“Yeah,” she breathed.

  He walked out and heard the lock click behind him. As he jogged to his vehicle, he thought of the upcoming holiday. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d brought a date to a family gathering, but with past girlfriends, he’d never felt like he did now. Whatever emotion swirled through him, he wanted to enjoy it as long as it lasted. Now that Andy was hosting the meal with Ivy, it would be fun to have Belinda with him. Grinning all the way to his apartment, he thought of the perfect timing to have met her when he did.

  8

  Aaron and Lisa patrolled the streets the day before Thanksgiving. So far, they’d made five stops for speeding even though they had been generous with their over-the-speed-limit leeway.

  Two of the stops politely admitted they hadn’t paid attention to the reduced speed limit on the highway bisecting the Eastern Shore. Two more drivers had begrudgingly accepted the ticket, mumbling under their breath about backwoods police who had nothing better to do than set up speed traps. For each of those, he and his partner didn’t engage but had to bite their tongue.

  The last one was more involved. High speed from a black sedan with blacked-out windows. Single driver with no family in the vehicle. He was going almost twenty-five miles over the speed limit, and when pulled over, the driver became belligerent. He settled down when he realized he was getting a ticket but became mouthy again when it was explained that it was a reckless driving charge and he would be required to appear in court.

  What started as a traffic stop ended up being an arrest when the man started the car and attempted to run Lisa over as he fled the scene at high speed again. By the time he was stopped, multiple deputies and the state police were involved. Aaron was pissed as hell at the thought that the man fleeing was flying down the road at an alarming speed, endangering all the travelers on the highway trying to get to their family holiday destinations.

  He and Lisa didn’t make the final arrest, but they had to spend time writing up the report at the end of their shift. Finally, he wished his coworkers goodbye since he had the next day off. The crisp air nipped as he jogged out to the parking lot. He was almost to his vehicle when Brad called out to him.

  Turning, he waited as the detective caught up to him. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I know things will be nuts through the holidays, but once we get into January, I wanted to offer to help you study for the detective’s examination. I still have some notes that I thought you might find useful. If not, no worries. I just wanted to make the offer.”

  Touched by Brad’s generosity, he nodded with enthusiasm as a swell of gratitude filled him. “I’m not too proud to say I’ll take all the help I can get. So thanks in advance, and we’ll set up times at your convenience.”

  With handshakes and a hearty backslap, they separated, and he continued to his SUV. During the drive to his apartment, he plotted out how to carve time between his rotating shifts and Brad’s day shifts to ensure they would have maximum time to review anything Brad wanted to share. Adding in the study time he would need on his own, he recognized the path to becoming a detective was not just a career ambition but was a calling that demanded everything of him.

  A sliver of unease passed through him for the first time since he’d started seeing Belinda, and he wondered if the timing was as good as he’d thought the other day. The sex had been mind-blowing, and just being with her had quickly become all he’d wanted to do. It wouldn’t be easy to make adequate time for his career and a new romance. Was the timing fair to either of them?

  Once home, he ate quickly and looked at the stack of notes he had already amassed. He felt the familiar stirring of excitement at his career trajectory, but now it was tinged with a hint of trepidation.

  Rising early the following morning, he went for a run to clear his mind. Once showered, he stood in front of his closet. He had told Belinda to dress casually for Thanksgiving, but he knew she would make an effort. While he usually didn’t spend much time concerned with what he wore, he grabbed a pair of clean, fairly new jeans and paired it with a dark green button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

  Right at ten o’clock, he parked in front of the bakery, and as he climbed from his vehicle, he spied Belinda struggling to make it out the door with her arms full. He hustled over, immediately taking the handles of the bags from her. “What is all this?”

  “Bess felt so badly that we weren’t together for Thanksgiving that she baked extra goodies for me to share with your family.”

  He was struck by her generosity. “Whoa! How much did she bake?” Amusement and awe filled his voice.

  “A cake, two pies, and a dozen of the éclairs that you love.”

  He looked at her, then down at the bags in his hands as they made it to his SUV. “Which bag has the éclairs?”

  Her brow furrowed at his question, and she leaned over to peer inside the bags. “This one,” she said, pointing. He set that bag farther into the back of his SUV. “Why did you want to know?”

  “Because those aren’t going into my brother's house. Those are for me!”

  “Aaron! You can’t eat a dozen éclairs!”

  “Who says I can’t? Anyway, my brother is getting a cake and some pies from this deal. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  She laughed and placed her hand in his as he opened her door and assisted her. The drive only took fifteen minutes, and he pulled into a driveway that led to a neat yard and a small two-story house.

  “Oh, I like their home,” Belinda enthused. She laughed and blushed. “I only saw the back and the kitchen the other day.”

  He chuckled, then shifted slightly. His cock needed no reminder of their visit to Andy’s house. He’d thought of little else. “Andy bought it a while back, and Ivy has now moved in with him.”

  “Did they date in high school?”

  Barking out a rude noise, Aaron shook his head. “No! They actually hated each other.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, but adulthood changes everything. They just met up a while back and got together. I’ll tell you that crazy story sometime.”

