Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(95)

Sara’s nerves started up again, and she had a flashback to how she’d felt with Patrick, when he used to make everything revolve around him. His career, his schedule, his life plan.

“So I should move,” she stated, trying to keep the tightness out of her voice.

“I was thinking I should.”

“But . . . if you’re going to be chief, you need to be there. In Springville.”

“Hear me out.” He squeezed her hand. “I do need to be near my jurisdiction. But right now, I’m living on the far west side of town. If I moved to the far east side, I’d be the same distance from the police station but half an hour closer to San Marcos. We’d still have a drive to deal with, but it wouldn’t be as bad.”

“You mean you’d get a new place?”

“We could get a place.” He kissed her knuckles. “Something we choose together.”

She stared at him. “But that’s your grandparents’ house, Nolan.”

“So?”

“So . . .” She shook her head. “How would this work? I want to hear your hypothesis.”

He smiled. “Always the scientist.”

“Yes. Explain to me the logic of you selling your family home to shack up with a woman you haven’t even known very long.”

“Well, for starters, I don’t think of it as ‘shacking up.’ Fact, I’m pretty old-fashioned, so I’d prefer to have a commitment first.” He paused, searching her reaction, and Sara was pretty sure her shock was written all over her face. “But if you want a trial run, I’m open to that, too.”

Her mind was reeling. A commitment, as in an engagement?

“Uh-oh.” Nolan frowned. “You look worried.”

“I’m just— I’ve never lived with anyone.”

“Same.”

This was news to Sara. And the fact that she didn’t know this little tidbit about his life just showed how crazy it was to be talking about moving in together so soon.

“But you love that place. You know your neighbors. And that house has been in your family for generations.”

He shrugged. “A house is just a building. It’s the people in it that matter. I can move closer to where you work.”

“You’d do that for me?”

His look turned serious. “I’d do anything for you.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. As they did, warmth spread through her entire body. That giddy, euphoric feeling that had been sneaking up on her for weeks now was back, but stronger.

“Nolan, I think—” Her throat felt tight, and it was hard to speak.

“What?”

“I love you.”

He laughed and rested his head on her shoulder.

“What’s so funny?”

He smiled up at her. “You’re just now figuring this out? I figured it out weeks ago.”

She frowned. “That I’ve fallen in love with you or vice versa?”

“Both.” He scooted closer on the bed and cupped the side of her face as he kissed her. “I love you, Sara. I want to be with you. I don’t give a damn where we live, and if you want to stay here in this loft, I’ll turn down the chief’s job and stick to being a detective if that means this can work between us.”

Tears filled her eyes as she watched him. She didn’t want him to turn down anything, but his willingness to make sacrifices for her overwhelmed her.

“I want to go to sleep with you. And wake up with you.” He brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder. “Even if it’s at oh-dark-hundred when one of us gets called to a crime scene and has to leave.”

She kissed him, and that was all the encouragement he needed to wrap his arm around her and drag her down on the bed to ease himself on top of her. He kissed her long and deeply, putting all the emotions swirling inside of her into a perfect kiss. He pulled back and propped his weight on his elbows.

Sara gazed up at his deep brown eyes that could so quickly go from sharp to passionate to loving. She traced her finger over his jaw.

“So, you really want to move in together?” she asked.

“That’s just the start of what I want, but yeah.” He stroked her cheek. “What do you want?”

“I want that, too.” More of that giddy warmth rippled through her. It seemed impossible. They hadn’t known each other that long. So much had happened so fast, and her mind was spinning.

Her heart was spinning, too.

“This is crazy,” she said. “What are we doing?”

His smile faded, and his eyes grew somber. “I don’t know, but it feels right. I know my mind, my heart. And this feels right.”

She smiled up at him. “Feels right to me, too.”