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An accident on the interstate out of Duluth delayed Presley and Dominic’s return trip for well over an hour. It gave them time to chat, and the conversation flowed. He was so easy to talk to. She loved hearing him brag about Gia with fatherly pride and coaxed him to chat about himself too. She had an endless cache of stories about her coworkers and job.

Presley wanted to see the scenes of both fires, so once traffic started flowing again, Dominic drove her by Margy’s first and then Nancy’s house. As much as she wanted to get out and search for clues, they were potential crime scenes. No sense in stepping on Reggie Branch’s toes. She didn’t need him pissed at her too.

Dominic stopped by a restaurant and picked up dinner before driving them home. He assured Presley that it was the best pizza in the area, and judging by the smell, he wasn’t lying.

She probably should’ve insisted he take her to a hotel, but she enjoyed spending time with Dominic and his adorable daughter. And she did sleep well, though not long enough.

Gia and her babysitter, Amber, were working on a puzzle featuring a cabin on a lake surrounded by fall foliage when she and Dominic entered the house. They had the outline done and not much else.

Major scrambled up and greeted them with happy woofs. Presley scratched his ears, much to his delight.

“Dad! Presley! You’re back.” Gia jumped off her chair and hugged Dominic and then her. “I missed you guys.”

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” Dominic told her.

“Is that Mr. Cheese’s Pizza?”

“It sure is.” Dominic placed the boxes on the bar. Major sniffed the air, his tail wagging furiously.

“Hey, you don’t eat people food,” Dominic reminded him with a pat on the head.

If dogs could talk back, Major did and tromped dejectedly to his bowl of kibble.

“Amber, can you join us for dinner?” Dominic asked.

“Oh, I would love to, Mr. B. It smells delish. But I should get home. Gia, if you finish this before I return, send me a picture.”

“Okay.”

After Amber left, they dug into the pizza and worked on the puzzle together. Gia wanted to do the fun parts, like the frolicking dogs and the colorful flowers, so whenever Presley found a piece, she placed it in front of Gia, who clapped with glee.

Dominic’s phone chimed. “That’s the front gate.” He accessed an app and checked the camera. “It’s one of my firefighters,” he told them before answering on speaker. “Hey, Rena, what’s up?”

“Hi, Captain. I’m sorry to bother you at home, but I have a form you need to sign. I offered to bring it so you didn’t have to come to the station.”

“Thanks, Rena. I’ll buzz you in.”

He stood and walked to the door.

“Ick, I don’t like her,” Gia whispered to Presley.

“How come?”

Gia shrugged. “She ignores me until Dad is around. Then she treats me like a baby. Plus, she smells stinky.”

“Like a skunk?” Presley waved her hand in front of her nose. Then, in her best French accent, she trilled, “Pepe Le Pew?”

Gia tossed back her head and guffawed. “You’re so funny.”

Few people had ever told her that. She tended to be too serious. A warm feeling settled in Presley’s stomach. She liked she could make this sweet young girl laugh.

“No, she smells like when my mom died.”

It took Presley a second to realize what she meant. The funeral home. “Like a lot of flowers?”

“Yeah, but too many.”

Gia was frowning. Presley didn’t want her thinking of sad times, so she said, “Like they’re growing out of her ears and armpits? Maybe her nostrils?”

Gia fell out of her chair this time, her giggles music to Presley’s ears.

Dominic returned with Rena. Gia scrambled back into her seat and took a bite of pizza.

Major barked until Dominic scolded him. Then he sniffed Rena and allowed her to pet him before returning to his bed.

Rena was attractive, with dark hair and eyes, and obviously fit since she was a firefighter. She smiled.

“Hi, Gia.”

Gia didn’t look up from the puzzle. “Hi.”

“This is Presley Parrish,” Dominic introduced.

“We’ve met,” Rena said, walking forward to hug Presley, much to her surprise.

Dominic’s brows rose, and he turned to Presley. “When was that?”

“When I stopped by the station after I arrived in town.”

“Ah. Rena, would you like to join us? We have Mr. Cheese’s Pizza.”

“Oh, yum, I’d love to.”

“Great,” Gia mumbled. Presley placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, showing her support.

Dominic grabbed another plate and beverage and handed them to Rena. She picked a few slices and sat across from Presley next to Dominic. They chatted while they ate and worked on the puzzle. When Rena assembled the scene with a golden retriever, Gia looked like she wanted to explode, but she bit her tongue. She was back to the quiet, sullen girl, not the bubbly, effervescent one she had been earlier.

