The comforter stopped at his abs making her eyes linger on the bare skin of his stomach, going up his wide chest that rose slowly in tune with his breathing. One muscular arm was slung over his head, his dark hair ruffled from her hands. The memory made her bite her lower lip and she couldn’t believe Jake Bentley was in her bed. In her bed!
She moved her hand an inch above the skin of his left arm and marveled at the muscles curving their way beneath his skin. A handful brown freckles scattered like a galaxy on his shoulders and she felt thirsty to place her lips on every one.
“Taking advantage of me while I’m asleep, Holly.” His rough morning voice made her jump, and she was caught. No use denying it.
“I was just looking,” she squealed as he rolled his warm, sleep-rumbled body on top of her and pressed her into the mattress. With his touch simmering across her skin, she moaned and jerked her hips up against his. His lips found the delicate skin of her shoulder and went up to her ear. “Perfect pussy, Holly—all warm and wet around my cock all night.”
She dashed her hand over her mouth at his naughtiness but her body deceived her and moistened her further. He moved up on his elbows, caging her face, meeting her movements with his pelvis.
“So, how are you feeling,” he said, running his large calloused hand over the soft skin of her stomach up and over the swell of her breasts.
“I don’t know . . . because . . . I don’t know . . . I don’t know…”
“That good, huh?” he grinned and kissed the way his fingers traveled.
“Yeah,” she sighed and closed her eyes under the warmth of his kisses. His stubble scratched her skin and she gave away another sigh until her fingers dug into his hair and she pulled him up to kiss him. God, he tasted good. Kissing him was good. A forceful mouth, an eager tongue, and a five-o’clock shadow. Those were things that could drive a woman crazy and she lifted herself up to meet him. Opening her legs a little wider.
“No, I’m fine, Reena. You keep having a good time, you’ve earned this vacation. Tim and I got it covered.” Holly hung up the phone and pulled on her running shoes. Sleeping with Jake had felt great, but she had to get real with herself, she wasn’t really a girl he would settle down with. She stood and grabbed the purse on the hallway table and walked out to her car. Aubrey toddled ahead of her and as they drove into town for their weekly grocery shopping she decided to eat better, run more, and investigate what made those girls in New York so special they were next to him on every event and magazine page.
“You’re pathetic,” she mumbled to her own reflection in the rearview mirror. "You're better than them. You're a mom with a full-time job. Get a grip."
Aubrey and Holly strode down aisle after aisle as they made their way around the familiar store until Aubrey gleefully raised her hands around the next corner only to find Drew holding a puppy in his arms in the next aisle.
“Hi, Drew. Dog owner now, I see.”
“Not mine, puppy sitting for my sister while she’s on another trip, this time to the Seychelles I believe.”
“Puppy, mine!” Aubrey repeated from the seat in the shopping cart until Drew caved and handed over the still dainty Golden Retriever pup that would by next year fill the entire shopping cart with its golden fur.
“Any new leads,” Holly mumbled as she remained close enough for only Drew to hear.
“Still running fingerprints and background checks on all people you had on your list from that dating event. Which, by the way, should have been longer. Get out there, Holly. In one way I’m thankful for the few names because it gives me less to investigate, on the contrary, why the heck didn’t you have more men at your table Holly when you had the chance? You’re attractive, you’re young, and believe me, Jake isn’t all the hype people say he his.” He grinned at his own comment and put his hands in the pocket of his uniform pants.
“He’s an okay guy, Holly.” Drew must have caught her thinking about his comment and wanted to reassure her. She glanced back, and they looked at each other for a while and being that they grew up together, Drew had always been more of an older brother than boyfriend material to Holly. His words were worth gold, so she’d go home and consider that last remark for a while.
Chapter 15
HOLLY
Tim’s nimble fingers caressed the fabric as it moved in turns under the needle of the store's embroidery machine. His resume had stated he knew his way around the machine, both in creating imaginative designs and repairing it should it ever break. Tim knew most machines when she thought of it. He wasn’t only a handyman in the sewing machine business but cell phones and computers as well. It had been one of the reasons he’d been in their top tier during the hiring process, on top of the creations he’d sent them on request. He was a great catch, and while watching his hands move the fabric around, getting the pattern right of an intricate silk flower sewn on the back of a kimono for the Yang Family, she marveled at his talent.
“You’re so good at that, Tim. Your hands look as part of the fabric the way you move it.” Tim turned slightly and smiled at the comment. “Not my first time around a machine like this. I’ve always liked tinkering with details, such as these stitches, small but when done well they're fabulous.” He finished the last turn of stitches and removed the fabric from under the needle, cut the thread, and held the kimono for her viewing.
“The Yangs will be pleased with that, Tim. You should call them to come look.”
“In a little while, I need to run some errands and get something to eat from the store. Can I get you anything?”
Holly was thinking for a moment when her stomach rumbled answering them both. She smiled at her traitor and asked Tim to get her a pre-made salad from the deli, nothing tuna, nothing mayo, nothing spicy.
