It was when they’d finished eating that they began to discuss the day’s events. “I’m not convinced that we’ve been made as bait.” He leaned back in the chair and frowned thoughtfully. “However, I definitely think the man or men we’re seeking have identified us as a desirable couple for death.”
“I was thinking about our suspect list while you were gone. Unfortunately it didn’t take much thought because we don’t have much of a list.”
“True.” He frowned thoughtfully. “We haven’t had enough time to meet enough people to form a decent list. Let’s just hope the agents tasked with investigating are doing a better job than we are.”
“I was also thinking about how the perp got into the victims’ rooms so easily, and Jimbo came to mind,” she said.
One of his eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Tell me your thoughts.”
I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. I can’t stop remembering how it felt to be held in your arms as we made love. I think you’re an amazing man who couldn’t be more wrong for me.
Of course, she didn’t say any of that, but those were the thoughts that flew rapid-fire through her head. “I was thinking how easy it would be for Jimbo to show up late in the evening pretending that one of the couples had left a watch or some other personal belonging at the spa when they visited. Nobody would see him as a threat and they would probably immediately allow him into the room.”
Mick nodded thoughtfully. “It’s possible, but at this point almost anything is possible. I’m still betting that Derrick Black and his thug cohort Jack Bailey are looking good for this.”
“How would any of them know we would be on the river today?” she asked.
“My best guess is that somehow we were followed.” He blew a breath of obvious frustration and raked a hand through his thick hair. “There’s nothing worse than being on a case where everyone else knows more than we do.” He leaned forward, his annoyance obvious in the stern line of his jaw, the thinning of his lips. “I definitely want more information from Lambert tomorrow. I need to know all the players in this game, who he suspected initially and his gut instincts for these murders. He knows the people in town. I want his thoughts off the record.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cassie agreed as she got up from the table and cleared off their trash. “It’s going to be a long afternoon.” She looked at the old television. “Somehow I doubt that thing picks up more than a couple of channels.”
“We can always play cards.” Mick withdrew a deck from his pocket. “I picked these up at the discount store because I knew we’d have some time to kill.”
Cassie sat back down at the table. “What are we going to play?”
“Strip poker?” he asked with the expression of an eager puppy.
“In your dreams,” she responded to his ridiculous suggestion.
“How about rummy?” He began to shuffle the cards as she nodded. “Don’t you ever think about that night we spent together?” he asked as he dealt.
“Never,” she lied and picked up her cards. “I told you before, that night was a mistake.”
“Why?” His gaze no longer held a teasing light, but rather an intensity that let her know he didn’t want a flip answer. He wanted the truth. “Why was it a mistake? We were both consenting adults and we both wanted it.”
She needed to protest his words, to somehow make him believe that she hadn’t been in her right mind that night, that it had been the alcohol that had made her not responsible for her actions. But that wasn’t the truth, and he deserved the truth.
“You’re right. I wanted you that night.” She lowered her gaze to her cards, unable to look at him while she confessed. The queen of hearts stared back at her. “But I don’t fall into bed with a man easily, and the last thing I’d want to do is to somehow get emotionally involved with you in any way. Intimacy can lead to other feelings. There’s an old saying about kisses opening up the gateways to the heart.”
“And you didn’t want me to get hurt.”
His words shocked her into looking up at him. She expected his eyes to be filled with that teasing light that had become so familiar and so charming. But instead, he looked serious.
A small burst of laughter escaped her lips. “On the contrary, I didn’t want to get hurt. I didn’t want either of us to attempt something that would never work. We weren’t meant to be a couple, Mick, not anywhere except in this little pretend game we’re playing right now.”
“You’re right, of course,” he agreed as they began the card game. “I’d drive you crazy within hours if this were a real relationship. You’ve probably noticed I’m a bit of a slob.”
“And I know I’m obsessive about things. I don’t have an easygoing bone in my body. We’d be terrible together as a real couple.”
“True,” he agreed, and this time his eyes did shine with a teasing light. “But my sisters would like you. They’d think you were just what I needed in my life, a little order and control.”
“And a little sanity,” she added dryly.
He laughed. “I’m not crazy. I’m just used to being alone and being spoiled by my sisters.”
“What would happen if they stopped spoiling you?” she asked.
He grinned, that sexy curl of lips that created a wonderful ball of heat inside her. “Then I guess I’d have to learn how to pick up after myself and get more organized.”
“You should try it some time, it’s really very good for the soul.”
“So is letting go a bit,” he countered. “There’s a time and a place to maintain control, but there are also times when it’s okay to let go.”
The conversation fell aside as they focused on the card game. One thing Cassie quickly realized they had in common was a fierce sense of competition.
He won the first game, she won the second and he won the last, and by that time, despite the fact that they’d munched on candy throughout the card games, they were ready for dinner. Once again Mick left the room to go to the fast-food place next door.
The later in the day it got the more she dreaded the time that she’d have to get into that little nightgown and crawl into that bed next to him.
