“I’m the first? You never told me that. Maybe that’s why I had to explain to several people that I wasn’t a stripper the first couple of months I was here.” It had been an odd transition.
“Do you know what it meant for me to bring you here? A smart, tough woman for our girls to look up to? For our women to feel comfortable talking about their problems with?” Armie’s face was set in grim lines. “I understand that you need to do what’s best for you, and I can’t offer you the kind of money they will. I can’t offer you the type of career you’ll get there, but I promise you that you’ll make a difference here that no one else can.”
“Are you asking me to stay?”
He nodded. “Yes. Shamelessly. I don’t want to lose you.”
Her heart actually hurt. “God, that’s not fair, Armie. I never promised I would stay.”
“And yet I want you to.” He sat back. “But know that I’ll support you no matter what you decide.”
“As I haven’t been offered anything but my father’s hints, I can’t say there’s a decision to be made yet.” But if there were rumors running through the precincts, then it was likely someone would contact her. It wouldn’t be her father. It would be someone from One Police Plaza.
Wouldn’t she be the stupidest woman in the world if she turned down an offer to return in a blaze of glory in order to stay in Papillon and play house with her boyfriend?
Wasn’t that what she’d tried to avoid all her life? Becoming her mom? Giving up all her hopes and dreams for some guy.
But what had Zep said yesterday? Sometimes dreams changed. Sometimes life opened a path a person hadn’t thought of as viable before.
Was staying in Papillon a viable life for her?
There was a knock on the door, and she looked through the window. Zep stood there, the laptop she’d given him in his hand.
“Just remember you’re wanted here. Even if you leave, you’ll always have a place with this department, and I think you’ll find you have a place with that man standing there,” Armie said before he raised a hand. “Come on in, Zep.”
He opened the door and walked in. It was as if the sun had come with him. That smile of his worked wonders on her mood. “Hey, bab . . . I mean, good afternoon, Deputy. I did that report you wanted me to do and I didn’t even answer sarcastically.”
Armie’s eyes rolled. “Like I don’t know you’re basically living together, and it’s gone way further than you needed to hide the fact that Roxie’s been pining for you since she met you.”
She felt heat flood her face. She never got embarrassed, but then maybe that was because she rarely truly cared. Her feelings for Zep were real, and that made her vulnerable.
“Pining. That word gets tossed around a lot.” Zep didn’t make a big deal out of it. He simply set the laptop on Armie’s desk and gave her a wink. “My brother used it talking about me the other day. In that scenario, I was the one pining for you. What the hell does pining mean? It’s weird.”
She had no idea why they called this longing she felt and had for months and months pining, but Armie was right. She’d spent all this time with an ache in her chest, and it had only gone away when she was with him.
Would she spend the rest of her life pining for this man?
“So when I take over the animal services department, I’ll be like the sheriff of animals,” Zep began.
Armie’s lips kicked up in a grin. “Sure. You be the sheriff of all the mangy dogs and restless cats. And Otis. You get Otis, my friend.”
Zep groaned. “I swear that gator knows he’s causing trouble and he loves it.”
Armie seemed genuinely amused. “Well, I’m happy he’s your trouble now, and you should know that Herve found a baby raccoon whose momma got hit by a car and he thinks he can raise it.”
Zep shrugged. “He can until that sucker hits puberty, and then all bets are off. Damn it. I’m going to have to deal with that. Seriously, you think a teenage boy is rough. Teenage raccoon is way worse.” His hand brushed against hers as he looked at Armie. “I talked to a couple of people over at the mayor’s office, and they said this might be the best place for me to find a space. I’ve got a couple of projects I need to work on.”
“You haven’t gotten hired yet,” Armie pointed out.
But that was the beauty of Papillon. Unlike a big city or even a larger town, they could move quickly. “I’ve already talked to enough of the city council to know they won’t fight Sylvie. No one is going to fight him for the job, either, so it’s all about finding the money. I’ve already found a good portion of the funding we’re going to need. I filled out the paperwork this morning. I have ideas on the rest.”