A phone buzzed. Rena fished her cell from her pocket. “Shoot, I’ve got to go. I was having so much fun with you guys.”

“If you have that form, I’ll sign it before you leave,” Dominic told her.

“Oh, right. I completely forgot why I came here. It’s in my car. I’ll be right back.”

Rena was only gone for a few seconds, and then she returned, going over the papers with Dominic. Presley cleared the plates and napkins. Gia jumped up to help.

In one cabinet, Presley found a colorful batch of curly straws with plastic daisies on them. She fished a couple out and stuck them in her ears.

“Hey, Gia, who am I?”

Gia turned around and burst out laughing. She fell to the floor, holding her stomach.

“Everything okay over there?” Dominic asked, his tone amused.

“Someone had too much Kool-Aid to drink,” Presley responded. That made Gia guffaw harder.

Rena and Dominic finished their business, and Rena bid them goodbye. They resumed working on the puzzle. When Dominic announced it was time for Gia to get ready for bed, Presley was shocked at how late it was. She’d had so much fun talking and laughing with them. Time had flown. They had finished a good chunk of the one-thousand-piece puzzle.

Gia put up a protest until she found out Presley was staying the night again. Then she happily danced to her room. Warning bells went off in Presley’s head. The girl was getting too attached to her. Not that Presley minded, because she felt the same way. The problem was when she had to go back home. Gia had already been through so much in her short life with her mother. Presley didn’t want to cause her any more grief.

Once Gia and Major were in bed, Dominic reached into a cabinet and withdrew a bottle of wine. He held it up. “Can I interest you in a glass?”

“Please.”

Presley sat on the couch and waited while he filled two goblets with the dark-red liquid. He carried them to the living room and handed one to her. She thanked him before taking a sip. It was delicious and full-bodied, with notes of cherries and raspberries bursting on her tongue.

Dominic dropped to the recliner. “I’ve been thinking about when we left Tamera Watts’s house and you saying something happened. What do you think it was? Did it have to do with Gwen’s death?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Presley admitted as she stared at her glass. “It is strange to me that the women were so close for years, and suddenly, they don’t even speak.” She glanced up at Dominic. “Why? They still live near each other. I could understand drifting apart, especially if they went away to college, but to break off contact completely? It makes me think someone said or did something to cause a rift.”

“Do you think one of the women will talk to you about it?”

She took another sip. “I don’t know. I was closest to Jessie because she was Gwen’s best friend. Maybe I can coax something from her.”

“It will be interesting to see if they show up at the funeral tomorrow.”

“Speaking of, I better get to bed. I got little sleep last night.”

Dominic stood and took her empty glass. “Me too.”

Presley had been shy when she was younger, mostly around boys, especially this one. She’d thought of kissing him all the time, but they had been the dreams of an inexperienced young girl. As an adult, the urge was still there. She was no longer fearful. In fact, she’d been accused of being too direct. There was nothing wrong with going for what she wanted, and right now, it was this man.

“Goodnight, Dominic.”

Presley stood on her toes and kissed him on the lips. He tasted of wine and male, and she realized she might’ve miscalculated. She’d intended it to be a quick peck, but this chaste kiss was better than any she could remember. Before she did something monumentally stupid, like throwing him to the floor and ripping off his clothes, she ended the contact and headed to her room without looking back.

Somehow, she made it inside and closed the door. She collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling fan, rotating in a slow, lazy circle. If one quick kiss did this to her, what would it be like to make love with Dominic Bianchi?

#

Dominic’s feet rooted to the ground as he watched Presley leave the room. He’d been thinking of kissing her all evening, only she’d beaten him to the punch.

He’d been caught completely off guard when she’d initiated contact. Dominic had been about to chuck the wine glasses over his shoulder and yank her against him when she so casually walked away. Hadn’t the kiss rocked her world like it had his?

Go after her , the lust-filled part of his brain urged. Let her go , his heart responded. She wouldn’t be here long, and he didn’t need to get in deeper with her. He was already dangerously close to liking her more than was wise. She’d made his daughter giggle! The tinkling sound was music to his ears. They weren’t polite chuckles either. They had been the deep belly laughs that brought tears to the eyes and cramps to the stomach. It was one of his favorite sounds in the world.

Instead of going after Presley, he ensured the doors were locked and the alarm set. Then he headed to his room. Sleep didn’t come easily, and more than once, he tossed off the covers to go after her. Finally, he drifted off, dreaming of her in his arms.