kiss.

And the fact of the matter was, she could keep pretending. She could convince herself Zeke hadn’t thought of her in four years. She could try to tell herself this was just chemistry and it didn’t matter.

But he had mint chocolate chip ice cream in his freezer.

She could convince herself she was being self-absorbed but knew Zeke had no great affinity for mint chocolate chip ice cream. It wasn’t in there because of him.

That meant it was probably in there because of her. Like the eggs with cheese. Like all the details he seemed to remember so easily.

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