Their conversation about the night they’d shared six months before should have been cleansing, but instead it had stirred up all kinds of crazy emotions inside her.
She wanted him again. The knowledge blossomed inside her with a kind of wonder. How was that possible? They’d sat together at the table and agreed that they were all wrong for each other. All she could expect from Mick McCane was wild, hot sex. No future, no relationship, just pure physical pleasure. As crazy as it seemed, at the moment that didn’t seem so bad. After all, she didn’t want anything more from him.
A wave of irritation swept through her. It was his fault. She’d always known he’d make her crazy and that’s exactly what was happening. She was losing her mind.
She went into the bathroom and rearranged the items they’d bought on the countertop, trying to ease the jittery energy that filled her. She put his shaving cream, razor, toothbrush and deodorant on one side of the sink and her hairbrush, deodorant, toothbrush and hair spray on the other side. The toothpaste she placed just behind the faucet handle in the center.
Maybe this was all a post-traumatic-stress kind of reaction to the day. “That’s it,” she muttered to herself. She could have been shot. She could have drowned. She’d nearly been run over by a car and crisped in a sauna. Was it any wonder she was fantasizing about being held in big strong arms?
The rest of the evening passed with an excruciating slowness. They ate dinner, then turned on the television and watched an old rerun of a crime drama, both of them guessing who the killer was before he was revealed.
“Too bad it’s not that easy in real life,” Mick said. He was stretched out on the bed with pillows propped up behind his head. Cassie sat at the table watching the show while she played solitaire.
“You want the bathroom first or do you want me to get ready for bed
first?” he asked when it was nine o’clock.
“Go ahead,” she replied. “I’ll go after you.” The less time she had to wear that little nightgown the better. Hopefully if she took long enough to change and brush her teeth he’d be asleep by the time she got into bed.
She breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. There had been a tension between them since they’d played cards. Or maybe the tension was simply inside her.
She was too aware of him, the room was too small for his vibrant energy, his very presence. She felt half-suffocated by his nearness.
All she wanted was a good night’s sleep. Hopefully the early-morning meeting with Sheriff Lambert would give them more information and clarify what their next move should be.
He came out of the bathroom clad only in a pair of boxers and the scent of minty soap. The tension twisted tight in Cassie’s stomach as she hurriedly grabbed her nightgown and clean panties and headed into the small room.
She brushed her teeth for a full three minutes and then she stepped into her panties and pulled the nightgown over her head. She stared at her reflection, her cheeks unusually pink as she saw the spill of her breasts at the plunging V-neck top and the length of her legs beneath the short, thin material.
She brushed her hair a hundred strokes and washed her face. Finally with nothing else left to do she exited the bathroom. Mick was on his back and he appeared already to be asleep.
She hurried to the overhead light switch on the wall near the door, turned it off and then in the darkness of the room made her way back to her side of the bed.
As she eased beneath the covers, Mick said nothing and his breathing remained deep and even. She should be glad that he was asleep, she told herself.
All was as it should be. Still, she couldn’t stop the wild, wistful want that filled her as she closed her eyes and strove for sleep.
Chapter Nine
Mick wasn’t asleep.
How could he sleep with her lying so close to him, filling the air with the scent of clean woman and the vanilla shampoo she’d used? How could he sleep with a vision of her in that sexy nightie, which had done little to hide her curves as she scampered across the room to turn out the light?
She was definitely getting to him and it wasn’t just physical want that stirred him. As he thought of the childhood she’d survived his heart filled with admiration for the core of strength she possessed.
He liked the way her cheeks grew pink when he teased her, the fact that when he crossed a line she didn’t hesitate to call him out. Yes, she was definitely getting under his skin in a way that should feel uncomfortable and have him running for the hills. But the strange thing was he didn’t feel like running.
Sleep remained elusive as his thoughts turned to the crimes and those frantic moments earlier in the day. When he’d realized somebody was shooting at them, fear had roared through him, but after he’d capsized the canoe and couldn’t find Cassie in the water, it had been sheer terror that had ripped through his very soul.
Oddly enough, when he’d told her about Sarah he couldn’t remember exactly why he’d loved the woman, couldn’t summon any feelings of regret that they hadn’t made it as a couple. He’d long ago forgiven her for her selfishness, for not being the woman he’d wanted her to be. But he would never forget the baby who had paid the ultimate price for Sarah’s impulsive, selfish action.
He rolled over on his side to face Cassie. Even though it was dark in the room, he could imagine her features relaxed as her deep breathing let him know she was soundly sleeping.
Sarah had been high maintenance and he knew that Cassie was high maintenance in a different way. Cassie probably had a life plan written down somewhere. She’d need to know where and why before any move was ever made.
The difference was he’d never be able to understand Sarah, but he understood Cassie. The glimpses of her childhood that she’d given him had let him know that she’d been a helpless victim to two adults who should have kept her physically and emotionally safe and secure. She’d spent years without control and now hung tight to it in order to feel safe.
