Forever Hers Walters, Ednah (best novels for teenagers .TXT) 📖

“I don’t mind.”

She made a face. But before she could come up with a response, Jimmy’s grandmother came around the house. The woman had to be in her seventies yet she walked like a much younger woman. She even wind surfed.

Eddie stood. “Morning, Catherine.”

“Good morning, dear. Nice morning for breakfast on the patio.”

“Yes, it is,” Amy said. “Join us, please. I made frittata.”

“No, no, dear. As much as I enjoy your cooking, I’ve already eaten. I was on my way for my morning walk when I saw your cars. What happened?”

“What do you mean?” Amy asked, but Eddie was already stepping away from the table.

“The tires are all flat and Amy, your windows are smashed.”

Eddie was off the deck before Catherine finished talking. Amy raced after him. They didn’t just smash her windows. They’d slashed hers seats and yanked out her audio system.

“Don’t touch anything,” Eddie warned, walking around the cars, looking for anything the burglars might have left behind.

“They’re back,” Amy whispered behind him.

“Who’s back?” Catherine asked.

“The burglars,” Amy improvised so calmly Eddie turned to look at her.

How could she be so calm? Eddie wanted to gut Nolan for the crap he was putting her through.

“Thank you for telling us, Catherine,” Amy added. “We’ll call the police and let them deal with this.”

She patted Amy’s arm. “Let me know what they say, dear. If they can’t catch these no-good thieves, my sons will move in with us and start a neighborhood patrol. They are both sharp-shooters,” she added and chuckled.

Eddie waited until the woman left for her walk then started for the house. After a few steps, he realized Amy wasn’t behind him. She was walking around the three cars, taking a thorough inventory. Even Baron and Kara’s SUV, which they’d been parking in the wide driveway to give room for the mats and punching bags, hadn’t remained unscathed. The tires were slashed and would all need to be replaced.

As for Amy, she didn’t lose it like an average woman would. She held it together. His baby was a survivor. She might have been victimized but she was no one’s victim. She could have stayed with Nolan, but she’d found the strength to walk away and move her child out of harm’s way. It took strength to stand up to a psycho.

From the moment he’d learned about Nolan, he’d seen her as someone that needed to be rescued and protected. Even as he taught her self-defense, he never imagined she’d use it because he, the big detective, would protect her. But the way she’d trained the last week, working morning and evening, determination in her expressive eyes, she had a goal. And that goal included protecting herself and her child. When he’d pieced together the puzzle that was Nolan, he’d put off telling her his theory for fear that it would be too much for her to handle. She’d handled it.

He didn’t know what he felt for her. Admiration. Awe. Love. He just knew he was one lucky bastard to have her in his life. He turned and closed the gap between them.

***

Amy looked up as Eddie walked toward her with determination in his steps and a look she couldn’t define in his eyes. He cupped her face, ducked his head and gave her a brief, possessive kiss, the kind that made her toes curl and blood sing, but he didn’t give her body time to appreciate the invasion. He lifted his head and grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Whoa, slow down. What was that kiss for?” She half jogged to keep up with his long strides.

He grinned. “That was because it’s Sunday.”

Warmth unfurled in her stomach and spread like a blossoming flower. “You’re talking about something we discussed last week instead of our vandalized cars?”

He stopped and looked into her eyes. “Yep. You know why? This,” he jerked his head to indicate the cars, “brings us closer to nailing Nolan, so I don’t want you to worry about him anymore. Focus on us. Our relationship.”

She studied him with a puzzled expression. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I want a relationship with you, Amy Kincaid. You and Raelynn. I want it all. I’m willing to learn. You’ll teach me.”

He was bold and gorgeous, and his timing sucked, but she couldn’t deny she wanted him. She chuckled. “I don’t remember offering.”

He gave her another quick kiss. “Think about it.”

As if she’d be able to think about anything else now, but she was wrong. As soon as she stepped inside the house, thoughts of Raelynn had her racing to the study. Her daughter would have to stay indoors until the police finished with the cars. Raelynn had come a long way and Amy refused to see her regress because of one act of vandalism.

“I’ll call the police,” Eddie said and disappeared toward his bedroom.

Amy checked on her daughter, who was curled up on a couch, her eyes glued to the screen. “You can watch a few more episodes today, sweetheart. I’ll bring you a snack later, okay?”

“’Kay, Mommy,” she said without looking away from the screen.

Closing the door to the study, Amy went to her desktop, tapped a key to get rid of the screen saver and searched recorded footage of the last twelve hours. Her security camera range didn’t extend beyond the hood of the cars, so all it caught was the back of the skulking man as he moved from car to car. He wore a ski mask.

Eddie reappeared with his cell phone glued to his ear and the computer tablet for the second surveillance system in his other hand.

“Three cars,” he said into the phone. “No, captain, we didn’t touch anything,” he snapped. “But that doesn’t mean our fingerprints aren’t all over them. Okay. Yes, everything photographed and documented.”

At last no one would accuse her of vandalizing her own car this time, not with Eddie as a witness. As soon as he sat and fired up