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СКАЧАТЬ the weight of what they had just done. A line had been crossed. And in the tense silence, they both sensed that there were still many more to cross.

      “You’re sure about this?” Ramirez asked.

      “I am. And I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it.”

      He drew her close and hugged her. She felt something like relief in his body, like a huge weight had been lifted from him.

      “I’d like to give it a try,” Ramirez said.

      He broke the hug and kissed her again, softly, on the side of the mouth.

      “I think we need to celebrate the occasion. You want to get dinner?”

      She sighed and gave a shaky smile. She had already broken through an emotional barrier by confessing her feelings to him. What harm could it do to continue being blatantly honest with him now?

      “I do think we need to celebrate,” she said. “But right now, at this very moment, I’m not too interested in dinner.”

      “So what do you want to do?” he asked.

      His obliviousness was beyond charming. She leaned in and whispered into his ear, enjoying the feel of him against her and the smell of his skin.

      “Let’s go to your place.”

      He pulled away and looked at her with the same seriousness as before, but now there was something else there, too. It was something she had seen in his eyes from time to time – something that looked very much like excitement and was born out of a physical need.

      “Yeah?” he said uncertainly.

      “Yeah,” she said.

      As they hurried across the grass, toward the parking lot where they had both parked their cars, they were giggling like children. It was fitting, as Avery could not recall the last time she had felt so liberated, excited, and free.

***

      The passion they had experienced while along the river was still there as Ramirez unlocked his apartment door. There was a part of Avery that wanted to jump him right there and then, before he even had time to shut the door behind him. They’d lightly pawed at one another the whole ride to his place and now that they were there, Avery felt like they were on the precipice of something monumental.

      When Ramirez closed the door and locked it, Avery was surprised when he didn’t come to her right away. Instead, he walked through the living room and into his modest kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of water.

      “Water?” he asked.

      “No thanks,” she said.

      He drank from his glass and looked out the kitchen window. Night had fallen and the city lights sparkled through the glass.

      Avery joined him in the kitchen and playfully took the glass of water from him. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

      “I don’t want to say,” he said.

      “Do you…well, have you changed your mind about me?” she asked. “Did all the waiting make you stop wanting me?”

      “God no,” he said. He put his arms around her waist and she could see him trying to form the right words.

      “We can wait,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t take her up on it.

      “No,” he said, a little urgently. “It’s just…shit, I don’t know.”

      This was a surprise to Avery. With all of his masterful flirtation and seductive talk over the last few months, she was sure he would have been a little aggressive when and if the time ever came. But right now, he seemed unsure of himself – almost nervous.

      She leaned in and kissed the corner of his jaw. He sighed and leaned in against her.

      “What is it?” she asked, her lips brushing his skin as she spoke.

      “It’s just that this is real now, you know? This isn’t just some one-night stand. This is for real. I care about you a lot, Avery. I really do. And I don’t want to rush things.”

      “We’ve been dancing around this for the last four months,” she said. “I don’t think that’s rushing.”

      “Good point,” he said. He kissed her on the cheek, then on the little bit of shoulder her T-shirt was showing. His lips then found her neck and when he kissed her there, she thought she might collapse to the floor right on the spot, pulling him down with her.

      “Ramirez?” she said, still playfully refusing to use his first name.

      “Yeah?” he asked, his face still brushing against her neck and applying kisses.

      “Take me to the bedroom.”

      He pulled her close, hoisted her up, and allowed her to wrap her legs around his waist. They started kissing then and he obeyed her. He slowly carried her to the bedroom and by the time he shut the bedroom door, Avery was so lost in the moment that she never even heard it close.

      All she was aware of was his hands, his mouth, his well-toned body pressing against hers as he laid her down on the bed.

      He broke their kiss long enough to ask: “Are you sure about this?”

      And if she needed one more reason to want him, that was it. He genuinely cared about her and did not want to ruin what they had.

      She nodded and pulled him down onto her.

      And then for a while, she was not a frustrated Homicide detective or a struggling mother, or a daughter who had watched her mother die at her father’s hands. She was just Avery Black then…a woman like any other woman, enjoying the pleasures life had to offer.

      She’d almost forgotten what that was like.

      And once she started to get acquainted with them, she vowed to herself that she would never allow herself to forget them again.

      CHAPTER THREE

      Avery opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling over her head. The muted light of dawn came in through the bedroom window, spilling across her mostly naked body. It also painted Ramirez’s naked back beside her. She turned over slightly and smiled sleepily. He was still asleep, his face turned away from her.

      They’d made love twice the night before, taking two hours between each session to make a quick dinner and discuss how sleeping together could complicate their working relationship if they weren’t careful. It had been close to midnight when they had finally drifted off side by side. Avery had been drowsy and could not remember when she’d fallen asleep but she did remember his arm around her waist.

      She wanted that again…that feeling of being wanted and being secure. She thought about running her fingertips along the base of his spine (as well as a few other places, perhaps) just to wake him up so he could hold her.

      But she did not get the chance. The text alarm of her phone went off. So did Ramirez’s. They pinged together, an occasion that could only mean one thing: it was work-related.

      Ramirez sat up quickly. When he did, the sheet slid off of him and revealed everything. Avery snuck СКАЧАТЬ