Page 34

Ryan

Erin lies in my arms, both of us exhausted, but this time, in a good way.

“Ryan?”

she says, her head on my chest.

“Yeah?”

“About you quitting your job…”

she trails off as though she isn’t sure she should continue.

“I’m not gonna regret it, babe, I promise,”

I say, trying to reassure her.

“But what will you do in Rockport?”

she asks, lifting her head.

“I mean I’m assuming you’ll move here, but of course if you want to stay in Boston…”

I smile, brushing her hair back.

“I want to move here,”

I tell her.

“As long as you’re okay with me moving in here?”

She stares down at me, a million different emotions flickering across her face. “Yes,”

she whispers.

“I’d love you to move in.”

“Good,”

I say, squeezing her on the ass.

“Because I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

“But what will you do?”

she repeats, propping herself up on her good hand.

“I mean you don’t have to work, I meant that, but I sort of figured…”

“I wanna work, Red. I’d go crazy being stuck at home all day.”

“So what,”

she asks, biting her bottom lip.

“Will you go work with Finn?”

I let out a short laugh.

“No, definitely not,”

I tell her.

“As much as I respect what Finn does, I’m not cut out for small-town police shit.”

Erin smiles.

“Yeah, I kind of get the feeling it’s all drunk tourists and idiot teenagers most of the time.”

“Definitely not my thing,”

I tell her.

“And besides, while I loved being a detective, I’m happy to leave those days behind me.”

“So?”

she asks, fingers brushing back and forth across my chest.

I grin.

“Well, I was thinking about going to see Beck,”

I start.

“See if he’s thought about fixing up that so-called kitchen he has at the pub.”

Erin, pulls back, a look of surprised delight on her face.

“You’re gonna offer to be his new chef?”

I start laughing now, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“No fucking way,”

I say.

“I’ve already had Beck as my boss once, and as much as I love the guy, I don’t want him as my boss again. And besides, I don’t actually want to cook in that place.”

“So, what will you do?”

I pull her closer, wrap my arms around her as I say.

“I’m gonna suggest we be business partners and I’ll take care of the kitchen side of things.”

Erin grins as she kisses me again.

“I love it,”

she says.

“You should go talk to him right away.”

I laugh.

“Yeah, maybe in a little while, Red,”

I murmur, rolling her beneath me.

Afterwards, I take a quick shower, kiss Erin goodbye and head over to O’Loughlin’s to find Beck. It’s late in the afternoon, after the so-called lunch rush and before the after-work drinks.

Beck grins at me as I walk in the door, grabbing me a beer before I even have to ask.

“Thanks,”

I say, reaching for the bottle.

“How’s Erin?” he asks.

I nod.

“Mostly good,”

I tell him.

“I mean I know it’s gonna be a while before everything feels normal again, but we’ll get there.”

“And how about you?”

he asks, wiping down the counter.

I nod.

“The same.”

“You going to speak to someone about it all?”

“Yeah,”

I say, lifting my beer.

“We both will. I think we both need it. Erin’s been carrying a lot of shit around all these years and I sure as hell need to sort my brain out after everything I saw yesterday. God, was it really only yesterday?”

I murmur, scrubbing a hand down my face.

“It helped me and Kelsey,”

Beck says quietly.

“You know, after…”

He trails off, but he doesn’t need to finish what he was going to say. The memory of Kelsey’s stalker, the kidnap and Beck getting shot, still raw for all of us, even all these months later.

“I know,”

I say.

“I’ll make sure it happens, I promise.”

“So how long are you off work?” he asks.

I look up at him, wonder if it’s possible he’ll even go for this plan or if this is all just a colossal waste of time. I mean, this pub is a family business, it’s called O’Loughlin’s for fucks sake, so me coming in might be the last thing they want.

“Yeah about that,”

I say, taking another sip of beer.

Beck gives me a sly smile as he leans against the bar, arms folded across his chest.

“You quit, didn’t you?”

I chuckle.

“It’s that obvious?”

Beck laughs as he shakes his head. “Nah,”

he says.

“I’ve just been there, got the t-shirt, remember?”

Now it’s me laughing.

“This is true,”

I admit.

“You ever regret it?”

I ask, knowing his answer will have nothing to do with Kelsey and only to do with missing the action and excitement that came with the job we did in Boston.

“Nope, not for a single day,”

he immediately says and I can tell he means it.

“I mean…Kelsey, she means the world to me,”

he continues.

“I nearly fucked it up once, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to do that a second time.”

I nod.

“Yeah, I get that.”

“But,”

he continues.

“Even though I loved what we did in Boston, that it was a dream I’d had since childhood, sometimes you just reach a point when that dream doesn’t matter anymore. When the danger and risks start to far outweigh the excitement of it all.”

He pauses, reaching down to grab me another beer. I nod my thanks.

“There’s no shame in feeling that way,” he says.

“No, I get it,”

I say, shaking my head because that’s not what my silence means.

