Wheel of Terror, Wheel of Wonder

[windscryer]

Title: Wheel of Terror, Wheel of Wonder
Rating: e
Characters/Pairings: Juliet/Shawn
Warnings: diabetic warning
Genres: Romance, Het, Fluff
Chapters: 1
Completed: Yes
Word count: 5372
Disclaimer: The fact that I'm so excited about this story should be the most obvious clue that I don't own them.
Notes: Holy crap I did it! I wrote a Shules dating fic! Where they actually go on a DATE. It's very exciting. :D Oh and this was the result of a prompt from musicalluna who wanted me to write a Shules dating fic using the following: Shawn, Juliet, rain, giant pretzel, and ferris wheel. She enjoyed it thoroughly when she betaed it. Hopefully you will too. :D

Summary: A day at the fair, a revelation Shawn didn't expect, and something terrifying that requires a very special antidote.

Juliet didn't react to the footsteps that drew closer to her desk. Working in the bullpen meant that there were always people around.

When the footsteps stopped just behind her, her senses perked up, but she continued skimming the report, flipping a page when she reached the bottom.

And then her personal bubble was invaded as her visitor leaned down and wrapped his arms around her neck, resting his chin on her shoulder, making her smile. She still didn't acknowledge him though, determined to not inflate his ego further by showing just how easily he could distract her just by touching her.

“That the Goodrich case?” he asked.

“Hello, Shawn.”

“Hi, Jules.”

He brushed a kiss on her cheek without letting her go, then went back to reading over her shoulder.

“Wait, stop!”

She froze in the act of lifting the corner to turn the page.

“He did it.”

“You're sure?”

Shawn nodded.

He lowered his voice and tilted his head slightly so he was speaking directly into her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine. “Second paragraph, where it says he invested in the lifestyle center down on Fourth street.”

“What about it?” she asked, very proud of herself for both following the conversation and managing to ask her question without sounding breathless.

“That place was estimated to cost four hundred and seventy-three million. Investors in that kind of project have to have some serious cash to get in. How does a financial advisor making eighty-thousand a year have enough to get in on that?”

“He was part of an investment group. They're the ones who invested in the . . . lifestyle center. He only put in about forty-thousand-which he has been saving up for several years to amass. This was all in his books.”

Shawn straightened and moved around to sit on the corner of her desk.

She hoped that it wasn't obvious how much she wished he hadn't moved when she leaned toward him slightly. He was like a magnet where she was concerned and she? She was a pile of helpless iron filings.

A teeny-tiny part of her mind sighed in resignation. She never should have agreed to a first date. Look at her now, unable to function when he was near.

But he was talking again and as much as she would like to just drift on the sound of his voice she needed to pay attention.

“Forty-thousand? Not gonna cut it. He would have had to have at least a few million himself to even get in the door with anyone. Even if there was a group of small-time investors that he belonged to who wanted to invest in this project it never would have happened. No major development project like this is going to accept them. Based on the amount of money each one invested alone they're not eligible. They're new, they're cautious, they're likely to panic if things don't go as they're told they would . . .” He shook his head. “No, Goodrich could only get in on this one if he had at least two or three million dollars all on his own. And hey! Guess how much went missing from the books of his employer? This was money laundering, pure and simple.”

She nodded in appreciation, her senses having returned-somewhat-with the small increase in distance.

“And you saw all this in a . . . vision, right?”

Shawn grinned, that goofy, lopsided grin that made her want to giggle like a high-schooler who'd just been on the receiving end of a wink from the varsity quarterback. Fortunately she'd learned how to quell that desire long before they started dating.

“Of course,” he said.

“Did you see anything else? Like, maybe, something we could use in court?”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Not yet.”

She stood, scooping up the file. “Well maybe if we go tell the chief about your last vision, it will spark another.”

“Maybe,” he agreed, slipping an arm around her waist and kissing her on the cheek-just because he could, she suspected.

“I have just one more question,” she said.

“Sure thing. What?”

“What's a lifestyle center anyway?”

He chuckled.

o.o

“Oh! I'm seeing a pizza parlor! Aaaaand . . . condos . . . and trendy boutiques and a comedy club and a parking garage and-”

“Ooh!” Juliet jumped in. “The lifestyle center being built down on Fourth Street!”

“Lifestyle center?” Lassiter repeated as Shawn's eyes flew open wide and he pointed at Juliet.

