Indigo Ridge (The Edens, #1)

by Devney Perry

But it was moments like this, when the world was quieter, that she crept up on me again.

“What are you doing?” she whispered. “I have no fucking clue.” Then my lips were on hers.

“Give me your mouth,”

Until the night, when the memories crept into your sleep.

“I can’t find your body down there too.”

“I’ll help.” “Why?” I grinned. “So I can help you break in the bed.” “I thought you didn’t want to do that again.” “I can make time for one more night. What do you say, Chief?” She picked up the instructions and handed them over. “One more night.”

I want people to see you as the chief of police. As a capable cop. Not as the woman warming my bed.”

“If people are going to talk about us having sex, we might as well have sex.”

“Miss me?” “Did you miss me?” “Yeah.”

“Winn. Top off. Now.” “Bossy.”

“So that’s a no on the limit.” I set my mug down, took hers from her hand and picked her up, earning a little gasp as I set her on the counter. Her legs were bare and the sleepshirt she’d pulled on this morning rode up those lean thighs. “That’s a hard no.”

Maybe we did need a limit. Every time we were together, I wanted two more. And one day, I was going to have to cut this off. Before feelings got tangled and we had a mess to unravel. Maybe it was too late to avoid the mess.

“Don’t take your mind for granted, Griffin. Or your heart. They are your gifts. And they are not guaranteed from one day to the next.”

Home was a happy sight. So was the woman standing beside her Durango in my driveway.

“When I show up here, I’m going to need you to be wearing that.” She pointed from my hat to my chaps to my boots. “Every time.”

“You are sexy on that horse, cowboy.” “What’s it going to earn me?” “Take a shower and you’ll find out.”

She was perfect in that chair. So beautiful I wanted this view every night.

We would burn out.

Just not yet.

In the absence of a clear ambition, serving others is a mighty purpose.

“Is that what wakes you up at night? The awful cases?” “No.”

We’d never spent the day together. That had always been a boundary. And like the others, crossing it was as natural as breathing.

“I’ll hold you. If you have a nightmare, I won’t let go.”

We wouldn’t have made it, Skyler. There’s a reason neither of us pushed for an actual wedding. There’s a reason we never made that commitment. We wouldn’t have made it.” That was the truth I hadn’t wanted to admit for those eight years.

Eight years with Skyler. One month with Griffin. I’d choose Griffin every time.

“If you want to keep that hand attached to your body, you’ll take it off of her right now.” The deep rumbling voice behind Skyler sent a shiver racing down my spine. The thud of boots echoed before Griffin stepped onto the porch and came to my side. The glare he aimed Skyler’s way brought a smile to my lips. Jealousy on Griffin Eden looked incredibly sexy. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing, but I’m having a conversation with Winnie,” Skyler said, standing taller. “And I’m here to give her an orgasm before dinner. Let’s find out which one of us she’d rather have stick around.”

“You lost her.” Griffin’s voice had an edge unlike anything I’d heard before. An edge that made me glad I was standing on his side, not the opposing. “You fucked up and lost her. She’s mine. And I won’t fuck it up.”

“You have me twisted up, woman. So fucking twisted up.” “Want to unwind? Call it quits?” He leaned away and his hands moved to my face, his fingers threading through the hair at my temples. “I don’t think I could quit you if I tried.” “Even if we fight?” “Especially when we fight.”

She’d told me that one day, she hoped I’d find a man who’d fight with me. Who’d love me even when he wanted to strangle me. Who’d never quit fighting because what we had was worth a few angry words.

“Lean on me.” He kissed my forehead, then hugged me again, squeezing so tight that if my knees buckled, I wouldn’t drop an inch. I leaned on him. And for the first time in a long time, I knew the man holding me tight wouldn’t let me fall.

“I want to be there the day she finds out.” My heart swelled. “You will be.”

“Think it over. You want to keep your place in town for a while, that’s fine by me. You want to get it listed before summer’s over and the market has its seasonal dip, then we’ll get ahold of your realtor and bring the horse trailer to town to move everything out here.”

There were words to say. Apologies to make. Promises to ask him to make. But in the end, I had no time.

“I love you. Fuck, but I love you.”

“I can walk.” “I can carry you.”

Family. His. Mine. Ours.