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thebiggerbear · 1 year ago

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Kiss Me Again - Beau x Cassie - Prompt Response

A/N: Prompt from prompt list by @dumplingsjinson. Beau and Cassie are just too adorbs. I had to write this.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

“Quick, kiss me again, they’re coming back—”

Cassie shot Beau a look at yet another dad joke he had just told.

“What?”

“No, just no.” She shook her head, urging him to quit while he was ahead.

He gave her his most charming smile. “Admit it, you love it.”

She tried to keep from smiling, she really did, but failed miserably. So instead, she settled for an eye roll and then turned away so he couldn’t see her face. Because if he saw her grin, it would all be over. The dad jokes would be turned up ten notches and she couldn’t do that to Emily, or herself really.

Beau laughed, knowing full well why she was suddenly so invested in Dewell & Hoyt’s current case board. “Yeah, she does.”

Denise appeared next to Cassie, handing her a packet of papers. “This is that report you asked for from the DMV. Em and I are trying to match the license plate right now.”

Cassie nodded her thanks. “Let me know when you have an address and I’ll take a ride over there.”

Before Denise could say anything, Beau piped up from behind them, “Something I should know?”

Denise glanced back and forth between Cassie and Beau, and then settled on Emily who was typing away on Cassie’s computer as her father sat next to her on the desk. “I’ll let Cassie fill you in on that, Beau-Beau. Me? I need some sustenance. Em, why don’t you come with me to the coffee shop down the street and we’ll pick up some sandwiches to bring back here?”

“Oh.” Emily looked surprised. “But I’m almost—” At Denise’s look, she nodded and slowly got to her feet. “Right. Okay, yeah. I’m starving, anyway.”

Denise gave her an encouraging smile.

Beau reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, slapping some bills into Emily’s hand. “Lunch is on me. Do your old man a favor, though. Can you get me that buffalo chicken sandwich special they have? Oh-ho-ho yes. Thanks, kiddo.”

The older woman turned to Cassie, arching her eyebrows in question. She shrugged and settled on the easiest answer. “Same for me, too, I guess.” Denise smiled and gave Cassie a wink before leading Emily out of the office and down the block.

Cassie turned to see Beau’s gaze trained on her.

“Have I ever told you how good you look in that color?”

She glanced down at her light blue turtleneck before smiling up at him. “Thanks. I think.”

He tossed his wallet onto the desk beside him and turned to fully face her. “C’mere.”

Cassie rolled her eyes again but made her way over to him, not in the least surprised when his hands flashed out, gripped her hips, and pulled her in, his lips intent on hers. When he finally broke away to let them both get some air, she wrapped her arms around his neck, content to stay there with him as long as possible. It was rare that they got moments like this alone these days. Between the Bleeding Heart murders, whatever was going on with Avery, and the rise in cases in Lewis & Clark County requiring the full attention of the Sheriff’s Department, she and Beau didn’t get to see each other too often. And when they did, usually someone else was around like Jenny or Denise or now even Emily. Seeing as neither of them were ready to broadcast their change in relationship status to everyone just yet, this proved to be frustrating and slightly problematic. So any time Cassie could get with the Sheriff she cherished, soaking up every possible second before the bubble would be burst by whatever twist or turn the universe wanted to throw at them that day, she’d take it.

Beau’s arms snuck around Cassie’s waist and he placed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “Been a while,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. Between the murder in the park the other day, the whole Carla and Avery thing going on, and making sure Em is okay after what happened, I just haven’t been able to really get time to step away.”

“I get it,” she assured him. “You’ve got a lot going on. Us, too. We’ll get time. After.”

“Yes. We will,” he promised, giving her a soft smile. “Gotta say, I’ve been missing the hell out of you, though.”

“Same here.”

Beau’s smile grew. “You’d think criminals would be more considerate. Realize we have lives.”

“Right? You’d think they’d take a holiday every now and then just to give us a break.”

He snickered and kissed her lips. “So selfish of them.”

