She rested her head on his shoulder. How she wished he could wrap his strong arms around her the way he used to. “I think it’s finally over.”

“I think you’re right. Since I’m here, I’m going to go do some visiting. I’ll be back in a bit, Nick.”

“I’ll be right here,” Nick said.

“That’s what I figured.” Skip turned his chair and started down the long corridor, no doubt heading for Chief Farnsworth’s office.

Nick held out a hand to her. That he did just that and nothing more finally did it for her. Curling her hand around his, she fell the rest of the way into love with him.

Chapter 30

“I’m sorry,” Sam said when they were in her office.

“What the hell for?” Nick asked.

“For using you and our relationship to stick it to him. I didn’t know you were there. I hate that you heard it.”

“You think that bothers me?” His hazel eyes were bright with emotion. “You nailed him. That’s all that matters. So what did you say that made him go ballistic?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

Reluctantly, Sam told him what she’d said. “I don’t want you to think…”

As if he could no longer resist, he put his arms around her. “What?”

Again her cheeks burned with embarrassment and discomfort, but this had to be said. “That I think of what we do…together…as fucking.”

“Baby, come on. I know that.”

“Because it’s so much more than that,” she said, looking up at him.

“Yes.” He brushed his lips over hers. “It is.”

“I love you, too.”

He went perfectly still. “Yeah?”

Pleased to have caught him off guard, she nodded. “Since that night at the party for me, too. I shouldn’t have married Peter for many reasons, but mostly because I always loved you. Always.”

“Samantha,” he whispered, leaning in for a deep, passionate kiss.

“No PDA on duty, or any other time,” she mumbled when she came to her senses and remembered where they were.

“Very special occasion.” His hands slid down to cup her ass and pull her tight against his erection. “Does that door have a lock?”

With her hands on his chest, she tried to push him back. “Don’t even think about it.”

“I’m way past thinking.”

She went up on tiptoes to roll his bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

Groaning, he released her. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Um, what he said about me…at the end… We should probably talk about that.”

Nick rested a finger on her lips. “Later.”

Grateful for the reprieve, she took a deep breath. “So what’s with you and my dad?” she asked, grabbing a half-empty bottle of soda from her desk.

“We’ve reached an understanding of sorts.”