Murder on Lovers' Lane (Brody and Hannigan Mysteries) Read online

  He withdrew, cradling her face in his hands. "I'm not sure we can go back to the way we were yesterday morning, Hannigan."

  She sighed. "I don't think we should rush into big changes, either."

  He should have known she'd be the heel-dragger, he thought with affection. Ever the pragmatist.

  He tabled the thought for the night. "I think you should go get in my bed and try to get some sleep," he said. "I'll take the sofa."

  She pushed herself to her feet. Halfway to the stairs, she turned and looked at him, her eyes dark with emotion. "I don't suppose you could sleep with me tonight? Just sleep?"

  He smiled, tempted by the thought. But he shook his head. "No," he said. "I'm not a saint."

  Or a eunuch.

  "No, you're not." The fondness in her voice nearly overwhelmed his determination to let her take her time.

  But he clung to his sanity and watched her go up the stairs without him.

  He retrieved a thin blanket from the closet near the door and plumped up both of the throw pillows until he'd fashioned a relatively comfortable bed out of his sofa. He undressed to his boxer shorts and left his t-shirt on, working off the premise that the more clothes he kept on, the longer he'd have to talk himself out of changing his mind about where to sleep tonight.

  He'd thought he'd have trouble going to sleep, after such a frantic night, but his eyes drooped immediately, and it took a second to realize Hannigan's voice wasn't the beginning of a promising dream.

  He opened his eyes as she called his name again, her voice coming from the second level of the loft, where his bed occupied the narrow space. "Yeah?" he answered.

  "You think I'm the pragmatic one, don't you?" she asked.

  "Yeah," he answered with a smile, remembering his earlier thought.

  "I don't feel very pragmatic right now, Brody."

  As he pondered her words, she fell silent, and in a few minutes he heard the soft snuffle of her steady breathing as she drifted to sleep.

  He stared up at the city lights playing across the ceiling, listened to his partner's quiet respirations, and smiled.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Other books by Paula Graves

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven