Page 83 of Crash and Burn

Maggie looked at him with one of those expressions that said,You tell me what you want first. She asked, “Doyouwant to stay?”

He’d thought about this. So he answered as he’d prepared himself. “I want to be with you.” He squeezed her hand in his. “I've never met anyone like you. And … um …” the words choked in his throat.

But he finally found one that worked. “I’mamazedthat you want to be with me.”

Though Maggie opened her mouth to speak, he stopped her. “I want to stay with you. I see us as—” He paused again. He thought he'd had this all planned out, but it was harder to say than he’d expected. But once again he forced himself to say the words. “I see us as a long term thing.”

He was rewarded with a heart-stopping smile. So he kept going.All cards on the table, right?“I want to do whatever makes that happen.”

“Well then,” she said, “You need to pack up and get out.”

Her sweet grin didn't match the harsh words, but he still felt himself freeze. Sebastian reminded himself that if leaving now meant they would be together later, he could deal with it. He would do anything to make that happen. Even this.

“But,” she said, leaning in, her words whispering along his jaw as she moved her mouth in small nibbles. “You come back tomorrow. Tonight, Seline is coming over and we're having Girls Night. We're watching Love Actually, because she's never seen it! And maybe Austenland. And you're not invited.”

She told him all this with sweetly whispered kisses. “But tomorrow, when you come back, I think maybe you should move in.”

Hope bloomed in his chest. Sebastian reached up to hold her to him, taking her mouth with his, he reveled in the knowledge that Maggie Willis was his.

Forever.

Chapter Sixty-Six

Selene Marchand waited impatiently for the elevator to ding and the doors to open. She was already running late and the only ding she heard was her phone pinging.

With a sigh, she checked to see if it was her department head.

Luckily, not. But it was a text from her new friend Maggie.

— I’m still on for our sleepover tonight, but I wanted to warn you. Just got word that the Blue River Killer struck again.

What?

Maggie had said that guy was in the wind. The FBI said they were safe.

Another ding grabbed Seline’s attention. Again, it was her phone and not the damn elevator arriving. She should have taken the stairs.

—Clearly, FBI was wrong. Seline, this victim was blond haired and blue eyed! Like you. Please, be careful.

That didn’t sound good. But Seline was in Lincoln for the day, not Redemption. And she was going to be dead if she missed thefirstmeeting she was supposed to attend this term. She was up for tenure if this year went well. It had too; she was mortgaged to the hilt.

When the doors finally slid open, she ducked inside before they'd even reach their full width. Completely ignoring the man already in the unit, she quickly turned and jabbed at the ‘door close’ button, but nothing happened.

She did not have time for this.

Though she pushed and held the button, nothing happened.

It was easier to believe something was wrong with the elevator itself but, truly, it was just her own impatience.

The third time, the doors finally closed.

She looked up at digital floor number and watched like a hawk, but the number didn’t change and she wasn’t moving very fast. As she took a deep sigh, the floor dropped out from under her.

It had to be less than a split second—though it felt forever—before the brakes engaged and a horrifying squeal filled the small space. But the small box ground to a stop.

“Ca suce des boules de singe!” she cursed to herself. She could only hope the man next to her did not speak French.

At the same time, he muttered, “You have got to be shitting me,” in English.

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