“What’s left?” he’d asked as he disappeared through the door and she was left alone inside the store. It had been a busy yet silent week. Reena’s absence was prominent, but a girl had a right to a vacation occasionally, especially someone who ran the store from nothing to success and sometimes neglected herself on the payroll.
Lunch had been excellent and she wished she’d dropped at least a hundred pounds by eliminating the mayo. The afternoon went by just as quick.
“What do you say, Tim,” Holly leaned back in the chair, putting the needlework in her lap before she continued, “want to come over for dinner tonight and also finish up our tax papers? I know Reena has been working overtime, unpaid that is, to finish it up. What do you say we try to finish it for her while dining on some awesome Chinese food?” Tim turned in the door, the bell chimed as he was about to clock out for the day. “Sure, what time?”
“Aubrey will be with us for the dinner part before I put her to bed, so maybe earlier than you’re used to . . . is 5:30 okay with you?”
“See you then.” She watched Tim close the door behind him and stood up to look for her phone to order the Chinese for dinner. Better prepared than sorry.
* * *
JAKE
He’d been counting the days since he’d had Holly in his arm. Actually, more like under him, on top of him and being buried inside her. Damn, he grew hard to the memory of her soft curves and swallowed at the picture from the night flashing through his mind.
“Take Holly up on the massage offer, Jake.”
Drew’s voice pulled him back to the humdrum in the office and he watched his hand rub his left shoulder and remembered the game that had ruined any career advancement. Damn Pittsburgh Penguins, he cursed under his breath and pushed out the chair and stood to stretch.
“From what I gather, seeing you stare into the wall like you have x-ray vision, you guys have already had your hands on each other so why not just add shoulder massage to whatever you guys have been doing.” Jake attempted an expression of surprise at the comment and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“Drew,” he began slowly, chewing on the inside of his mouth as he spoke. “I’ve received a text from Holly saying she will be away from the st
ore a few days this week and that Reena is away on vacation.” He eyed his partner while he read the last information knowing damn well Drew had had a thing for Reena since the day he met her in second grade but was too damn proud to acknowledge the fact that he preferred raven colored bob-cut hair on a woman. Nor did he hesitate to look twice at Reena’s back tattoo every time she wore a backless top, which was regularly. He picked on him about Holly, he’d return the favor.
Yet, as he read the message aloud Drew gave nothing away, not even a twitch of that irritating nerve under his eye that danced wildly when he had to deal with ridiculous arguments with idiots in the town’s population.
“She’s going away with some dude named Carlos De Luca, know him?” Jake laughed inside at his joke, fishing for a reaction. He succeeded as Drew’s left eyebrow lifted and his mouth turned into more of a snarl than it already was from writing reports from the day before.
“What the fuck is she doing with him? Where are they going? How long will she be gone? Who’s running the store when she’s gone? Why—“
“For someone who says he doesn’t have time for a woman you sure have questions.” He watched Drew trying to control his emotions, taking a deep breath, and cracking his neck. “I have no time for a relationship, I’ve been single a long time, and I know the routine of being single.”
“Maybe change the routine?”
“It’s a good routine.”
“Better than having the opportunity to come home to a bed with a naked Reena sprawled on top, waiting for you?” Drew gave him the finger over his shoulder and Jake couldn’t hold in his laughter.
“Back at you, Mr. Hockeystar.”
“I’m not interested in Reena.”
Drew spun around in his chair and crossed his arms over his wide chest, eyeing his friend. “Then, who are you interested in Jake?” Jake chewed on the answer for a while before he answered.
“I’ve been on a few dates since the dating event you took me to. I’ve just been busy with other things, like trying to stay alive and finding out who might find it in their interested to have me and other men killed.”
“Listen,” Drew stood and took a step closer, crowding Jake against his desk. “I’ve known Holly since she was in diapers. She’s stayed at our house many times playing with my sister, she’s like a second sister to me. Not that you aren’t a friend of mine Jake, but your reputation is preceding you on how you treat women.”
“Tabloids do that to a person, Drew. I’m older now, I’ve done my homework.”
“So you say. Even so, if you mess with Holly I’ll kick you out of my house, and this work relationship we have,” he pointed between them, “will not be pleasant. Comprendido?”
Jake, suddenly feeling gleeful, crossed his arms and leaned against the desk. “Did you learn Spanish to impress Reena’s parents?”
“Pendejo!”
Drew pulled out his phone and read the incoming message and Jake watched his face turn into stone, the nerve under his eye twitched which made Jake stand, ready for his next words.
Chapter 16
JAKE
Jake watched the scene before his eyes. The old airfield outside Starview was overgrown with tall grass and patches of colorful Toad Flax broke through the old asphalt. A plane hadn’t landed here since he was a toddler, and only for an air show. The moment he’d gotten his driver’s license he’d pulled in to one end of the short landing strip on Friday’s wooing whatever girl he was currently dating by watching the flowers move in the warm summer breeze, pull said girl into his lap, and make out.
