Page 52 of Hot Cops

“Shower,” she said. “We definitely need a shower. And I hate to break this to you, but I’m out of clean clothes. We may have to run out later for a little shopping. And for food. We didn’t get to eat again.”

Aaron nodded. “We’ll order room service. Less opportunity for mishaps.”

Taking her hand, he led her to the bathroom, where they took the longest hot shower in the history of indoor plumbing. It took three shampoos to get all the mashed potatoes out of her hair, but Riley didn’t mind since it was Aaron doing the scrubbing. His hands, lightly massaging her scalp, felt like heaven.

Walking back to the bedroom, they crawled beneath the sheets and cuddled. It seemed neither of them was in a hurry to rush the evening and for the first time since they’d eloped, Riley felt like she was on a real honeymoon. Lying in his arms and making plans for the future, Riley knew she’d been blessed in this marriage she didn’t even know she wanted. Hell, she still couldn’t even remember the wedding part. As soon as they got home, she was going to have to sit down and watch the DVD he’d bought.

“You know, this might sound silly, but there’s a part of me that sort of thinks my mom set this marriage up.”

“Your mom?” Aaron asked.

Sunday Collins had passed away from cancer when Riley was only ten years old, but her memories of her mother were solid in her mind. She recalled helping her in the restaurant kitchen, listening and watching as her mother shared all her secret recipes and tricks of the trade with her. Riley knew from a very young age that she wanted to be just like her mother when she grew up, knew she wanted to create masterpieces with food.

“She told me once she could see inside your heart.”

Aaron looked down at her. “You never told me that.”

Riley shrugged. She tried to discreetly brush away a tear, but Aaron grasped her wrist, pulled her hand away. “Let it fall.”

She looked at him, confused.

“You always stop the tears; always find a way to twist everything into a joke. Don’t do that this time.”

She blinked rapidly. He was right. Humor had always been her life preserver. Well, humor and Aaron.

She decided it was time to tell him the one thing she’d never told anyone.

“A few days before she died, my mom called me into her room. She was in a lot of pain at the time, but she didn’t want to take the drugs because they left her too out of it. She knew her time was limited and she was trying very hard to say all the things she wanted to say. I think she was trying to help me—help all of us—put our lives in some sort of order. There she was—seven kids between the ages of nine and eighteen—and she was dying.”

“That sounds like your mom. She was an amazing woman.”

Riley smiled. “She was the best.”

“You’re a lot like her.”

Riley shook her head at his words but he disregarded her dismissal.

“You are. You have her talent for cooking. You make magic in the kitchen. I think you both use food to show your love for your family and friends. You have her strength of will and you have her love for life. She’d be proud of the woman you’ve become, Riley.”

Every word he spoke felt like a gift and Riley held on to each of them tightly. “I hope so. The day she called me in, she said, ‘Hold on to Aaron. He’s your true friend and he loves you. I know he’ll keep you safe for me.’”

Aaron reared back, shock evident in his features. “How could she have known that? We were ten.”

Riley shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know she was right. You’ve never left my side, never failed to be there for me when I needed you. I love you so much.”

He kissed her as she gave in to the tears and, for several long moments, held her tightly, kissing, wiping the tears away until there weren’t any more.

“Aaron,” she whispered. “Will you make love to me?”

He tightened his grip around her shoulders briefly before turning and rising over her. She opened her legs and welcomed him in. As he slowly thrust inside her, she felt the rightness of it.

They came together, not in a flurry of passion and heat but with the same comforting, peaceful style they’d shared through years of friendship. Aaron kissed her as he gently rocked inside her. Their eyes met and held, neither of them willing to drop the connection. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She wanted to hold on to him with everything she had, everything that she was.

“You’re so soft,” Aaron whispered as he stroked the skin at her waist.

She smiled, moving her hands to his shoulders, squeezing the firm muscles she found there. “And you’re so hard.”

He rubbed his nose against hers and pushed into her deeper. “Are you complaining?”

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