Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay #6) Read online

  Molly sucked in a breath and lifted her gaze. Not to Archer, but to Lucas, an entire world of hope in her eyes and he felt his heart swell. “New investigator?” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” Lucas said. “Our resident expert.”

  “On what?”

  “On everything.”

  Molly glanced at Archer.

  He nodded at her and then turned and left them alone.

  “You got me a case,” she breathed.

  Lucas shook his head. “You got you a case. You earned it.”

  “But you went to bat for me with Archer or this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Actually, he’d gone to war with Archer, who didn’t doubt Molly’s abilities but did have concerns about her being a team player. Same problem he had with Lucas. But in the end, Archer had been willing to give Molly a shot rather than risk losing her, and that was all that mattered.

  “You did this for me even though you’re worried about me going into the field,” she said.

  He nodded again.

  Her eyes went a little misty and filled with affection and more, much more, and mended his fractured heart.

  “Why?” she whispered.

  “You know why,” he said.

  Ignoring that comment for now, Molly thumbed through the case Lucas had fought for her to have.

  And she had no doubt that it had been a fight.

  She could love him for that alone . . . She kept reading and the more she read, the more she could see how bad the case was and the happier she got.

  Lucas, clearly seeing that on her face, had to laugh. “You’re an evil woman, Molly. I love it. I love you.”

  She stilled and looked up at him, her heart on high alert. “Say it again,” she whispered.

  “Molly Michelle Malone, I love you ridiculously.”

  She gasped. “Joe has a big mouth.”

  “Yeah, he does.”

  “Hey!” Joe said behind them.

  They both craned their necks and found Joe and the rest of the team all eavesdropping. Reyes was holding up his phone, FaceTiming with the girls, who appeared to be eating tacos from Ivy’s taco truck in the courtyard. Reyes shook his head. “I hate it when a couple argues and I missed the beginning and now I don’t know whose side I’m on.”

  “The woman’s side,” Max said. “Always. It’s safer that way.”

  “I heard from Old Man Eddie that Lucas wished on the fountain,” Max said. “I thought that was bullshit because, well hello, it’s Lucas, but now I actually think it might have happened.”

  Lucas turned his back on the circus and faced Molly. “We have dumbass friends.”

  “No doubt.” She was still feeling . . . wary. But other emotions were busting through that. Things like hope. And a tentative excitement. “You wished on the fountain?”

  “Yes. Pure desperation.”

  “Okay,” she said on a nod. “Well . . . first of all—”

  “Oh shit,” Reyes said. “Our boy’s toast.”

  Lucas turned and gave him a look.

  “Sorry,” Reyes said, “but when a woman says ‘first of all,’ you should run hard and fast because she’s got research, data, charts, and is about to destroy you.”

  Archer put a hand over Reyes’s face and nudged him to the back of the crowd. He then gave Molly and Lucas a go-ahead gesture.

  Molly turned back to Lucas. “First of all . . .” she repeated and then bit her lower lip. “You’re really okay with this?” she asked, gesturing to the iPad and the case intel.

  “Of course I am.”

  “Just making sure,” she said. “Because it’s a part of me. And for me to be with you, I need to know you accept all of my parts.” She held her breath on his response.

  “I love every single one of your parts.” He paused. “You want to be with me?”

  His shock brought her a smile. “Very much,” she said.

  “Holy shit.”

  This had a low laugh escaping her. “Yeah. That was my initial reaction too. So . . .” Suddenly she felt a little gun-shy. “This would be a really great time for you to tell me you want to be with me too.”

  He dragged her up against him, wrapping her up in those strong, warm arms she loved so much. “I want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” he said and leaned down to kiss her. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

  Pressed up against him as she was, she had an inkling, but she shook her head. “Maybe you should show me.”

  He smiled at the challenge and tightened his grip, lowering his head—

  “Hey!” her brother called from the hallway. “You’ve got an audience, you know.”

  “Archer,” Lucas called, never taking his gaze off Molly. “About that time off to fully recover . . .”

  “Take it,” Archer said. “Both of you. Get out of here. That’s a direct order.”

  “Hear that?” Lucas asked Molly. “A direct order.”

  She smiled. “Maybe it’s one we’ll actually follow.”

  He smiled and kissed her, and everything was in that kiss; his promise, his hope, his love. Everything she’d never known how much she wanted.

  Epilogue

  One year later

  Molly waved goodbye to everyone at the pub and made her way through the holiday-decorated courtyard up to Lucas’s apartment.

  Their apartment, as he’d insisted she think of it. They were sharing both of their places and were looking for something to lease together.

  She was pleased with herself, having just closed up a missing person case for Archer. She no longer worked the front desk; they’d hired someone new for that. Molly had her own office and worked with the guys, and also on her own.

  She’d never been happier.

  She set her purse and keys on the sideboard. Had she not been two margaritas in and thinking about when Lucas might get back from the job that had taken him away for three straight days, she might’ve noticed there was already a set of keys in the tray.

  And that the lights were on. She turned to take in their pretty, shining Christmas tree when she was suddenly scooped up and tossed over a shoulder, making her gasp in surprise. “Lucas!” She swatted his delectable ass as he headed toward the bedroom. “You scared me!” Wait a minute . . . he wasn’t wearing a shirt and with a hum of approval, she licked along his shoulder blade.

  A low, sexy growl sounded from his throat and then she was in the air, being tossed to their huge bed. His body followed her down and then his mouth covered her with a possessive, hungry kiss, making her moan as her arms came up around his bare back. He kissed her until she was breathless and then pulled back with a smile. “You taste like a strawberry margarita,” he said. “Girls night?”

  “Yep.” With a smile, she buried her face in the hollow of his neck. He was fresh out of the shower and his scent made her dizzy with desire.

  “That might be the tequila making you dizzy,” he said, sounding amused.

  Oops. She’d spoken out loud. “I’m not drunk,” she said, kissing her way over every inch of his chest and then back up his throat, ending at his mouth.

  He smiled his very best badass smile. “Good. Because I want you to remember every second of what I’m going to do to you.” He divested her of all her clothes and she lost herself in his caressing hands and demanding kisses.

  “I missed you,” he whispered and was just about to slide home when someone rang the doorbell.

  “No,” Molly said, trying to get his mouth back on hers. “I’ve been dreaming about this for days. Days, Lucas. I need this. Bad.”

  “Mmm,” he said, his voice pure sex. “Tell me all about this dream, slowly and in great detail.” He bent to kiss her again, but before his mouth touched hers, the doorbell went off several times in quick succession, prompting him to blow out a frustrated breath. “They’re not going away.”

  “Take your gun,” she said. “Kill ’em quick and hurry back.”

  He was laughing as he bent to