Promises Promises

Chapter 16

I was off work the next day and happy to escape the whispers that had followed me out of the police station yesterday afternoon. And to the coffee shop later that evening. And into traffic on the way home when Leann's cousin, Nora, pulled up beside me at the stoplight, bouncing her eyebrows at me with a thumbs up.

People in Fairhaven could be relentless. I hated being the topic of gossip, especially in my place of work, but I guess there are some things you just can't escape in a small town.

To keep my mind off of it and mentally prepare for my upcoming night out, I was busy in the kitchen, finally making those long overdue sugar cookies.

Hands covered in dough with the sounds of the 80s streaming softly from my phone, I tried to get lost in my own little world, but one tiny fact kept nagging at me, and I couldn't fully relax.

Craning my neck for a view into the living room, I snagged another glance out the front window, spying on Spence's house with zero shame. I noted the gunmetal gray Camaro parked in the driveway, and since I hadn't heard him leave on his bike, I knew he was over there.

The recon was a preparation tactic, really. I didn't want to be caught off guard.

So far, I hadn't heard a word from him, but that didn't necessarily mean he didn't know about my non-date with Alex tonight. It just meant he was biding his time, calculating things as always, the same way he managed to hijack my ride from Leann and get me onto the back of his bike. Wind blowing across my skin, arms wrapped tight around his waist.

I hated that I was still thinking about it.

The oven beeped to let me know it was preheated, and I was placing the last rolled sugar cookie onto the baking tray when it happened.

Without so much as a knock or a doorbell ring, my screen door opened, the rusted metal screeching with his entrance like a built-in warning.

I held my breath as footsteps trailed down the hallway towards my kitchen, but when he appeared in front of me, the strangest sense of nostalgia hit me right in the chest.

It wasn't the first time he'd let himself into my house and I was sure it wouldn't be the last. I was also sure that he was only here to interrogate me about my plans for the night, but that didn't seem to matter.

Despite knowing what he was here for this time, all I could think about were those other times he'd let himself in. When his hungry stride led him right to me and he only had one thing on his mind.

My heart pumped with the memories as my eyes skimmed him up and down and back again, mouth watering a little without consent from my brain.

Shit. Shit. I felt like Leann. Perpetually horny, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. Why couldn't I just stay mad at this man?!

Spence stood there wearing casual jeans and his favorite pair of Vans. They had to be years old at this point, destroyed with love, and no longer the light gray color they started as. His hair was damp with the remnants of a recent shower, and the ink on his arm trailed down from the sleeve of a crisp white t-shirt.

Normally, that would have been enough to tug at the strings of my attention, but he was also nurturing a five o'clock shadow along his jaw, and I couldn't seem to look away from it. I loved seeing him on his days off from the station, his face not shaven to regulation for a change. He looked so good with facial hair.

I was completely distracted by the sight of him, and he seemed equally afflicted as his gaze swept over me, the mess I was making, and then back to my face with the strangest look in his eyes.