She reached for my hand. “Kayden, I’m sorry for not trusting you this morning.”
I looked down at her fingers laced through mine. “I told you I’d only tell the truth from now on. I meant it.”
“I believe you. And I’m sorry.” She stood. Suddenly, we were inches apart. The air between us went thick.
I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her.
For half a second, she froze. Then she melted into me, her hands gripping my shirt, pulling me closer. Her lips parted, and ten years of trying to forget her were gone in a heartbeat.
There was only Sapphire. The taste of her. The small sound she made in the back of her throat that nearly undid me.
This kiss wasn’t soft or tentative. It was desperate and real and everything I’d been too stupid to fight for ten years ago. My hand slid into her hair, tilting her head back, deepening the kiss. She dug her nails into my back through my shirt, and I wondered how the hell I’d survived a decade without her.
When we finally pulled apart, we were both breathing hard. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked at me like I’d just knocked the world sideways.
I grinned. “That was a surprise.”
She laughed, breathless, and pressed her forehead against my chest. “We should get ready.”
“Right.” Every part of me wanted to pick her up, lay her back on that bed, and make up for ten years of missing her. I’d show her exactly what she meant to me until she couldn’t doubt it anymore.
But I wouldn’t. Not yet. We’d broken up because of me. Because I’d been too wrapped up in my own anger to see what I was throwing away. I needed her to trust me again. To choose me, not just fall back into old habits because our chemistry was still there.
She grabbed her bag and pulled out a pair of cargo pants and a clean T-shirt. “Can you turn around, please?”
“Fire, I’ve seen you before.”
“Will you just ...”
“Fine. Bossy boots.” Grinning, I turned around and walked to the trunk in the corner where I kept my gear. I pulled out a clean pair of jeans and shrugged a long-sleeved plaid shirt over my T-shirt. I grabbed my cowboy hat and set it on the trunk beside me.
“Okay, I’m dressed now.”
I turned back. She was tucking her shirt in, all business now.
“You’re not wearing your uniform?”
“I don’t need a uniform to be a police officer.” Her jaw clenched as she strapped on her gun and holster.
“No, you don’t.” Last night, she’d been raw and aching in my bed. This morning, she was a damn weapon. The shift was striking. Shoulders back, jaw set. This was the Sapphire who’d built a career under a boss who thought he had her fooled. He was wrong. “Bob and Frank don’t stand a chance.”
“No. They’re screwed.” She pulled on a plain blue baseball cap.
“Ready?” I asked, settling my hat on my head.
“Absolutely.”
I went down the ladder first, my arm burning on every rung. As Sapphire came down behind me, I crossed to the workbench and pulled the canvas off my .308 scoped rifle, the gun I used for shooting feral dingoes that come down off the ridges in winter. A fresh magazine was already loaded. I slung the rifle over my good shoulder and grabbed a spare mag.
“What the hell, Kayden? You can’t bring that.”
I turned to face her. “Hell, yes, I can.”
“This is a police operation. I can’t have a civilian opening fire on a police officer, no matter what he’s done.” Her cap was low over her eyes.
“He shot at us yesterday, Sapphire. Bob’s gone well past being a police officer.”
She didn’t answer, just held my gaze for a long beat, working something out behind her eyes that I couldn’t follow.