"Which goes back to my question," Daphne added. "Sounds like love at first sight to me."

Landon glanced at Nick before they broke out in a hammy hug. Nick even added some gross slurping noises against his cheek before Landon shoved him and his beer breath back with a firm hand.

Even as Nick pulled away, they remained attached, still the brothers-at-arms they'd been since they were eight.

Maybe Daphne had a point. He'd never thought of Nick and Fender that way, but maybe it had been love at first sight. Three kindred spirits who'd recognized their bond and had known its depth, with or without paperwork from the State of New York making it official.

"Look how sweet." Emma sidled up next to Daphne, her smile gooey even as she teased them. "Brotherly love at its finest. They were clearly meant for each other."

"Naturally," Daphne agreed.

The two women returned to easy conversation, and Landon was once again struck by how quickly they had become friends.

Maybe it was just another one of those bonds. Hard to find but easy to recognize once it arrived.

With a quick slap on Nick's back, he pulled away to taste test one of the pale ales. "You know. I think I might have seen a cauldron in the window over at Billie's Costume Emporium. It's only a short hop for the two of you to be rubbing hands and cackling."

"How is Billie?" Emma asked.

"I had no idea she was still in business-" Daphne added at the same time.

Landon nodded, his own grapevine skills strong. "She nearly closed a few years ago, then picked up some work for a TV production that shoots here and is back to going strong."

"Mom does her books, I think," Nick said.

Clearly diverted by the prospect of visiting the venerable Billie, Emma ran a hand over Nick's back. "We haven't even discussed our Halloween costumes this year."

"It's June." Nick's eyes widened and Landon couldn't resist a self-righteous smile at just how far round the bend his brother's life had gone.

"It's never too early to plan." Emma's eyes were already hazing over, a future event stamped plainly in those deeply colored depths. "Oooh! Maybe we'll have a party here for the neighborhood to trick or treat. Bring over some of the police horses, if they're okay with it. We do feed Brooklyn's finest, after all. Maybe they'd like to see where their dinner comes from."

"You feed the horses?" Daphne asked, a bemused smile twitching her lips at the rapid switch in topics.

"Yep. I have no idea what we'd do with all the leftover grains if we didn't. We've been feeding the equine contingent of Brooklyn's patrol for decades."

"Who knew?" Daphne reached for Landon's hand and lightly squeezed his fingers, the gesture simple. Easy.

And increasingly necessary.

Who knew?

"So tell me. Did I pass muster with the Park Heights gossip train?" Daphne kept the question light as a marshmallow and just as sweet as they walked the last few blocks toward her apartment.

Or so she hoped.

It was, of course, at complete odds with the pounding of her heart, so it might have come out garbled and in a voice as gravelly as a three-pack-a-day smoker.

"You didn't just pass muster. I think Emma would start dating you if she weren't so over the moon about my brother."

"Emma's fantastic. I loved her."

Landon's smile went wolfish. "On second thought, don't let my brother stand in the way."

Daphne smacked at his shoulder. "In your dreams, pal."

"My dreams just got a whole lot more interesting."

"I bet they did."

The night air wrapped around them, still warm for late June but with the lightest hint of a breeze, courtesy of the ocean that surrounded the city. It was such a strange juxtaposition, she'd always thought. The dominance of the ocean that edged the great, sprawling city, full of a special power all its own. She'd always instinctively understood that, but had come to better appreciate it in the years she was on the beat.

New York had power. It was hard to explain but easy to feel. Things happened here, both good and bad. And if you were lucky, the good tipped the scales.

Like tonight. They'd covered some tough stuff, but the good still outweighed it-like the obvious bond between Landon and Nick. And the ability of that bond to open and expand to include Emma was a sign of just how special it was.

"This block sure has changed." Landon's words shimmered in the air between them, tinged with a light, wistful edge.

"I didn't know it well before I got on the force. It was just coming back then and had a great vibe, which was why I moved here. I grew up on the opposite side of Park Heights and was never over here much."

