Laughing, she closed her eyes and held on tight to him and the love he’d brought into her life. “You are just too good to me, Chief Taylor.”

The engagement party broke up shortly after the guests of honor left in an ambulance. Kara’s parents had tried in vain to salvage the festivities but gave up when it became clear the party was over. After saying good-bye to their family and friends, Adam extended his hand to Abby to walk the short distance to the house they rented from Janey.

“That, right there, is why we should never have an engagement party,” Adam said as they navigated the crowded downtown, which was overrun with tourists late on that sunny Sunday afternoon.

Abby had no idea what to say to his joking comment. She’d had reason to wonder if they’d ever have an engagement, let alone a party. At times, she feared she’d made another mistake by moving in with him before they were married. Since she was right there, at his disposal, what reason did he have to want to move things forward? If her father said one more word about cows and milk in regard to her and Adam, she’d never speak to him again.

The sad part, if you wanted to call it sad, was that she’d never been happier in her life. Adam was everything she’d ever wanted—and their relationship was light years better than the ones she’d had with his brother Grant and her ex-fiancé, Cal. Adam understood her on a deep, intense level that had created an indelible bond between them.

And the sex continued to be a revelation. All of which had her wondering whether he had any plans at all to take the next step with her.

“Hello? Anyone in there?”

Abby realized she’d zoned out on him. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

“I was making jokes about why we’ll never have an engagement party.”

She glanced over at him, slayed as always by the wavy dark hair, the glasses that made him look like a smart, sexy nerd, the sardonic little smile and the light dusting of stubble on his cheeks that made for one incredibly sexy package.

He bumped her hip with his. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Dan and Kara, and Jim with the knife, and how I hope Dan’s okay. He’s just finally back to normal after what happened on the sailboat, and now this.”

“Is that all you were thinking about?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess. So you don’t really know what you were thinking about?”

His persistence had her looking over at him again. “Why do you want to know so badly?”

He surprised her when he led her across the street to a bench that overlooked the ferry landing below. “Sit.”

“Okay…”

Adam sat next to her, turning to face her. “Talk.”