“Very selfish,” she agreed. She then snuck a hand up to pat down his hair, her brows furrowing at the stubborn wayward lock that just wouldn’t go back into place. Every once in a while this would happen and Beau hated it. He swore that one of these days he would cut his hair to which Jenny would threaten to use the picture she took of the three of them from the last movie night they had, and have Poppernak upload it to the department website. Jenny would then receive a glare of the likes that Cassie never wanted to be on the receiving end of, though she was secretly amused at the constant bickering between the two. Beau had told her once that Jenny was like the annoying younger sister he never asked for. Cassie knew better, though; for all of his griping, he liked Jenny well enough and he secretly enjoyed their banter. It made things a lot easier on the workfront and Beau had confided to her that he had been initially worried that the two would keep butting heads after their first meeting. But all of that worrying had been for naught; they actually worked quite well together. Denise even kept referring to them as Helena’s own crime solving duo.

Cassie would never admit it but she liked Beau from the outset. His sexist remarks aside, he was friendly, personable, and she could sense there was a lot more to the Everything’s-Bigger-In-Texas-Darlin’ front he put on. It turned out she had been right, and looking at Beau now, she had never been happier to be right about a guy since Andrew.

“Is it sticking up again?”

“No, it’s just…” She made a few more attempts and luckily, it worked. “There.”

“Damn hair. I swear I’m gonna cut it.”

Cassie laughed and cupped his cheeks, leaning in to kiss him. “No, you’re not.”

“I am. I mean it. And I don’t give a crap what Hoyt says. I’ll have a desk jockey strip her access from the website so fast it’ll make her damn head spin.”

She decided to tease him and dug her teeth into her lip, forcing his gaze down to her mouth. “But if you do,” she murmured. “Then I won’t have anything to hold onto.” His eyes flickered back up to hers and she could see the green darken slightly. Mission accomplished.

It wasn’t all that surprising when Beau loosened his grip on her to sneak his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, and squeezed. “Oh, I”ll give you something to hold onto, darlin’, don’t you worry.” He leaned in a little closer and his voice dropped in register, making an all-too familiar fluttery feeling appear in her abdomen. “You know, you really shouldn’t be teasing me like that when my daughter is about to walk through the door.”

She stared into his eyes, not giving an inch. “Is that a punishable offense, Sheriff?”

He tugged her in closer and squeezed her again. “You want to find out?”

Excitement coursed through her. Oh, she very much did, but he had made a good point. Denise and Emily were bound to return any moment now. The coffee shop was most likely not going to be that busy, not at this time of day. Everyone had already gotten their caffeine fixes about two hours earlier.

And as if on cue, Cassie heard the lock on the front door being turned. That surprised her; why would Denise have locked the door? She didn’t have too much time to think on it, though, because right then Beau swooped down to drop a heated kiss on her lips, the promise of later rippling through her. One glance into his eyes before she took a step back confirmed it.

Cassie didn’t get too far when Beau suddenly jumped to his feet and grabbed her again. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her up to meet him more fully. Placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, she could hear the door being opened and Denise talking. She was pretty sure this was not how Beau wanted Emily to find out about them. As a matter of fact, she knew it wasn’t. Beau had been pretty insistent that he wanted them to sit down and have a conversation with Emily when the time was right, same as she wanted to do with Kai.

Remembering this, Cassie tried to step away but he held her fast. “Beau,” she warned. “They’re about to walk in.”

“You’re not getting off that easy.” He then murmured to her lips, “Whatever plans you’ve got tonight, cancel ‘em. You’re coming over.”

She went to speak when they both froze, hearing Denise opening up the front door again and saying to Emily that she thought she had dropped something on the sidewalk. They literally had seconds, if that.

Beau turned back to her, smirking. “Quick, kiss me again, they’re coming back—”

“Oh, ew, gross.”

Both Cassie’s and Beau’s heads snapped up, seeing Emily staring at them from the doorway, bags of food in hand. Denise appeared behind her, beaming and looking beyond happy, and then mouthing an apology.

Beau slowly released Cassie when she attempted to move away, chuckling nervously and taking a step back. A faint tinge of pink dusted his cheeks and the bridge of his nose which at any other time would have been adorable, sweet even, but not now. Now, they were both in the hot seat. Cassie wasn’t sure what to say so she stayed quiet, willing to follow his lead on how he wanted to handle this. She had only started to get to know Emily herself once Beau asked her to keep an eye on his teenage daughter who had recently found the dead body of one of her fellow glampers in the woods. She hoped this wouldn’t undo any rapport they had built so far.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Em, listen…I—”

“You’re dating Cassie. Yep, I know. Already got the memo.”