“Yessss . . .” he hissed.

“It's a kind of housing development,” she explained. “Shops, entertainment, condos, all in one huge building. The idea is you never need to really leave home and still have a life.”

Lassiter frowned in disbelief. “It sounds like living in a mall.”

“What's wrong with living in a mall? I think it sounds awesome,” Shawn said. “If hideously expensive,” he added.

“I'm sure it's both,” Karen said in hopes of derailing any sort of argument. “Now, Mr. Spencer, why are you seeing a . . .” She looked momentarily lost for the correct term.

“Lifestyle center, Chief,” Juliet supplied.

“Yes,” Karen said, then looked expectantly at Shawn.

“I'm not sure. But I'm also seeing money. Lots and lots of- No. Not lots of money. Not very much money at all.” He straightened up and held out both hands, palms up as if weighing something, his eyes bouncing back and forth between them. “Wait, these numbers don't match up,” he said. “This one is so big!” he said, his right hand dropping down a few inches.

“And this one,” he continued, looking to the left, “is so small!” It rose a few inches.

He looked up at Karen.

“I don't understand. These numbers both belong to the same person. But how can that be?” He started humming a tune that Juliet recognized after a moment as the Sesame Street song 'One of These Things Is Not Like the Other”.

“Different accounts?” Juliet suggested. “Maybe one is savings and one is checking.”

“No. Well, okay, yes, they are different accounts . . . ish . . . but . . .”

He looked at his left hand. “This is his income.” His gaze shifted to the right. “And this is the money he spent investing in the lifestyle center. But . . . how can that be? He doesn't make nearly enough to- OH GUH-”

He suddenly collapsed to his knees, hands clutching his head.

“Shawn!” Juliet said and hurried to his side. “Are you all right?” she asked as she crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder.

Karen stood up to look over the desk, while Lassiter just watched with a frown-and maybe a teeny, tiny eye roll for the theatrics of it all.

Shawn hissed in pain, then cracked one eye open, hand pressed to his forehead as if to ward off a massive migraine.

“His books. You have to check his books.”

“We already subpoenaed them, Mr. Spencer, they were clean.”

“No! I mean his . . . other books.” He pressed the heels of both hands into his eyes and whimpered softly and Juliet rubbed a hand on his back.

“Shh. It's okay. What other books? We searched his office-”

“A hidden safe . . . in his home office . . . under the desk, built into the floor . . . combination 17-43-22. It also has the . . .” He whimpered again. “The records for the 'group of investors' he belongs to. It's . . . it's fake. He's the only one. He just split it up and invested under different names so it would look like he only put in forty-thousand himself. But they're all . . . him. HE'S THE BORG COLLECTIVE! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!” he shouted and fell backwards, apparently passing out, prompting Juliet to catch him.

She did so, stifling a laugh and an eye roll both for the less than obvious ploy to end up cradled in her lap.

But she played her part and forced concern into her tone.

“Shawn?”

“Is he all right?” Karen asked. Lassiter looked faintly concerned, but also mildly suspicious.

“Detective, get some paramedics-”

Juliet brushed her fingers over Shawn's forehead but it was Karen's words that probably roused him from his 'faint'.

He gasped, eyes flying open.

“Jules?” he asked in a confused tone. “What happened?”

“You had a very strong vision,” she said, unable to help the curl of the hidden side of her lips as she added, “You fainted.”

He reached up as if to touch her cheek.

“And you caught me.”

“Oh please, do we have to watch this?”

Shawn grinned and Juliet 'helped' him sit up.

“You know, Lassie, you think you'd be more sympathetic to a fellow guy in love and the uncontrollable displays of emotion that provokes. Has she said yes yet?”

Lassiter froze.

“I'll . . . go get a warrant,” he muttered after a moment and hurried out the door.

When Juliet recovered from the surprise that revelation provoked she slapped Shawn on the shoulder.

“Ow!” he said and flinched. “Jules!”

“We discussed this. You can't use your superpowers for evil.”

He was still rubbing his arm and giving her a wary look when Karen cleared her throat.

Juliet jumped a little and turned to her. “Excuse us, Chief.”

Karen gave a tight smile and nodded and Juliet wasted no time in snagging Shawn's sleeve and tugging him out the door.

“I need to work,” she said once the door was closed. “Which means you need to go . . . somewhere else.”

