He was rock hard again, and he wanted her to know what she did to him. Maybe he should carry her upstairs to her old room and make love to her. They’d wind back the clock and pretend the last eight years had never happened.
It sounded like the best idea he’d had in a long time.
Wade hooked his finger under one of the straps of her swimsuit and was about to ease it off her shoulder when someone coughed loudly behind them.
Julie Rogers stood there holding a mug of coffee and was obviously on her way back to reception from the kitchen.
Sophie pulled away and then stepped back from Wade, almost slipping on some water that had splashed on the floor when she gotten out of the tub.
“Sorry to disturb you, but I could see the two of you all the way out in the garden. Maybe you should get a room. We have four of them available tonight.”
Sophie had turned crimson, and Wade guessed by the burning sensation in his cheeks, he had, too.
Without saying another word Julie was gone.
“Good thing she came along when she did,” said Sophie. She wrapped the towel tightly around her shoulders.
“I was thinking just the opposite.”
“Wade, I don’t think we can be alone from now on. Who knows where this sort of thing can lead to?”
With that Sophie turned around and walked away.
Wade turned the whirlpool off, hearing just a deadly silence now, and looked out of the window.
Not be alone with Sophie. That’s all he wanted to do. And as for Cathy. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her last night, so he’d made the excuse he didn’t have a condom and he was too tired to go and buy more. He was about to tell her that he wouldn’t be taking her to the police fundraising dance after all because he had work to do. However, she’d shown him the dress she’d bought especially for the occasion, and a friend was coming into town to look after Max.
He’d felt bad enough that he’d made some lame excuse about the condoms, and then knowing she’d spent money for a dress, he’d left things as they were. He’d made a promise to himself that after the dance he’d sit down with Cathy and tell her that while he thought she was a nice person who’d he’d be glad to have as one of his friends, he didn’t see a future for them.
Sure, he might be making a mistake. When he’d first met Cathy, he had liked her well enough to think the like could turn into love. That wasn’t to be. Once he’d set eyes on Sophie again, he knew he could only ever truly love one woman. Maybe she’d want him; maybe she wouldn’t. Perhaps they’d have a fling, and they’d be done. Right now that was fine with him. He’d rather have one night with Sophie and a lifetime of hurt than live the rest of his days with a woman who didn’t light up his heart the way Sophie did. Cathy would understand. He knew she would. He hoped a guy would come along for her and have feelings for her like he had for his Soph. Everyone deserved that.
“Wade.”
He turned around to see Emily standing there wearing an apron.
“Hi, Emily. How you doing today?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t know you’d arrived. Did you see Sophie?”
“Yes, she was using the hot tub, but I think she’s gone up to change.”
“Why don’t you come through and have some lemonade? And I made your favorite Beehive cake to go with it.”
She put her arm around him and walked him through to the owner’s apartment.
****
After the incident at the hot tub, Sophie was reluctant to go back downstairs. She knew Wade would be there with her grandmother. Plus, he was staying for dinner. If Julie hadn’t come along when she had, Sophie knew she would have let Wade make love to her right there on the tiled floor around the tub.
That would have been embarrassing and awkward to say the least.
Good thing her swimsuit had been wet because it had hidden the telltale signs of her excitement when Wade had grabbed her ass. His erection had been strong and urgent when it had pushed into her belly. She’d creamed the second he’d come in contact with her. At first she’d put it down to not having sex for what seemed like forever, but truth was Wade did, and always would, excite her like no other man on earth.
She got out of the shower and rubbed the towel between her legs, letting its roughness catch on her clit. She murmured, not realizing just how good it felt. She passed it over her folds again, all the time wishing it was Wade’s hands, maybe even the top of his shaft. She let the towel drop to the ground and now replaced it with her hand, separating her legs as her index and middle fingers worked her swollen and aching nub.
Sophie murmured Wade’s name as she worked faster, now holding the door frame to steady herself as her climax drew close. She called out his name one more time and placed her forehead on the door jamb. Taking a deep breath, she fell to the floor, enjoying the simple release but at the same time wishing that Wade had brought about her orgasm.
What would it be like to make love with him? It wouldn’t be too difficult to talk him into them having sex, she knew that. However, she wouldn’t do that to Cathy despite the fact that she didn’t really like her. Was it because she was Wade’s girlfriend, or was there something about her that didn’t quite seem right?
Sophie stood, still shaky on her legs. She had to face him sometime because she couldn’t spend the rest of the afternoon in her old room.
She hadn’t even got around to unpacking all of the contents of her suitcase yet. She placed it on the bed and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of white jeans and a light blue t-shirt. Sophie shook both of them before slipping them on. She checked that her hair looked okay and headed downstairs to find her grandmother and Wade sitting on the couch both drinking lemonade.
“There you are. I was beginning to think you’d fallen asleep,” said her grandmother.
“No, decided to take a shower to get the chlorine smell off my skin.”
“Help yourself to some lemonade,” said Grans.