Today, the memory didn’t match up to what was before his eyes. A red Ford Falcon stood lined up at the side of the airstrip, facing Starview, which would be a perfect spot to bring a woman at the end of a date. The driver still inside.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Drew cut in and walked passed him to the red car that was presently besieged by barricade tape, flapping wildly in the wind moving across the plain.
“Before I peek in, do I know who it is?” Jake asked softly as he watched Drew grab hold of a piece of tape escaping the breeze. Drew nodded at his question and Jake took a deep breath before he stalked the area around the car, a beauty from the past. Heck, he wouldn’t mind owning one himself.
“You better get it over with now before more officers are crowding the space. You don’t want to let them on you don’t care for this part of your job.”
Jake sighed and stepped closer to the car’s passenger window looking at the silver polished door handle. “I fucking hate this part of the job, dead people are not on my favorite list of things to study.”
Drew held his phone to his ear and spoke softly while Mrs. Tarmack, the coroner whom he’d met on several occasions lately, walked through the grass. Mrs. Tarmack studied Jake as she’d do a corpse and he knew she prepared for him to come next. The thought gave him chills and as Drew hung up the phone Jake sucked in a deep breath and bent down to look through the passenger window.
“Oh, fuck.” He rose slowly and groaned before slamming his hand on the top of the car. Giving it a loud ding. “Nathan, out of all people. His mom’s gonna lose her shit.”
“We'll wait and hear what Tarmack has to say.”
Jake ducked back down to look at the inside of the car. “Even I can figure out what happened here, Drew.” He studied the scene as he spoke aloud.
“He was shot through the driver’s side window, seeing as it was open, there is no glass inside the vehicle. The bullet penetrated his head from ear to ear, pushed his head to the left as it went through.” He grabbed a tissue from his pocket and gently opened the passenger door. “There is no trace of a gun in here, unless he shot himself and then someone came by and stole the weapon from him.”
“Really?” Drew drawled in disbelief.
“People are morons, shit like that can happen. Just trying to create any possibilities.”
“Go on then,” Drew replied as he walked over to his side while waving at Mrs. Tarmack’s to join them.
“I don’t like the way she looks at me,” Jake mumbled as Drew stepped closer to the crime scene.
“Tarmack? Afraid she’s gonna open you up?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Drew stopped in his tracks and looked at him, feeling the honesty pour off of Jake.
“Well,” he studied the victim from outside the car, “you have a point there.”
Back at the station Jake paced the small office space he shared with Drew at the station as other detectives were walking in and out of the two other rooms that had been cleared of office supplies and police gear for possible interrogations. So far this investigation was not going well. He was just happy to be alive.
***
HOLLY
Holly postponed the dinner with Tim as the call came from Jake at the station asking her to stop by for a few. She hoped for a few good leads giving the case an end. When she walked into the small police station she was surprised at the hustle and bustle inside its walls, people walking with papers, conversing on the phone all of which stopped as Drew came out of a small room she had previously known as the walk-in closet for all their equipment. “Holly,” he called from the door and motioned for her to join him in the “closet”. The sound of her shoes hitting the tile floor amplified as voices inside the station held quiet.
“Cozy in here, Drew,” she smiled anxiously and her tummy burned from acid reflux. People said to trust your gut feeling, hers said this would be sour.
“Please have a seat.” Drew motioned with his hand at the wooden chair at the opposite said of the small table substituting for a desk in the small space. Holly looked around the space and felt slightly claustrophobic as another detective joined them and closed the door behind him as he came in.
“Detective Bianchi is joining us today, Holly.” Holly watched as Drew pressed the record button on the camera at their side, aiming it her way.
“Um, Jake called me and asked me to come down here. Is he here, too?”
>
“Officer Bentley is currently occupied elsewhere,” Drew cut in and inhaled before leaning his elbows on the table gluing his vision to hers. “Sorry, Holly, but we have to do this. I had Jake call you guessing it would make you less nervous getting down here than having me call you here for an investigation.”
“Investigation?” Holly chuckled nervously and looked from Drew to the man he’d introduced as Bianchi.
“Let’s just get strait to it, Holly, shall we?” Holly’s pulse was drumming loudly in her ears and had they checked her heart rate they’d prescribed drugs for rapid heartbeat.
“May I ask what this is regarding?”
“Do you know anyone named Nathan, Holly?” Drew began, never breaking his eye contact and Holly felt like any criminal would do under Drew’s scrutiny, sweaty and scared.
“Yes,” she managed. “Nathan owns the hotel outside of town. If that’s who you’re talking about?”
“I’m glad we’re talking about the same person, it will help this investigation having you tell me the truth.” Detective Bianchi leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, stretching his blue suit jacket. “Where were you the night before last?”
Holly looked from Drew to Mr. Bianchi and noticed a drop of sweat run down her back as she answered. “I was having dinner with Nathan at his hotel after which I drove back home.”
“Did anyone see you having dinner together?”
“I guess the person working the front desk may have noticed me walk in. We dined after hours in the hotel’s restaurant. I left around ten. Is that a problem?”
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