He took her hand and brought it to his lips.
“I missed you,” he admitted. Her cheeks reddened, and he gave her a wink before he pulled her into his arms and kept his arms wrapped around her lower back. “Did you miss me too?”
“Of course I did. How is the case you’re working on?”
“A work in progress,” he said then took her hand, and they began to slowly walk through town.
“Just when the other detectives and I think we have all the people involved in the crime, some more names pop up as well as some more crimes. It leads to more investigating and of course arrests, paperwork, and more paperwork. It can be exhausting.”
“But you’re taking the bad guys off the streets. That’s what’s important,” she told him, and he smiled.
“That’s true,” he added. He liked this. He never thought he would be in a relationship with a woman and enjoy talking to her about work and that she would understand. Lucia was truly interested in his profession and spending time with him. Crazy thing about this was that they hadn’t had sex, fooled around other than kiss here and there, yet he felt so close to her. This was different, meaningful, and he hoped permanent. He couldn’t see why it wouldn’t be. His brothers adored her as much as he did.
> “Want to grab something to eat? I think the guys are in Francine’s.”
She smiled and held his arm, giving it a hug.
“Now let me think about this. For the past week one of you meets me in town or suggests picking me up at my place so we can eat dinner together. And what do I say, every time?” she asked and smiled.
He stopped them from walking, cupped her cheek, and stared down into her eyes. “You say yes, every time. Soon, we’ll ask you to come home with us, stay for breakfast, and I expect the same answer, sweetheart.” Her eyes widened as he leaned down and kissed her lips. She hugged him tight as that kiss grew deeper until someone cleared their throat.
They pulled apart slowly, and there stood Gabriele.
“Excuse me, but should you two be making out on Main Street where everyone can see you?”
Lucia chuckled and laid her head against Maxwell’s chest.
“Hell yeah. I was just enjoying Lucia for a bit. It’s been a crazy week.”
“Come on inside, everyone is waiting,” Gabriele said as he gently ran his knuckles along Lucia’s cheek then squeezed her hand. She smiled.
“Everyone?” she asked, and Maxwell wondered, too.
“Seems Abigail, Doc, Frank, and Will are joining us as well as Dale, Virgo, Matt, Quaid, and Sage.”
“Great. We have some things to talk about with the fall festival,” Lucia said, and hurried along with them to the restaurant.
Maxwell couldn’t help but to smile despite the fact that his quality time with Lucia would be shared with so many people. He was just glad to be with her, and to know that their relationship was growing stronger. Hopefully she would trust them more so they could take this relationship to the next level.
* * * *
Lucia held the papers of the drawings she made in her hand as she pointed out the locations of the designs to Lucifer, Salvatore, and Mrs. Higgins. Mrs. Higgins was complimenting her ideas and asking for clarification when she noticed Salvatore place his hand on Lucia’s hip as he looked over her shoulder and pointed to something on the paper.
“Won’t that make the space too empty? What’s going to go there?” he asked.
“I was thinking perhaps a specialty piece, like a rocking chair to enjoy the larger window when the sun is shining through,” Lucia stated.
Salvatore squinted his eyes at her as he ran his hand up her back and under her hair.
“A rocking chair?”
“Yes, do you know anyone who makes anything so perfect that would fit in such an amazing room as this is going to be?” she asked and smiled. He tugged her hair playfully then shook his head.
“No one comes to mind, Lucia, but we’ll talk about it over dinner,” Salvatore replied then stepped away.
Mrs. Higgins couldn’t help but to smile. It seemed that some progress was made over the past week. Abigail was right. Lucia must have wound up spending time with the Walters brothers even after their lunch in town at Francine’s. It seemed she wasn’t the only woman in town hoping to get these five young people together. She cleared her throat and watched as Lucifer gave Lucia a kiss on her cheek.
“Leave us to get things started, and leave those designs. I may need to alter a few things, but nothing drastic. We’ll talk more tonight,” he said and winked.