Other than a few text messages each day, email exchanges on their task force work and one brief call to update her on the funeral arrangements for Darius, Sera had had minimal contact with Gavin.
She understood why. She’d even encouraged it, the clear-eyed focus Gavin and his colleagues needed to hunt down the culprit up at Hell Gate something she supported.
The time apart had given her the space to work through her own thoughts and the overwhelming grief over Darius as well. Sera knew that she wasn’t at fault—Gavin, the rest of the Harbor team and pretty much the entire 86th were hunting the one responsible—but the terrible sorrow continued to batter her in waves.
And none of it, no matter how levelheaded she sought to be, changed the fact that she missed Gavin.
It was an odd sort of ache, she’d finally admitted to herself late last night as she tossed and turned. One that had actually developed after their night together and had only grown stronger with his reemergence into her life. What did it mean, to want someone this much after so short a time? And how was it possible she could feel this wide range of emotions for someone she didn’t really know?
Even if she had begun to know him better, seeing various sides of him with each hour they spent together. His dedication and devotion to his work, tied so intimately with his dedication and devotion to the people he worked with. It was fascinating to watch and something she really didn’t understand in her own life.
Yes, she supported her fellow ADAs, but their lives weren’t intertwined in the same way.
Yet the men and women of the 86th? Their lives depended on each other. Each dive together. Each day out on patrol. It was appealing in a way she never would have expected, Sera admitted to herself as she thought about her outing on the boat up to Hell Gate. There had been collaboration and a sort of coordination that spoke of deep training and shared responsibility.
It had been obvious later, too. The way the Harbor team had rallied around Jayden. And then the next day, the way Gavin, Arlo, Kerrigan and Wyatt had shared ideas in the precinct conference room. That shared risk created a bond that was as resolute as it was absolute.
And it gave her the inward courage she needed for what lay ahead that evening.
Aunt Robin and Uncle Enzo were coming to dinner to spend some time with Gavin, whom they only knew as a tenant and to learn about the baby. Her aunt and uncle were the closest thing she had to parents, and she’d owed them an update far sooner than now.
“But you’re doing it now,” she whispered to herself, breathing in for a shot of courage. They were her family, but she was still entitled to manage the personal details of her life as she saw fit. And, well...today she was managing those details by sharing her good news.
And introducing her aunt and uncle to Gavin.
Which was why, she told herself later, her heart leaped in her chest when the knock came at her front door at precisely seven. And why it positively melted as she took in the sight of him, in a dress shirt and slacks, two bouquets in hand.
“Gavin. They’re beautiful.”
“One for you.” He extended a handful of spring tulips in a riot of colors before leaning in to press a kiss on her cheek. “And one for your aunt.”
“She’s going to love them.”
“I hope so.”
Sera gestured him into her apartment, and as she did, she caught sight of the set of his lips, the tight wall of his shoulders and the way he kept clearing his throat.
He was nervous, too.
Whether it was the four days apart or her own nerves or the simple happiness at seeing him, it probably didn’t matter. But she laid a hand on his arm to stop his forward motion and, with her free hand settled her fingers against his shoulder and pulled him close.
Their lips met in a rush, a mix of need for one another and the most lovely sense of comfort at the end of the day. It was heady, she realized, to be able to find both with one person.
Desire and comfort.
Security and a needy sort of heat that scorched the blood.
Gavin wrapped an arm behind her waist, pulling her so close she worried she might crush the flowers between them.
And then she didn’t care as his lips ravished hers, his tongue sweeping against hers in promise.
They’d done a good job up to now of keeping a tight leash on the attraction that had driven them in their first meeting. It was never far from her thoughts—that exquisite night they spent together—but it wasn’t something she’d expected they could act on again, either.
Only now...
Now it seemed a bit inevitable, really. That there was some laughable shortsightedness she’d carried, thinking she could resist this man.
Why would she even want to?
Gavin lifted his head and stared down at her. His dark eyes held a wealth of emotions, but it was the gentle smile that struck a chord deep in her heart. “Your aunt and uncle will be here soon.”
“They will.”
“And we have a lot to tell them.”
She nodded, the seriousness of the evening coming back to her. “We do.”
“There are going to be questions about us. About what we mean to each other.”
She tried to pull away, the sudden dash of cold water on an otherwise heated moment harsh. Jarring.
And it was altogether a surprise when he held firm, gently keeping her in place in his embrace.
“Beyond the baby, I don’t know what our future holds, Sera.”
Wasn’t that part of what she struggled with, too? She cared for him, yet she didn’t really know what he wanted.
Or, if she were honest, exactly what she wanted.
