“If we see a variety of things, we can leave to make our decision, and come back in a day or two. It will help build a closer bond with him,” Rain whispered the moment he was out of the room.
“I’d love to know more about what Lorrie was doing right before her death,” Noah also whispered, and glanced toward the back room where Mark had disappeared and then at the front door. The display in honor of Lorrie wasn’t there anymore. Instead, a nice flower arrangement filled the lower half of the window. Noah could see outside, and the parking lot was half-full, with most customers heading toward the strip mall next to Mark’s store. “I don’t know how long we’ll be alone with him, though. See if we can fish for more details on what events transpired up to her death.”
Rain looked up at Noah, and a slow grin appeared on her face. “Decided I’m not so bad at undercover work?”
He rubbed her chin with his thumb, enjoying how soft her flesh was. Her eyes glowed a deeper blue while he watched. Rain wanted him again, and that knowledge made it damned hard not to arrange their day so they could spend a portion of it naked and sweaty and intertwined with each other.
“You’re definitely good under the covers,” he growled, and loved how color washed over her cheeks when she glared at him.
“Here’s a few catalogs,” Mark announced as he walked out of the back room. “Honestly, I haven’t looked through these two. They just came in a couple weeks ago and Lorrie always hurried to file them before I could even glance through them.”
“Oh. These are perfect.” Rain started flipping through one that he put down on the counter. “Did she do a lot of landscaping?”
“Not as much as she would have liked to,” Mark said, again the loss of his wife making his voice thick with emotion. “Good help is really hard to find. I’m afraid both of us have worked here day and night as long as we’ve had this place.”
“How long have you been open?” Rain asked.
“Nine years. When we paid off our house, and with no kids, we realized we didn’t need all the space we now owned. We sold the house and opened this store. There’s been no looking back ever since,” he said, almost proudly. But then his tone darkened. “The only thing I regret was becoming involved with that group of lunatics. I swear if I ever go to a party again and any of them are there, I’ll walk out on the spot. If I didn’t, I’d go to prison,” he added, his expression pinched with anger.
“The way it’s been explained to us, they prefer everyone in their group to only be sexual with those in the group,” Rain offered, lowering her voice to a soft, sensual-sounding whisper, in spite of the fact that the three of them were alone in the store. “In fact, Steve told us that just the other day.” She looked over her shoulder at Noah for reassurance.
“I think he has an agenda of his own,” Noah growled.
Rain’s eyes grew wide and she stared at him for a moment but then shifted attention to Mark quickly when he spoke.
“A snake in rat’s clothing,” he snarled, sounding fiercer than he looked like he could. True hatred made him shake, and he put the other catalogs he held on the counter. “I know he set my Lorrie up. That asshole gets off annoying his wife more than he does having sex with other women. I’d bet money on it.”
“What?” Rain asked, echoing Noah’s thoughts.
Mark waved his hand in the air and offered her a sincere smile. “Let’s talk about your yard. It’s a much more pleasant subject.” Again he rubbed his forehead, pushed his glasses up his nose, and then looked at the catalogs after his glasses slid back to the edge of his nose again and stayed there. “Do you know how many square feet you’re talking about?”
“There’s already a deck back there.” Noah wasn’t able to picture the yard very well when his brain continued repeating over and over Mark’s words about Steve and his wife. “I’d say the yard is about fifteen hundred square feet, but I don’t know that she wants to use all of that space.”
“It just gives me an idea of what we’re working with,” Mark told him, waving his hand in the air dismissively and then flipping pages in the catalog.
The door to the shop opened and a bell rang over it. Noah turned and saw a woman enter, possibly in her mid-forties, wearing faded jeans that were a bit too tight and a blouse with no bra. Her aggravated expression didn’t change when she saw Rain and him talking to Mark.
“Nina, I didn’t expect to see you,” Mark said, his tone suddenly stiff.
“I’m sure, but I need to work.” Nina placed her purse on a shelf behind the counter and then dragged a thin strand of bleached blond hair behind her ear before focusing on Rain and then Noah. She gave him a toothy smile. “You’re in good hands with Mark. Whatever you need, he’s the man to make your yard perfect.”
“Nina,” Mark said, sounding exasperated. Then glancing at both of them, his face looked strained with worry. “If you two will excuse me a minute.”
Noah nodded, but Rain appeared engrossed in the magazine. At first he couldn’t hear what the two of them said, but when Nina reached a shrill pitch she was easy to overhear. Noah watched Rain, though, curious as her expression hardened and she glanced up at him furtively before focusing on the back room.
“You and Lorrie complained all of the time about how hard it was to find good help. I’ve never done you wrong, never taken one damned dime from this store. And trust me, it hurts me as bad as it does you that Lorrie got murdered. She made a mistake, but that shouldn’t have cost her life. Don’t punish me because she’s dead.”
Mark’s low, angry tone was harder to hear, but Noah strained as hard as he could until finally he turned from the counter and moved to a display of cactus that was closer to the back room.
“One more outburst like this in my store and I’ll get a restraining order against you, Nina. Now leave.”