The pink in her dad’s face turned to red and the tension in his body increased. Cassie felt for him; he was embarrassed and he hadn’t wanted her to find out like this. She felt guilty for teasing him; had she not, maybe Emily would have never walked in on them and she wouldn’t be the wiser. “I get that. But the bottom line is—”

“No,” Emily insisted. “Dad, I mean I know . It’s literally old news. I already knew about you guys.”

Beau was shocked and Cassie’s jaw dropped. Even Denise seemed surprised, turning to Emily in amazement. “You knew?”

Emily glanced back at the older woman with disbelief. “And you didn’t?”

“Oh no, I knew,” Denise confirmed.

“Wait,” Cassie interrupted, making them both look back at her. “You both knew?”

“Well, Cass, you two weren’t exactly being subtle.” This time, it was Cassie who was blushing. “The constant calls, Beau-Beau here coming by the office a lot recently and looking much happier than usual I might add, even right down to the way you two look at each other when you think no one else is watching. Of course it was obvious to anyone with eyes.” The older woman then thought for a minute, turning back to Emily. “I didn’t think you knew, though.”

“Oh yeah.” Emily made her way past the two slightly embarrassed but also dumbfounded adults standing in the center of the room, plopping down in Cassie’s chair and opening the bag of food to find her lunch. “They’re actually one of the main couples featured in my podcast.” Both Cassie’s and Beau’s eyes widened. “Originally, I was going to do my mom and dad, and then my mom and Avery, but this is much more interesting.” Emily gave them a devilish smile and proceeded to take a bite of her sandwich.

“Em, what…” Beau was sputtering, trying to process everything he just heard. “Wait, is this the summer project you were talking about?” At Emily’s nod, Beau’s jaw tightened. “Please tell me you haven’t put it out there yet.”

“And are we really being featured in it?” Cassie added.

“Well…”

Cassie’s nerves were skyrocketing. She didn’t want to think about how all of Helena and possibly the rest of the state — the rest of the country — now knew she and Beau Arlen were an item. Not that she cared what anyone thought; her relationship was her own and she cared deeply for Beau, she wasn’t ashamed for anyone to know that. But if this was made public in a very viral way, and if they were as obvious as Denise claimed, then that meant a certain blonde undersheriff must be seething right about now. She turned wide eyes on the sheriff and let out in a breath, “Jenny.”

Beau held out a comforting hand and went to speak when Emily cut him off. “Jenny? She’s the one who gave me the idea to feature you two instead of my parents.”

Just when Cassie thought she couldn’t be caught off guard anymore than she already had been today, she was wrong. “What?” Beau demanded.

Emily’s smirk was now gone, replaced by a sheepish expression when she realized that her father was anything but pleased at this information. “I was talking to her about the podcast and when I told her what it was about and who I planned to feature, she said you two might be a better choice than you and Mom.”

“Wait, what is the podcast about?” Cassie had to know. Why would she and Beau or Beau and Carla or even Carla and Avery for that matter be featured in a podcast of a high schooler? She was determined to ignore the knowledge that Jenny knew about her and Beau for now until she was ready to deal with it.

Emily glanced over at her father who had his hands on his hips and was staring down at her expectantly. “Secrets and lies in relationships,” she mumbled.

“Oh, boy,” Denise whispered before hurrying over to her desk to sit down.

Beau and Cassie exchanged a glance of disbelief and confusion before looking back at Emily. Cassie felt sick to her stomach; Jenny knew she had been quietly seeing Beau and based on this, she was not happy.

“Why are you doing a podcast on secrets and lies in relationships? And more importantly, why would you feature me or your mother?”

“Because,” Emily started, obviously grasping for something to say that would keep her out of trouble. “Yours and Mom’s relationship had a lot of that.” Cassie noticed pain flicker across Beau’s expression before he crossed his arms, studying his daughter as she attempted to explain. Before this, she would have never reached out to him in front of anyone, in case they were watching. But now that Emily, Denise, and apparently the whole world knew, Cassie didn’t give it a second thought as she laid a reassuring hand on his arm, squeezing gently. His hand covered hers, squeezing back, but he never took his eyes off of Emily. Something that wasn’t lost on the young girl either.

“You weren’t the only ones I was going to feature!” Emily rushed out. “I was also going to feature Luke and Paige, and Mom and Avery like I said, and—”

“Luke and Paige? You mean the guy who was accused of killing his girlfriend who is still missing? Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“But, Dad—”

“It’s an open homicide investigation, Em. Not to mention, I’m the sheriff. Did you think about that when planning this project of yours?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Of course, I did. I wasn’t going to mention names, I’m not stupid.”