He pointed toward the far end of the block. "Those warehouses over there were flophouses until the city let a developer renovate them for mixed use about a decade ago. It took them a while to get their footing, but the coffeehouse-bakery-and-event-venue combo that live in the space now seems like a winner."

Daphne's eyes followed the direction of his finger. The lights at the corner reflected over a sidewalk full of people at one of her favorite coffee shops, Brew You. "I remember there was a ballet studio there for a while. A locksmith for a brief time. Oh, and a takeout place with truly awful Buffalo wings. I had no idea it used to be a flophouse."

"Yep. And now it's a hipster hangout with the perennial scent of coffee wafting into the air and people lining up to rent space to have their weddings and anniversary parties and bar mitzvahs. The neighborhood's come a long way."

She'd bet her last cent Landon remembered the old days of this street corner because he'd spent time here. "Did you live here?"

"Nope. Never lived here. But I paid a visit or two."

The comment almost dared her to respond, but she avoided a reply, instead letting the bleak memory refuel her wildly careening train of thought. Roiling emotions had been a constant companion for the past few days, and she had no reason to think that was going to stop now.

He had a past. One that lived far closer to the surface than she suspected he even knew or understood. The break-in-and her subsequent digging-had churned things up, and she wasn't sure how to change that. Or if she would if she could.

Which only reinforced the challenge of attempting to pursue something as a couple right now.

But God help her if she could resist him.

She'd accepted the invitation when he'd called her to play beer-tour guinea pigs at the Unity. The chance to see him in his family surroundings was far too tempting to pass up, but this evening had held far more than she'd expected.

Meeting his future sister-in-law and getting to know his brother better meant something-at least, it did to her. Especially considering the fact that she was still trying to come up with ways to avoid bringing Landon over to meet her family and inevitably ruin the start of something wonderful.

Her brothers were rather adept at playing the asshole card where her dates were concerned. Mike had managed to survive the experience, but that had taken quite a bit of time and persistence. He'd also provided the stripper for Antonio's bachelor party about three months after the two of them had begun dating, and she'd always assumed that had greased the wheels a bit.

So why did she want to meet Landon's family so badly?

Where she usually found the early days of dating awkward and edgy, never quite sure she was on solid footing, everything with him felt different.

No, it was different.

And it wasn't simply because she wanted to rip his clothes off.

Although she wanted to do that, too.

She'd sensed the invitation to Nick and Emma's event this evening had been important to Landon, despite the casual way he'd offered it up as something to do. And she'd kept a quiet eye on the small cues throughout the evening. The way Nick would catch Landon's eye, and the gentle smiles Emma shot in their direction at different parts of the tour.

It was sweet, and it suggested a degree of familial protectiveness that went past the standard desire to be nosy and poke around.

That was half the problem with her brothers. Individually, they were ready to dislike anyone she brought home on principle. And when they were ganged up as a group they instinctively played wolf pack, giving off that weird "I'm going to pee on you" machismo that made her want to scream.

So she avoided bringing guys home at all-if she even went on more than a few dates with the same man. Which then set Jasmine off.

For the past few years, every time Jasmine brought up getting over Mike, Daphne would argue that her reticence to date wasn't just tied to a relationship gone bad. In fact, after she'd gotten over the immediate hurt of the breakup, she'd begun to enjoy the freedom of being alone. Mike wasn't a bad guy, despite Jasmine's propensity to call him an asshole, but he had proven to her that she wasn't interested in simply being someone's other half.

She wanted both of them together to be greater than the whole.

She had no idea why she thought four days had given her enough time to consider if Landon McGee was the answer to that life goal, but something continued to whisper at her that he was. Which made digging into his background that much harder, no matter how many times she reminded herself that she was only doing her job. When you layered on what he'd shared this evening, it wasn't like his childhood was a secret between them. It might be tender ground, but it didn't need to be a barrier.

Or so she believed.

The conversation about his mother had been as telling as it was unexpected. Heartbreaking, but telling. And she knew she'd live for the rest of her life with the image of a small boy stuck scrabbling for scraps between his mother's benders.

