Page 47 of Sleigh My Heart

***

It was a quarter past eleven when Michelle walked into his office. “I got a present.”

Nick took in her flushed cheeks and bright eyes, then he spotted the paper in her hand.

“The lab guy owed me a favor. He ran the cookies right away.” She dropped the paper on his desk.

Nick scanned the report. “Positive.” Not that he could tell from their taste test. He’d wanted to kiss Michelle for days. A little weed in his system didn’t affect that.

“I have to run down some red paint today, but then I will check the system for prints.”

“Paint?” Nick caught the way she dropped her gaze when she mentioned the paint. There was more to it.

“For a case.”

Nick could feel the vein pop on the side of his head. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s just a vandalism case. No big deal.”

There. She did it again. “What was vandalized?”

“It’s just police business.”

Nick stood and crowded her. “Mickey, I’ve known you since kindergarten.”

“Before.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Gotcha. She was hiding something. He leaned in. Her eyes lifted to his.

She bit her lip. Fuck. If she didn’t break soon, he’d touch her and then he’d be the one to break. “Mickey?”

“Fine. Someone redecorated my garage door last night with a particularly festive slur.”

“Festive?” Nick ground his teeth. “Something to do with Santa’s hoes?”

“I’m sure it’s just a kid. Someone I probably caught ditching school.”

He slipped his hands up her arms and gently gripped her biceps. “It could be related to the mall trouble.”

She snorted, but didn’t move from his grasp. “Please. I don’t work at the mall.”

“No, but you are working this case.”

Her complexion paled, making the freckles on her nose stand out even more. Nick wanted to kiss each and every one of those little brown spots. “I think we should consider the possibility that it’s related.”

“I’m not ruling out anything.”

“Good. Then I will call the hardware stores and see if they have sold any cans of red paint in the last week, while you start on the prints.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay.”

He kissed her nose, just a soft brush of his lips.

Surprise lit her eyes, curiosity floated in their depths.

Shit. He wasn’t going to kiss her today, not with all they had to do, but when she looked at him like she couldn’t believe he’d actually just kissed her, all his resolve fled. His head dipped, hovering an inch from hers. Waiting. One Mississippi. Two Mississ—

She tipped back and touched her lips to his.