Beau let go of Cassie’s hand and paced to the end of the desk, sighing and running a hand down his face. Emily glanced up at Cassie who gave her what she hoped to be a tiny reassuring smile. She was trying not to think about what the implications of Jenny telling Emily about her and Beau dating would mean: for her friendship with Jenny, for her relationship with Beau, for Jenny’s own relationship with Beau — all of it seemed much more complicated now than it was prior to this knowledge.

“You know what would make a great podcast?” Both girls turned to look at Denise. “One about UFO’s.”

Cassie bit her lip to keep from chuckling. Denise and her UFO theory. She had to admit it — it wasn’t a bad idea. One much more preferable than the podcast Emily was currently working on.

Before Emily could say anything, the sheriff spun on his heel, hands on his hips again. “No more podcast,” he decided. Emily’s shoulders slumped and Beau gave her a look. “If you want to do one using Denise’s idea, then fine. But nothing about anything personal. Especially not about me and your mother. And especially not about people involved in an open investigation. Ever. Got it?”

Emily nodded, looking rather forlorn but knowing full well that she wouldn’t be able to win this one.

“Good. And by the way, you’re grounded.”

“What? Dad, come on. I don’t even live with you.”

Cassie didn’t need to glance at Beau to know how much that one hurt.

“That may be so but trust me, it’ll be a hell of a lot better to take your grounding from me than what your mother'll have in store for you once she finds out what you’ve been doing and that you’ve been airing out all of her dirty laundry.” Emily paled at this. Cassie still had yet to officially meet the former Mrs. Arlen, but based on what Beau and Jenny had said about the woman, she didn’t sound like she would be the understanding type if she learned her daughter was broadcasting all of the details of her relationships. Especially given the context of the theme for the podcast itself.

“Okay, hear me out for a second,” Emily tried. “What if instead of grounding me, I spend more weekends with you in the tin can.” At Beau’s glare, she continued. “We can do whatever you want to do, no matter how much I’ve protested it in the past. And not only will I be the coolest kid ever and be good with you and Cassie dating, but I’ll let you tell Mom on your own and I’ll even throw in my vocalized support for free.”

“Did you just counter your grounding with various forms of subtle emotional blackmail of your father and his new girlfriend?” At Emily’s sweet smile, Beau gave a nod and chuckled. “Impressive.” He glanced up to find Cassie giving him a look and he straightened up. “And ballsy. Which does not work in your favor, young lady. You’re grounded for three weeks, all three weekends which you will be spending with me in the Airstream and we will be doing what I want, whether you protest or not. Which means we’re going fishing so yeah, be ready. I will tell your mother about Cassie and me when I feel it’s the right time. Right now, she…has a lot of other things on her mind and that’s the last thing she needs to be worrying about. Especially since you said you already knew we were dating and you didn’t seem to have an issue with it then. And you already are the coolest kid ever,” he finished with an affectionate smile. “But even the best kids get misguided sometimes and it’s my job to steer you back onto the straight and narrow, so… Three weeks.”

Emily didn’t appear pleased but she shrugged her agreement. “Okay.”

Beau shot a satisfied smirk over at Cassie who inclined her head towards the back room. Getting her meaning quickly, he clapped his hands together and glanced between Emily and Denise. “Well, since it is no longer a secret…”

“And apparently never was,” Cassie muttered.

“Cassie and I are going to have a quick chat in the back so talk amongst yourselves… Actually, maybe don’t.”

“Just don’t make out in the storage room again.” Cassie’s eyes widened and turned towards Emily. The tips of Beau’s ears were the ones that turned pink this time. “That was weird and totally uncomfortable. Not to mention, extremely gross.”

Cassie glared over at Beau who laughed nervously. She had warned him it would be too risky a few days ago, with his daughter only twenty feet away, but he had insisted, citing the lack of time they’d had together over the last week, and she’d eventually given in. He was hard to resist, even in the best circumstances.

“Kids. They say the damndest things, don’t they?” He shrugged sheepishly with an anxious smile on display.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw Denise biting her lip to keep from laughing herself. Emily, too. She was so glad this was so entertaining for everyone; and to think, here she had been mortified at not only her assistant knowing about their recent rendezvous but also Beau’s teenage daughter along with every busybody in this town. “Beau,” she called before walking into the back.