Wade poured her a glass and handed it to her. Their fingers brushed slightly. Sophie decided to sit in the chair opposite the couch so she could keep her distance from Wade.
Wade leaned back, resting his head on the top of the couch and spread his legs apart. He looked very comfortable and relaxed as he glanced over at her. Sophie took a quick sip of her drink, eyeing him over the rim of the glass. Maybe she should have sat beside him because all she could focus on was the nice bulge at the top of his thighs. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t seem to look at anything else in the room. She remembered his erection pushing into her belly less than an hour ago. And then her fingers gliding over her clit imaging they belonged to Wade and not her.
She took another sip before cradling the glass between her hands.
“So Michael Ambrose actually stayed here?” Wade asked her grandmother.
“Yes. He checked in for two nights.”
“I’d like to see the registration if I can.”
“Yes, I’ll find that for you,” said her grandmother.
“Was he on his own?” asked Wade.
“Yes, as far as I know. I mean he didn’t check in with anyone else or dined alone.”
“I heard about your altercation with him,” said Wade.
“I think word got around town pretty quickly. Had I known he’d end up with a knife in his back I wouldn’t have been so free with my threats.”
“So what was it about?” asked Wade.
“Earlier that afternoon he sent Julie to fetch me because he told her he needed to discuss business with me.”
“I thought maybe he was a salesman of some sort, so I invited him into the office where he quickly offered me half a million dollars for Mountainview and the surrounding land. I told him it wasn’t for sale and never would be because it had been in our family for three generations and would one day belong to my granddaughter.”
Grans turned to Sophie and smiled.
“He said he wasn’t the type of man who took no for an answer. I told him I wasn’t the kind of lad
y who changed her mind, and he just left. I thought I’d seen and heard the last of him. However, that evening I walked through the dining room to check everything was running smoothly, and to chat with the guests, when I saw him sitting eating a steak.”
“And you spoke with him again?” asked Wade.
“Yes, I didn’t want to seem unfriendly. So I asked him how he’d enjoyed his stay and the meal. And that’s when he said it was all very nice, but here’s what I’ll be doing when I buy this place. I suppose I was tired, in a bad mood, and I told him it would be over my dead body.”
“And how did he react?” asked Wade.
“He shot up from his seat and said that can definitely be arranged, old lady.”
“Oh Grans,” said Sophie, putting her hand out to her grandmother.
“It didn’t scare me, but then he threatened Sophie. Not by name but he said if you no longer have a granddaughter then there shouldn’t be any problem with you worrying about leaving it to an heir. With that, well, anyone threatens my family. I told him to get out of my B and B before I killed him, and if I ever saw him again I’d stick one of my kitchen knives in him.”
Her grandmother put her hand to her mouth and started to cry. “Oh dear, what did I do, what did I say? It looks like I carried out my threat, doesn’t it?”
Wade scooted up the couch and hugged Grans while Sophie rushed to her side and set her head down on her shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay, Grans, really it is. Wade and I will sort this out for you.”
“So everyone heard him threaten you and Sophie?” asked Wade.
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Do you have the names of people who were staying here at the time, maybe even dining here that night?”
“Yes. Most of them were from out of town.”
“You feel up to looking through that list for me right now?” asked Wade.
Her grandmother nodded, sending a tear bouncing off her skirt.
“Sophie, you want to help Emily sort through all that, and I’ll make some notes and start checking on everyone.”
****
Wade sat at the chair in the office as Emily and Sophie looked over the printout of guests who’d stayed at Mountainview the time Michael Ambrose had been there.
Sophie handed it to Wade. “Looks like he listed Boulder, Colorado as his home address.”
Wade skimmed through it noting most of the other guests were from either South Dakota or Montana.
“Tomorrow I’ll run these names through the databases and then visit the hotel where he was found. I’m assuming he was staying there after he left Mountainview.”
“So how did someone get one of Grans’s knives?” asked Sophie.
Wade shrugged his shoulders. “By taking one of the knives shows it was premeditated and that they planned to use Emily as the patsy…which tells me one thing.”
“Which is?” asked Sophie.
“That Ambrose’s real killer probably overheard her threatening him that night, which means we’re looking for someone who dined at Mountainview or was in earshot of the exchange.”
“So you think it was someone who was either staying or dining here, and they sneaked into the kitchen and took the knife without Grans or anyone else seeing them do it?” asked Sophie.
“I’d say that’s a safe enough bet. And I’m thinking it’s someone that Ambrose had also pissed off. Emily, you know anywhere else around here that Ambrose went and offered money to buy their land or property? Maybe he tried to make them an offer, and like you they told him what they’d do to him but actually carried through on their threat.”
Emily shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, but that would mean someone from Greenville framed me. I hate to think someone dislikes me that much they’d go to that extreme.”
“You’d be surprised at what people do when murder’s involved,” said Wade putting the printout in his folder. “You mind if I get Pops to help me out with this?”
“Not at all,” said Emily. “I’d pay him for his time.”
Wade shook his head. “He’s got nothing better to do now he’s retired. It’ll keep him out of trouble, too.”
