He smiled at her and she felt herself go all gooey inside. "So now we're normal people?" he asked, one golden brow lifting in teasing question.

Jenna snuggled closer, rubbing her cheek against the solid muscle of his chest. He smelled so good. Felt so good, so healthy. "Yes. For right now we are two people on a date, hav-ing beer and hot wings. Casey's safe, we're safe, Helen's home with the kids who are safe. For right now there are no crazy teenagers or serial killers. Just us normal people having a normal date."

Normal people. God knew he wanted to believe her. Except he knew that there was indeed a serial killer who happened also to be a crazy teenager. That was the problem with the job. It never went away. But for right now he could pretend to believe her. It was the closest he'd get to being "normal people." He brushed his lips across her hair. "So we're on a date?"

She looked up at him, suddenly serious. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

Emotion hit him right in the middle of his chest and he knew at that moment there was no other place he'd rather be. And that the place itself didn't matter. It was being with her. Wherever that might be. "No," he whispered, his voice husky. "Not a single one."

"Good. Because I decided that we will have dates."

He had to smile. "Dates? Plural? So we'll do this beer and hot wings thing again?"

She nodded firmly. "Many times. Because I decided it was time to get on with my life."

She wasn't teasing, he realized. "So when did you make this momentous decision?"

"At five o'clock this afternoon. I looked down at my watch and saw the date. Then I realized it was two years ago today that Adam died and I hadn't thought about him once. For a second I felt guilty, you know? Then Cindy Lou knocked Nicky down in some leaves and started licking his face. Nicky started to giggle and I started to laugh and then…" Her voice trailed off.

He grazed his knuckles along the line of her jaw. "And then?"

She looked him in the eye as if challenging him to disagree. "And then I decided I was tired of watching calendars and measuring time."

He realized he really knew very little about her ordeal. "Jenna, what happened with Adam?"

She shrugged. "You know how it is. Your wife died, too. You grieve. You cry. You swear at God. You say you're sorry to God so He doesn't take anybody else you love." She sighed. "I guess the hardest part was going back to our apartment after he was gone. Going through his things. Knowing he'd never use them again."

"Was that the apartment you live in now?"

"No, I moved into where I am now after I dealt with all his things." She downed a mouthful of beer. "Adam's sister wanted me to move in with her." She shuddered. "That was not a good idea."

He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Did Adam die in the hospital?"

"No, he died in a hospice."

"The one you visit on Sundays? Nicky told me Jim is a therapy dog. He was very impressed."

"I only go once a month. I swear it's one of the hardest things I do."

But she did it. Here was a woman who didn't back down from adversity. He lifted up her chin and looked into her eyes. "1 have to say I'm very impressed, too."

Her smile was wry. "Then you're as easy to con as Nicky," she said. "I'm not that special, I just did what I had to do. Just like you did when your wife left you with three kids. That had to be hard."

It was, but not the way she thought The hardest part was pretending to grieve a woman he'd come to hate. To look at his boys and know if Melissa hadn't died, he'd be explaining why she hadn't loved any of them enough. Mike was right about most things, but he was wrong about telling his boys the truth. It wouldn't have helped anyone. "Yeah," he finally said. "That was hard." He took a drink of his own beer. "So tell me about these dates we're going to have," he said, looking to change the subject. "Where would you like to go?"

Jenna watched the shadows cross his face and wished she could make them go away. Forever. "I don't know," she said playfully. "Hawaii wouldn't be bad." His brows shot up in surprise. "I'm just kidding," she added hastily. "I'm actually a pretty cheap date. Beer and hot wings is fine."

"I've never been to Hawaii," he said thoughtfully.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking to go to Hawaii. Nobody can afford a trip like that."

Steven sipped at his beer. "I can."

She looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean? Cops don't make that much money."

He grinned at her and his eyes crinkled at the corners and her heart flip-flopped. "I'm not an ordinary cop," he said. "I'm a special agent."

Jenna balled up a napkin and tossed it at his head. "So where did you get all this extra cash, Special Agent Man?"

He shrugged. "My wife was killed by a drunk driver. The insurance company was very interested in settling out of court. At any rate, I probably couldn't take off enough time to go to Hawaii."

"How long has it been since you had a vacation?"

His lips quirked up in a smile that wasn't really a smile. "We took the boys to the beach when Nicky was a baby."

Jenna frowned. "You haven't had a vacation in five years?"

"More like six."

Jenna stared up at the ceiling. "And you wonder why you're stressed." She looked back at him and decided. "One of our dates will be a vacation."

His eyes smiled. "It will?"

"Yes, it will. You remember me talking about my friend Mark?"

"Your karate master."

"Yes. He and his wife have a little beachhouse on the Outer Banks." She batted her eyelashes at him. "We'll go there when you've decided we're past the hand-holding and goodnight kiss stage."

His eyes changed in a heartbeat, going hot, his face taking on the look that made her want to devour him. "Maybe I already have."

She swallowed, feeling the sexual tension spike and with it the skin-tingling rush of heat that made her nipples tight and her panties wet. She touched her tongue to her lips, noting his eyes watching her every move and that turned her on even more. "What made you change your mind?"

He dipped his head, covered her mouth, and although gentle, his kiss held the promise of more.

More was good.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, his brown eyes so close she could see the flecks of gold surrounding his dilated pupils. "You made my baby laugh," he said.

It was a good answer. It was such a good answer it sucked all the air from her lungs. "Has it been fifteen minutes?" Jenna asked, her voice rusty. "Because if it has, I say we ditch Detective Davies and go back to my place."

"It's been fifteen minutes," Steven said.

She quickly calculated how long it would take them to get back to her apartment. Too damn long. But once they arrived, there would finally be relief from this awful yearning. Finally.

But then, of course, came a knock on their booth. "Sorry I'm late," Detective Davies said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Steven squeezed his eyes shut. A muscle spasmed in his cheek. "Shit."

In dazed disbelief Jenna lifted her eyes to see Davies wearing a smile that made her wonder if he didn't know darn well he was "interrupting something" and wasn't enjoying the fact that he was.

Neil stretched his legs beneath the table Jenna had been sharing with Thatcher. It felt good to stretch his legs after all the hours in that damn soup can they had the nerve to call a rental car. It felt better to savor the few minutes alone with Jenna Marshall. For days she'd haunted his thoughts and dreams. For days he'd been spared the nightmares of the past four years. For three years he'd dreamed of ghosts and demons. For the past four days he'd dreamed of her. For four straight nights he'd had peace. He'd decided peace was something he'd fight to keep.