“Do not ever apologize for feeling,” I quickly said. “That is what makes you so perfect in my eyes. You never once hide what you feel. You care, and that is what matters. You care enough to find justice for victims many forgot about. You care enough to put yourself in danger just to protect this town.”

“I can’t help it. Someone needs to care for them,” she said.

“I am glad I met you, Lenny,” I admitted, and she glanced up from the book.

She sucked in her lower lip trying to hide the growing smile, her cheeks warming.

“You are my aftermath,” I continued. “After every horrible thing we’ve been through, this is the future we deserve. I promise you, we will get justice for the victims, and you will never have to live in fear again.”

Before I could say another word, Len leaned in and crashed her lips into mine, taking me by surprise.

They were light and delicate, gentle. Shock overcame me for only a moment before I returned the kiss just as passionately. Each second that passed I wanted to savor forever. It was everything I imagined, sweet but desperate. There was nothing that could take this moment from me.

Not the thoughts I kept trying to shove away, not Agent Grey and the rest of the FBI, and certainly not the Coastal Killer.

Len’s hands draped over my shoulders and clasped behind my neck as she settled in to the kiss. I pulled back for only a second, our noses practically touching. The warm flecks in the brown of her eyes were even more noticeable up close.

I wanted everything she had to offer. Those were dangerous thoughts, but in the moment, I couldn’t help myself. All logic went out the window.

“Are you sure?” I asked Len.

Never once did I want her to feel she had to take this risk.

“I have never once been more sure in my life,” she whispered.

If I don’t kiss her again, I might lose my mind. 

There was nothing that could hold me back anymore. I kissed her again with even more intensity. My lips pressed to hers, and I let my hand drift up to cup her cheek. I was gentle, but I let myself hold her with a certain level of desperation.

Len was everything.

Every logical thought in me told me to pull back, that the FBI would find out and throw me off the case the moment they arrived. That this would only incite the killer further, their obsession with Len growing by the day.

Her fingers dug into the back of my neck, like she was clinging to me, afraid to let go. The cool summer breeze up on the cliffside blew her curls forward, tickling my skin. An eternity passed before I even considered pulling back.