The wounded look he had been maintaining vanished, replaced by The Grin.

“Why, Jules? Am I distracting?”

She rolled her eyes and started back towards her desk.

“Distracting?” she repeated, voice oozing sarcasm. “No! I'd never say you were distracting.”

He grabbed her waist and pulled her back against his body, nuzzling her neck with his nose.

“Then I guess I'm not trying hard enough.”

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped, though she really wished she had been able to. He didn't need the ego boost and her coworkers didn't need the ammunition.

“Get a room you two!” Lassie called. Then shook his head. “No, wait, don't. O'Hara, you're with me. We got our warrant. Spencer, you . . . just go somewhere else.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand to punctuate his words.

“What is it with you guys telling me to go 'somewhere else'? You don't even know where to send me! Just . . . somewhere else.”

Juliet laughed and freed herself from his grip. She went up on her toes a fraction to brush a kiss on his lips.

“If we told you a specific place you'd do your best to go the exact opposite of that. But with a direction so vague, how can you find the opposite?”

Shawn's head tilted to the side as he considered that. “Fair enough. And trickier than I gave you credit for.”

She smiled and snagged her jacket from the back of her chair. “I have all sorts of hidden layers, Shawn. Even from a psychic like you.”

“Ooh. Now that sounds exciting. We'll definitely come back to that later. But speaking of going places, What are you doing tomorrow? Say afternoonish-eveningish time of day?”

She gave him a look of mild confusion. “Tomorrow's Saturday, right?” He nodded. “Well, If the last few weekends are any indication, I'd bet I'll be somewhere with you, though I'm not psychic so I won't bother guessing where. Why?”

“No reason. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have plans to wash your hair or something.”

She rolled her eyes, but it was with an affectionate smile. How stupid was she that she found these tiny little moments of insecurity so darn cute?

“No, Shawn, I'm not planning on ditching you this weekend. I'm not tired of you just yet.”

“Sweet. I'll pick you up at noon.”

“Do I get to know where we're going?”

Shawn grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Do you ever?” Before she could respond to that he was walking backwards to the front door. “Just dress for having fun,” he said and then turned and jogged out. “Hey Buzz! Wait up!”

She watched him go until a not-so-subtle clearing throat brought her back to reality.

“Oh stop it,” she chided her partner as she gathered her things up to go. “We're not that bad.”

She got a stare and an arched eyebrow which she ignored.

“Are you coming or not?” she asked as she headed out.

Behind her, a long-suffering sigh was exhaled.

She ignored that too.

o.o

Saturday morning was cool and just a bit overcast, perfect weather for catching up on some light reading on her back-porch swing, Juliet decided.

Not that she much noticed the weather as she was quickly drawn into the intrigues of Regency England and a romance to shame Shakespeare.

In fact, she didn't notice much of anything as she read.

Not the weather. Or the time.

Or Shawn driving up on his Norton, entering her house, calling her name, and finding her on the swing.

She probably wouldn't have noticed him sitting down either, if not for the fact that it caused the seat to move and she instinctively grabbed onto the back to keep from falling off.

He just smiled at the look of startlement on her face, and put a hand on her knee, his fingers immediately starting a light massage.

“Hey, Jules. Good book?”

She sat up, trying not to blush at being caught so absorbed by her reading.

“Hi, Shawn. Yeah, it's a very good book.”

“Well we're not on a schedule so if you want to stay and read more . . .”

“While you what?” she asked, having recovered enough to be able to tease. “Watch me read?”

“I can think of worse ways to spend the afternoon,” he murmured.

And she was back to blushing.

“Um, no, that's . . . okay. I'm . . . it's a good place to stop for now. So what's the plan?” she asked in an obvious attempt to change the topic.

He chuckled, but let it go.

“That-” he said.

“Let me guess. That would spoil the surprise?”

Shawn never told her where they were going on their Saturday excursions. Probably because he knew that if he did she'd veto more than a few of them.

She always ended up having fun, but if she had too much time to think about most of them she wouldn't agree to go along-especially the skydiving or bungee jumping or any of the other height-related, thrill-seeking types of things.

It actually worked pretty well for them, as odd a system as it was.

Now he just grinned and jumped up, extending a hand.

“Admit it. You like being surprised.”

“Maybe just a little,” she agreed.

“So are we taking your bike again?”

