Now and Forever (17 page)

“Holy fuck,” Ben muttered. “This is . . . unexpected.”

Flannigan nodded. “I didn’t believe it myself at first. But these guys I used to track down the point of access into the Murphy Kline servers are the best of the best. They’re both looking at ten years for hacking, and I told them I’d talk to the DA about lightening it a little if they could crack this for me. I ran it by our tech division, and they said this is solid.”

“What do you think?” Ben dropped the file to his desk and eyed the young officer. The other two detectives who’d worked the case sat silently, hands in their laps. Flannigan had been in charge of this one, so he had to answer Ben’s questions.

“I . . . uh. What do you mean?”

“Do you think you’ve conducted a thorough investigation? Do you feel confident in it?”

Flannigan shifted in his seat, his fair cheeks darkening. “Do you see something we missed, Sergeant?”

“No. Answer my question.”

“Well, I . . . yeah. I do now. I know we’re probably in deep shit for—”

Ben held up a hand to stop him. “Yeah, you are. But for now let’s focus on this case, not your lazy asses. You shitheads are my eyes and ears in the field. I can’t investigate every goddamn case that comes to this division myself, but I have to sign off on them. I don’t get to choose who gets assigned to my division any more than you get to choose me, but you guys . . .” He rubbed his jaw, frustrated.

“I’m sorry, Sergeant Montrose,” Flannigan said. “We fucked up. Like you said, we got lazy.”

“Are we getting fired?” one of the others blurted.

“That’s not up to me,” Ben said. “I’m recommending you all get moved back down to traffic, but that doesn’t mean it’ll happen.”

“Shit,” muttered the oldest detective, Burns. “I’ve got two ex-wives and three kids to support.”

“You should’ve considered that before you turned in this half-assed excuse for an investigation,” Ben said, picking up the file and tossing it back to his desk, disgusted. “There’s a lot of power entrusted in cops, and being so fucking careless and lazy with it is an abuse of that power. Get your miserable asses out of my sight. I’ll mop up the rest of this mess.”

Flannigan opened his mouth to speak, but Ben raised his eyebrows, and the younger officer changed his mind. He scurried from the room behind the others. Ben picked up the phone to ask another sergeant to deliver the news to the DA’s office and get the charges against Cole dismissed. He was already closer to this case than he wanted to be.

***

Emma was restless. She’d been unable to stop thinking about her future with Cole since her conversation with Layla about it. Cole was on the couch with Ben, engaged in a conversation about hockey playoffs. She watched him, noting that the blue of his flannel shirt matched his eyes. The eyes that melted her on a daily basis. The eyes that had darkened with hurt when she hadn’t accepted his proposal.

“Hey, earth to Emma,” Layla said, bumping her hip against Emma’s.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry.”

“Have you talked to Mom?” Layla asked. Emma reached for her sister’s wine glass and got a dirty look. She lowered her nose into the glass and breathed in the heady aroma of currants, chocolate and relaxation.

“You can’t drink wine.” Layla reached for the glass.

“I’m sniffing it -- back off.”

Layla shook her head and laughed. “You have a problem.”

“Nine months without wine will be a problem for you, too. And yeah, I’ve talked to Mom a few times. She calls to ask how I am when Dad’s not around.”

“She’s upset about how things are between you and them.”

“I think she agrees with me but doesn’t have the guts to challenge Dad about it,” Emma said.

Layla took a long, delicious-looking sip of her wine. “I can’t imagine. I challenge Ben about what we should get on our pizza.”

Emma stacked the dinner dishes next to the sink and dried her hands on a dish towel. “I’m disappointed, I guess. She ought to stand up to him.”

“Maybe she is. Just because they don’t disagree in front of us doesn’t mean they never disagree, Em. I know Mom convinced Dad to let me go to prom when I was a sophomore. He didn’t want you going to school in Paris, either. He didn’t suddenly come around. Mom works on him when they’re alone.”

Emma considered. “I guess so.”

“It’s good for parents to be that way, don’t you think? You and Cole won’t disagree about parenting things in front of your kids, will you?”

“We’re so far from all that. But I guess, yeah, now that you mention it . . . that probably is best.”