Wade winked at Emily and closed the folder.
“And what if you and Bob can’t turn up any evidence or find the real killer? I’ll go to jail, won’t I?”
“Emily, I wouldn’t let that happen. Sophie would kill me if I did. And I’m guessing everyone in Greenville probably would, too.”
Emily sandwiched Wade’s hand between both of hers and squeezed it. “Now enough with business and this doom and gloom talk. Let’s go and enjoy our meal.”
The ex-cop in Wade made him all business when he was working on a case, but now it was back to all things social. He couldn’t help but watch Sophie as he walked behind her and Emily on the way to the kitchen. White jeans…I’ve never seen anyone around Greenville or even Cheyenne wear white ones quite like that, and they are smokin’ hot. Well, at least they were on Sophie. She’d always caught his eye, but now she was a very sexy young woman. He’d guess guys in Seattle were falling all over her.
He’d hardly been able to keep his eyes off her chest when she’d sat opposite him. Her nipples and outline of her breasts had been evident through the t-shirt. He smiled remembering when she was about twelve or thirteen and he’d asked her to go riding with him, and she’d told him she couldn’t.
“I have to go into town with Grans because she’s buying me my first bra.”
He’d burst out laughing.
“And what’s so funny about that?”
“You don’t have anything to put in one.”
“I do, too.”
“Then show me.”
“I’m not supposed to.”
“Come on, we’re friends. We used to bath together when we were kids.”
“Okay, but not out here. In the barn, okay?”
She’d grabbed his arm and marched him in there where she’d shut the door a tad but left it open enough so there was enough light for him to see what she was about to reveal.
“Okay, you ready?”
“I’m so ready,” Wade had said.
He’d been prepared to laugh at what he assumed would two objects not much bigger than bad mosquito bites. However, when she’d pulled up her shirt his lower lip had dropped. She was right; she had breasts. Not big ones, but she was no longer flat-chested. Other than the photo of the nude woman that hung in one of the offices at the police station where his dad worked, he’d never seen real breasts before. He stood staring, swallowing a few times in awe of how quickly her body was changing. And then he’d done the unforgiveable. He’d reached out and touched the left one.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to do that to me.”
He’d pulled his hand back like her body were hot coals, and then he’d pulled her to him and hugged her.
Wade had kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it. Your breasts are very pretty. Don’t tell my dad or your Grans, okay, that I felt your breast because I’ll be in lots of trouble.”
“I won’t, and don’t tell them I lifted up my shirt to show you.”
“I won’t, but I’m glad you did.”
Sophie turned around and looked at him.
“What are you grinning about?” she asked him.
“Nothing, just taking a trip down memory lane. It must be the smell of Emily’s cooking that brought it about.”
Yeah, what a liar you are, Linley.
They entered the kitchen, and he and Sophie set the table while Emily put the finishing touches to the meal. Among the three of them, they took all the dishes and bowls containing the food to the table and sat down.
Sophie laughed when Wade tucked the napkin inside the top of his shirt.
“Laugh if you like, but when a cowboy sits down to a wonderful meal sometimes things get messy.”
Emily patted him on the arm before handing him a bowl of mashed potatoes. “I do so love a man with a hear
ty appetite.”
Wade picked up the bowl and spooned a more than generous helping onto his plate next to the chicken fried steak.
“I think I might just propose to this meal,” he said before diving into the food.
“Now does that mean you’re thinking of proposing to Cathy soon?” asked Emily. She put a spoonful of green beans onto her plate.
Wade looked over at Sophie who was staring straight at him.
“No, not at this point,” he said.
“Wade, I think you’re in serious danger of becoming one of Greenville’s old bachelors,” said Emily.
He shook his head. “I’ll get married one of these days.”
He looked at Sophie again, but this time instead of meeting his eyes, she suddenly looked down at her plate before moving some green beans around its perimeter.
“Wade, we have to fatten this girl up before she heads back to Seattle. Don’t you think she’s too thin?” asked Emily squeezing Sophie’s upper arm. “I can feel bone here.”
“Oh, I think she’s just about right,” said Wade.
Of course, I haven’t seen her naked.
“Come on, Sophie, clear that plate, or you won’t get any huckleberry pie with whipped cream,” said Emily.
Sophie laughed.
“If she doesn’t then I’ll have her serving,” said Wade. “In fact, I’ll probably have a second serving anyway. And you ladies will have to forgive me if I have to loosen the belt on my jeans.”
Emily laughed and slapped his arm again. “There’s only one thing better than a man with a hearty appetite and that’s a cowboy with one.”
“Is there any other kind?” said Wade.
“You know we need to do this again and next time invite your dad over to join us. Sometimes we get so busy the two of us don’t see one another despite being neighbors,” said Emily.
“Oh, he’d love this meal,” said Wade leaning back and patting his stomach.
Someone knocked on the kitchen door, and in walked Julie.
“Emily, someone just said they heard one of the horses making a lot of noise out in the paddock.”
“I’m betting it’s your pregnant mare,” said Wade.
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