“Nope. I have a feeling we'll need . . . more room than that.”

She arched an eyebrow, but just herded her into the house.

“Grab your wallet for ID if you really feel you need it, but you won't want a purse.”

“Okaaay,” she said, pausing at the kitchen table to dig her wallet out. She considered for a moment, then grabbed her badge and department ID. She had no intention of using it, but it wouldn't be the first time she'd needed it when she was supposed to be off-duty. Better safe than sorry.

Fortunately Shawn didn't do more than roll his eyes. “You can't take your gun,” was all he said.

“I wouldn't have anywhere to conceal it if I'm leaving my purse,” she replied sweetly.

“I'm just saying.”

“Okay,” she said, looking around to make sure all the lights and things were off. “Ready.”

“Then let's go!”

o.o

Juliet was stifling giggles-but not managing the same for her smile-when the car finally stopped.

“Now can I look?”

“No!” Shawn said with fond exasperation as he opened his door. “Geeze, Jules. Give me five more seconds.”

“Five seconds?” she said. “One. Two-”

He didn't wait for the rest knowing she'd take him at his word and open her eyes at five seconds unless he got there first.

He opened her door to hear, “Four.”

“Wait!”

She stopped, hands still obediently over her eyes-though she was dying to peek, he knew. But she was a good sport and, in spite of all her teasing, she wouldn't deliberately ruin one of his surprises.

He took her arm and gently tugged. “Carefully stand up,” he directed, assisting her so didn't bash her head on the roof of the car.

He led her two steps away and faced her the proper direction. “Okay stand there.”

He shut her door and punched the button to lock it, then went to her side.

“Walk with me.”

“Can I look?”

“No. I'll make sure you don't fall.”

She grinned wryly and he wondered what about as he put his hands on her shoulders and began guiding her forward. She pulled her hands away and he started to protest until he saw her eyes were still closed. She just wanted to put her hands over his, apparently.

To add to her stability? Or because she just wanted to hold his hand and this was the closest she could get at the moment? Whatever the reason he certainly wasn't gong to protest.

He watched her face carefully in between glances at the ground to make sure there was nothing to trip on. As the sounds of their destination got louder her expression became concentrated, trying to decipher what it was she was hearing.

“Okay,” he said, stopping her. “Now you can open your eyes.”

She did so, blinking for a moment, then inhaling sharply.

“What-”

“The 20th annual Santa Barbara Fair & Expo.”

A slow smile spread over her face.

“Shawn!” she said, then turned to him. “This is wonderful! Thank you!”

He bent down slightly, tilting his head so his cheek stuck out and she laughed and stretched up to kiss him. At the last minute, of course, he turned his head and caught her lips with his own.

She didn't mind at all and obliged him with a lingering kiss instead of just the peck he would have gotten on his cheek.

Juliet half expected to hear Carlton make some disparaging remark since a goodly portion of their kisses ended that way, but nothing interrupted them until Shawn finally pulled back.

“As much as I'd love to stand here and make out with you like teenagers, we could have done that at your place.”

She laughed and linked her fingers with his, turning towards the gates that led into the fairgrounds.

“Good point,” she said as they started forward and joined the line for admission. “Did you have a plan once we get inside?”

“Nope. I do, however, know what they have and exactly where it is. So if you have a specific request . . .”

“Rides first. The fast ones.”

He grinned and paid the forty bucks for two of the ride-all-day wristbands.

“This ought to get us started.”

She giggled-no stifling of her amusement now-and then they were off.

o.o

The afternoon passed in a blur of color to a soundtrack of fair music, laughter, and screams of joy. Ride after ride was boarded, most at least twice, some three or four times.

They gorged themselves on cotton candy, kettle corn, elephant ears, corn dogs, churros, a shared giant pretzel-and lots of chocolate in the food tent when they attended the Ultimate Chocolate Dessert cooking contest. Perfect timing it seemed because the rain that had been threatening all afternoon to spoil their fun finally chose then to let loose in a downpour.

They only got mildly soaked before they reached the shelter of the tent. Shawn pulled off his jacket when he saw her shivering and offered it to her against the chill of the fans that were staged through the tent at regular intervals.

She accepted it with quiet thanks, burying her face for a moment to inhale his scent that had infused the material.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded, flushing slightly at being caught.

Though really, with a boyfriend like him, she could hardly expect for much of anything she did to be missed.

