I sighed. Did I have to spell it out for her? “You’re not getting what I mean, honey. I want you to stay… permanently.”
“Are you kidding?” Her voice squeaked, but her lopsided grin made its appearance.
“Not even a little. Nicole, move in with me. Live with me. Be mine. I know this is quick, but I want to wake up to you every morning. I want to go to bed with you beside me every night. It’s no different than what we’ve been doing since before all hell broke loose.”
“Mike…” She cupped my face in her hands.
“What do you say?”
“I’ve always wanted a pool.” She giggled. “So, your house, huh?”
I shook my head and corrected her. “Our house. Now, kiss me.”
She leaned in and paused before closing the rest of the distance. “You’re sure?”
To prove how sure I was, I grabbed her face and leaned in to kiss her hard. On a moan, I took advantage of her opened mouth to get a better taste of her.
Tastes like home to me.
Chapter 47
Nicole had the right idea. Working from home sure held its benefits, what with the lack of disturbances.
I was going through a client’s latest changes to a campaign we were asked to undertake when I heard the doorbell.
Nicole got up from the sofa. “I’ll get it.”
I waited for Nicole to come back or call me, but all I heard was muffled conversation.
Around the corner, Nicole’s shoulders were slumped, her arms hugging her torso as Detective Mercer held his silence, his gaze ever watchful.
“Detective?” I offered my hand which he shook. “I take it you have news?” I wasn’t pleased with Nicole’s coloring, or the defeated look in her eyes that had combined with an onslaught of tears.
“We have a name.” I waited for Mercer to continue. “A man named Guy Turner was apprehended. I need Nicole to come down to the station to see if she recognizes him.”
An hour later, that’s where we ended up.
“That’s him?” Nicole asked when we saw Guy Turner through the one-way mirror of the interrogation room as Detective Peters joined the suspect.
I snorted at the frumpy-looking giant. If I had to guess his occupation, I’d say he did something in construction, what with the torn-up knees of his jeans and the dust speckling his shirt.
“That’s him,” Mercer confirmed. “Does he look familiar?”
She shook her head, indicating the negative.
“Try and think, honey.” I pulled her into my side.
“I’ve never seen him before, I swear.”
“I’m guessing he was a hired hand,” Detective Mercer said. “We’ve got a warrant for his email and phone records. We’re hoping that’ll tip us off as to who might have paid him. We’re waiting on the judge to give the nod to access his bank records too.”
“How’d you find him?” I asked.
“Someone from Miss Baxter’s neighborhood called it in. The man drives a company truck,” Mercer explained. “It’s his company, and he’s the only one working for himself. We found empty gas cans in the back of his truck. We’ve got forensics running comparative tests to see if the accelerant matches.”
Moments later, a clerk came in and handed Mercer a piece of paper. I didn’t like the grim line that formed on the detective’s face, or the way he marched to the interrogation room. He whispered something in the other detective’s ear. Peters nodded, then Mercer walked out of the room, and left Nicole and me alone.
“Who’s Lisa?” we heard Peters ask through the intercom.
The man refused him the answer he wanted with a cocky smirk. “I think it’s time I lawyered up.”
“This is your chance to talk, Turner. Maybe we can work out a deal.” Peters tried again. “Now, who is Lisa Granger to you?”
“She must be pretty important since she’s been blowing up your cell since you’ve been here.” Mercer’s words made Turner tense.
“I’m not telling you two a damn thing. I want my lawyer and phone call.”
“Oh, my God!” Nicole’s ass hit the seat she stood by and she bent forward, elbows on her knees, covering her face, her breathing having gone erratic. “I can’t believe this!”
What the hell? “Nic?” I crouched down in front of her, my hands on the sides of her thighs. “What is it? Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe this! It can’t be!”
“Talk to me, honey.”
“Lisa Granger… Fuck, it’s Lisa!” she repeated. “I have to speak to Peters and Mercer now!”
Peters came to the door after I pounded on it for nearly a minute. “Can you please tell me why it is that you’re pulling me away from my interrogation?” he asked as Mercer came back to join us.
“I think you’re both going to want to hear this.” I turned from the two men to Nicole. “Honey?”
“Can I see a picture of Lisa Granger?”
Peter’s eyebrows pulled up and Mercer asked, “Why?”
“Because I think I might know her.”
Chapter 48
Mercer was having Lisa brought in as soon as they could locate her.
With time to burn, Nicole grew antsy, so I took her out for a coffee to distract her.
An hour sitting on a park bench in silence was disturbed when the precinct called my cell, prompting our return to the station.
We entered the same room we were in earlier, only for Nicole to stop dead in her tracks with a gasp when the interrogation room came into view. Turner was gone, but someone else sat in his spot, somewhat familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite figure out where from.
“It’s her.”
