Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,328

My arm finds its way around her waist as she gives me a bite of her donut, pink with sprinkles—Serena’s selection last night. “Tell me how you’re feeling.”

“Why? Did my psychiatrist call in sick?”

I give her ribs a quick pinch, and she bucks. “Do you ever have a serious moment?”

“Of course, I do. In fact, while you were donut diving in the kitchen, I had quite the pensive thought.”

“About?” I sneak a bite from her donut, and she makes a face.

“For your information, I found a flower petal milling around my lady parts. How many of those do you think you crammed in me last night, anyway? What if they’re stuck up there?”

“You’ll grow a rosebush?”

She swats me on the arm. “With my luck, it will be all thorns. In fact, I think it’s already climbing through my bowels. Well played, Collins. Well played.”

“Anything to get a rise out of you, sweetie.”

She grunts in lieu of a response.

I rub my arm up and down her waist. “I’m serious. I like that we banter. I like that you have always felt comfortable enough to go at me full blast.” I bury a kiss over the top of her head. “But I want you to know that I completely understand that what we did—”

She tucks her finger over my lips and bats those lashes at me. “What we’re doing. Present tense. It’s still happening.”

“Yes.” A dark laugh strums from me. “What we’re doing—is serious. And just like you don’t hold back the sarcasm, I want you to know that I can handle the tough stuff, too. So if you ever want to talk about it, discuss it in any way, just know I’m an open door.”

“Yes, Dad.” Serena doesn’t miss a beat.

Her eyes bear hard into mine, and the moment grows serious between us. There’s something she’s holding back, something skirting around the edges of her mind like a fickle housecat. I’ve known Serena long enough to read her like an old familiar book.

“What’s on your mind? Is it the case?”

“The case?” She inches back as if it were the furthest thing from her mind. “Oh, right. That’s been on my mind for sure.”

“Has anything else happened? You’re not holding anything back, are you?”

Her lips purse, and that, right there, is my answer.

“Serena, what is it? Does it have to do with that combination?”

Her mouth opens and closes. “I don’t know. It’s stupid. The morning of the wedding, I was confronted by that guy who was sitting with Barry the night of the murder.”

“Confronted?” I set my drink down and pull her onto my lap. “Did this guy hunt you down at school or something?” My adrenaline skyrockets at the thought. “If he touched you, I’m going to have to kill him.” The frightening part is, I’m not so sure I’m kidding.

“No, actually”—she grimaces—“he kind of did, but it wasn’t like that. I was at the Black Bear, and he sort of grabbed my arm and cornered me.”

“He’s a dead man. Did he say anything?”

She averts her eyes. “He asked if I had something that didn’t belong to me.”

“Serena, this guy accosted you over a week ago. Did you tell Marlin? Never mind. I think I know the answer to that.”

She gives a guilty shrug. Her entire body adheres to mine as she sets her own drink down. “I told you. Besides, I was sort of a little distracted this last week, if you didn’t notice. I had a very big life event coming up—came up.” She giggles over my chest as her fingers walk their way to my chin. “And that was way more important to me. Besides, I played dumb with the guy. And before he took off, he apologized, so I don’t think I’ll have any more problems from him anymore. Besides, Marlin took a picture of the combination, so there’s that. My work is done.”

“My work is far from done.” I knock my head gently on the headboard. “Serena, there’s a killer out there somewhere. You and I are the only viable suspects the police have, and we know we didn’t do it. And now you tell me this? What was his name?”

“I didn’t think to ask, but honestly, I got such a weird vibe from him, I just wanted him out of my airspace.”

“I get it.” I wrap both my arms around her and land a lingering kiss to her lips. “You did the right thing. Safety first. In fact, I don’t think you should go anywhere