Nina marched out of the back room, grabbed her purse from behind the counter, and growled as she looked at Noah and Rain. The door closed firmly and Mark appeared, letting out a defeated sigh.
“I am so sorry,” he said, and then looked for a moment like he might collapse.
“It’s okay,” Rain assured him. “None of us have perfect lives.”
“If you two want to take your business elsewhere, I’d understand.”
“No. No, you’ve got what we need,” Rain said again. “Actually, though, I was just telling my husband while you were back there, it would be great if I could pore over these catalogs tonight and work up a diagram of what I’d like our backyard to look like.”
Mark moved behind the counter and looked at the three magazines that were now spread open and overlapping each other. “That’s fine. Take them. I’d appreciate it if you brought them back, though.”
“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Rain promised.
Once outside, Noah watched Rain scan the parking lot. “Did you know that Nina chick?”
“The question is, would she remember me?” Rain offered. “She’s been booked several times and I’ve seen her down at the station.”
“Lovely.” He didn’t see Nina as he and Rain got into the car. “Well, it looks like you’re safe where she’s concerned. At least Mark doesn’t want her working there, so hopefully she won’t be in again.”
“If memory serves, she’s got a rap sheet for shoplifting.” Rain rested the magazines on her lap and blew out a breath of air. “But today’s visit wasn’t completely unproductive. It sounds like part of our motive might have been cheating spouses.”
“I agree.” He started the car and backed out of the stall. When they reached the exit, he spotted Nina walking away from them on the sidewalk. “What would you say to opening a joint checking account with me?”
Rain glanced over at him, studying his face while he was sure the obvious thoughts went through her head. He’d have to check the statutes for Nebraska, but in most states creating joint accounts constituted a legal unity between couples, often referred to as common-law marriage, which in some cases held up in courts of law. He prayed she
didn’t take it that way but couldn’t completely shove aside thoughts of trying to see her once this case was wrapped up.
“Why?” she asked.
He nodded up the street. “There’s National Bank. Do you know how many branches it has?”
“It’s not a large bank. That’s the main office and there is a drive-through across town.” Then she frowned and nodded. “Lynn Handel worked there. Okay, let’s go open an account. I take it you’ve got cash? They would be thrilled but might wonder why I was transferring money from my bank to this one.”
“I always pay on a date,” he informed her.
“Some date.”
“You don’t think I know how to take a lady on a date?” The bank was just down the road, and he turned into the parking lot while glancing over at Rain.
She gave him a quick onceover. “When’s the last time you took a lady on a date?”
He wasn’t sure he wanted to share anything about Laurel with Rain. Her breaking down on him the other day wasn’t intentional. Noah knew without any doubt if she could do it over again, she probably wouldn’t share personal information with him about her past. It was inevitable, though, the longer they spent time together, the more they would learn about each other’s personal lives. Lives that had nothing to do with solving this case. Her baby blues burned into his flesh as he put the car in park but left it idling for a moment.
“Just because it’s been a while doesn’t mean I don’t know how to show a lady she’s worth something.” He knew he took the easy way out and didn’t answer her question. There wasn’t any reason he could think of, though, why he should share anything about Laurel with Rain. Laurel wasn’t ever coming back. He’d made sure of that. After their final fight, and the few choice names he’d called her, Laurel would never see him again. Which was fine with him.
“That hardly answers the question,” Rain said dryly.
“When was the last date you’ve been on?” Turning the tables was a hell of a lot safer than allowing Rain to analyze his relationship with Laurel. He could clearly imagine Rain’s opinion of Laurel if he told her why he lost it on his fiancée and called off a wedding a week before it was to take place.
“Oh no,” Rain said, laughing, and then leaning against the passenger door as she crossed her arms over her chest and grinned at him like a female predator, ready to pounce and go for the kill. “You aren’t getting off that easy, mister. You said you always pay on a date. I say you’re lying. I say you don’t have a clue how to date. I bet your idea of a date is remembering names and phone numbers of willing, submissive bimbos who can’t wait to spread their legs for Mr. FBI Man when he struts into their town to save it from destruction and demise.”
“Is that the kind of man you think I am?” He didn’t have to act shocked at her guess into his nature.
“Noah, however you act in your downtime really isn’t any of my business.” Rain allowed her gaze to stroll down his body lazily, making a show of sizing him up. When she lifted her long, thick lashes, her baby blues glowed with emotion. More than anything she wanted to know more about him. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you when someone answers questions with questions they are avoiding offering the truth, or confirming it as the case may be,” she added, smiling triumphantly.
“If I agree to tell you about my love life prior to meeting you, then you’re going to agree to do the same.”
Her expression changed quickly, suddenly looking haunted, or possibly even pained. “Give me the goods, mister,” she said, straightening, whatever emotion he tapped on a moment before now gone. Rain’s expression turned tight, determined.
“Her name is Laurel Neiman.” Noah watched the color wash out of Rain’s expression and wondered how good of an idea it was to share his past with her.
“Who is she?” Rain asked, almost whispering.
