Page 52 of Once Upon a Summer Night

“No idea,” he said. “Maybe ask your dad later, see if he knows whether or not that position existed here before the big dogs went through and cleaned house.”

“Speaking of cleaning.” Hannah rose and tipped her head toward the hall. “I have a bone to pick with you.”

“With me?” he asked, following her through the building and out into the alley. Chase felt a drop of rain hit his cheek, but it didn’t slow Hannah. She strode around the corner of the building and stopped to point at the growing hole in the ground that had formed on the building’s southeast side this spring.

“What is that?”

“The cave-in? We’re not entirely sure,” he said. “Someone suggested an old clay pipe connected to the downspouts on this side might have collapsed and caused it to form.”

“Not the hole.” She strode forward and came to stand next to the upright vacuum cleaner acting as one of the barricades beside it. “This.”

Chase shrugged. “The town maintenance crew was short a barrel, so we let them borrow an old vacuum from our junk closet.”

She threw him a flat look.

“What? It’s holding up the caution tape just fine.”

“That is not an acceptable safety device and you know that,” she said. “There’s no reflective tape, no bright colors—someone could be driving down this alley at night, turn the corner, and drive right into it.”

Chase grinned. “You’re right, we should have dressed it up a little better to improve nighttime visibility. I’ll bet we have some extra tape from your recent garage project. I could run and get—”

“Call the damned maintenance crew,” she said, shaking her head. “I want to see a real barrel here by the end of the day.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chase motioned for her to lead the way back inside, partially so he could watch that cute little ass of hers and partially so she wouldn’t see him struggling to keep his mind out of the gutter. Damn, he loved it when she got all bossy like that. They needed another date night and soon.

He told her as much when he walked her out to her car midday. The chief hadn’t said anything about not kissing herbehindthe station.

“Another date night does sound fun,” she said, leaning against her Jeep. “What did you have in mind?”

He brushed a stray curl back from her cheek. “Hmm, how about we stay in this time, just you and me? I’ve got Friday night off, working here on Saturday.”

“Okay, but this time I’m cooking. You’ve already spoiled me twice.”

“Technically, I only did some grilling, but—”

“Redding, will you finish your make-out session already?” Joey called from the back door. “The game’s about to start.”

“Can it, Martinez.” Chase shouted toward the closing door, then offered Hannah a sheepish grin. “Sorry, angel. We’ve got some serious Reds fans around here and noon games are rare on our beat.”

“By all means, don’t let me keep you. I need to get going, anyway. Lunch and bookstore duties await.” Hannah stretched on her tiptoes to give him a sweet kiss. “And I’ll ask around to see if someone might be able to watch Noah for me, Captain.”

“Captain? Does this mean I’ve been upgraded from big oaf and dork?”

“Maybe.” A mischievous grin tugged at her lips. “Figure I’d better be nice to you, so you’ll protect me when my dad comes back to work and sees what I did to his office. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be asking you to hire me one of these days, future chief.”

One more quick kiss, and she was in her Jeep and driving away. Chase headed back inside, the taste of her cherry ChapStick on his lips and her words echoing in his head. Was his dream about her finally returning to Bourbon Falls for good inching closer to becoming a reality?

Though he knew better than to get his hopes up so soon, his imagination wandered down the “what if” path during the first few innings of the Reds game. What if she did move back? Could he talk her and Noah into moving in with him? They could do everything together, just like the family of his own he’d always wanted. Movies, grocery shopping, school events, T-ball…

Shoot—the T-ball schedule was still in his back pocket. He’d completely forgotten to give it to her this morning. Chase glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see it was going on two.

“You guys mind if I make a quick bookstore run? Need to get Cody book three.”

Cody’s head swiveled in his direction. “But I haven’t finished book two yet.”

“Then this will be the carrot to get you reading faster. I finished book one last night and need you to hurry up and hand over book two.”

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