The conversation with Nick stayed with Sam long after he went back to work. She was still getting used to the rules of a real relationship. When she was married to Peter, she’d made an art form out of keeping things from him. His propensity to overreact and overanalyze every little thing made him the last person she wanted to share anything with. Nick was nothing like Peter, but old habits were hard to break.

Chewing on her pen as she stared at the computer screen, Sam thought about Nick leaving the Capitol to come have it out with her when he no doubt had a million other things to do. That was another way he wasn’t like Peter who had loved to give her the silent treatment—sometimes for weeks on end—rather than taking the initiative to talk about whatever was on his mind.

The two men were so diametrically different it was pointless to compare them. Then why, she wondered, was she holding out on moving in with Nick? If she already knew he was nothing like Peter, and since he had proven as much—many times over—what was the hang up? “Hmm,” she said. “Definitely something to think about.”

“Talking to yourself, boss?” Freddie asked, returning from the coffee shop on the corner with a tray containing two tall cups.

Sam stood up and reached for the tray. “I’m going to send you home if you keep pushing it.”

“I went to get coffee.” He flashed the smile that made even the strongest of women go weak in the knees. “Relax, will ya?”

Sam took a sip of her coffee and was surprised by an unexpected surge of emotion. “You scared me,” she said, her voice hoarse as she glanced over at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you ever do anything that stupid again, I’ll kill you with my own hands, do you hear me?”

“If I ever do anything that stupid again, I’ll deserve it.”

“At least you know you’re stupid,” she muttered. “That’s something.”

“Hey!”

“And what’s the cell phone rule?”

“Believe me, I’m never going to forget that, either.”

“Humor me.”

“Shut the freaking phone off before you sneak up on a perp.”

“Here I was thinking you were coming along so nicely, and then you go and screw up so monumentally. And to go in without backup! Don’t even get me started on that!”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“I appreciate what you were trying to do and why you were trying to do it, but don’t risk yourself like that again. You’re no good to me dead.”

“Gee, I’m really feeling the love, Lieutenant.”

“Good.” She met his chocolate brown eyes with an intense stare. It was as close as she would ever come to telling him how she felt about him.