“You were shot, Beck,”

I continue.

“That’s a pretty big fucking deal.”

“Yeah,”

he concedes.

“And you were also shot,”

he continues.

“And you watched your girlfriend nearly get shot.”

“Ah, fuck,”

I say, scratching my jaw.

“Fucking kills me just thinking about it.”

“I know,”

he says.

“And that’s why I get that you want to walk away right now. And if it feels right, Ryan, don’t question it.”

“No, I’m not, seriously,”

I say, waving a hand as though to dismiss what he’s saying.

“I’m good with leaving, I promise you.”

“So what’s the plan then,”

he asks.

“Any thoughts on what you might do up here?”

“Not join the force,”

I say quickly.

Beck laughs.

“Yeah, you and Finn together, might be a bit too much testosterone for this town.”

I smile.

“Yeah, so I was thinking…”

Beck watches me, not saying anything now. My eyes flick over to the kitchen and the idiot he currently has working back there, before roaming over the pub. Even though it’s quiet now, winter being the low season, this place has so much potential. So much room to grow.

“Ryan?”

Beck prompts.

I take another sip of beer and a deep breath, before I open my mouth and go for it.

“You ever thought about fixing this place up?”

I ask, hoping to god I’m not about to insult the guy with my suggestions.

“Maybe fix up the kitchen?”

Beck stares silently back at me for a second or two before giving me a small nod of the head, as though he wants me to continue. So I do, telling him about my ideas for the kitchen, a new menu and a possible refurbishment or extension. An outdoor eating area for the summer months and definitely a new chef.

Eventually I stop, take a deep breath and a long pull on my beer as I wait for his thoughts.

“So basically,”

Beck eventually says.

“You want to join up and become partners. But you’ll run the kitchen and I’ll run the pub.”

I nod, still not sure how he feels about any of this.

“And you’re prepared to put money into the whole thing?”

he continues.

I nod. “I am,”

I say.

“I’m talking proper business partners here, Beck, no free ride or anything.”

Beck nods.

“You know Finn’s a silent partner in this too, right?”

“Yeah, I know,”

I say.

“And of course he’d have to be involved in this as well. I’m not trying to shut him out or anything. And I know it’s a family business too, so the name sticks. I don’t want to change any of that. I’m just asking for a part, that’s all.”

Beck nods, but doesn’t say anything, his face unreadable. He turns and grabs a bottle of Jameson’s from a shelf behind him, putting two glasses onto the counter before giving both a generous pour.

“Well,”

Beck says, looking up at me as he slides a glass in my direction.

“I gotta say, Summers, those are some good ideas you have,”

he says, his face still not giving anything away.

“And I’m pretty sure we’ve already proven we can work together.”

“So…?”

I ask, my heart pounding in my chest as I start to think he might go for it.

“So,”

he says, grinning at me as he lifts his glass.

“I say we do it.”

“Fuck,”

I say, letting out a deep breath.

“You’re sure?”

I ask even though he’s just agreed to it.

Beck nods.

“I’m positive,”

he says.

“I mean we’ll have to talk to Finn, but I can’t imagine he’ll think any different. So…”

he pauses and holds up his whisky to me.

“Congratulations, partner.”

I laugh as I clink my glass against his.

“Well?”

Erin asks the second I walk in the front door. She’s jumping from foot to foot in the hall, as excited as a child on Christmas morning.

I laugh, taking her hands in mine.

“Beck’s in,” I say.

Erin screeches with excitement, pressing up on her toes and planting kisses all over my face.

“Hang on, Red,”

I say, grinning.

“He’s still gotta run it by Finn first. It’s not a done deal.”

“Ah, Finn will be fine,”

Erin says with a wave of her hand.

“He’s always bitching about the food in that place anyway. He’ll love the idea.”

I laugh as I pull her against me, smiling down at her as I start to believe this new life I’ve dreamt about, the one I confided in to Erin so many weeks ago, might actually become a reality.

There was never any doubt in my mind about my attraction to Erin, or the way I felt about us.

I mean my desire for her was off the charts from the second we met each other and not just in the naked way.

It just always felt impossible to believe we could actually find our way to a place where we were both happy, where we had everything we wanted.

Between all the shit that was flying around, the stuff with Anthony and her dad; the fear she’s spent the last ten or so years living with, I just never thought we’d get there.

And it blows my mind that she is finally safe now.

That I can offer her a life that I know she’s always wanted.

“Wait,”

Erin says, pulling back a little.

“Did you tell Beck about the…”

her hand goes to her stomach.

“I haven’t told Kelsey, fuck, I should be the one to tell her.”

“Relax, babe,”

I say, kissing her forehead.

“I didn’t say anything. No one but my family knows. Well and my boss,”

I add, remembering my confession on the phone last night.

“I wasn’t sure how you wanted to tell them all,”

I add, shrugging.

Erin smiles up at me, her face alive with so much happiness.

“Oh, I know the perfect time to do it,”

she says, before throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me.