Layla finished off her wine and set her glass on the counter. “I know Dad’s being a jerk about this. But he loves you and sometimes it just takes him time to come around. And you’re his baby girl. Can you imagine if you and Cole had a daughter and she came home with the guy who got her pregnant?”

“Oh my God. That would be—”

“Hey, let’s watch this movie,” Ben called from the living room. Emma and Layla walked in from the kitchen and the romantic comedy was paused on the TV screen. Layla practically sprinted into Ben’s lap on the couch and Emma smiled when she remembered they were on a sex hiatus.

Cole was sitting in a recliner, and he reached an arm toward Emma. Even after all the time they’d been together, she occasionally had an urge to look behind her and see if his inviting look was for a woman standing behind her.

She approached and he wrapped an arm around her waist, lowering her into his lap. The fresh smell of his aftershave reminded her that he showered first in the mornings so she could sleep a little longer. He’d crawl into bed after his shower and wake her up with his warm skin and clean scent. Often it led to the morning sex they could have now that he didn’t have to go the office so early.

“There better be some boobs in this,” Ben said. “Not just cleavage, but full nipple shots. If I’m watching a chick flick, I better get some boob action out of it.”

Layla said something in his ear and he flipped her onto her back, making her squeal, and leaned over her for a kiss.

“You comfortable?” Cole murmured in Emma’s hair.

“Very.” She curled up against him and he spread a blanket over her. He moved her hair over one shoulder and kissed a bare spot of skin on her neck. It was a small gesture, but something about it reminded her that no man had ever made her feel like he did. He didn’t even have to say the words – she felt his love. It had passed through his lips into her when he’d kissed her just now.

Emma threw the blanket off her legs and slid out of the chair.

“You okay?” Cole asked. She nodded and broke out in a wide grin. Balancing herself with her hands on his thighs, she got down on her knees and looked up at him.

“What are you doing, Em?” Cole gave her a puzzled look.

She locked eyes with him and took a deep breath. “I feel like an epic fool for turning down your proposal. You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed about having in my life and so much more. You’ve become my best friend who happens to also be incredibly sexy and sweet. Sometimes I still marvel that a man this amazing is mine. But I don’t just want you to be mine today. I want you every day. Today, tomorrow and fifty years from now. I want you to be mine now and forever. So . . . will you marry me, Cole?”

His blue eyes softened and he leaned forward, cupping her face in his hands. “Yes. I want you to be mine forever too, Em. I love you.”

He kissed her gently and then stood, helping her up. When he swept her into his arms and kissed her again, happiness swelled in her chest.

Layla squealed and scrambled off the couch. “Congratulations, you guys!”

“Thanks,” Emma said. “It’s still official even though I don’t have a ring, right?”

“That’s okay, I do,” Cole said, reaching into his pocket. “When we left here I was planning to take you to the pier where we went on our first date and give you some good news and propose to you again.”

“What? Really?” Emma covered her mouth with a hand.

“But this was perfect, baby. It was. Thank you.”

He held up her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. Emma jumped back into his arms. It
was
perfect. She had her man, which made facing his legal troubles seem less daunting.

“So the good news,” Cole said, looking down at her. “Thanks to Ben and Layla, the charges against me have been dropped.”

Emma closed her eyes against the tears that welled. The relief was overwhelming, slackening her muscles to the point that she had to sit down. She cried into her hands, looking up after a few seconds.

“You all knew this and didn’t tell me?”

“Don’t be upset,” Cole said in his best
calm down
tone. “I wanted to surprise you by proposing as a guy with a job who isn’t accused of a crime.”

“I’m not upset,” she said. “I’m just so happy I can hardly stand it.” She slid up from her seat and walked to Layla, grabbing her in a hug.

“Congratulations, you guys – on both counts,” Layla said, rubbing a hand across Emma’s back.

“Thank you for everything,” Emma said. “I knew Cole was innocent, and I knew you were the best attorney for him. But still, things can go wrong sometimes, and I’m just so happy you made this happen.”

“Ben had to kick some ass, too. It was just an amateur investigation and a crazy good setup job. The partner from my old firm who helped me said he’s never seen anything like it.”

“Who set you up?” Emma looked at Cole expectantly.

“Matt.”

“Matt?” Emma cried. “There’s no way!”

“It was him,” Cole said. “Apparently he’s been jealous of me moving up while he gets left behind.”