“Yeah.” Beau hopped to it and followed her inside, shutting the door behind him.

Cassie crossed her arms. “Cute kid.”

He was practically beaming. “The cutest.” When Cassie didn’t crack a smile, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I know this isn’t the way we planned for this to happen and I get how embarrassing all of…that was. I’ll talk to Em and explain to her that—”

She held out a hand to stop him. “Beau, I don’t care about that.” Relief saturated his features. “I’m more concerned about Jenny.”

His face darkened slightly. “Traffic duty. So much traffic duty is in her future.”

She ignored that. “A podcast about secrets and lies in relationships? Her telling Emily to focus on us? Not a coincidence.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing but hey,” He cupped her face. “I don’t want you to worry about this. Okay? I’ll talk to her.”

Cassie shook her head. “I appreciate it but that won’t matter. She’s going to want to hear it from me and based on what Emily told us… Beau, I know her. Better than anyone. She’s not happy.”

“Since when is Hoyt ever happy?” When Cassie didn’t laugh or say a word, only continued to look worried, Beau reassuringly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “Cass, it’s going to be fine. Look at it this way, it’s less people for us to tell now that—”

“The whole state knows?”

He winced slightly. “Yeah, pretty much.” He then pulled her in for a hug, kissing the side of her head and murmuring into her hair, “It’s all going to work out. Trust me.” She closed her eyes and melted into him. She did trust him but she also knew Jenny. And with their history… She dug her fingers into the back of Beau’s jacket and on cue, he tightened his grip on her just like she wanted. If she wasn’t so worried, she might have smiled at the thought that Beau had indeed given her something else to hold onto.

“You know, one of the perks of everybody knowing,” he breathed into her ear. “Is less sneaking around.” She nearly shivered when his lips brushed her ear lobe. “Which means more time for you and me.”

She gasped when he suddenly picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist on instinct. He grinned up at her as he started walking them further into the room, towards the back corner where a spare desk sat. As a rule, anytime he was in the vicinity, Cassie made sure to avoid that area. He liked it way too much, so much so that he put it to good use one night when she had been working late in the office by herself and he casually stopped by on his way home. “Beau,” she warned. “They’re expecting us back out there.”

“I know,” he chuckled. When they reached the desk, he gently lowered her down onto it. “But I told you I’d give you something else to hold onto, and darlin’...” This time, Cassie did shiver when his voice dropped into that deeper tone that he knew sent electricity up her spine. “Look around you because you’re gonna have a lot to hold onto later tonight,” he promised. His lips enveloped hers and she moaned when his tongue licked its way into her mouth. He kissed her deeply, silently hinting at everything that was to come when they were truly alone.

When he broke away, leaving both of them gasping for air, he put his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes. “Send Denise home early,” he commanded. “I’ll drop Em off at her mom’s. Then I’m coming right back here and you’re closing the office the second I walk through the door.”

Usually, Cassie didn’t care to be told how to run her business, but right then, his ordering her what to do was kind of hot. And from the bastard’s smug smile, he knew it, too. She nodded, panting, “Okay.”

His smile grew and his hands squeezed her hips. ”That’s my girl,” he hummed, dropping another kiss to her lips before starting to retreat.

“Get your ass back here, Sheriff.” Cassie tightened her legs around his waist and pulled him back to her which caused him to throw his hands out on either side of her on the desk to keep himself from falling onto her, making him grunt. The sound caused a fire to start in her lower abdomen and she forcefully pushed the images of all the other times she’d heard that noise from him away. It was that or she’d never let him leave the room, and the latter wasn’t happening under any circumstances. She lifted up, hovering near his mouth, “I wasn’t done.”

He chuckled and it thrilled her when she saw his gaze darken even further. “Oh, you weren’t, were you?”

She threaded her fingers into his hair and whispered, “Nope.” She slotted her lips against his, kissing him as if her life depended on it. Cassie didn’t know what Beau did to her, but ever since they had shared their first kiss months ago, she struggled to keep her hands to herself whenever they had a moment to themselves like this. And apparently, so did Beau, since his hands were roaming everywhere .