God, where did it come from-this mindless addiction that made people turn away from their children?

It wasn't judgment. She'd been a cop long enough to know that judgment was not only a misplaced emotion, but also a path to apathy. And as far as she was concerned, the day apathy won the battle was the day she turned in her badge.

But no amount of acknowledgment could erase the chasm that still yawned between her and Landon. Or stop her from second-guessing herself every time they were together. The choices she'd made at work were pitted against her increasing desire to spend time with him, plain and simple.

Were things moving too fast? Or was this just how it happened when you found someone you were interested in? Desired. Liked.

Loved?

The thought struck, racing toward her on swift feet just as Landon pulled her close. He paused, his lips lowered toward hers, their gazes clashing in the fluorescent dark. Deep and fathomless in the shining light of the street lamps, she could see the desire there.

And vulnerability she hadn't seen before.

Was it because of the discussion of his childhood? The reality of what had shaped the first decade of his life? Or was it the wild, crazy rush of emotions that lived between them?

Just once, she wished her mind would quiet enough to simply lean in and enjoy. To take what was being offered without spinning out scenarios faster than a spider made a web.

Without any expectation except for the here and now.

And then her thoughts faded as his lips crushed hers, taking over the moment and spinning out a different sort of web. Desire. Need. Want. All of it wove together in a tight tapestry that encased them both.

Daphne sunk into him-into that desire and need-and gave in to the want.

His lips were soft as they feathered over hers, tasting, seeking, questioning as they came together after what felt like an eternity. They stood like that for long moments, the joy of discovery and the silent question of where things would go blending and merging with each touch of their lips, each meeting of their tongues.

Once again she was struck by his solid form, at odds with the lean appearance of that he gave off at first glance. There was nothing skinny about the hard arms that wrapped around her, or the strength that emanated from long, wiry muscles.

But when he touched her. Oh, when he touched her.

The strength in his fingers as they played over her skin set of a trail of sparks that resonated and echoed all over her body. Helpless to resist, she curved into him, not caring that they were on a street corner as those fingers drifted up her rib cage so that his thumbs played the underside of her breasts.

The trail of sparks lit up once more, then seemed to settle just above his touch, need flaming higher and higher.

Did she ask him in?

Because if this went on much longer, she'd have to arrest both of them for indecent public behavior.

"Are you laughing?" The words whispered against her lips before Landon lifted his head. "Actually laughing?"

"It was a giggle. A small one."

"At what?"

"I had an image of pulling out handcuffs and arresting us both for indecency."

"Don't you have to be naked for an indecency charge?"

She wasn't entirely sure of the nuances, and at that moment she could have cared less what the letter of the law stated. "You think that's going to take much longer?"

She did laugh then, full throated and immediate, when his eyes widened once again.

"You are seriously trying to kill me. First you and Emma, now handcuffs and images of naked street-corner sex." His hands slipped from her waist toward the small clutch that hung from her wrist. "You have handcuffs in here?"

"No, silly. I keep them hanging over the edge of my bedpost."

The taunt had the desired effect, and she had the sobering realization that the questions that had whispered through her mind only a few minutes before had become real in the space of a few heartbeats.

Did she invite him in?

Could she even walk away right now?

"I want to invite you up, but I'm not sure I know how I want this evening to end." Daphne stopped, shook her head. "That's not right. I know exactly how I want this evening to end. But I'm not sure it's time. Or that I'm ready. Oh hell, I'm fumbling this like I've had a few drinks after the senior prom."

She stilled, took a deep breath, and looked into those dark brown eyes that skewered something way down deep inside of her.

"I want you, Landon McGee. And I want what's between us. But I haven't fully reconciled cop Daphne with woman Daphne, even though you seem to enjoy the company of both."

"I do enjoy the company of both, even as I'm forced to remind you you're not two people."

"No, but yes. I am."

"Not really. Although I could come around to your way of thinking if you could answer me one question."

"What's that?"

"Do both of you have handcuffs?"