“You’re coming back too soon, hon.” Her face was pale, her dark eyes big. He was crazy about her and had urged her to take more time off.

“I’m fine. It’s just an occasional twinge now. Is that the LT’s car? I thought she was on vacation.”

“She came in to help deal with the fallout over the Deasly case.”

“What an incredible bust for Jeannie. I’m so proud of her.”

“We all are, but it’s causing chaos for the department.”

“I saw that. People are saying some ugly stuff about the chief and others, including Skip Holland.”

“I know. It’s horrible. If they’d had any idea what Stahl was doing, they would’ve intervened immediately. They’ve discovered he was filing bogus reports about investigations when he wasn’t doing anything.”

“Oh my God. That’s crazy! I was thinking about that earlier and wondering how he could live with himself. I never could’ve.”

“Me neither. I feel bad going home at the end of a shift when a case is still open.”

“Yes, exactly.” She smiled up at him, and even though it was freezing and starting to snow, Cameron didn’t want to be anywhere else. “What are you up to tonight?”

“Jeffrey and I will be a couple of sad sacks alone on the sofa because our best girl is working.”

“Aw, you guys are so cute. You should watch some hockey while you have the chance.”

“But you’ve got me hooked on HGTV. Hockey doesn’t look as good to me anymore. Nothing looks as good to me as you do.” He kissed her, which was all they’d done so far since she was still recovering from the serious injuries inflicted by her ex-boyfriend. God, he wanted her so badly, but he would wait for as long as it took for her to feel well again and be ready for all the things he wanted with her.

“I’ve got to go.”

“I know.” He put his arms around her. “Please be careful. No setbacks.”

“I’m on desk duty for another month, so don’t worry.”

“I will worry.” Reluctantly, he pulled back to kiss her again. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She gave him that sexy little smile that made his heart race. “Can’t wait.”

“Break it up, lovers,” Gigi’s partner, Dani Carlucci, said as she approached them. “We’ve got work to do, girlfriend.”

“Let’s get to it,” Gigi said as she walked away with Dani, giving him a wave over her shoulder.

Cameron swept the snow off his car and got in, turning the heater to high. A long, boring evening loomed until he could see her in the morning at shift change. Working opposite schedules was going to suck, but they had weekends to look forward to and would make it work.

Somehow.