“Laurel was going to be my wife.” There wasn’t any pain, he noticed, when offering the information. Not like he suspected there might be.
“Oh.” Rain continued watching him while he stared at the bank in front of them. A few moments passed before she pressed him. “What happened?”
Noah searched for a way to summarize the fiasco his life became over the past six months. “Let’s just say she showed me her true colors, and fortunately in time. I called the wedding off.”
He’d much rather see Rain’s defiance, or her expression flushed with desire, than the pinched-lipped, blank stare she offered him at the moment.
“Okay, there you have it,” he announced, narrowing his gaze on her intentionally. “There are no ladies scattered around the country anxious for me to grace them with my presence. Sorry to disappoint you. So spill it, Lieutenant. It’s your turn. Tell me where all your men are in this town so I can bulldoze them down one by one,” he growled, doing his best to change the mood in the car and wipe that odd look off her face.
“I lived with my father until I was twenty-eight.” She stared at Noah as if that answered his question.
“Okay, and?” He remembered her file saying she was thirty and her father had died a couple years ago, which meant she’d stayed with him until he died.
“Dad was very good at reminding me no one wants to be with someone who will jump when the phone rings and then disappear out the door, sometimes for days.” Her facial features relaxed, but Noah was learning Rain well after being with her barely a week. She’d applied her mask to her face, successfully hiding her feelings from the words she offered him. “I think it stemmed from his inability to start another relationship after Mom died. Dad didn’t like me dating, and was very good at sabotaging any relationship that might have had a go to it. After I learned he had cancer, and it became clear he wasn’t going to listen to any doctor and seek treatment, or let anyone else besides me know about the disease, I quit trying to find a boyfriend. Dad didn’t want to share me.”
“I don’t blame him a bit for that,” Noah said easily, ignoring the tilt of her head at his response. Rain wasn’t a virgin, but he would accept her answer. More than likely she had more one-night stands than he ever did. It was probably the only way she could maintain sexual satisfaction and keep her father happy. “It sounds like I need to show you I can take a lady out and give her a good time.”
Rain reached for her door handle. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, Noah.”
Before she could open her door, he grabbed her arm, dragging her across the hard plastic console between the two seats. Rain wasn’t a short woman, but her body was willowy. He opened his door and continued dragging her.
“Noah!” she complained.
“Quit fighting me, Rain,” he said, keeping a firm grip on her arm until he’d pulled her out his side of the car. “Because you know what happens when you do.”
Rain tugged her sleeveless sweater-vest when he let go of her and then swatted loose hair over her shoulder. “What?” she demanded.
“This,” he said, closing the car door and then pinning her against it.
Her mouth was soft as her lips moved against his, and her breasts were full and soft against his chest when he wrapped his arms around her. Noah deepened the kiss and a growl escaped him. If he wasn’t careful, they wouldn’t be entering any bank but returning home. There weren’t any answers concerning what would or wouldn’t happen once this case was solved. There was too much of a connection between them, not only physically but as partners as well.
Rain rested her fingers against the back of his neck, stroking his skin in a soothing motion, and then let her hands fall, her nails dragging down his arms as she lowered her face, ending the kiss. He kissed her forehead, breathing in her alluring scent.
“I’m not going to let you deny something exists between us just because we don’t know what the future holds,” he whispered.
Rain slipped her hand into his and easily moved out between him and the car, keeping her firm grip as she began leading him toward the bank. “Fine, if that’s how you want it. Come on, husband of mine. Let’
s go open that account.”
Rain let go of his hand when they entered the bank and tugged on her sweater-vest as she walked up to the receptionist at the desk in the middle of the small bank. Noah patted his wallet and hoped Rain had remembered to carry the fake identification they’d been provided with. He let his gaze drop to the spot where her long legs met her ass. Her blue jeans hugged her, showing off how perfectly shaped she was. Rain was a woman among women, beautiful to a fault, and so damned dedicated to her work. He imagined that very few men ever got the chance to get close to her. Maybe taking her out on a real date, or as real as it could get for the two of them, would be a treat both of them deserved.
“Hi there,” Rain said sweetly to the lady at the desk. “My husband and I are new in town, and we’d like to open a checking account.”
“Sure.” The lady left the magazine she’d been looking at open on her desk and stood, brushing her hands over her dress and then pointing to a couple of chairs along the wall. “Have a seat and an officer will be with you momentarily.”
Noah followed Rain to the chairs, glancing around the bank as he did. He noted two cameras installed in either corner, both aimed at the tellers. Two ladies were behind a wooden counter, and there were three glassed-in offices where he guessed the officers worked. The receptionist walked over to one of them and said something to a man behind the desk. He glanced at Noah before looking at the receptionist and nodding.
She returned to her desk and sat down, licking her finger before flipping the page in her magazine. “Mr. Hipp will be right with you,” she told Noah, and then returned her attention to her reading.
Noah didn’t respond. She’d already dismissed them, her job complete. Instead he focused on the man, possibly in his fifties, thin and friendly looking, although the lines on his face indicated he carried a fair bit of stress in his life.
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