The sound of loud laughter in the office broke them apart. They waited a moment, trying to determine if someone was coming in or not as they caught their breath. When no one rushed in, Cassie glanced back up at Beau and nearly laughed. His hair was sticking up in various angles; her hands had done their work well. She felt a lightness inside of her chest when she noticed him staring down at her, his smile warm and his eyes filled with something akin to adoration. She had seen that look often enough before they started dating though she never quite knew what it meant. Now she did, and she smiled back up at him.

He leaned down to place a soft kiss to her lips and then moved back, holding out a hand to help Cassie to her feet. She ran her hands through his hair, attempting to undo some of the damage she had done, and he groaned. “It’s sticking up again?” She snickered at his obvious irritation. “I’m telling you, I’m gonna cut it.”

“No, you’re not,” she laughed.

“Oh, I am. I’m going to the barber two blocks over, watch me.”

She shushed him and finished fixing up his hair as much as she could. His gaze was trained on her and when she stopped, giving him a once over and grinning up at him, his eyes softened and he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips.

More sounds of laughter and the teasing call of “Cassie…” by Denise had him frowning at the door while shaking his head. “We’re never living this down, are we?”

“Probably not,” she chuckled.

He gave her a tender smile and placed his forehead up against hers, staring into her eyes. “Worth it, though.”

Cassie returned the smile and cupped his cheeks, stroking his bearded jawline with her thumbs. He was right; it was definitely worth it, especially when they could get small quiet moments like this. She marveled at the fact that this man could literally go from teasing her like usual to successfully stoking the fire between them and being hot as hell while doing it to being soft and sweet and loving, all in a matter of minutes. But it was Beau after all, and as she had discovered the last few months that he had been here, there were many different sides to the county’s newest (and youngest as he always reminded her which then earned him another round of teasing) sheriff. And she loved every single one, even though she hadn’t quite told him that yet.

She could feel herself getting closer every day to saying those three little words to him; she just wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the first to say it. While she had a pretty good idea of how Beau felt, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to open herself up like that only to be shut down. Not after what happened with Mark, Cody, Andrew, and…her dad. That had been why she and Cormac hadn’t worked; she wouldn’t let him in, not completely. But Beau…Beau she didn’t see coming. And he had been patient and kind and just there for her. He never once demanded anything of her that she hadn’t already been willing to give. Beau also wasn’t the type to play games or hold himself at bay (not with her anyway); he wore his heart on his sleeve, unashamedly letting her see everything laid bare, and she loved him for it. As a matter of fact, their dating one another had only been kept secret due to her request. While he wanted some time to tell Emily himself should they get serious, he had no qualms about anyone else being in the know. But Cassie had wanted to wait since she knew how fast word traveled around Helena. And based on the conversation with Denise and Emily earlier, the news of their relationship was going to spread at the speed of light. She tried not to think about how it already had thanks to the podcast Emily had come up with.

Cassie’s smile grew when Beau groaned at hearing another set of giggles behind the door. “Guess we should get out there.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, kissing her once more.

A sudden loud pounding on the door had them breaking apart. “Let’s go, lovebirds.” Cassie froze at that voice. Jenny.

Beau was already there, a hand on her back rubbing comfortingly, and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Right here,” he murmured into her skin. “I got your back.”

She appreciated the sentiment but still she couldn’t resist teasing him. “Which means you’ll be using me as a human shield.”

“What? Never.” That feigned shock on his face said otherwise.

She shook her head but the humorous moment between them had helped to ease her nerves slightly. “Right. Well, guess we should head out there then.”

Beau gave a nod, let out a heavy breath, and turned to leave. He then stopped for a moment, reaching back to take her hand in his. He grinned when Cassie intertwined their fingers, and opened the door.

They stepped out to find Emily smiling but with her nose scrunched up, a beaming Denise, and most surprisingly of all, a smirking Jenny sitting on Cassie’s desk. Cassie froze; there wasn’t a trace of anger or irritation in the blonde’s expression.

“So, it’s official.” Jenny nodded towards their joined hands.

“Yep, it is,” Beau confirmed, giving Cassie a quick smile. She cradled their hands with her other one, returning the affectionate smile.

“About time.” Jenny held a hand out towards Denise. “Pay up.”

Cassie watched with wide eyes as Denise begrudgingly held out a twenty dollar bill which Jenny snatched up. She glanced towards Beau who looked just as confused as she was. “Wait…you’re not mad?”

“Mad? No, if anything, I’m relieved.”

“But…Em’s podcast…secrets and lies…”

Jenny dug her teeth into her bottom lip, grinning, and turned to give Emily a high five. “Told you it would work.”