“It was him for sure?”

Ben cut in. “Yes. I made sure no more mistakes will be made on this investigation. I know it’s not worth much after what you guys have been through, but I’m sorry about everything. Detectives will be demoted or fired over this. There’s no excuse.”

“It doesn’t come back on you, does it?” Emma asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

“No. It’s my job to sign off on what they do, but some of that information was falsified and I had no way of knowing that until we dug deeper.”

“Why would someone falsify something like that?”

“To cover their lazy asses,” Ben said, sounding disgusted. “Most of the time, the person who seems guilty is. They made some assumptions they shouldn’t have and failed to check things out they should have.”

“I’m just relieved it’s over,” Emma said, turning to Cole. “Does this mean you’ll get your job back?”

“Yeah, I talked to McNeil this afternoon. They want me to come back Monday.”

Emma smiled, but felt a twinge of sorrow. “I’ll miss having you at the bakery.”

“I’ll miss it, too. But this will allow us to hire more help so you won’t have to work twelve hours a day anymore. I hate to see you on your feet so much when you’re pregnant.”

Emma nodded. “That would be good. I’m tired all the time. And it would help when the baby’s born, too.”

Ben grunted and they all looked at him.

“Sorry, I just didn’t realize a Carson girl could graciously accept a man wanting to take care of her.”

Layla rolled her eyes and glared at him. “He’s not expecting her to close the bakery and have dinner on the table every night when he gets home. Help is one thing. Domination is another.”

Ben scoffed and there was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Layla clapped her hands and moved toward the kitchen.

“Let’s celebrate! I’ve got champagne. Em, you want some water in a champagne flute?”

“Ah, I think we may have another sort of celebration in mind,” Cole said, standing behind Emma and wrapping his arms around her waist. “We’ll take a rain check on the champagne.”

The hard lines of his chest against her back and shoulders made Emma anxious to cut out, too. They weren’t working at the bakery this weekend. She wanted to spend Friday night through Monday morning in bed with Cole, making love and planning their wedding.

From the feel of his erection against her lower back, she thought he’d be good with that.

“Thanks again, guys,” she said, slipping her coat on. “We’ll see you later.”

Ben grabbed his coat and moved to follow them.

“Don’t go,” Layla said to him.

“Why don’t we go out?” Ben said.

“No. We’ve been out for dinner every night this week. I want to stay home with you.”

“Promise not to turn me on?”

“I’ll change into dirty sweatpants and be a huge bitch all night.”

Emma shook her head as Cole closed the door to the apartment behind them.

“What the hell was that about?” he asked.

“They’re just dating until they get married. No more sex until the wedding night.”

Cole exhaled, an expression of disbelief on his face. “That’s the worst fucking idea I’ve ever heard.”

“You don’t want us to try it, then?”

“Hell no. I can hardly even wait ‘til we get home, let alone ‘til we get married.”

Emma laughed lightly. “When do you want to get married?”

“As soon as possible.” Cole reached for her hand and held it as they walked to his car. “I’m blown away that you proposed not even knowing the charges against me had been dropped. You must have a lot of faith in me.”

“You make it easy.”

“Are we gonna tell our parents?” They’d reached the car, and Cole arched his brows and met her eyes.

“Uh . . . eventually. But I’d like this weekend to just be about us. Happiness.”

Cole grinned and kissed her hand. “I plan to make you happy several times tonight.”

“Yes,” she said, smiling. “Now. Let’s go now.”

He opened the car door and Emma slid in, admiring her platinum engagement ring. She’d found the courage to go after what she wanted. Everything that had happened to this point suddenly felt right. It was supposed to be this way all along. The baby, the arrest, and even the proposal she hadn’t thought she’d have the courage for. All these things had shown her that she was stronger than she’d thought she was.

***

Ben arched his brows as he eyed Layla when she came out of the bedroom. Her low-waisted, form fitting yoga pants were a far cry from dirty sweatpants.

“Want another beer?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure.” He propped his long legs up on the coffee table. Prince looked at him eagerly, so Ben scooped him up and set him on the couch. As much as he’d said he didn’t want this, it was good. Being with Layla and Prince at her place felt more like being at home than his own small, silent apartment did. Her place was full of light and smelled vaguely of her perfume. But mostly it was home because she was here.