Page 64 of The Claiming Series: Collection 1
I leave Daisy in Dad and Nancy’s capable hands and head into the office. It’s easy to see Daisy feels at home with them, and it makes sense for her to stay there until The Hideout opens and her shift starts.
I enter the small staff room to hang up my jacket and come face to face with Connor and Jessica wrapped up in a passionate embrace. It’s almost funny how quickly they jump apart as I enter the room.
“Hey, boss,” Connor says, turning away and discreetly adjusting his pants. He has Jessica’s lipstick all over his mouth, and her cheeks are so red she looks like she might spontaneously combust. Seems a night snowed in at the station together has done the trick for these two.
“I—It’s not what it looks like,” Jessica blusters. “I, uh, had something in my eye, and Connor was checking it for me.”
“Didn’t realize an eye examination involved both of your tongues,” I quip, trying to keep a straight face. “And I sure as hell hope itiswhat it lookslike because you two have been dancing around each other for months.”
Both their mouths drop open as they gape at me.
“When Connor has finished checking youreye, perhaps you could look over the report I’m about to email you,” I add, raising an eyebrow at Jessica.
“Um, yeah, sure, boss. I’ll get right on it,” she nods enthusiastically.
I head to my office, a smile stretching my face. I’ve done a lot of that over the last forty-eight hours, courtesy of a certain curvy cherub. It feels damned good.
No sooner have I parked my ass in my chair than my cell phone buzzes. I pull it from my pocket and hit the answer button. “Hey, Pa.”
“Don’t you ‘Hey, Pa’ me. Something you wanna tell me, Son?”
“I don’t think I need to tell you, do I?”
“No. I don’t think your eyes left her once. Damn, Son, you’re a fast worker,” Dad says, a note of admiration in his voice.
Unlike Connor and Jessica, there was no dancing around when it came to me being with Daisy. No, I wasmore like a bulldozer, blasting my way into her life—and hopefully, her heart. Daisy and I haven’t spoken about what the future looks like, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her. I don’t think anything in the world could ever come before her now. Not even my badge.
“You were right, Pa. She’s my one,” I admit. “Knew it the second I saw her, and unless I’ve completely misread the situation, she feels the same.”
“Glad to hear it, Son, because I want to keep her.”
I laugh. “Me, too. She could do with a family.”
“She’s got one now, Son. She’s got one now.”
Work is busy after the snowstorm. Everything is mostly back to normal, but there’s plenty of paperwork to keep me occupied until it’s time to go pick Daisy up. We’ve been apart for eight hours and twenty-seven minutes, and I need back inside her.
She lets out a little shriek as she sees me walk into The Hideout, running at me and throwing herself into my arms. If I’d had any doubts about her feelings for me, that greeting has blown them away.
“Missed you, sweet thing,” I mutter, burying my nose in her neck and inhaling her coconutscent.
My cock is instantly hard, which is a problem, as there are other patrons in the bar. But I can’t bring myself to give a fuck at the curious stares. My woman is in my arms, and that’s all I care about.
“Missed you, too, cupcake,” she says, grinning up at me.
“Wanna get out of here?” I growl.
“Yes, please,” she replies breathlessly. “Take me home, Dray.”
I gaze down at her. “Just to be clear, when you say home?—"
“I mean your place,” she confirms.
I glance across at Dad, who’s behind the bar, grinning from ear to ear, before my gaze returns to Daisy. “Ourplace, if that’s what you want?”
“Oh, I want,” she replies, her honey-brown eyes sparkling with joy and something else, something profound.
We make it back to the house in record time. I’ve barely got Daisy through the door before I’m on her like a starving man. I take her mouth in a deep, hard kiss, reminding her, and myself, that she belongs to me.
