“I was hardly going to wait in the hall,” he said, his voice perfectly reasonable, though there was amusement dancing in his eyes.
He crossed the distance to me in three long strides, then stood just inches from me. “I missed you,” he said, and the power of those words seemed to hum between us. Dear god, I missed him, too. Missed the way he looked at me. The way we fit together.
I looked down at the floor. “Don’t,” I said. “You’re not making this easier.”
“I’m not trying to,” he said. “I told you it wasn’t over.”
I stood there, my heart twisting painfully, and tried unsuccessfully to find words.
“I brought you something,” he said, then pulled a small flat box out of his jacket pocket. Out of reflex, I reached for it, only to be stymied when he pulled it back. “It’s contingent,” he said.
“On what?”
“On you agreeing to my proposition.”
“Tyler …”
“I want you, Sloane. And we both know that I get what I want.”
I shook my head. “Please, I can’t do this again. It’s too hard to walk away from you.”
“Then don’t.”
I felt the tears prick at my eyes. Damn him—damn him for making this harder than it had to be.
“I had a long talk with Evan and Cole about BAS, and we’re going legitimate. Well,” he amended with a lift of his shoulder. “We’re spinning off a new company. Private investigations. Very specialized. There are a lot of people who get screwed by the system. Emily wouldn’t have had anyone to stand for her if it wasn’t for you. Amy wouldn’t have met her god child if it wasn’t for you.”
I licked my lips, letting the truth of what he was saying roll over the need in my heart.
“You can be who you are, Sloane. You just don’t have to be it with a badge. Of course, if you need a badge …” He trailed off as he handed me the box.
I opened it, and nestled among pink tissue paper I found a shiny silver sheriff’s star, and for the first time in a long time, laughter bubbled out of me.
“I told you once I would always give you what you need. Please, Sloane, I think we both need this. Will you come to work with us? Will you stay with me?”
I looked at the badge, then looked at the man I loved. The man who knew me so intimately and loved me so completely.
The man who’d come to me, all sexy and gorgeous and charming and brilliant and handed me not only a solution but a little silver star.
How could I say no to that?
I couldn’t.
And so I did what I had to do. I threw myself in his arms and kissed him.
When I broke the kiss, he smiled down at me.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I said, my heart full to bursting. “It is.”
I kissed him again, and this time the kiss was deep and long. A kiss celebrating things lost and found again. A kiss that held the past and the promise of the future.
A kiss that stole my breath and made my knees go weak.
“Tyler,” I whispered. “If you don’t make love to me right now, I just might have to arrest you.”
He laughed. “In that case, Detective …” he trailed off as he very efficiently peeled me out of my clothes. “Dear god, Sloane, I’ve missed you,” he said as his hands roamed every inch of me.
“Yes,” I said, because I couldn’t manage anything more than that simple thought. One single word that somehow expressed everything that had been missing in me since I’d walked away, and everything I’d found in Tyler.
He led me to my bed, then gently laid me down and covered his body with mine. Our kisses were wild and claiming, his hands were gentle but demanding.
“Mine,” he whispered as his hands stroked me, exploring and teasing.
“Yes,” I answered, arching up to meet his touch. I was hot and ready and when he brushed his thumb over my lower lip, I drew it in, suckling him until he groaned with soul-deep satisfaction.