He thought of those moments immediately after he’d pulled her from the river to shore. Rather than reaching out to him for comfort, she’d wrapped her arms around herself as if she’d never expected anyone to be there for her.
Even though his mother had died when he’d been young, his sisters had seen to it that he was surrounded by love. Cassie hadn’t had that, and his heart ached for her.
A whimper sounded from her direction. Mick froze, wondering what images might be tormenting her sleep. He closed his eyes, knowing that if he didn’t get some rest he’d be tired for the early-morning meeting with Lambert.
Cassie whimpered again, this time louder. The whimper was followed with a sob. Was she crying? He sat up, undecided if he should awaken her or let whatever dream she was having play out.
It was when she cried out and released a sob again that he made his decision. He quickly slid out of the bed and across the room to turn on the dim overhead light. She was curled up on her side, her cheeks damp with tears, yet she was still sound asleep.
Whatever her dreams, he didn’t want her there. Dreams that made you weep could never be good ones. He got back into bed and then lightly touched her shoulder. “Cassie, wake up,” he said softly.
She stirred but remained asleep. He shook her shoulder harder and her eyes opened. Her beautiful blue eyes stared at him with dazed confusion.
“You were crying,” he said.
She closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were filled with the awareness of her surroundings and embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I was having a dream.”
She sat up, and from the fact that she allowed the sheet to fall to her waist, exposing her shoulders and with her breasts half spilling from the low-cut nightgown, he knew she was still trapped in her dream.
“Want to talk about it?” Mick sat up next to her, fighting his desire to pull her into his arms as she swiped the tears from her cheeks.
“It’s just a dream I have about the past, about my life.” She shrugged, looking achingly vulnerable.
Mick could stand it no longer. He reached out and pulled her back down to the bed and into his embrace.
She stiffened against him, but then with a deep sigh she relaxed and snuggled into the safety of his arms. He stroked the silk of her hair and felt the beating of her heart against his.
“I’m sorry, Cassie, that you didn’t get the childhood you deserved. I’m sorry that you drew as parents people who should’ve never had a child.”
“It was hard,” she admitted. “I never knew what might happen next. They’d pull me out of bed for pancakes at two in the morning, make me miss school because they wanted me to help clean up a party mess. No day was ever the same. But it’s over, I survived and we really should get back to sleep. Morning will be here before we know it.” Although she spoke the words she made no move to return to her side of the bed.
Mick knew he shouldn’t go there. What he wanted from her as a man wasn’t necessarily what she needed from him at this moment. But he went there anyway. He bent his head and took her mouth with his.
To his surprise she immediately opened her lips to him as if to encourage a deeper kiss. That was all it took for him to relinquish the control he’d maintained since the moment that they had arrived in Black Creek.
He wanted her and he tasted her hunger for him. As his tongue danced with hers, he rolled her to her back and stroked a hand across her delicate collarbones.
It was a prelude to touching her more intimately and when she didn’t protest he covered one of her breasts with his hand. A small gasp escaped her as her nipple rose up to his touch, but she didn’t protest.
Rather, she moved her hands up and down his back, his skin warming with each of her caresses. He moved his lips from hers and instead blazed a trail across her cheek and down the slender column of her neck
.
“I want you, Mick,” she said, her voice husky. “I know we aren’t right together but just for tonight I want to be wrong. I don’t want to be in control.”
“I’ll be glad to take control,” he replied, inflamed by her words.
And take control he did. He kissed her until she was breathless. He smoothed his hands across the material that covered her breasts, impatient to touch her bare skin, to cover her nipples with his mouth.
With each kiss, with every stroke of his hands against her, he felt her surrender and the wildness growing inside her.
It didn’t take long before his boxers and her nightgown were gone, thrown to the floor in a frenzy of passion. Bare skin met bare skin and Mick trembled with the need to completely possess her. Still, he didn’t want to take her until he had fully sated her.
He wanted to make sure she would never forget this night as he had never forgotten making love to her the first time. She’d gotten under his skin on that night and he’d never managed to cast her out.
As he touched her panties she gasped and lifted her hips to aid him in removing them. Her eyes glowed dark and wild as his fingers sought to bring her pleasure.
He sensed the rising wave inside her as she raised her hips to meet his touch. He increased his pace as the room filled with the sound of their frantic breaths. She was beautiful in her wild abandon and watching her, touching her, had him hard and ready.
With a sharp cry she stiffened, tremors shuddering through her as she reached her release.
Instantly Mick moved between her thighs and eased into her moist warmth. He closed his eyes and remained motionless, overwhelmed by the sensations that roared through him.
She broke his inertia, bucking her hips upward as her hands grasped his buttocks. Slow and steady he stroked into her. He leaned down and once again captured her lips with his, reveling in the taste of her, the feel of her.
Scene of the Crime: Black Creek Page 11