by Jill Sanders
“What about Sean?” Sawyer asked.
“Yeah, I mean, sure. Isaac told me Sean used to take him up all the time. I guess he got him hooked when he was a kid.”
“Did they ever take you up?” Sawyer turned and asked her.
“Me?” She shook her head as she laughed. “Jump out of a perfectly good plane? Nope.” Just the thought of it made her head spin.
They landed without any issues, even though the snow was falling harder here than when they had left. Hunter had called ahead and arranged to have the plane parked and housed in a hangar until they left in two days.
Julie had sent a car for them and the three of them piled into the black sedan. Sawyer tried to lift her bag, but when he winced with pain, she berated him and took the bag from him.
“How much longer are you going to be off work?” Hunter asked when they were heading towards the hotel Julie had arranged.
“I go to the doctor early next week,” Sawyer answered. “It’s been driving me crazy, not working. The food is good though.” He reached over and took Rose’s hand, and she smiled over at him.
Since Hunter was in the front seat of the sedan, he didn’t see the move, or the smile Rose gave Sawyer in return. Still, she knew that she had to tell Hunter soon that she was seeing Sawyer, since he was so determined she steer clear of him.
He didn’t seem mad about the idea. The last time they’d talked about it, he’d stressed how important it was that she keep her nose clean in the eyes of the police, so they had no reason to suspect her. But after she’d explained the several issues she’d had with her back patio and told him about the murder on her land, Hunter had been concerned enough that suddenly police protection hadn’t looked so bad.
She’d made a point to keep it secret how close she and Sawyer had become. It wasn’t any of Hunter’s business who she dated.
Close. Is that what they were? They hadn’t officially gone out on any dates, and his items were still in the guest room across the hall, even if he did spend every night in her bed.
Julie had arranged for three hotel rooms at the Ritz-Carlton. She was a little surprised when Hunter and Sawyer were given rooms on the third floor and she was put on the top floor.
They had arranged to meet Julie in the lobby in the bistro and bar for dinner at eight, which gave her almost four full hours to gawk at the view of Central Park from the Royal Suite.
The last time she’d come into the city for an art showing, Isaac had picked a hotel down the street from the gallery. It had been top dollar, but nothing this nice. She had almost two thousand square feet to herself for the next two nights.
She took her time and hung up her dresses in the larger of the two rooms in the suite. She’d packed several dresses but now she was worried that what she’d brought along for the event wasn’t nice enough.
Picking up her phone, she texted Hunter.
-I need to shop. Wanna come?
-Sure, are we ditching the cop? he replied back almost instantly.
She chuckled, then replied.
-He can come if he wants to spend time in the lady’s dress department. I’ll ask…
She texted Sawyer, who replied back quickly.
-Is Hunter going?
-Yes
-I’ll pass, stay safe, stick to your brother’s side.
She smiled and typed.
-Did the two of you bond on the trip up here?
-Let’s just say, I feel confident that he has your best interests at heart. I’ll see you for dinner.
-Okay
She texted Hunter again.
-Nope, he’s skipping. Meet in the lobby in five?
-Okay
She freshened up, grabbed her purse, and made her way to the lobby. Hunter was already there waiting for her.
“You should see my room.” She hooked her hand in his arm. “The penthouse,” she added.
“You deserve it. After all, you’re the star of the show.”
They walked out the front door and glanced around.
“Where to?” he asked.
“I have no idea.” She frowned and glanced up and down the street.
Hunter turned to the doorman. “We’re looking for shopping.” He turned to her. “Dresses?” he asked, and she nodded quickly. “Women’s dresses for a special event.”
The doorman pointed them to the left where there was a shopping center with plenty of high-dollar stores. The man assured them that they would be able to find what they were looking for there.
They walked arm and arm down the street and chatted about how exciting the trip was. She could tell Hunter was avoiding talking about all her legal worries and the murders.
For the next two hours, she laughed and had fun with her brother as she tried on more dresses than she could count. In the end, he convinced her to spend a little extra and purchase two dresses, a long formal celadon dress with a low plunging neck for the art showing and a shorter silver and gold floral lace dress for dinner that evening. Since she had already purchased new shoes for the event that would go with both dresses, they made their way back to the hotel.
They had stopped and bought a cinnamon roll on the way to the shops, but by the time she let herself back into her hotel room, she was starving.
She showered and started getting ready for dinner. She had just pulled on the dress when there was a knock on her door. Zipping the dress up, she opened the front door and smiled at the massive bunch of roses meeting her.
“These were delivered to the front,” the bellhop said. “Would you like me to set them down?”
She stood back and watched as he replaced the ones on the dining table, then left.
“Thank you,” she called after him as she touched the soft yellow petals and smiled. She opened the note and froze.
“Thinking of you. Always yours… IC”
Her throat tightened, and her eyes teared up as she reread the note. With shaky hands, she pulled out her cell phone.
