Page 32 of Last Chance Christmas

Kind of like it had at the restaurant, when he’d been listening to her talk about police training and the other officers in her class at the academy. Watching her face light up as she described the pranks they’d played on each other.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m good.” He twisted to her and rested his arm on the center console so he could lean closer. “If you are.”

She eyed him with a little suspicion. Maybe this wasn’t the right moment to talk about work. It did feel like something entirely different was happening.

Which, of course, it was.

Izan had decided to simply show her the real him. The guy who said what he was thinking and let it all hang out.

“I’m good.”

“That’s good.” He studied her lips. They’d curled up endearingly as she spoke. He wanted to press his lips to hers and see what she tasted like. If it was as good as he thought it might be. “I’d rather sit here though. We’re going to get soaked running to the front door.”

“You didn’t used to do that when you were a kid?”

“Sure, but now I’ve got a good reason to stay in the car.”

“Oh?” Her lips curled up again. “And what reason is that?”

He shrugged, trying to keep things playful. “You.”

She was focused on the manhunt, wanting to help, but she was also on medical leave—so there were limited things she was allowed to do. Detective Ridgeman had accompanied her to the house where Damien Wallace’s brother lived.

“So I can tell you about my day?”

“You can tell me whatever you want,” Izan said. “But did you find Wallace’s brother?”

“The house was empty. Thankfully, I didn’t find a second dead body today. It’s never easy, no matter how many times it happens.”

Izan hadn’t intended for the conversation to go this way, but nodded. “We see some pretty harrowing things on callouts. People who got hurt, mangled in all sorts of ways. When it’s a child is the worst. It sticks with you.”

She reached over and took his hand. “Makes you want to hold the people you care about close.”

“You can hold me close anytime.”

She shook her head, chuckling. “We should go inside before this conversation gets any worse.”

“I thought it was going well.”

She laughed.

Yeah, he wanted to kiss her. “Let’s go.”

If he did kiss her, then he’d have to figure out how to stop. Otherwise they’d be out here in the car for who knew how long. He’d rather deal with the anticipation of their first kiss than have to cut it off and meet his parents with a flushed face and his cheeks pink from embarrassment.

“Ready?” He reached for the door handle.

She flipped up the hood of her jacket. He raced around the car and snagged her hand. They ran to the front doors of the church like that, spilling into the building, giggling and out of breath.

The entry was empty of people, his shoes echoing off the floor with a hollow sound. He pushed open the doors to the sanctuary and found a small group of about a dozen people sitting in the first couple of rows.

A dark-haired man stood in front of them holding a gun.

Olivia flinched, patting her pockets. Searching for her…“My gun is in the car.”

Izan hadn’t taken his attention off the man. “Alonzo, what is this?”