On the bright side, since she knew he was eidetic she never had to worry about him forgetting an important date. Unfortunately for him that meant he had to find another excuse if he didn't realize the significance of a square on the calendar.

After the rain had finished and the sun came out finally they stopped by the stages to see some local musicians and a magician perform.

Shawn teased Juliet for the hour after that with his own magic tricks, making her laugh at unexpected times and drawing attention their way more than once while they waited in line for this ride or that one.

The sun set and they hit the midway playing game after game. Sometimes Shawn won and sometimes Juliet won. She tried to figure out if he let her, but was never quite sure.

He called it quits only when she was hugging a stuffed dragon that was almost bigger than she was.

He glanced at his watch as she tried to find a way to carry her new friend and still see where she was going.

“Eleven thirty. The fair officially shuts down in half an hour and there's one ride we missed.” When she didn't answer he took pity on her and freed her from the dragon's stuffed claws.

“Thanks. How did we miss one?” she asked, tucking a lock of hair that had been pulled free by the dragon behind her ear.

He grinned. “Because I was saving it until now.”

She arched an eyebrow but followed as he led the way through the crowd.

They stopped at the end of a line whose final destination wasn't entirely clear-until they'd been there for twenty minutes and reached the front.

“The ferris wheel?” she asked, arching her neck to see up to the top of the ride. She swallowed.

She'd been skydiving, she reminded herself. This was nothing. That drop had been measured in thousands of feet. This was . . . what? Maybe a hundred.

Not that she'd been excited about that, but she'd done it.

This was different, though.

How, exactly, she couldn't quite explain. It just was.

There you had a harness-and in her case, your boyfriend strapped to your back who was responsible for making sure you didn't go splat.

This . . . you were just in a little gondola. And if there were restraints they were only a little belt that she really wasn't sure would do very much for her if somehow they should manage to be tipped upside down or-heaven forbid-flipped over.

Not that she was expecting anything like that. It was just better to be prepared.

Or, alternatively, not put yourself in a position to need to be prepared.

“You know, it looks like it might rain again. Maybe we should just-”

He laughed and shifted the dragon to his left arm, wrapping the right around her waist and pulling her in to kiss her hair.

“You'll be fine,” he soothed, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. “It's just a ferris wheel. How can this be scarier than a roller coaster? It doesn't even go very fast.”

“It's . . .” She shook her head. “You're right. It's just a ferris wheel.” There was a beat and then she looked at him. “It's just a ferris wheel,” she repeated. “So we can skip it and it's no big deal.”

She started to walk away, but he kept a hold of her arm and tugged her back.

“Jules,” he chided.

“We could ride the merry-go-round again!” she suggested “Or the-”

He put a finger on her lips.

“I just want to ride the ferris wheel. Just once? Please?”

He turned on the puppy-dog eyes and she caved like a sandcastle in a windstorm.

“Fine,” she sighed.

He smiled and hugged her again.

“It'll be fun! You'll see.”

She doubted that, but she didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm so she said nothing.

They had another five minutes of waiting. She kept glancing at her watch and was hoping that they wouldn't make it on, but the man at the head of the line just smiled at them.

“You two are pretty lucky tonight.”

“Why is that?” Shawn said as he lifted his right hand, intertwined with Juliet's, to show off their wristbands.

“Because you're the last riders to ride tonight.”

“Lucky us,” Juliet muttered.

Shawn ignored her and grinned widely at the man.

“That is lucky!”

He led the way to the gondola that was waiting for them and slid inside.

And then Juliet found her worst expectations had been fulfilled. There weren't even seat belts. Just a door that was closed behind them, locking them in, but providing no real safety.

She closed her eyes and slid closer to Shawn. Not that he could stop anything from happening, but at least she wouldn't die alone.

Shawn chuckled when he felt her shiver and shook his hand free of the death-grip her had on it, then put his now free arm around her shoulder.

Her hand sought out his again, clutching it.

“This really bothers you?” he murmured.

She just nodded. “I'm not a fan of heights anyway, you know, but for some reason ferris wheels are the worst.”

“Bad experience as a child?”

“Not that I can remember. I just don't like them.” She shivered again and he freed himself for a second, setting aside the dragon so he could put his jacket around her shoulders again.

She laughed weakly. “Thanks, but I'm not really cold.”

