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“Hello yourself, beautiful woman,” he said as they approached one another. Matthew was first to reach out and wrap his arms around Katherine’s waist, pulling her close.

“Thank you for agreeing to go to dinner,” she said. “And you’re right, this should be interesting.”

Matthew leaned in to kiss the sensitive spot on her neck. “We could always skip dinner and stay home for dessert.”

Katherine sighed. “If only.”

Then Matthew pulled back, catching Katherine’s gaze with his own. His expression was full of concern. “Do youneedprotecting tonight? Or are you going to be okay with all this?”

“Of course, I’ll be okay. It’s my family.” She smiled up at him. His consideration was endearing. “Even though it’s goingto be painfully embarrassing for you to see even more of my childhood photos. Not to mention all the embarrassing stories they’ll probably tell you. But I guess it had to happen sometime, right?”

Matthew laughed, promising that one day his parents would return the favor and share all his uncomfortable childhood moments, especially those captured on film. “I should warn you about a few nudes, though.”

“Nudes?” Katherine’s brows lifted in surprise.

“Yeah, I think the last one was taken when I was three. Apparently, I had a habit of stripping down and walking around in a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.”

“That’s perfect,” Katherine said. “Then there won’t be any mocking me when you see my pictures just like it.”

“Really? You did the same thing when you were little?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Not even close.”

“Still a tease, huh?” Matthew chuckled. “You know you’re gonna pay for that, right?”

Katherine yelped when Matthew scooped her up like a sack of potatoes and carried her to the couch. She half squeaked, half laughed when he swung her back in the opposite direction and pinned her down to attack her neck.

Despite loving the attention, Katherine knew she had to put a stop to it, and Matthew respected her plea. Being at Ava’s Salon for so long and then listening to messages, checking her cell phone, and calling Andie, she was short on time to get ready. So, after one last kiss, Katherine went upstairs to shower and change her clothes while Matthew relaxed in front of the television.

But once he was alone, Matthew couldn’t relax. Flipping through channel after channel, he found it harder and harder to concentrate on anything while snippets of his conversation with Justin kept intruding on his thoughts.

Justin had allowed him to bring the Chandler files home so he could read through them. And even though he knew he should talk to Katie as soon as possible, Matthew felt an enormous relief when Ginny Bennett tracked him down to extend an invitation to dinner.

If he was being honest, he wasn’t completely sold on the idea of getting their families together so soon. But it did buy him another twenty-four hours to study the reports and decide how and when to tell Katherine about Justin’s investigation.

When he’d gotten home from work, he dashed in, kissed Libby, thanked his mom and dad for watching her, and told them he needed to hurry and get cleaned up for dinner.

With the stack of folders tucked under his arm, he hoped his parents wouldn’t ask any questions about them, even though he was ready with a “just some stuff from work” response.

And once he was up in his bedroom, he’d stuffed them in a dresser drawer, showered, and got ready to meet up with Katie. When he saw her, he was so happy. Nothing else seemed to matter, and he forgot all about what he now knew. That is until she was out of sight, and he was alone again with his thoughts.

“You okay, sweetie pie?”

“Sure.” He smiled, hoping his tone sounded casual. “That was fast. You ready to go?”

“I think so. How about you?”

“Of course. Let’s do this,” he said, getting up and offering her his hand before escorting her out to her old pickup.

Ten minutes later, they sat in front of Chief Bennett’s house, both a bundle of nerves.

“I love you, Katie,” Matthew said, feeling plagued by the truth he now carried, and wondered how Justin had managed all these years.

“I love you too, Matthew.”

Chapter 23

“There you are!” Ginny Bennett exclaimed, effectively silencing the room and drawing everyone’s attention to Matthew and Katherine standing just inside the front door of her parents’ house.