Hooking Him (How to Catch an Alpha #3)(24)
“Are you happy?” she asks, pulling her eyes off the view in front of us to look at me.
I dig deep for the truth, not wanting to lie when she’s been so honest. “Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“I love my job and my life, but like everyone, I want more. I want to find someone to build a family with, and more time with my parents and brother. I’m not sure I’d be completely fulfilled having all those things, but I think they’d add to my happiness.”
“Simple,” she whispers, studying me intently.
“Pardon?”
“What you want is simple.” She smiles sadly. “It’s not money or some new gadget or car; you want simple things, things that are easily achievable, things that are actually important at the end of the day.”
“And what do you want?” I ask, not even realizing that I’m holding my breath as I wait for her answer.
“I don’t know.” She shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know what will make me happy. All I know is it’s not what I had before I came here.”
“Are you any closer to finding it now that you’re here?”
She lets out a long breath. “I love living here. I enjoy my job. I wake up every day and can look at myself in the mirror without hating myself. I’m starting to feel settled. So I guess the truthful answer is, I think so.”
“Good, baby,” I say quietly. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a woman like her before, a woman who is capable of admitting things that might be uncomfortable to talk about, things that might make people look down on her. Her honesty is refreshing.
One side of her mouth tips up. “You know the worst of me, Calvin, so if I don’t hear from you after tonight, I don’t even have to question why that is.”
“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Anna.” I hold her gaze, amazed by her strength. Most people would lie or paint things differently, and not many women would open up about their past the way she just did. “You feel up to going for a walk down on the beach with me?”
“I’d like that,” she replies, and I stand, then take her hand and help her up.
Once she’s in front of me, I touch my lips to her forehead before leaning back to catch her eye. “Thank you for opening up to me.” Her eyes fill with surprise, and she gives me a nod. “Come on.”
I lead her down the wooden steps to the beach, then stop to take off my shoes and fold up the legs of my jeans, ignoring my cell when it rings. Once I’m standing, I take her hand and walk with her into the surf, sighing when my phone rings again.
“Do you need to take that?” she asks, kicking her foot through the water as Bane jumps along a wave rushing on shore.
“It’s just work.” Normally, I don’t mind getting calls when I’m off duty, but right now I’m tempted to toss the phone currently ringing in my pocket out into the ocean.
“Your mom mentioned the other day that you have some big case. Could it be about that?”
“Probably.” I watch as she tucks her hair behind her ear.
She stops and turns so we’re facing each other, and I look down at her beautiful freckled face with the wind blowing in her hair that’s shades of red and orange in the dusky light. “Calvin, you can take the call, and if you have to go, we can do this another time.” Fuck, I have never wanted to kiss a woman more than I want to kiss her. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal.” She smiles.
“Anna, shut up.” I drop my mouth to hers, cutting off her gasp of outrage, and tangle my fingers into the hair at the back of her head. She instantly falls into the kiss, moving her hands up my shoulders to hold on and opening her mouth.
The first flick of my tongue against hers drives the kiss deeper, wilder. I hold her closer, wrapping my arm around her back to keep her against me, and then trail my lips to her ear and down her jaw, and I nip her collarbone. Her whimper drives me close to the edge, but I fight against falling and drag my mouth away from her delicate skin. I tuck her face into my neck, willing my body back under control as we both try to catch our breath.
“Did you tell me to shut up?”
I dip my chin down to grin at her. “Babe, you talk a lot.”
“So you did tell me to shut up,” she mumbles. I chuckle, then curse under my breath when my phone starts to ring again. “Take the call.” She places her hands against my chest. “It could be important.”
I don’t want to, but she’s right. After letting her go with one hand to reach into my pocket for my phone, I glance at the screen and see Herb’s name, and then I swipe and put it to my ear. “This better be good,” I say to my partner.
“Sorry, Cal, I know you’re off duty—someone came in and said they have information about your murder case.”
“Who?”
“Sandy Burton.”
“Sandy.” I shake my head, figuring this is another dead end. I went to high school with Sandy. We didn’t hang with the same crowd, but she was always sweet, which hasn’t changed over the years. She works as a local beauty pageant coach and, as during our high school years, still tends to stick to herself. My murder victim was a young man with no ties to the area, and I doubt Sandy would have been near an area heavily populated with clubs, which is where the victim partied the night before his body was found. “All right, put her in the room and let her know I’ll be there within the hour.”