Speaking of his heart . . .
“Did you really tell me you love me, or did I imagine that?” I whisper.
He smiles, reaching over and grabbing the hand of my arm that isn’t bandaged and bringing it up to his mouth. He closes his eyes and kisses my hand.
He moves my palm to the side of his face and holds it in place before opening his eyes again and smiling at me. “You didn’t imagine it. I love you.”
I smile back at him and instinctively know he’s telling the truth. About everything—his conversation with Ted and how he feels about me.
“Did you really mean it when you told me you loved me back, or was it just because of the blood loss?”
Hearing the wariness in his voice surprises me. Dallas has always been such a force of nature, so strong and sure of himself. Seeing him vulnerable like this tugs on my heart.
“Don’t worry; the blood loss only gave me the courage to say it out loud,” I tell him with a smile.
He gets up from the chair and leans forward, pressing his lips to mine.
“You did it, baby. You solved a murder,” he tells me happily as he pulls away and looks at me.
I did, didn’t I? It feels good to know I made the right decision with my life for once. I took a gamble and it paid off. Sure, I got shot in the process, but I found Richard’s killer and fell in love all at the same time.
“Oh, your mom stopped by earlier. She apologized again for being a bitch to me at dinner. What is going on with her? She seems like a completely different person. It’s a little scary,” Dallas says.
The nurse walks in the room then and sticks a needle into my IV, letting me know the pain I’m feeling will be gone in seconds and to call her if I need anything.
“My mother is going through a phase,” I tell him with a smile as the nurse leaves the room, remembering the words my mother said to me about my hair at dinner.
“I think it’s more than a phase. She asked me if I had any cute single friends.” Dallas laughs with a shake of his head.
I feel the medicine coursing through my veins and a pleasant, numb feeling takes over my body. My head feels heavy and my eyes start to droop. All in all, getting shot was worth it.
“Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up. I love you,” Dallas whispers.
Letting my eyes close, I feel his lips against my cheek and I allow the pain medication to pull me under.
Before I doze off, I hear the faint sound of Dallas’s voice one more time.
“Don’t be mad, but I’m never letting you out of my sight, ever again,” he whispers.
Shame on him for thinking I’d be mad about that now.
EPILOGUE
Three months later . . .
Can you idiots all shut up for a minute; I need to make my speech,” Kennedy tells the room loudly.
Everyone stops talking and stares at her. She holds up her champagne glass and we all do the same. Just like usual, all of our friends and family are gathered in the office of Fool Me Once Investigations to toast to the end of another case.
Stephanie and Melinda were both arrested for the murder of Richard Covington, but Melinda immediately confessed to everything. She reiterated the fact that Stephanie knew nothing of her plans and that she was completely innocent. It took a few days for the police to verify her statements, and after that, Stephanie was free to go.
Melinda is still in jail awaiting trial and last I heard, Stephanie wasn’t planning on ever visiting her. Something about the drab color of the jail putting the third star of Jupiter in her energy field. Since the story of Richard’s murder being solved made the news, Stephanie had no choice but to come out of the closet. Unfortunately for Melinda, she’ll be waiting a long time for Stephanie to ever thank her for clearing her name. Stephanie is now dating a nutritionist from her gym named Wendy.
The board of directors from Richard’s company was so pleased with the speed with which the case was solved that it decided to foot the bill for the police department and upon my insistence, Dallas and I split the fee right down the middle.
Looking over at my friends, I see the diamond engagement ring sparkling on Kennedy’s finger as Griffin puts his arm around her shoulders. Paige and Matt have their arms around each other too. Kennedy’s brothers, Ted and Bobby, are sitting at Paige’s desk and mine with their feet on top of them. Kennedy’s father, Buddy, and her uncle Wally are bickering with each other in the corner, and Paige’s mom and Matt’s dad are holding hands, sitting on a couple of chairs by the front door.
My mom, wearing a pair of jeans and a Harvard Law sweatshirt, sits on the edge of Kennedy’s desk, well into her third glass of champagne and starting to get a little giggly.
And me, I’m sitting on Dallas’s lap with his arms wrapped firmly around me. I’m surrounded by the people I love and I couldn’t be happier.
“Congratulations to Lorelei for proving she is the biggest badass out of all of us!” Kennedy announces with a smile.
Everyone laughs and lifts their glasses of champagne up a little higher.
“Who knew that almost a year ago when I met these two lightweights in a self-defense class, we would become best friends and open a pretty kick-ass private investigation firm?” Kennedy says.
“Hey, who are you calling lightweight?” Paige shouts. “I brought down a crime ring and Lorelei took a bullet. All you did was chase around a yappy dog and a freak who believes in aliens.”
Everyone laughs again and I feel Dallas clasp me tighter. I lean back against his chest and smile.
“Oh, shut up!” Kennedy tells Paige. “I just want to say I’m glad that I met both of you. Here’s to Fool Me Once Investigations—the best PI agency around.”
Everyone cheers and takes a sip of their champagne. The loud conversations and laughter start up again.
“How’s your shoulder?” Dallas asks.
I turn around on his lap to face him. “It’s good. It’s not sore right now.”
The bullet I took to the shoulder went clean through and luckily didn’t nick an artery. After my surgery, I spent three days in the hospital recuperating, and Dallas spent every single moment there with me. He also accompanied me to every physical therapy session and kept the promise he whispered to me in the hospital—he never lets me out of his sight. My shoulder still gives me a little bit of trouble every now and then, but it’s manageable. The doctor said I’ll be as good as new in no time.
“Good. Tomorrow we’re going to the shooting range. You’re going to learn how to really shoot a gun,” he tells me.
He’s been saying this to me ever since I got out of the hospital. I officially quit my job with the law firm and I’m now a full-time investigator. Dallas knows that eventually he won’t be able to shadow me everywhere, and he told me he’d feel much better about that if he knew I could protect myself even better.
I haven’t told him yet that I’m probably a better shot than he is. My father was an award-winning skeet shooter. He took me shooting every weekend for almost my entire life. Thinking about my father makes me a little sad. I haven’t spoken to him since that night at dinner. He sent flowers to the hospital, and when my mother sees him in passing in the driveway, she says he asks about me. I know he’s disappointed with the choices I’ve made and I hope that in time he’ll come around. My mother though—she’s a completely different person since she kicked my father out.
“Lorelei, I think I finally settled on a tattoo,” she tells me, walking up to Dallas and me.