“You probably will be at the top,” he said.

She whimpered and he stopped smiling.

“Jules?”

“What?” she whispered. She just wanted this stupid ride over with so she could put her feet back on solid ground again.

“I'm sorry.” He started to move and she clutched tighter. “Easy, Jules. Retract the claws. We're getting off.”

Her head popped up and he might have laughed if he didn't feel so bad.

“It's over?” she asked in surprise.

“No. But if it bothers you this much-”

She swallowed. “I'm fine. Really. I'll just . . . pretend I'm somewhere else with you. Like . . . my porch swing!”

“Juliet-”

Just then the ride began moving and Shawn was hauled back into the seat, Juliet's face buried against his side.

It turned out to be less fun than he anticipated, riding the ferris wheel, what with Juliet trembling and occasionally whimpering when a gust of wind rocked the gondola.

Shawn enjoyed the view as much as he could and squeezed Juliet's hand during the wind bursts.

They survived the two rounds the wheel turned for the ride portion and then finally it came to a stop.

Juliet's head popped up again.

“Are we done?”

“Ah, sort of,” Shawn said. “The 'ride' part is over with, but they have to unload everyone and it's first in, first out.”

“So . . . we have to go around again?”

“Um . . . yeah.”

Her head went back down and she mumbled into his side, “Tell me when it's over.”

Shawn was about to call out to the operator and ask if they could just get off now-it wasn't that far to the ground from their position one stop up from the bottom, but before he could tell Juliet that he needed to be released they were moving again and it was too late.

They'd just have to wait it out.

But maybe it didn't have to be a total waste . . .

“Hey, Jules?”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

“Rather not, thanks.”

“Come on,” he cajoled. “You don't have to look outside the car, just look at me.”

She tilted her head slightly to peek at him from one eye.

“What?”

He laughed, hoping his being relaxed might be contagious.

“Both eyes.”

She had to lift her head for that one-which was exactly what he wanted.

He ducked down and kissed her.

Her eyes flew wide, then slowly drifted closed as she got into it.

He started to lift her up to a more comfortable position, but she balked and broke it off.

“No!”

“Jules,” he said, taking her chin in his hands and refusing to let her sink down again. “I'm trying to distract you. Just focus on me. It'll be over before you know it and you won't have spent fifteen minutes in paralyzing fear.”

She swallowed, then her eyes flicked over his shoulder. She blanched and he captured her lips again before she could escape to burrow into his ribs.

She didn't quite go along with it at first and he had to use a little extra persuasion to keep her there until he was able to sufficiently draw her attention back.

Once her eyes closed again and she really seemed to be putting effort into meeting him halfway, he let her head go from the vice grip hold he'd had on it and shifted to something a little more like a caress.

They bumped and stopped and started and jerked their way around the wheel as everyone unloaded. Shawn counted their lucky stars that they didn't have to wait for anyone to board as well.

By the time they were back on the ground both of them were dizzy from oxygen deprivation-making out with that much dedication was not conducive to breathing after all-and stumbled out of the gondola, receiving a wink from the operator.

“Will you two be back tomorrow night for another ride one last time?”

“Uh, no,” Juliet said as Shawn adjusted his hold on the dragon and on Juliet.

“I think this one was enough,” Shawn agreed. “I'm not sure we'd survive it next time.” He grinned and Juliet couldn't help a tiny chuckle at that, her sense of humor restored now that it was over and she was back on the ground.

“Well, all right. Goodnight, then.”

They replied in kind, then began staggering towards the parking lot.

“The fair runs one more day, right?” Juliet asked as they reached the car.

Shawn stuffed the dragon in the back, then pulled out and straightened up.

“Yeah. You want to come back?” he asked in surprise. “I would have thought-”

“Not to ride the ferris wheel,” she clarified, holding a hand up to stop him. “But the rest of it was very fun. And I'm a sucker for caramel apples and giant pretzels.” She thought for a moment. “And carousels.”

Shawn's smile slowly widened.

“Sure. We can definitely come back tomorrow,” he said as he rounded the car and climbed inside. “They're doing homemade salsa judging at one-thirty and apple pies at three.”

“Sounds perfect,” she agreed as she buckled in. “And Shawn?”

He turned and she was right there for one more kiss.

“Thank you. For a wonderful day and a . . . very nice distraction.”

“Anytime, Jules. Anytime.”