Headlines (Prime Time #3) - Ella Frank Page 0,33

down the side of my face to my chin. “I mean it. This face of yours, it’s not only stunning to look at, it gives me purpose. You give me purpose. You make me want to be the one who fixes things, and is all brave and strong. You give me a reason to want to come home at night.”

I shifted the final few inches closer to him, then I closed my eyes and pressed a fierce but tender kiss to his lips. “Exactly. A reason to come home…to me. You don’t need to be the brave one who sacrifices himself this time. You just need to be here. That’s what I need. I’ll work this out with Bailey. But not at the expense of you. I need you in my life, Sean. Right here beside me. Because without you, nothing makes sense anymore.”

Sean rolled over until his arms were by my head and settled between my legs. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I wound my arms around him, holding him in place. “Promise?”

“Promise. I kind of love where I am right now.”

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. I could feel his heart thumping in time with mine and knew we would be okay as long as we stuck together.

“Sean?”

Sean looked down at me and brushed his fingers through the strands of hair lying across my forehead. “Hmm?”

“I think I’m going to reach out to Bailey tomorrow. Invite him to my birthday.” Silence fell between us, and I couldn’t decide if Sean thought my idea was good or completely pointless.

“It’s kind of a tradition we used to have,” I added. “We never miss a birthday, ever. And I know he doesn’t want to talk to me, but that doesn’t mean I should give up, right?”

Sean flashed his crooked smile that always made my world make sense. “I think it’s a great idea. Maybe it’ll help.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

Sean pulled me into his arms. “Sleep. I’ve kept you up late enough as it is.”

“True. But at least we can sleep in tomorrow.”

“Now there’s an idea.” Sean kissed my temple and smoothed his hand down my side. “How about we spend tomorrow right here in bed?”

I tugged his arms around me tight and nodded. He didn’t need to convince me—in his arms was exactly where I wanted to stay.

17

Sean

AS I PULLED into my spot down at the precinct Tuesday morning, I caught sight of Nichols climbing out of a sweet new ride and let out a loud whistle.

For as long as I’d known him, Nichols had been driving around the same beat-up Ford Escort that had a door that wouldn’t open and three windows that were permanently up. We’d always given him shit and taken his car on stakeouts because it was the only one we were willing to lose.

But as I came around the hood of my SUV to stop by the sleek black Dodge Charger he was locking up, I had to admit to feeling slightly envious.

“So what’d you have to promise the missus to get her permission to buy this bad boy?”

Nichols smirked as we headed toward the station. “What makes you think I had to promise her anything?”

“Because you’ve been driving around the same piece-of-shit car since I’ve known you.”

“True. But her car was in the shop this weekend, and when she got stuck at the mall in said piece-of-shit car, the wife decided it was time to upgrade. Apparently the ninety-five-degree heat and no windows didn’t agree with her.”

I chuckled as I reached for the door and pulled it wide. “So she let you go out and buy the first muscle car you laid eyes on?”

“A minivan was the plan. Then she saw me in that and decided we should work on filling the minivan instead.”

Nichols winked at me, and I winced. “Okay, TMI, man, but good for you. Never thought I’d see the day you were driving something made in this decade.”

I waved to the desk sergeant as we continued on to the bullpen, where several other detectives were changing out shifts and arriving for the morning.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m just happy to have AC back in my life. I was seriously thinking of renting that old thing out as a sweatbox during the summer for extra income.”

“Hey, with what they pay us around here, I don’t blame you.”

When we reached our desks, I tossed my keys down and powered up my computer. I pulled my chair out, about to plant my ass in it, when