Colby (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #6) (9 page)

“How’s it going?” he asks.

“Good. You? How are things with Scarlett?”

His smile widens. “Good. She’ll officially meet Kaelyn as my girlfriend when I get back.” His lips drop a little. “Well, that is as long as I can figure out how to explain it to her.”

My experience with kids is limited to my interactions with my nieces. I’m not going to be much help. “You’ll figure out it. I’m glad things are working out for you two. Y’all deserve it.”

“Thanks. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve made it so far. What about you, Sugar Daddy? I hear you finally found a woman.”

I narrow my eyes at him. Out of all the people, I figured Trent would be least likely to jump onto the nickname bandwagon. “I just started seeing her,” I simply say.

“But you’ve already met her family?”

“Yep.”

Jordan clears his throat from the other side of me and rises from his seat, gaining the attention of everyone. His expression is a mixture of excitement and looking as if he wants to throw up. “I need to say something.” With their focus on him, he sits back down, looking a little more comfortable. “My wife is pregnant.”

My eyebrows shoot upward and as the guys begin to congratulate him, he holds up his hand to cut them off. Then it hits me what he’s about to tell them. Jordan swallows hard and I pat his shoulder in encouragement.

“This is her second pregnancy.” If possible, the silence gets louder because they’re probably wondering where his first child is. “Our first, Eden, was stillborn. We were holding off as long as possible before letting anyone know she’s pregnant, but I um, wanted to let y’all know. It’s not as if I can keep her home 24/7 and I figured it would be better if I told you before you saw her and figured it out. She’s terrified, so she’s trying not to get too excited. But, um, yeah. That’s all I wanted to say.”

The table is quiet, still, but a movement catches my attention. Sofia looks pale, even though I know she knows what happened to Eden. The movement is Blake pulling her over to kiss her temple. Her eyes are locked on Jordan though.

“Congratulations, Jordan,” she says from across the table. “I have a feeling everything will be just fine.”

“Thanks, Sofia.” He gives her an appreciative smile.

A chorus of congratulations sound and Jordan slowly begins to relax as conversation picks up around the table. I give him my own heartfelt congrats, truly happy for them. Dinner settles into normalcy. Hector cracks jokes and uses those godawful nicknames. Tanner halfheartedly gripes when someone teases him about his age, and Blake scowls every now and then. It’s been a good road trip so far. It’s been so long that it’s a little odd how I’m more excited about seeing Ariella than my usual readiness to sleep in my own bed.

I stand outside Ariella’s door. As promised, I texted her when I returned to town and she invited me over for dinner. I wasn’t able to talk to her too much while on the road between our schedules and occasional time differences. The door opens before I can knock. The grin on her face nearly sends me to my knees.

“I was starting to worry you were going to stand out here all day. Buster let me know you were here by the time you parked the car. He doesn’t miss much.” Her head drops, and I follow her gaze to see her petting the dog’s head.

“So it’s unlikely that I’ll ever be able to surprise you?” I ask as she steps aside to let me in. Buster sticks close to Ariella, eyeing me like he might lunge to attack at any second.

“Yep, I hope you’re hungry.” She takes a step toward the kitchen, but I grab her wrist and tug her toward me. Now that she’s here and I’m here, the urge to kiss her is out of control. “Colby.” Her voice is soft, her breathing hitches, but she’s waiting for me.

I tilt my head down and press my lips to hers. She melts against me, my tongue delving into her mouth to deepen the kiss. I swear, this woman. She seems a little guarded, like she’s holding back, and I can’t wait for the day when I make her bare herself to me completely. Buster nudges his nose between our legs, but I ignore him, kissing her harder to ensure she’s focused on me and not the dog.

Then, the dog pushes his way to stand between our legs, causing Ariella to break the kiss with a laugh.

“Damn dog,” she mutters with a smile.

I give her another quick kiss. “I didn’t want to wait until later,” I explain myself, allowing my lips to run over hers as I speak.

“Glad you didn’t. Let’s eat.” Ariella takes my hand to lead me into the kitchen.

“Nice place,” I tell her.

“Thanks. It’s a bit larger than I need, but maybe one day it’ll be the perfect fit. Spaghetti is okay, right?”

“Sounds perfect.”

We fix our plates and then sit at the table. Ariella realizes Buster needs his bowl refilled, so she gets up to do that before sitting down again. She asks about my trip and I fill her in on most of it, the things she wouldn’t know. We make small talk, not talking about anything important, while seeming to do so anyway. I get to hear more about her job and her family, all the things that are important to her.

We clean up the kitchen together before going into the living room. I put an arm around her shoulders and tuck her into my side while Buster jumps onto the couch on the other side of her to lie down. The TV makes for subtle background noise, but I’m not paying any attention to it.

“Tell me what you want from life, Ariella.”

She could answer a million different ways. She could tell me what she wants from her job. Or she could tell me what she wants for herself. Or she could tell me what she wants for her family. However she answers will say a lot. It’ll tell me what she wants the most, what’s most important to her right now.

“I want the fairy tale happily ever after,” she finally says. And there we go. Ariella wants to fall in love and find the person she’s going to spend the rest of her life with. She lifts her head. She looks a little surprised as if she wasn’t expecting to tell me the truth. “How about you just kiss me now?”

