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Her heart squeezed, threatening to turn intoall this for so his praise “Now, don’t you go make me cry, Darryl Wilson That’s not very Christmas-y at all”
He slowly shook his head “Wouldn’t dare think of it”
“Besides, I’,” she pointed out “Not the noblest of causes”
He hesitated then nodded, like he couldn’t be swayed to believe otherwise “A good cause, nonetheless”
“Says the cop who dragged
His heated gaze scanned her lips before returning to her eyes again That intense regard was so she re, he really looked, especially when that thing was a person She’d never ive her so ood cop He cared deeply He paid attention He saw the little things others missed
Whatever it was, she liked that about hi like no one understood her, and even so herself, there was Darryl A very good ood too, no matter what she’d done
“You know,” he said, eventually breaking the silence “I have seen people at their worst I’ve seen people do unthinkable things You —but you don’t have a bad bone in you” His strength, his heat, it all engulfed her when he wrapped his ar this for a reason, you thought of it Give yourself some credit, Penelope”
Maybe she was being too hard on herself…maybe… “Okay, then aze on the to the boxes of cinnamon buns, cakes, pastries, and so much more
People loved Christic Penelope didn’t knohy exactly, but she had a feeling this was one step closer to finding out
Most people didn’t surprise Darryl He had a knack for reading people, h them Penelope surprised the hell out of hiirl that captivated hi those five days at cairl he’d retted it The kiss had felt right But today, he saw a different side of Penelope, a softer side, a sweeter side He liked that side, as much as he liked how she didn’t seem to take life too seriously
Damn He could use a little of that in his very routine world
The Christone off without a hitch, and the two hours after they had returned from the bakery, he knew that not only was his first Christe success, but Penelope hadout the crockpots after packaging up boxes of food for anyone that wanted to take it with them, since most people there filled up on the treats fro up one slow cooker in a box, settling it next to the others, and then found Penelope hugging Al, a war veteran who had h Darryl watching the exchange She’d grown into a fine wo not many knew about her
When Penelope waved a final goodbye to Al, she caught Darryl looking at her, and gave hiht red sweater that happened to hug her body in ways he couldn’t ignore Matched with that Santa hat atop her head, Darryl couldn’t help but wonder what she’d look like naked wearing only that hat
She finally reached him, and asked, “Do I pass at my first community service event, Officer Wilson?”