The knock on the door jolted me out of my blank stare. I was pretty sure I’d read the same paragraph about ten times. I set the book on the side table and pushed to my feet. Crossing to the door, I stopped a few steps away. What if it was Janet, back for round two?

“Open the door, Brown Eyes. I know you’re in there.”

Something in me eased at Crosby’s voice, warmth spreading through me. The fact that somewhere along the line, he had come to signify safety was concerning. I pushed the thought from my mind and opened the door. “Hey.”

Crosby pushed by me and into my space as if it were his own. Typical. “I need to give you a heads-up on something.”

I turned, shutting the door behind me. “Case-related?”

“Family.”

I fought the wince that wanted to surface. Crosby’s presence here with a familial warning could only mean one thing. “You met Janet.” My voice was flat, images of my mother making a fool of herself in front of Crosby flashing in my mind.

He leaned against the bar that delineated the kitchen from the living room. “She showed up at The Catch.”

The pictures flying through my mind now included a drunk Janet. This would likely be the beginning of the end for Crosby and me. Now that he’d seen what I came from, what he’d have to deal with if he were involved with me in any way, he’d slowly start to pull back. I didn’t blame him. I’d want to pull back, too. But I wanted one more night. One more time to lose myself in Crosby’s touch. To feel.

I strode towards him, grabbing him by his button-down shirt and pulling him towards me. The kiss was more attack than seduction, a desperation borne of the knowledge that I would lose him soon, lose this release that I’d come to depend on. I nipped Crosby’s bottom lip. His mouth opened, and I took full advantage, slipping my tongue inside.

We lost ourselves in the kiss, but when I went for the button on Crosby’s jeans, he pulled back. “Whoa.” His gaze surveyed my face, looking for something. “Not that I don’t love the enthusiasm, but I mention your mom, and you attack me? What’s going on, Kenna?”

Kenna. He’d used my actual name. If that wasn’t evidence that things were already changing, I didn’t know what was. I stepped back, out of his circle of warmth. “Thanks for the heads-up. You can go.”

“I can go?” The words were more of a growl than a question.

I nodded. “You’ve done your due diligence. You don’t need to be tangled up in this mess anymore.”