stick around a bit longer.”
Bella grinned. “And why is that?”
“Because a woman I’m interested in is going to go poking her nose into other people’s business again. So I need to be here to make sure she doesn’t do anything reckless.”
“Hey!”
Henry chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Come on. Let’s get you home and we’ll talk tomorrow. It’s late.”
Bella sighed, not quite ready to leave the protection of his warm body, but knowing he was right. Besides, she had a lot of planning to do. Something was still wrong at the inn, and she was determined to set it to rights. Especially since Trisha doesn’t want me to really say what happened. How do I write this but NOT make her the bad guy? Bella made a face. She’d been hesitant to agree, but her curiosity had won out. Bella decided it was at least a lesson to be learned. The more she knew about criminals and their stories, the more she would understand when the opportunity did come to write about it.
“Umm...Bella?”
She turned back to him. “What?’
Henry made a sheepish face. “Can you give me a ride to the inn? A police car brought me here.”
She smiled and swung her keys on her finger. “The big bad detective needs some help, huh?”
Henry rolled his eyes and gave her a dry look. “Is that how we’re playing this?”
“You better believe it.”
Taking a couple steps forward, he broke into her personal space and brought them nose to nose. “Bella...beautiful, courageous writer of crime reporting. Would you please condescend to help out a humble public servant in need of a ride?”
She tried to hold back, she really did, but what girl could keep a straight face with that kind of line? Laughing, Bella stepped back so she didn’t whack him in the face as her body shook. “That was terrible.” She sighed and wiped at her eye. “I know I told you flattery works, but it at least has to be good flattery. That was like a poem by a second-grader.”
Without warning, he grabbed her and gave her a hard kiss. “Please?” Henry whispered against her lips before kissing her again.
“Good grief, that I can’t argue with,” Bella said breathlessly when he finally let her go. She couldn’t help but notice the way his chest puffed up and he sauntered to the car door. “Don’t let it go to your head,” she called after him.
“Too late!”
Snickering, Bella followed and then thanked him when Henry opened her door and let her slip inside. Once he was in the passenger side, she started the car and pulled out onto the street. “So what are the plans for tomorrow?”
“You mean besides you meeting me for dinner?”
Bella didn’t even bother to hide her too-wide smile. “Yeah...besides that.”
“I’m sure for the most part, I’ll be filling out paperwork about Ms. Bingham.”
“I sense a but in that.”
“But I’ll try to come out first thing in the morning to update the household on everything.”
Bella sat up straighter. “What exactly does first thing mean?” She could practically feel Henry’s stare.
“Are you telling me you’re a late riser?”
Bella scrunched up her nose as she took a turn with the car. “I might be a late everything,” she admitted.
Henry chuckled. “I’ll make sure it’s after the inn has opened. Is that all right?”
“That’ll work,” she said with a dramatic sigh. Yet even as they made the plans, she knew she’d be wide awake in the morning. Between the churning of her mind about the case and the fast beat of her heart because of Henry, Bella knew sleep wouldn’t be on her agenda at all.
HANK COULDN’T HELP but laugh a little as he climbed the steps of Gingerbread Inn the next morning. “Is she awake or still sleeping?” was the question of the morning. It hadn’t surprised him at all when Bella had said she was a late everything-type person.
She wasn’t the type to follow all the rules, whether written or not. Yet, her quirks and eagerness were part of why he was drawn to her. He did tend to be a rule follower, and seeing someone so free and excited about life was alluring.
He rang the doorbell and was surprised when it opened quickly.
“Morning, Sherlock,” Bella chirped, letting him inside. She grinned. “Surprised?”
Hank shook his head and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Nope. I think the fact that you had to admit to be a late sleeper last night meant that you would automatically be