No matter how tempting Kira might be.
‘Okay.’ Kira nodded. ‘Deal.’
‘There’s something else I have to tell you.’
‘Okay…’
‘The whole town thinks there’s a dead body buried somewhere on your farm, and they sent me here to find it.’
‘The whole town thinks what?!’ Obviously, Bennett’s solid body beneath her had impaired her hearing somehow, because what he’d just said made absolutely no sense.
He winced. ‘The town thinks the old owner buried a body here. They didn’t want you to find it and be … traumatized … I guess. Honestly, their reasoning is all a little fuzzy at this point.’
Kira pushed up on his chest, but she wasn’t in a hurry to move off of him completely. Bennett was very comfortable. ‘And why do they think this?’
‘Something about a cryptic letter left behind after he died. The town seems split between a possible dead body and some kind of treasure, or maybe money…’
‘Treasure?! Money?! Bennett!’
His eyes widened as her voice rose.
‘If there is a treasure on this farm, I need it!’
He let out a chuckle and she felt it rumble through her chest. ‘I don’t think there’s anything here, Peaches.’
She didn’t bother to correct the nickname. It was growing on her. The fact that he’d wanted to give her one was growing on her, too.
‘That’s probably what that cryptic list was all about, the treasure!’
‘Kira…’
‘And I found his will. Edwin didn’t have many relatives. He left a lot of stuff here in the house. Maybe there is something valuable here.’
‘It seems unlikely.’
‘Oh, and why is that, detective? You did such a thorough search while you were walking your dogs and banging around in my basement?’
‘What was I supposed to do? Start digging holes between your trees?’
‘You were supposed to tell me!’
‘Right. Sorry about that. But in my defense…’
She rolled her eyes but was having trouble keeping the smile off her face. Especially since Bennett had started rubbing up and down her back with his big warm hands.
‘You didn’t seem open to input when I first met you.’
She huffed and he laughed.
‘And after that, I just wanted an excuse to keep coming up here.’
‘Because of your love of Christmas trees and bad hot chocolate?’ she teased.
‘Yep, that was exactly it.’ He planted a kiss on her chin, and she tipped toward him, letting him capture her lips. ‘Oh, and I love to be verbally abused by local business owners.’
She giggled and he kissed the sound from her lips.
Kira had been undervaluing kissing her entire life. Kissing Bennett, being kissed by him, was an event in and of itself. And right now, it was lazy and delicious and warm. She felt like she could do this forever, kiss him in front of a crackling fire.
She didn’t want it to end.
Stretched out on top of him, his hands on her body, Kira had never felt more content.
It was scary.
And dangerous.
She pulled away and sat up, straddling a rosy-cheeked, swollen-lipped Bennett and he looked so damn good it scared her even more.
It was going to hurt like hell when he left.
And if she was already a half-person without Chloe, how much of herself would even be left?
How had she let this happen?
Why was she incapable of making a single good decision?