  She leaned closer and kissed him gently. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  He grabbed the bags and led her to the front door, where Andy met them with a welcoming smile.

  “Hi, I’m Andy. Happy Thanksgiving!”

  “Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.”

  Aaron stepped closer. “This is Belinda Crowder.”

  “Come on in, you two.”

  Andy led them inside, and as Aaron moved to the kitchen to hand the bakery bags to Ivy, he caught the wide-eyed look Andy aimed his way. He managed to lift both bags with his middle finger raised in silent response. His brother just laughed and escorted Belinda into the kitchen as well.

  His dad and girlfriend, Sally, came bustling in, their arms full of bags, just before Ivy’s parents arrived. Introductions were made, and once everyone discovered that Belinda had brought desserts from Bess’s Bakery, they were thrilled, exclaiming over the offerings. Aaron leaned against the doorframe leading into the kitchen and watched the gathering. Belinda was smiling, drawn into a conversation with Ivy and Sally as they set the food on the counter.

  He stood to the side, talking to Ivy’s dad, and caught Belinda’s eye from across the room. She grinned and made her way over to him. Aaron accepted the beer Andy brought over, then stood with his arm around Belinda as they chatted with his brother. She easily conversed with the men, laughing at Andy’s jokes and discovering that Ivy’s parents were teachers she’d had and loved. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d brought a woman around who seemed to fit so easily with the family. His last girlfriend had stood to the side at a family barbecue and tapped her foot as though bored.

  Once the food was ready and the table set, they all took their seats, and Andy performed the honors of carving the turkey. As they ate, the conversation moved to Aaron’s upcoming preparation for the detective’s exam. He felt the same nerves shooting through his stomach that he’d felt when he was much younger and in school—constantly feeling a little behind and like I had to work a little harder.

  Sally asked Belinda about her photography business, and the tension surrounding him eased as the focus moved to someone else.

  Once the meal was over, the men washed the dishes as the women divided the leftovers and put them away. After a while, Sally and their dad left, both claiming they needed a nap. Soon, Ivy’s parents left, too. Ivy and Belinda moved to the living room with wine, and he and Andy headed to the backyard to chop wood for their wood-burning stove.

  “I have to work off some of those calories I just stuffed down my face,” Andy said, picking up his ax.

  “I saw you get an extra piece of cake as well as a piece of pie,” Aaron joked.

  Their conversation flowed as it always did. At five years apart, the two brothers had always been close as children, which continued into adulthood. They carried armfuls of the wood to the back porch, stacking it next to the house.

  Andy looked at him and said, “Belinda seems real nice.”

  “She is,” Aaron agreed but stiffened as he heard a tone in his brother’s voice that he couldn’t identify.

  “Think she’s got any lasting power?”

  Straightening, Aaron lowered his brow. “What?”

  “Maybe that’s not fair⁠—”

  “You think?” he bit out.

  “Come on, Aaron,” Andy continued, standing in front of him, their gazes locked. “I swear, you date women in seasons!”

  “What the fuck⁠—”

  “Spring, summer, winter, fall. Okay… sometimes you’ll skip a season. Every time you end up with a girlfriend, you bring her around to meet Dad and me, and then you break up with them shortly after. It’s gotten to where Dad and I don’t try too hard to get to know them because they’ll be gone soon after.”

  Aaron jammed his fists onto his hips but remained quiet. Whatever was on Andy’s mind, he knew his brother would spit it out eventually.

  “Look, I’m not trying to be a dick, bro. I think Belinda’s beautiful, smart, and funny. She’s different from the type of woman you usually date.”

  Aaron’s brows now rose to his forehead. “Type? What type?”

  “You know who you bring around. The kind of woman who is fine to date for a month or so, and then you drop them because they never had any staying power to begin with. I’ve never once seen you with any woman who was going to last.”

  “You make it sound like I’m some kind of player who’s just after a quick fuck, and then I move on.”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. You don’t go for hookups. You don’t mind going out with someone and making it exclusive. You’ll take them to dinner, bring ’em to a family gathering, but you break it off before it can get serious. You make sure to dump them before they have a chance to walk out on you. I used to think you’d date someone you knew would be easy to dump without your heart getting involved.”

  “Since when did you become a relationship analyst?” Aaron asked, trying to change the serious conversation to one that was more comfortable, considering his brother was right.

  “In all honesty, I was never concerned because as long as you were happy, that’s all I cared about. All of your past girlfriends were nice, but I never saw you getting serious about any of them. None of them seemed right for you. But in spending the past couple of hours with Belinda, she seems different. It just makes me wonder when you’re going to dump her and if it’s going to finally hurt you instead of just her.”

  He sighed, irritated by Andy’s analysis of his previous relationships, but couldn’t argue that Andy was right. He pulled off the gloves he’d worn as they had chopped and carried the wood, and handed them back to Andy. “All I know is that I’m having fun for now. As you said, Belinda is a great girl.”

