Sporting (Unleashed Romance #3) - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,52

long it’s been.”

“August thirty-first we had our first lunch together. It’s now the middle of October.”

“That was just lunch to work out the accident finances.”

“Jenna, this thing between us is not that fragile, I promise you.”

I flush. His warm confident voice does something to me, setting my stomach aflutter, all of me lighting up. Still, it feels too soon to go public. “Okay, I get it. We’ve kinda sorta been seeing each other for six weeks, but if you count the official date as when—”

“You watched me play guitar like a groupie.”

“When you kidnapped me.”

He chuckles. “The fact is, this has been going on too long to hide it. If you can bring me to a family function, then I can bring you to one. That’s what serious couples do.”

“What do you mean by serious?” My voice sounds high and reedy.

“I mean it’s time to stop pretending this is just uncontrollable lust on both of our parts. It’s mutual adoration. I’ll set up dinner.”

I don’t even have a moment to bask in the mutual adoration comment with the threat of a family dinner. “No, wait! Can we do it after my parents’ wedding? I just need a little more time.”

“No. That’s two weeks away. We’ll do it this weekend.”

“Syd always works weekends.”

“Then I’ll find out when she’s available, and we’ll all sit down together and explain what’s what. No more secrets.”

Maybe he’s right. I just can’t shake the feeling that Sydney will be furious with me both for hiding it and for being with the one guy she told me to stay away from. But he’s impossible to resist, and I do have feelings for him. Real deep feelings.

“I completely understand what you’re saying about not hiding things from Sydney,” I say. “I’d like to tell her myself one-on-one, okay? No witnesses.”

“That works too. Once you do, then we’ll do a family dinner. I’m sure everything will go smoothly. She loves you.”

“Yeah.” She just doesn’t love me for her younger brother.

“See you tonight,” he says and hangs up.

I let out a shaky sigh and go back to work.

Eli

I head into work the next night for my late shift in a good mood. Things are going great with Jenna, and she finally agreed to tell Sydney this Thursday at ladies’ night. I let myself into the small police station in a former two-story Victorian house. I spot Chief Daniels in his office, the door open.

“Hey, Chief.”

“Eli, come into my office.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have a seat,” he says jovially. He’s not a real cheerful guy, which gives me hope. Maybe he’s finally decided to retire. He’s gone back and forth on the date for more than a year.

I take the hard wooden chair across from his cushy full-size desk chair. That’s basically how it’s been since I started. He’s the chief, so he gets the comfortable choice of chairs, schedule, and bigger salary. I’m the underling, so I get night shift and the tough stuff he doesn’t want to deal with in the community—naked sunbathers, raccoons in the garbage, kids drinking beer on the roof of the high school, etc. He’d be lost without me.

“Big news,” he says. “I’m retiring at the end of the year.”

I stifle a cheer, but I can’t help my smile. “Congratulations!” I wait for the part that’s most important to me.

“As of New Year’s Day, you are officially the new chief of police.”

My shoulders pull back, chest puffed with pride. “Thank you, I appreciate your faith in me.”

“And congratulations to you. Son, I couldn’t be happier leaving Summerdale in your capable hands. Feel free to hire another you. Might be hard to find someone for January, but give it a try. If needed, we could hire part-timers on a rotating basis from neighboring towns.”

My limbs feel light, and I find myself smiling, my new title rolling around in my mind—Chief Robinson. “I’ll put some feelers out for my replacement.”

He folds his hands behind his head and leans back in his seat. “I’m off to sunny Florida.”

Just like all the old people in town I think but don’t say. It’s a popular retirement destination and only a three-hour plane ride away. “Good for you.”

“Yup. Living the dream, and Martha is looking forward to it as well. She’s the one who pushed me to go. I’m not getting any younger.” He chuckles, looking happier than I’ve ever seen him. “You’ll be getting a pay bump and an extra week of vacation.” He slides some paperwork over to me. “Take a look