I grin because I think she’s a little embarrassed and because I can most definitely do what she’s asked of me. I grab her hips, pulling her into my lap so she straddles me. A grin quirks her lips as she rests her hands on my shoulders. “You want to kiss me, Ariella?” She nods. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Her smile grows before she leans down slowly. Having her straddle me was both my best and worst idea. Worst because she’s straddling me and I won’t be able to hide anything. Best because it’ll allow Ariella to set the pace, and that’s what I want today. Her mouth grazes over mine, and I decide this was definitely a terribly good idea.

Ariella takes her sweet time acquainting herself with my mouth as if she’s never kissed me before, and she has to explore. All I can do is follow along, my hands planted firmly on her hips. She breaks the kiss with a soft laugh.

“What?” I murmur, allowing myself to kiss along her jaw.

“I just feel like...like I’m a teenager making out with my first boyfriend.”

“That bad, huh?” I tease, kissing below her ear and smiling when she laughs again.

“That
good
, Colby,” she corrects. A low, short sigh escapes her when I trail the tip of my tongue over her collarbone. “We should probably talk about...something, I don’t know.” She cups my face and makes me look at her.

“Unless you have a specific topic, you should just kiss me again.” I give her five seconds to say something, but I already know she doesn’t have anything on her mind to talk about. I’d bet that for a brief moment she had one of her This-Is-Moving-Too-Fast thoughts and that’s why she said it. Kissing isn’t moving fast, especially not at the rate we’re currently going. It’s as if that thought stirs something within me, and I kiss her hard.

Before, our kiss was slow and content. Now, it’s frenzied. Ariella lets her hands roam, my muscles tensing beneath her touch. A loud ringing disturbs us just as her hands splay over my abs. She pulls away with a muttered curse.

“Just when I was getting to the best part.” She puts a little pressure on my abs before reaching for her phone on the coffee table. “Craft,” she answers. Her smile turns into frown as she listens. “Okay. I’ll be right there.” She hangs up and sighs. “Work. I have to go; I’m sorry, Colby.” Ariella is already removing herself from my lap.

“It’s all right.” I stand. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow and we’ll see each other soon.”

She nods. “Sounds good. I’m sorry our night was cut short.”

“Don’t worry about that.” I kiss her softly before leaving. Who knew there would ever be a day where I was thankful for online dating? So, thank you, dating website, for bringing me Ariella Craft.

THE GIRL ACROSS from me can’t be a day over nineteen. Even though she has a long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants she’s still shaking. It’s almost eighty degrees out, and I know she’s nervous and probably coming down from something.

“Ce-Ce, you called our tip line and told us who shot Hotty.”

“What’s the point of calling it if you’re going to drag me from my house where the whole block can see you take me?” She shakes harder. I could have told she didn’t call the tip line, but our main line, but I omit that part.

“Ce-Ce, it’s not like that, we just need a little bit more information.” I keep my voice calm and try to easily reason with her.

“If I tell you then I’ll be a snitch.” Tears began to form in her eyes.

“It’s going to be okay. All you have to do it talk to me.” I reach out and take her hand. Mostly, we don’t touch our informants, witnesses, or suspects, but right now, I think she needs comfort and encouragement.

It works.

After a moment of silence, Ce-Ce begins to tell me everything she knows. Hotty, the young boy who was killed the other night, was a month shy of his eighteenth birthday, and wasn’t supposed to be out that night. Ce-Ce tells me who she thought had been mad at Hotty because of a
turf
issue.

Once she finishes telling me everything and signs her statement, we send her on her way. I say a small prayer nothing happens to her until we find the guy she named.
Dice.
I drop my file on the desk and rest my head in my hands. When I open them, a large cup of coffee is in front of me and Duke is smiling.

“You did good, Craft.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“You don’t think you did well?”

“I got the name, and now, it’s time to find the guy and the evidence to tie him to Hotty’s murder.”

“We’ll get it. I know we will.”

I nod and go back through my notes and try to type it all up and figure out my next step. A few times my mind drifts to Colby. I try to contain my smile because I’m in the middle of a serious situation, but it’s hard. Kissing Colby and straddling him is something I want to do again very soon. It felt right. It felt as if I belonged on his lap and cradled in the crook in his neck.

When I look down at my watch, I see another day has passed. I grab my phone and see Colby’s name.

Colby: I know you’re busy, but I’m thinking about you. Hope it doesn’t sound too teenager-y. Yes, I think it’s a word.

I cover my mouth to hide my massive-watt smile, but I can feel myself failing at it.

Me: If it helps, I’m thinking of you too.

I gather up my items, call my sister, and see what she’s planning for dinner.

“Duke says you’re working your tail off.”

“Hello to you too and yes I am, but I’m calling to see if you’re busy or want to grab a bite.”

“Actually, Mom said she was going to call you and see if we can have a girl’s dinner.”

“Oh God, that’s perfect.”

“Then I’ll hand Lil D off to Dad and meet you two at the usual spot.”

Before I can confirm, she’s already ended the call. She’s as busy as Mom ever was. However, I think I’m the same as Dad. We were raised with career-oriented parents and we followed the same path.

I drive over to our favorite Mexican restaurant and Mom is already sitting in a booth. As always, she’s looks as if she can grace the cover of a fashion magazine. She is in a freshly pressed business suit, with her perfect blonde bob and, when she looks up at me, her flawless makeup finishes her ensemble.