  “Yeah, but a relationship takes time. You’ve got that detective exam to study for after the holidays. You know you’ll be fine, but I know you’ll throw yourself into studying for it.”

  “Yeah, I will. But we both know it’s going to take a hell of a lot of work for me to achieve becoming a detective.”

  “How will you have the time to work on that and a new relationship at the same time? Don’t you see that as just another reason to break it off?”

  “I don’t know.” He sighed heavily and dropped his chin to stare at his boots for a moment. Lifting his head, he held his brother’s gaze.

  Andy clapped him on the back. “You’re going to make detective, Aaron. We all believe in you and will do anything we can to help.”

  “I appreciate that ’cause you’re right. I have no idea how to make it all work, even with a woman as great as Belinda.”

  9

  “Think she’s got any lasting power?”

  “...you date women in seasons.”

  “...you break up with them shortly after.”

  “You make sure to dump them before they have a chance to walk out on you.”

  “…without your heart getting involved.”

  “I have no idea how to make it all work, even with a woman as great as Belinda.”

  Belinda felt the lash of each sentence flaying across her skin. She and Ivy had sat in the living room, enjoying getting to know each other as the men had gone outside to chop wood. They’d laughed and talked about their careers, growing up on the shore, as well as the Bergstrom men. She’d even confessed how much she liked Aaron. “He’s the first man I feel completely comfortable with in a long time.”

  “Oh,” Ivy had squealed, clapping her hands. “He deserves someone like you. I’m so glad he has you in his life!”

  When Ivy went to refill their wineglasses, Belinda excused herself to go to the powder room. Located at the back of the house, it had a small window covered by blinds. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but Aaron’s and Andy’s voices carried easily as they stood on the back deck so close to where she was.

  It didn’t matter that Andy had said he thought she was different or that it would be difficult for Aaron to walk away. What had really struck her was how she’d thought meeting his family was special. It appeared Aaron had a habit of bringing women to family gatherings, even if he was going to break up with them soon. Is that what he plans for me?

  She’d never believed in insta-love, but she definitely believed in love and knew it could strike at any time when the right one was near. She was already falling for Aaron, feeling the building blocks of emotions cement together.

  And now, after overhearing that conversation, they came crumbling down. Quickly washing her hands, she darted out of the powder room and back into the living room before the men returned. By the time Aaron and Andy walked into the room with an armload of wood and set about starting a fire, her forced smile was firmly on her face.

  She shoved her turbulent emotions into the mental box where she could hopefully slam the lid. She listened intently to the conversation around her in a way that she hoped no one suspected she understood her position in the gathering. I’m simply the one who he’s with now. By next season, he’ll have someone else.

  Her heart ached, and she felt anger build—not so much toward Aaron but more toward herself. She’d allowed herself to think that a man she’d had a crush on since she was in high school had finally noticed her all these years later. How stupid am I? That could be any number of Hallmark movies! Only now did she know there wouldn’t be a happy ending.

  She had no idea why he usually broke things off before the relationship had a chance, but as the evening came to a close, she was determined not to wait around to be the one who got dumped.

  When it was time to leave, she hugged Ivy with heartfelt sincerity, thrilled that she had a chance to get to know her better. Even though Andy’s overheard words had hurt, she enjoyed getting to meet him, too. After all, it wasn’t his fault—he was simply speaking the truth to Aaron.

  Once in the car, she finally let the pain of holding on to a fake smile ease as she blew out a long breath. Staring out the windshield, she felt Aaron’s gaze on the side of her head as they drove back to her apartment.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, and she heard the concern in his tone.

  She twisted her head and could see the worry in his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about how lovely your family is. It was nice not to be alone for Thanksgiving, so thank you for inviting me.”

  He reached over and placed his hand on hers. “I loved having you there with me and my family. You fit right in.”

  A tiny scoff puffed from her lips. How many times have you said those words as you left a family event with your seasonal girlfriend? Another moment of silence passed.

  “You seem very quiet. I wasn’t sure if you had a good time. Or… um… maybe somebody said something that upset you?”

  “What on earth could anyone say that would’ve upset me?” She gently shook her head, then sighed heavily. “I’m exhausted, and wine makes me sleepy.”

  He nodded slowly, and she hoped he bought her excuses because she wasn’t ready to face the fallout from what she’d overheard. Soon, they were at her apartment, and as much as she wanted the day to be over, he walked her upstairs, and she forced another smile on her lips as he entered her apartment.

  It hurt to know that if she hadn’t overheard their conversation, she would have invited him to come in, sit for a while, and have a drink. They’d watch some TV, then make out on the couch while she hoped it would lead to her bed and sex that she knew was amazing. But now, she just wanted to go to bed, give in to the inner turmoil, and have a good cry.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She rested her cheek against his heartbeat, giving in to the desire to feel what she had wanted and what she thought could be. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out everything she’d heard and just relax into the moment. Inhaling deeply, she memorized the fresh-air scent that she’d come to associate with him. Leaning her head back, she stared into the face of the man who, in just a couple of weeks, she had already developed feelings for. It felt so right to be in his arms.