apartment first so you can change.”
She gave him a sideways grin. “You’re so gonna want to wash your hands.”
Sam sat on Cait’s bed while she showered for the second time that day. Jason had called Dr. Thurgood, Lisa’s dean at the university, who’d agreed to speak with them as soon as classes let out for the day. Sam had checked in with his detectives, who were following up leads on two more missing girls. They hadn’t yet found anything connecting them to Lisa’s disappearance other than the fact they were in the same age group—and they’d gone missing on the very same day.
With the lieutenant making noise about calling in an FBI profiler, things were getting more complicated with each passing second.
Almost as complicated were his feelings for the woman who’d stripped to the skin without a single blush as she’d brushed past him to step into the shower.
He wanted to ask about the cemetery, but she’d been tight-lipped in the car. Which had his belly boiling. Something had happened. Something that scared her.
“Really wanna go there?” she’d asked.
Grunting, he’d tightened his hands around the wheel. “I only need to know what’s pertinent to the investigation.” He’d lied, because as much as he wanted to know what had frightened her, he wanted to give her time to get back in control. Keeping her fear in check was important to Cait.
“The list was all that’s pertinent , Detective,” she’d said, her voice clipped. But then she’d flashed him a bleak smile. “Sorry, I’m a little keyed up. Don’t know what it has to do with anything, but creepy shit happened as soon as we got there. Guess that’s a clue all by itself. It says the Worthens and Lisa are connected. We just have to figure out how.”
So he’d held back the questions he’d wanted to bark about why they both looked rumpled and dirty. Why Jason had been wearing only socks on his feet, one muddy. Why her face was white and her jaw tight, but he didn’t really want to know, because then he’d be drawn into whatever weird-ass magical thing had happened. And he decided he’d had enough. For now.
It was happening again. He was getting close. Worrying about her. No, scared shitless for her. He’d been down that path before. He tightened his tie.
All Sam wanted was to solve the case, wrap it up with a plain and simple bow, and kiss her good-bye. Again.
Only he was pretty sure he’d want to do more than kiss her. The thought of all that creamy flesh, sinewy muscle, and curves slick with soap made his mouth water and had his dick throbbing—a permanent condition whenever he was in touching distance of his ex.
“You ’bout finished up in there?” he shouted toward the bathroom.
“You try to wash corpse dust from your hair,” she hollered back.
What the hell? His jaw grew slack. He glanced down at his hands, then scooted off the bed to head to the kitchen sink.
In the distance he heard the shower stop and the shower curtain swish open. Hands gripping the sink, he fought not to head straight to the bedroom for another glimpse of her nude body as she pulled open drawers and dressed.
Bare feet padded toward him. He cut off the tap and dried his hands on a dish towel.
Arms encircled his waist from behind. Cait snuggled up against his back. “It was scary out there, Sam.”
Barely breathing, he held still. She smelled of coconut and flowers and humid heat. “Were you in danger?” he asked, his voice roughening.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
So why were her arms tightening around him?
Sam turned slowly. Cait was wrapped in a towel, water dripping from the ends of her hair. Her gaze stayed on his chest, hiding her eyes from him, which in her case were wide-open windows into her emotional state.
Despite all his arguments with himself he pressed a thumb under her chin and lifted her face. Her eyes blinked, and then her gaze locked with his. Without her usual scowling mask she appeared younger
She gave him a sideways grin. “You’re so gonna want to wash your hands.”
Sam sat on Cait’s bed while she showered for the second time that day. Jason had called Dr. Thurgood, Lisa’s dean at the university, who’d agreed to speak with them as soon as classes let out for the day. Sam had checked in with his detectives, who were following up leads on two more missing girls. They hadn’t yet found anything connecting them to Lisa’s disappearance other than the fact they were in the same age group—and they’d gone missing on the very same day.
With the lieutenant making noise about calling in an FBI profiler, things were getting more complicated with each passing second.
Almost as complicated were his feelings for the woman who’d stripped to the skin without a single blush as she’d brushed past him to step into the shower.
He wanted to ask about the cemetery, but she’d been tight-lipped in the car. Which had his belly boiling. Something had happened. Something that scared her.
“Really wanna go there?” she’d asked.
Grunting, he’d tightened his hands around the wheel. “I only need to know what’s pertinent to the investigation.” He’d lied, because as much as he wanted to know what had frightened her, he wanted to give her time to get back in control. Keeping her fear in check was important to Cait.
“The list was all that’s pertinent , Detective,” she’d said, her voice clipped. But then she’d flashed him a bleak smile. “Sorry, I’m a little keyed up. Don’t know what it has to do with anything, but creepy shit happened as soon as we got there. Guess that’s a clue all by itself. It says the Worthens and Lisa are connected. We just have to figure out how.”
So he’d held back the questions he’d wanted to bark about why they both looked rumpled and dirty. Why Jason had been wearing only socks on his feet, one muddy. Why her face was white and her jaw tight, but he didn’t really want to know, because then he’d be drawn into whatever weird-ass magical thing had happened. And he decided he’d had enough. For now.
It was happening again. He was getting close. Worrying about her. No, scared shitless for her. He’d been down that path before. He tightened his tie.
All Sam wanted was to solve the case, wrap it up with a plain and simple bow, and kiss her good-bye. Again.
Only he was pretty sure he’d want to do more than kiss her. The thought of all that creamy flesh, sinewy muscle, and curves slick with soap made his mouth water and had his dick throbbing—a permanent condition whenever he was in touching distance of his ex.
“You ’bout finished up in there?” he shouted toward the bathroom.
“You try to wash corpse dust from your hair,” she hollered back.
What the hell? His jaw grew slack. He glanced down at his hands, then scooted off the bed to head to the kitchen sink.
In the distance he heard the shower stop and the shower curtain swish open. Hands gripping the sink, he fought not to head straight to the bedroom for another glimpse of her nude body as she pulled open drawers and dressed.
Bare feet padded toward him. He cut off the tap and dried his hands on a dish towel.
Arms encircled his waist from behind. Cait snuggled up against his back. “It was scary out there, Sam.”
Barely breathing, he held still. She smelled of coconut and flowers and humid heat. “Were you in danger?” he asked, his voice roughening.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
So why were her arms tightening around him?
Sam turned slowly. Cait was wrapped in a towel, water dripping from the ends of her hair. Her gaze stayed on his chest, hiding her eyes from him, which in her case were wide-open windows into her emotional state.
Despite all his arguments with himself he pressed a thumb under her chin and lifted her face. Her eyes blinked, and then her gaze locked with his. Without her usual scowling mask she appeared younger
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