“It’ll all fit, but the letters will be tiny.” Deena squinted at the newly turpentined door, her paintbrush poised.

Zoe considered the frosted glass, trying to picture how their stenciled names would look.

“Well, we need to get it all on there,” Hoop said. “Zoe’s been working here for the last two months, and her name’s still not on the door.”

Taylor looped an arm around her shoulder, and she leaned against him, turning her face up to receive a quick kiss on the nose.

“She’s been doing a damn good job of it, too. For us and for the council.”

“I like this undercover assignment,” she said honestly. “Being a librarian was fine, but being a private investigator’s much better.” She smiled up at Taylor. “And being your partner’s the best of all.”

“Hey!” said Hoop.

Zoe smiled. “Your partner, too.” The three of them had joined forces, and Hooper, Taylor, & Smith, Investigators, had been doing reasonably well. Certainly Taylor wasn’t surviving on peanut butter, any more than Zoe was living on rice cakes.

“That’s better,” Hoop said. His stomach growled.

Deena rolled her eyes. “He must have run out of Twinkies. Got any of those PTA candy bars left?”

Zoe shook her head. “I finished the last one off last week during a stakeout.”

“I’m impressed how well you’re handling chocolate,” Taylor said. He flashed a smile that warmed her straight to her toes. “Then again, I’m impressed how well you’re handling a lot of things.”

Long nights—and some equally long days—snuggled up with Taylor drifted through her memory. “Yeah, well, practice makes perfect.” Not that she was completely used to her senses yet, but she was getting closer. She frowned, thinking back to her birthday. “I’m still amazed the council admitted me.”

“Why?” Deena asked. “You kicked butt. You pretty much saved the world, right?”

“Well, yeah. But I had help,” she said, smiling at Taylor.

“Maybe that was the point,” he said. “Sometimes you have to ask for help.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah,” he said firmly. “That’s right.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “But it doesn’t have anything to do with our immediate problem,” he said, nodding meaningfully at the door.

“Right,” Zoe said.

“Right,” Hoop echoed.

Deena tapped her foot. “Well, what do you want me to paint on this door?”

Taylor tapped his index finger against his chin. “I think it’s too long.”

“I know it is,” Deena said. “That’s why I need to use smaller letters.”

“I don’t like the smaller letters,” Taylor said, casting a look Hoop’s way.

“Me, either,” Hoop said.

Zoe caught Deena’s eye. “Men.”

“I do have one suggestion,” Taylor said.

Deena sighed, clearly exasperated. “Well spit it out.”

“Hooper and Taylor Investigators, fits just fine.”

“Absolutely,” Hoop said. “Nice and classy-looking.”

“But—” Zoe protested.

“What about her?” Deena finished. “She’s a partner, too. You can’t just—”

“I thought maybe you’d be interested in expanding our partnership,” Taylor said, his eyes locked on Zoe’s.

“Our partnership?” Zoe repeated stupidly. Her pulse picked up tempo. She tried to calm herself, afraid she was hearing something he wasn’t saying. “I’m not. . . I don’t know. . . .”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Deena asked, one hand resting on her hip.

“I’m trying to propose here.”

“Oh,” said Deena. “Well, then. Get on with it.”

“Maybe a little privacy?” he asked, looking meaningfully toward the far end of the hall.

Deena looked at Hoop as Zoe tried to keep from floating off the polished wood floor.

“No problem,” Hoop said, dragging Deena away.

“Thank you,” Taylor said, then turned to face her better. As he took her hands in his, every cell in her body started doing a happy dance. “How about it, sweetheart? We’re already partners at the office. How about being partners in life, too?”

She nodded, mute, then threw herself into his waiting arms, planting kisses all over his face.

He laughed. “Can I assume that’s a yes?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “That’s very much a yes.”

Keep reading for chapter one of .