Emily nodded. “She did.”

Cassie and Beau exchanged a glance before he got serious. “Alright, you two. Now, Hoyt, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” Cassie squeezed Beau’s hand. Here it comes. She knew they weren’t getting away unscathed. “I kept asking both of you about each other and you either dodged the question,” She looked pointedly at Beau. “Or you played it off as no big deal.” She then looked to Cassie. “As if I didn’t know what was really going on.” Jenny then smiled. “You two thought you were being so sneaky.”

“We planned on telling you…,” Cassie tried to explain.

“When the time was right,” Beau added.

Jenny snickered. “Finishing each other’s sentences already?”

Beau rolled his eyes. “Alright, Hoyt, so you knew. Great. Good to know you’ve been putting those investigator skills to use somewhere. So, what? You have a bet going with Denise or something?”

“Yep. Pop, too.” Cassie felt like she wanted to melt into the floor. Did everyone know? She should have known better; Emily might not have used names in the podcast but that didn’t mean Jenny, Poppernak, and those who knew them couldn’t put two and two together.

“Bet on what? Us making it official?” Beau seemed less than entertained at the notion now that Jenny had mentioned Poppernak had been in on it, too.

Jenny shrugged. “If Em mentioning her podcast would get you two to come out of the closet or not.” Cassie tensed. Wait…what? “Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say the storage room,” she teased, making Denise laugh and Emily mutter, “So gross.”

“You told Em to mention the podcast?” Cassie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “To get us to admit we’re together?” Jenny could have some wild ideas from time to time, but this took the cake.

At Jenny’s shrug, Emily jumped in. “Yep. And don’t worry, after talking to Jenny, I decided to do my podcast on something else.”

“So you haven’t put out any episodes yet?” When Emily shook her head, relief flowed throughout Cassie’s body. So not everyone in Helena knew about her personal life or heard details about her relationship with Beau; she was very relieved.

Jenny gave Cassie a look that indicated she was owed a very big thank you. She gave her friend a grateful smile. Perhaps she had been wrong to worry over Jenny’s reaction once she knew Cassie and Beau had been seeing each other.

“So, wait, there’s no podcast?” Beau checked.

“Oh, I’m doing a podcast, it’s just going to be on UFOs like Denise suggested.”

Both Beau and Cassie looked to Denise who held her hands up. “I didn’t know about the Secrets and Lies one and just to clarify, the bet was on who could make you guys admit it first, not anything about mentioning another podcast.” Denise then sidled up to Jenny. “Which now that I think about it, your little ploy didn’t work. They had already admitted it before Em ever mentioned that little nugget.” She stuck her hand back out. “So technically, you don’t win.” Jenny rolled her eyes but gave Denise back her money. “Thank you.”

“Wait, so who forced them to admit it then?” Jenny wanted to know.

“No one. I accidentally walked in on them having a moment .” Emily made a face and sat back down.

Jenny’s smirk was wider than it had been before. “Wow, that must have been scarring.”

“Traumatizing,” Emily agreed.

Beau, having decided he’d had enough, cleared his throat. “Okay so just to confirm, there is no podcast about Cassie and I or your mother and Avery or anything like that, right?”

“Right. So you can unground me now. Since, you know, it’s not real.”

“He grounded you?” Jenny asked in disbelief.

Emily nodded, checking her computer quickly. “Three weeks.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

Beau glanced towards Cassie who gave him a relieved smile, and he nodded before his gaze landed on his daughter again. “Six weeks.”

Emily’s head snapped up. “What? Why? Dad, that’s so—”

“Unfair? Yeah, well so is what you just put us through. Six weeks it is. And your mom is going to back me up on this when I tell her.”

Emily’s shoulders slumped again but she wisely didn’t argue.

Jenny saw it and tried to reason with Beau. “Beau, that seems a bit harsh, don’t you—”

“Not another word, Hoyt. You’re already on traffic duty for the unforeseeable future. Don’t make it worse. Because if you say one more word about this, you’ll be cleaning the toilets at the station,” he warned.

Cassie fully expected Jenny to protest, to get angry and have some choice words for her boss, but instead she just glowered at him while keeping silent.

Beau gave a satisfied nod. “Thought so. Now, if you ladies would be so kind as to excuse my girlfriend and I so she can walk me to the door. Em, get your stuff. Let’s go.”