“So this is your ex’s fiancée?” Peters asked. Nicole nodded. The man sported a look of confusion. “What’s she doing with Turner?”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Why would she have a beef with you?” Peters asked.
“She’s got a man,” Mercer said, “well, two, apparently, if her texts were any indication.”
“I don’t know why, Detective, but…” Nicole stopped to think.
Peters prompted her. “But what?”
She shook her head. “Forget it. I’m so tired that I think I’m reaching at things. She’s just the woman my ex cheated on me with, and that’s that.”
“I think you need to share.” Mercer nodded in agreement with his partner. “What may not seem relevant now may just be an answer for us, Nicole.”
Nicole turned to face me. “You remember the night of the fire?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.” I nodded. “What of it?”
“I could have sworn someone was following me when I left Dean’s.”
“Why haven’t you told us this before?” Detective Peters asked.
“With the shock of what happened that night, it never occurred to me to think more into people connected with those we gave you names of,” Nicole said. “I knew Lisa could get a little crazy, but I never thought that she’d be capable of anything like burning my house down.”
Mercer nodded. “Well, we’ve looked into both of your exes and they’ve checked out, alibis and all.”
Peters headed toward the interrogation room and paused to face us with his hand on the doorknob. “I’ll see what I can get out of her and I’ll be in touch. You should know that Miss Granger’s here of her own cognizance. If she chooses not to talk, we have nothing to hold her here until we have substantial proof that she’s behind this. As for Turner, the only way he’ll be turned loose is if someone posts his bail.”
“What about the evidence?” I asked.
“The lab’s backed up because of another case, but we’re looking into other things to try and speed things along,” Mercer said.
“But you found text messages?” Nicole asked.
“Nothing conclusive.” Mercer’s lips were in a tight line. “We can tell that they were plotting something, but they don’t actually spell it out. Ev
en if they did, a lawyer could very well argue those messages inadmissible because there can’t be proof that they were indeed the ones physically texting.”
My arm squeezed Nicole’s shoulders in reassurance when I felt her body tremble against mine.
Siding with Mercer’s recommendation, I opted to take Nicole home. Our answers would be the same, whether they came from a phone call or in person.
Ten minutes passed as we rode in the car and the silence was deafening, if at all possible.
I grabbed Nicole’s hand and said, “It’ll all be okay, honey.” She gave me a feeble nod. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Does it include locking everyone from our past away?” she asked without much humor.
I chuckled. “You might be on to something with that, but no. There’s something I want to show you before we go home.”
Chapter 49
I drove us to a place I often visited in my youth. Not having been back since I was in high school, I’m not sure what possessed me to bring her here, or where the notion had come from, but it seemed like a good idea.
I parked the car and made to get out.
“Where are we?” She exited the vehicle.
Grabbing the blanket from my trunk, I held out my hand. “We’re not there yet, we’re walking the rest of the way.”
She assessed the scenery as she took my hand.
“I don’t have to worry, do I?” Her lips quirked up a bit at the sides. “You’re not going to rape, kill, and leave me out here, right?”
I laughed out loud. “Hardly.” I brought her hand to my mouth so my lips brushed her knuckles. “I used to come here in high school. There’s a trail I hiked to burn off some steam. It leads to a small creek. I thought that you’d appreciate it.”
“You thought right.” She smiled and kissed my cheek. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t a long hike, just enough to get the blood pumping and release some of the pent up stress from the last few days.
We got to the creek and Nicole stopped walking, transfixed with the scene. “This is beautiful.” I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back to my front. “How’d you find this place?”
“I went out of the way to disappear as a kid. This is where I ended up. I kind of got stuck on it from there on out. When Dad and I argued, or things became too much, I biked it all the way out here and hiked the rest of the way.”
“Seriously?”
I kissed her head through her hair. “Yeah.”
“Have you ever brought anyone else here?”
“Never.”
She turned in my arms. “Not even Tracey… or Ben?”
I shook my head. “It never occurred to me to share this place with anyone else until now.”
“How long do we have until darkness?”
“Long enough.”
I set the blanket and pulled her down to sit between my legs so I could hold her.
She let out a long sigh, the tension ebbing from her body. “Thank you.” She lifted her head and kissed my chin.
“For what?”
“For this, taking me away from things.”
I gave her a squeeze. “I thought you could use the distraction.”
“I’m so sorry for everything.” She shivered.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
She pulled away to look at me. “But-”
My lips stopped her words.
She shifted to straddle my lap without ever breaking our kiss.
Withdrawing slightly, my forehead pressed to hers. “Let’s just enjoy this place.”
She kissed me before getting up to her feet. “How deep is this creek?”
“I don’t know, why?”
She kicked her shoes to the side and shimmied out of her jeans. “Because I feel like a swim.” Pulling her t-shirt over her head, she turned to me with a grin, and threw the item at me.
“We’ve got a pool at home, honey.”