“Hey, I’m almost ready,” Sawyer said.
“I… need you up here,” she managed to say.
“What is it?” She could hear him rushing around.
“Someone sent me flowers.”
“What?”
“There’s a note.” She set the paper down and stared at it. “It’s from Isaac.”
“Rose?” When she didn’t respond he asked, “What room are you in?”
“Top floor,” she answered.
“I’m in the elevator. Open the door for me.”
She walked over and opened the door. When the elevator opened less than a minute later, she dropped the phone as he gathered her in his arms.
“Show me?” he said after she felt a little more stable.
“There.” She pointed to the note. He read it and then frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“Isaac, the flowers…” She shook her head. “He used to always say that when he sent flowers to me. Plus, those are his initials. He always signed the cards IC. It was kind of his thing.”
“Are you sure?” He checked the roses for more notes.
“Yes, it’s his handwriting.” She closed her eyes and leaned against the door. “The day before he… or rather, the day after…” Her hand was covering her heart. “I received flowers just like this, yellow roses. The note was identical. I gave it to the police.”
He set the note down and walked over to her. “Hey, we’ll figure this out.”
She nodded and looked into his green eyes. “It’s got to be a joke, right? Someone’s sick idea?”
“Let’s find out.” She sat on the sofa while he called the front desk. He asked who had delivered the flowers, then asked for the phone number of the floral shop. Then he called and repeated the questions to the florist. When he hung up, he came and sat next to her.
“A man came in about half an hour ago. He paid cash. No photo ID or credit card. No name.” Sawyer took her hand and wrapped his arms around her. “We’ll find the SOB.”
&nb
sp; She closed her eyes and sighed. “At least we can mark a few more names off the list.”
He leaned back and frowned at her. “Why?”
“It was a man, not Kristy.”
He sighed. “She could have paid someone,” he suggested.
“Right.” She rested her forehead in her hands. They remained silent for a while. When she looked up again, she realized he was already dressed for dinner. The black suit, green shirt, and silver tie looked amazing on him.
“Wow, look at you.” She stood up and he followed. “You clean up nice.”
He chuckled. “You’re not bad yourself.” He brushed a finger down the sleeve of the dress. “Pretty amazing, actually. Don’t worry about the flowers. We’ll get to the bottom of it. I’m sure whoever it is, they’re just toying with you.”
She knew he was trying to make her feel better but there was still concern behind his eyes.
He moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. “You know, we still have half an hour before we’re supposed to head downstairs.” His smile grew. She leaned up and, a breath from his lips, she asked, “Whatever shall we fill the time with?”
He chuckled and walked backward with her until her knees hit the sofa. He frowned down at it, then glanced around.
“Wow, what a room.” He whistled.
“It’s a suite.”
“Where’s the bed?” He turned around.
“In there.” She pointed. He took her hand and she followed him until he stood at the foot of the bed.
“Now, where were we?” he asked softly as his hands ran up and down her sides.
“I think you were trying to take my mind off of… things.” She nudged his dinner jacket off his shoulders and started unbuttoning his shirt, slowly.
Her hands ran over his chest and she moaned as his muscles twitched under her fingertips. He groaned when she reached for the snap of his dress pants.
“You’re killing me.” He reached for the zipper on her dress.
She held still while he turned her around and slowly unzipped her dress. The material landed in a pool at her feet. She stepped out of it and stood in front of him in her lacy black underwear set. His eyes ran up and down her slowly.
“My god,” he whispered, “you’re amazing.”
She stepped closer to him and nudged his pants down his legs. They joined her dress on the floor.
“We’re going to end up going to dinner all wrinkled,” he joked.
“It’s just Julie,” she reminded him. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him as their lips met. “I need you,” she said.
“Yes, god yes,” he growled out between kisses as he walked her a step backward towards the bed.
His hands moved over her slowly at first, then as the power and need built, she demanded more, and he provided.
His body pressed against hers and when they fell onto the bed, she laughed as he covered her. When he entered her, she cried out in pure pleasure.
She’d never experienced anything like the unadulterated delight she felt in the closeness she shared with Sawyer. Or how he made her feel when he was touching her, looking at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
She couldn’t keep herself from falling for him even more or control the emotions that followed after she’d given him everything she had, leaving her raw. All she could do now was hold onto Sawyer as the power of everything he’d done to her, for her, washed over her and consumed her.
They lay together, breathing hard, as their hearts settled back down.
“Okay, now I’m thinking of calling off dinner and staying right where we are for the rest of this trip,” he said against her skin, his breath causing goose bumps to rise.
She laughed. “Me too.” He rolled back to look at her.
“How about a quick shower?” he asked.
“You read my mind.” She rolled over. “You thought my room was nice. You should see the shower.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
Tying her already curled and styled hair up, she turned on the shower and stepped in and he followed her. “This is amazing.” He glanced around at the large shower. “My room is nothing like this.” He turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s nice, but not this.”