Emily grabbed her backpack and shut her laptop, making her goodbyes to Denise and Jenny. Cassie gave Jenny an uncertain shrug as she and Beau walked past her, following Emily towards the door. She smirked at Denise’s wink, now realizing why Denise had winked at her earlier and why she had locked the door when she and Em went to the coffee shop. She had been trying to give them a moment alone.

Beau reached into his pocket with his free hand and passed his car keys to his daughter. “Why don’t you go start Pedro up and I’ll be out in a minute?”

Emily nearly rolled her eyes. “Sure. Bye, Cassie. See you tomorrow.”

Cassie gave her a wave. “See you tomorrow.”

“And don’t drive away.”

Emily did end up rolling her eyes. “Sure, Dad.”

Beau waited until the door was closed and he could see Emily get into the car through the glass before he turned, quickly glancing behind them, and then pulled Cassie to him, kissing her.

“You good?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded. “Remember what I said,” he murmured. “Send Denise home. Get rid of Hoyt.”

Seeing his piercing gaze darken once more, her heart started to beat faster. “Okay,” she whispered. Though she highly doubted it would be so easy to find an excuse to make Jenny leave. Cassie fully expected for the blonde to press her for details once Beau was gone, and she wouldn’t leave until she got them. “Though I seriously doubt I’m going to be able to get Jenny to go anywhere after this.”

Beau thought for a second and then yelled, “Hoyt, if you don’t leave in the next twenty minutes, you’re fired!”

Cassie’s jaw dropped and she hit his shoulder.

“What did you just say?” Jenny snapped back.

“What are you doing?”

The corner of his lips tipped up in a smirk. “Making it easier.” He then yelled again, “You heard me.” They both could hear Jenny making their way towards them and Beau straightened up. “I’m going to…yeah.” Before he could make his escape, Cassie grabbed his jacket to prevent him from leaving.

“And that’s making it easier? Now she’ll dig her heels in and never leave.”

He cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, eyes trained on hers. “I love you.”

She froze, not having expected to hear that from him just yet. And then it hit her just why he was saying it. “Wow, those really are the last words of a dying man, aren’t they? You know Jenny is about to kill you.”

He shrugged, his smile growing. Guilty . “That and ,” He tenderly stroked her cheek. “I really do, Cass.”

Before she could respond or react in any way, she heard Jenny snap behind her, “You want to repeat that, Sheriff ?”

Without missing a beat, Beau leveled the blonde with a glare. “I don’t need to. Be gone in the next fifteen or Pop gets your job.”

Jenny started to retort with something but it was lost to Cassie because Beau immediately leaned in to whisper to her ear, “I’ll be back in less than an hour. And then it’s you, me, and that room. So you better be ready, sweetheart, because I certainly will be.” His lips brushed against her ear lobe and she shivered against him, making him chuckle under his breath.

He pulled back, grinning from ear to ear and his eyes glued to hers. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Hoyt. Just be out of here in the next half hour since Cassie’s closing the office early today. I don’t want to see you when I come back here.”

“Oh, you’re coming back after you drop off Emily at Carla’s, are you?”

Cassie could hear it in Jenny’s tone; she knew why Beau wanted her gone. But right then, Cassie could care less. Especially when Beau’s smile softened and he caressed her cheek. “Damn right I am,” Beau quietly confirmed before leaning down and planting a steamy kiss on her.

When he pulled away, Cassie was left in a sort of daze. She didn’t even have it in her to be embarrassed or act all flustered or annoyed that he had kissed her like that in front of Jenny. Instead, she wanted to yank him back to her, everyone around them be damned. And from the smirk sitting on Beau’s face, the bastard knew it, too.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, using that voice. He gave her a wink and made his way out the door, leaving her staring after him and feeling as if she was on fire and going to melt into a puddle on the floor, all at the same time. Swinging from sweet boyfriend to sexy sheriff to her best friend and back…how did he do that?

Jenny appeared next to her, watching with her as Beau drove away from the curb, giving them a wave. “So, you’re closing the office early?”

Cassie knew Jenny was fishing but she didn’t bite. “Yep.”

Jenny then moved into her line of vision, grinning wickedly. “You know I want details, and I’m not leaving until I get them.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and spun on her heel to head back into the office, determined to send Denise home. After that, Cassie was going to empty this office if it was the last thing she did.

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