“But this place is special.” She gave me her back and reached for the clasp of her bra before peering at me over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
I grinned. “I might just watch. The view’s fantastic from right here.”
Nicole graced me with her first real laugh of the day. “Your loss then.”
She walked toward the creek, shedding her loosened bra and then, just when I thought she’d head into the water, she peeled her underwear down her legs and walked in – gloriously naked.
I didn’t wait, hitting my feet and racing through my stripping.
The woman broke the water’s surface and smirked as she caught sight of me wading into the freezing water. “It takes a naked woman to get you in here, huh?”
“No.” I walked up to her. “Only you can convince me to get in here. Now get over here and keep me warm.” I reached out and grabbed her arm to pull her to me.
“I have a little something in mind to keep you warm, but it doesn’t involve us being in here.”
“Good.” I smiled. “I think I know exactly how I want you to warm me up.”
I felt her cold hand grip my cock and squeeze. “Does it entail me doing this?” Her hand began to stroke.
I groaned. “More or less.”
She nuzzled my jaw before nipping my chin. Her free arm wrapped itself around my neck as she continued to jerk me off.
“Baby?” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, honey.” I gave her a peck on the mouth. “But I’ll love you even more if you let us get out of here before my junk turns into an ice pop.”
Nicole’s eyes darkened with lust and her smile grew lascivious. “Sounds delicious, but you’re right. I can do more on dry land.”
Her body lay prone on the blanket as I covered it with mine. Taking my time, I slid into her, capturing her moan with my mouth. The evening sun shone over us, helping us dry, and warming us from the chill of the water.
“Look at me,” I said over her lips.
She did as I requested.
I pulled back, then thrusted in, savoring the feel of her wrapped around me. Her hands were threaded in my hair while our eyes remained connected.
She arched her hips into mine as we immersed ourselves into a rhythm that outdid all others.
I loved the sight of her. The setting sun made the red streaks in Nicole’s chestnut hair look as if it were on fire. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips puffy from my kisses. She was breathtaking.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I don’t think I’ve ever been with anyone as beautiful as you.”
“There’s that silver tongue of yours again.” She ran her fingers over the day’s regrowth on my cheeks and I gave her a quick peck on the mouth.
My pace slowed to savor the feel of her digits as she proceeded to trace the contours of my jaw, my nose. She didn’t leave much of my face untouched. I grabbed her wrist and kissed the inside of her palm.
“Michael.”
“Nicole.” I was trying to make sense of the slew of emotions that flashed through her features. I ran my fingers over her cheeks, smoothing them over her lips.
“How did I get this lucky?” she asked.
“I ask myself the same thing every day.”
She pulled my head down toward her face and nuzzled my nose with hers.
I sped up the pace a bit, consumed by the fire in my gut. I knew that Nicole felt it too, with how tight she clung to me.
Wrapping our blanket around us, I cradled her into my body.
“You’ve ruined me for anyone else, you know that?” she mumbled into my neck.
“Good.” I buffed my cheek into the side of her head. “I plan on keeping you for myself until well after we’re old and grey.”
She pulled away and looked down at me. Her eyes searched mine for any hint of hesitation or humor. “You’re not joking.”
I smiled. “No, I’m not.”
She settled into me again. “I can’t s
ay that I mind that idea.”
Chapter 50
We were cooking dinner together when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get that.” I kissed Nicole’s cheek in passing.
Upon opening, I was shocked to see who was standing on my front step.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Where is she?”
“Get the hell out of here or I’m calling the cops.” My blood pressure rose along with my rage. How the hell did he know Nicole was here?
The man pushed through and entered despite my warning.
“Dean!” Nicole said from behind me.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” He stormed past me. I hurried to get between the two of them, but held silent. “It’s not enough that you sent the cops to question me, but now you have to drag Lisa into this?”
“Get out!” Nicole’s shaking index finger pointed toward the door.
I reached for my cell. “I’m calling Mercer.”
“Don’t bother,” Dean said. “You won’t get away with this, Nikki.”
“Is that a threat?” I growled with my thumb pausing on the call button.
“It’s a fucking promise you can take to the bank, asshole.” He snarled and turned to walk away.
“Note to the wise, jackass,” I began. “I suggest you ask your woman about why she’s being questioned. I bet you’d be shocked at her answer. Better yet, you might want to talk to the cops instead, since she seems to have an entire agenda you don’t know about.”
Dean turned when he reached his car. “Whoever it was sure missed their mark when they hit your house.”
Nicole launched herself toward her ex as the bastard got in his car. I held on to her until he’d peeled off, surprised at the fact that I hadn’t gone after him myself.
Nicole’s body went limp in my arms when Dean’s car disappeared from sight. “Will this ever end?”
“It’ll all be over soon.” I turned her so she faced me and took in the tortured look in her eyes. “That man creeps me out.”
“I’m thinking that restraining order might not be a bad idea after all.”
Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3) Page 17