John smiled at his discovery. "I think he was trying to scare me off the case until he had a chance to solve it in his own way to allow for maximum coverage."
The serene morning beach had them both in a trance. They stalled their conversation to simply stare at the beautiful distance. John was wondering if this was going to be the last time he would speak with this wonderful country singer.
Finally, she broke the long silence between them by asking, "What're you doing in here?" She gestured toward the office with her beautiful eyes.
John lazily gazed back at the ocean. "Packing this place up," he said. "Gotta go."
"What? Why?"
He smiled. "That's it for me."
"That's it?"
"I'm done."
Tammy turned and walked into the office. She looked down at the boxes and saw that the blinds had been taken down and rolled up on the desk. John walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "You're serious?"
"Well, I have no other cases. I've got to move on. I have a joke of a case my landlord offered me. I'm not going to take it."
"Where will you go?"
He tossed his hands in the air in a gesture of giving up. Behind his desk he sat down on the leather chair thinking it might be the last time he would ever sit in the chair in that particular office.
Tammy shook her head and walked around to the back of the desk. She stood and looked down at John. She made a clicking sound with her tongue and sat down on his lap.
"I don't want to leave this place," he said, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed his head to her chest. "What do you think about me?" she asked.
She smelled so good to John. "How do I feel about you?"
"That's right," she said. "As a detective."
"Well, my feelings for you tend to run a little deeper than your ability to investigate."
"Don't you think we work well together? We did great on this case, I thought."
"You did."
"So did you," she added quickly.
"What are you driving at? I'm trying to tell you that I love you and you're talking about the case."
She pushed away and looked down at his face, holding it in her hands. She bent down and kissed his lips. She pulled back and mumbled, "I love you, too. It's fast with us, but it feels right."