Page 92 of Break My Fall

“Nope.”

Her body shifted against his and her lips brushed his. “I want a new one. With you.”

He pulled her closer and took over the kiss. There was no more talking about lives, new or old. But for the first time in a long time, when he walked into his house an hour later and fell into his bed, he knew his days of being alone were over.

Meredith woke up wondering if she’d dreamed the events of the day before. She still wasn’t convinced it had happened until she pulled into the parking lot of her office. Gray leaned against the sign that reserved her spot, and he held two coffees and a paper bag.

She pinched her arm. Not dreaming.

She grabbed her things, hopped out, and walked to him. She knew her smile was goofy, and she didn’t care. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

She hadn’t needed to know how delicious he sounded early in the morning. But now she did. Mercy.

“Is one of those for me?” She nodded toward the coffee.

“Yes.” He leaned toward her. “You should know that it’s going to be all over town by midmorning. There were two middle-agedladies in Mountain Brew eavesdropping on my conversation with Judy. One of them pulled out her phone and took a picture of me.”

Meredith took the coffee. “Nosy Nellies.”

“Intrusive and unacceptable is what it was. What do you think they’re going to do with the picture?”

“Probably send it to Granny with a note explaining what was going on when they took it.”

“What is wrong with people?”

Grumpy Gray was also rather appealing. Interesting that she didn’t mind him like this as long as his grumpiness wasn’t directed toward her.

She took a sip of her drink. “What is this?” She tasted it again. “It’s delicious.”

“I tried to order you a caramel macchiato. Judy said this was a new drink and that you wanted to try it. It’s a maple praline latte, I think.”

“Mmm.” Meredith approved. “What are you drinking?”

“Americano with a splash of cream.”

“I thought you would say black coffee.”

“I had enough black coffee while I was overseas. I promised myself I’d never willingly drink it black again.”

“Good to know.” She entered the key code to her office, and Gray opened the door for her. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

He followed her into her personal office and placed the paper bag and his coffee on her desk. She set her bag on the floor, and as soon as she put her coffee down, his hands came around her waist and he pulled her close.

She couldn’t get as close as she’d been last night. He wore a vest under his uniform, and his belt held all the things cops usually had with them. It made the hugging a bit of a dicey proposition.

But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She let her hands landat his waist and made no protest when his lips found hers. He pulled away a fraction and whispered, “I woke up this morning and knew I wouldn’t be able to focus today until I made sure this is really happening.”

When he was done confirming that she was his, she blinked up at him and said, “Will you be able to concentrate now?”

He shook his head. “Not a chance. Might need to come over here a few times to be sure we’re still good.”

“Well, I would never shirk my civic duty. I want to be sure you can work at full capacity, so whatever you need...”

“I’ll hold you to that.” He kissed her nose and stepped away. “Although, too much of that might addle my brain permanently.” He took the bag to the small table in her office and opened it.

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