“I know, right? I’m thinking of redoing my own bathroom,” she joked.
The hot water hit them, and she felt renewed once more. “We’re going to be late,” he warned as she rubbed her body against his.
“Like I said, it’s just Julie and Hunter.” She kissed him and enjoyed the way his body responded.
They walked into the dining room downstairs less than five minutes late. Julie and Hunter were standing at the entrance to the restaurant waiting for them.
Her dress was slightly wrinkled, as was Sawyer’s dinner jacket.
She hugged Julie. “So, tell me all about the show,” she asked as they were being seated at their table.
While Julie talked about the art showing, she tried to avoid eye contact with Sawyer, but the man was like a magnet. Julie must have noticed because she leaned closer to her and whispered while Sawyer and Hunter talked about something else.
“Things have changed between you and Sawyer.” Julie touched her hand.
“What?” She shook her head, but her friend’s smile told her that she’d guessed. She couldn’t stop the smile or keep her eyes from moving to Sawyer’s green ones. “Yes, they have.”
“Chat later.” Julie nodded as the waiter delivered their food.
“So, I know it’s short notice, but the party is a formal affair. If you two need tuxes, there’s a place just down the street. I’ve already called them. You can stop by anytime tomorrow before the showing to be fitted.”
“I have my own,” Hunter broke in.
“Since when do you have a tux?” she asked.
“Since I realized it was more cost effective than renting one every time I had a black-tie event.” Hunter smiled at her.
“What about you Sawyer?” Julie asked.
“I’ll make sure to stop by the shop. Can you text me the store name?”
“Sure.” Julie reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.
“I am curious if you know who else knew we were coming into town,” Sawyer asked.
Julie’s eyebrows shot up and she set her phone down. “Well, I’d hope everyone would. I’ve spent a fortune getting ready for this show.”
“What do you mean?” Rose asked.
“Well, to capitalize on the show, I’ve spread the word all over the city that you’ll be in town.” Julie smiled. “Shortly after I did that, the show sold out and I actually had to move the show to a larger art gallery.”
Her friend seemed very proud of herself and Rose hated to burst her bubble, but she really didn’t want all the attention.
“The media?” Sawyer asked.
“Well, sure, they’ve been talking about it for the past few days.” Julie reached over and touched her hand again. “You’re the talk of the town.”
Rose felt her stomach roll and pushed her half-empty plate aside.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Hunter asked. “There is, after all, still a murderer out there.”
Julie’s smile shifted slightly. “They’re not after Rose.” Her friend’s eyes moved to hers. “Are they?”
“Someone sent her flowers today,” Sawyer said.
“They did?” Hunter shrugged. “I bet she gets them—”
“It was from him,” Rose added, feeling her stomach roll again. “The note was the same one that I’d received the day after Isaac went missing. It had his initials on it.”
The table was silent. “Did you check to see who sent it?” Julie asked.
“A man, and he paid cash,” Sawyer answered. “I’ll look into it further tomorrow, but for now, I’m thinking of changing rooms or better yet, sleeping on Rose’s couch for the night.”
“There are two bedrooms in my suite,” she added, knowing full well he would
n’t be sleeping in the other bed.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Julie added.
“I could always…” Hunter started, but the look Rose gave him shut his mouth and he nodded. “Police protection.” He sighed. “But if you need anything, I’m just a few floors down.”
“Thanks.” She smiled over at him. “Honest, I’ll be fine.”
“Of course, you will,” Julie jumped in. “You’re the strongest woman I know. Now, let’s talk about what you’re wearing to the show.”
Rose laughed and filled her friend in on her new outfit.
Twenty
A swarm…
The following morning, Rose woke to the sight of Sawyer getting dressed.
“Where are you off to this early?” She propped herself up on her elbow.
“Flower shop first, then I’m getting fitted for the tux after. Want to meet for lunch?” He glanced at his watch. “How about one o’clock?”
“Sure.” She rolled out of the bed and walked over to help him pull the shirt down over his head. He was still having problems pulling on T-shirts and hated that he didn’t have full mobility back yet. “I saw a little café just down the street. We can meet there,” she suggested.
“Okay,” he said when he was freed from the tangled shirt. “What are you up to this morning?”
“I was going to do some more shopping.”
“Didn’t you do that yesterday?” How much shopping could a woman do while she was in the city?
Rose laughed. “Yes, but I’m not sure when I’ll be back in the city. Besides, I need a clutch purse for tonight and some jewelry.”
“Is Hunter going with you?” he asked, worry filling his eyes.
“Of course.” She leaned up and kissed him.
He nodded his head. “Then, go, have fun. I’ll see you at one.” He pulled on his shoes with minimal pain.
“We were going to hit a few of Hunter’s favorite spots after we have breakfast together.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I wanted to have breakfast with you, but I want to get there when the flower shop opens.”
“I understand. We can have breakfast tomorrow before we head home.” She kissed him back.