Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Are you coming back?” Sam asked point-blank.
Mike swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“For good?”
He nodded. “I’m going to get my girl.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
Mike stiffened. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, what happens if you can’t convince Cara to take you back? What if she’s too battle-scarred from her mother staying in a relationship that hurts her?”
His gut cramped at the too-real possibility.
Sam leaned in close. “If Cara doesn’t come around, are you still taking the job as chief? Will you stay?”
Mike already knew his choices. Remain in Serendipity without Cara beside him, or return to this lonely apartment in a city he couldn’t care less about and a job he hadn’t checked in on once.
Easy answer.
His family was in Serendipity. The people he loved, even if he didn’t always show it.
As his mother had already pointed out to him, Mike had spent the last half dozen or more years in one place. He knew how to stick, he just hadn’t wanted to believe it. Panic had been second nature to him. Something expected. Comforting, even. He refused to take the coward’s way out by blaming his parentage or Rex. Mike had dug into his own way of thinking and screwed up all on his own.
“I’m staying,” Mike muttered. Though losing Cara would kill him, it wouldn’t change his plans.
Sam grinned, slapping his hands on his thighs. “All right then.”
The relief on his brother’s face would have been comical if this weren’t Mike’s life.
“So here’s what you’re going to do,” Sam said. “Go big or go home. Show the lady you mean business. What happens next may be up to her, but at least you’ll know you did everything possible to win her back.”
“Thanks,” Mike said, looking at his brother in a new light.
With that, Sam leaned back and finished his soda, while Mike gave thought to his brother’s advice. Sam was right. He’d have to put it all on the line to win Cara back—and he had to do it knowing there was still a chance he’d end up alone in the end.
He shivered, the chill taking him off guard. He couldn’t let that happen. No matter what, he had to convince her that he loved her and wanted her beside him for the rest of their lives. There was no other acceptable alternative.
“Hey, Mike?” Sam asked.
“Yeah?”
“You ready to go home?”
* * *
Saturday night at Joe’s—minus the owner and his new bride, who were on their honeymoon. Cara was here under duress from her friends, her good mood forced. But even she knew it was time to get back to living, and tonight was as good a time as any to start. She’d just concentrate on her friends and pretend she was having a good time. Eventually, she’d feel the corresponding emotions. She wouldn’t feel so numb.
“I feel like dancing,” Alexa said.
Cara nodded, wanting to get moving and maybe stop thinking so much.
“Liza?” Alexa asked, since she’d also joined them.
Liza smiled, rocking her hips in time to the beat. “Why not? I could use some letting go.”
Katy Perry’s music set the tempo, and Cara let go in a way she hadn’t done in way too long. The crowd seemed to grow, the buzzing in the room grew stronger, and soon the floor was full.
As the steady beat pulsed through her veins, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the flow of the music and the camaraderie of good friends.
As she refocused on the room, she realized that they had company. Liza had paired up with her husband, Dare, and to Cara’s surprise, both Erin and Alexa were doing some seductive dancing of their own with two good-looking guys Cara had never seen before.
For Alexa, a woman who preferred work to even her friends’ company, this was an unusual state of affairs. Cara was curious and knew she’d be grilling her friend later. As for Erin, Sam was eyeing his sister’s moves with a scowl on his face.
When strong arms slid around Cara’s waist, she jolted in surprise, assuming it was one of her fellow cop friends joining her. Willing to have a partner on the dance floor, she leaned back into the strong masculine body, allowing him to lead from behind.
Hands on her hips, he pulled her tight against him, until the swell of his erection pressed into her behind.
That was going too far and Cara broke his hold.
“What are you doing?” she asked, spinning around and coming face-to-face with familiar brown eyes. “Mike!?” Her knees went weak and her breath caught.
“Hey, baby.”
Everything inside her warmed at the endearment, and what a kick in the ass that was, considering how hard she’d fought against his using it.
She folded her arms across her chest in the most defensive gesture she could think of. Anything to help keep her distance. “What are you doing here?”