by B. J Daniels
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” He took a step toward Amanda and held out his hand.
Charlie felt her heart lodge in her throat. If he lost that towel—
“I’m Shep,” he said. “Charlie’s...” He looked at her as if waiting for her to fill in the blank.
“He’s a friend,” Charlie said.
“A good friend, apparently,” Amanda said, clearly flustered. “I should go and leave you two...at it.” With that, she walked to the door.
“I hope this answers any questions you have about me and Greg,” Charlie said. “I kind of have my hands full as it is.”
“I can see that.” Amanda looked past her to where Shep was still standing before she left.
Charlie closed the door and locked it. Behind her she heard Shep chuckle. She turned slowly. His gaze was electric. She felt a jolt move through her. No wonder Amanda had looked dumbstruck. The man was gorgeous.
“If you think I’m going to thank you for that—” Charlie began but lost the rest of what she was going to say as Shep took a step toward her.
Water droplets glistened in his dark hair. One broke free and coursed over the hard muscles of his chest to disappear into the hollow just above where the towel started.
“Shep.” The sound that same out was more like a sigh. Or was it a plea?
“Charlie?” He was within inches of her now.
She felt as if the floor under her was no longer solid. If she even breathed, she’d lose her balance and fall into his arms. She was again that teenager, mesmerized. Desire spiked through her, making her knees weak.
It would have been so easy just to lean toward him and let gravity do the rest. Not that Shep would let her fall. Not this man. He’d sweep her up, carry her off to bed, lose that towel and—
Charlie swallowed and took a step back, dragging her eyes away from the spot where that water droplet had disappeared. She raised her gaze to look into that handsome face, those eyes filled with the kind of desire that now coursed red-hot through her veins. She felt something melt inside her.
Daniel had never looked at her like this. Shep was right. Daniel wasn’t the one. He’d never been the one. She’d never felt like this with him. There was only one man who’d ever made her quiver inside like an autumn leaf in the breeze, and he was standing in front of her half naked.
But it was Shep’s mouth and what that mouth had done to her all those years ago that had her pulse thumping. She wanted to kiss him like she’d never wanted to kiss another man.
“Say the word, Charlie,” Shep said quietly.
The word was on the tip of her tongue when his cell phone rang.
Shep let out a curse but didn’t move. His gaze held hers, daring her to tell him to let it ring.
Not tonight, she told herself silently. She wasn’t going from one man’s arms to another in the span of one night, no matter what Amanda thought.
“You’d better get that,” she said, her voice breaking.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BY THE TIME Shep was off the phone with Mulvane, Charlie had gone into her bedroom, tossed his discarded clothing out into the living room and closed the door. He sighed and, smiling to himself, picked up his clothes and headed for the couch.
He considered what the retired homicide cop had told him on the phone only moments before. A man named Jason Harper also had an interest in Lindy Parker’s murder.
“I thought you might want to know,” Mulvane said. “I’d forgotten about him until after you left and I was putting away some of my notes on the case. I saw one I made to myself more recently. The guy lives in Bozeman. I can give you his address.”
Shep had been surprised by the familiar address. What a coincidence that he shared the same one as Daniel, Charlie’s hopefully former boyfriend. So was Jason getting the information for himself—or for his roommate?
Dropping the towel and pulling on his boxers, Shep lay down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling.
As interesting as this lead was, his mind was on Charlie and what could have happened earlier. He still ached at the thought, even though he had to question what he’d been thinking. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend tonight. With everything else that was going on, she didn’t need Shep trying to rekindle their teenage romance.
But the thought made him smile. He didn’t think it would take much rekindling. That old chemistry was still there, just as he’d suspected. It was as if it had been banked for fifteen years and was now ready to burst into flame. This time, even stronger.
Not that he hadn’t wanted to make love with her, even knowing that the timing was all wrong. The pull had been so strong. Daniel was all wrong for her, in Shep’s humble opinion. And if he was being honest, okay, maybe he was jealous. Being here with her had brought back a lot of memories of what the two of them had shared.
He reminded himself that they weren’t teenagers anymore and a lot of water had flowed under that bridge. They weren’t the same people they’d been. But the way he felt about Charlie hadn’t changed.
But it was more than that. He liked her. She was quirky and could drive him crazy without even trying. Ultimately, being around her made him feel capable of Herculean feats.
Shep felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Charlie was in trouble. Instead of lying here pining over her, he should be finding out who was behind the stalking, and putting an end to it. Sighing, he shook his head. He hadn’t even been able to find out who was responsible for the Lindy sightings. Some hero he was.
He turned his thoughts to the problem at hand. The news about Jason Harper nagged at him. What was his interest in Lindy’s murder? If Charlie really hadn’t told anyone, how did Jason even know that Lindy had been her stepsister? Shep had to find out.
But then what? He knew he couldn’t think that far ahead and yet, when Christmas vacation was over, he had to get back to school, back to his classroom, back to his students. He could feel the clock ticking.
Antsy, he looked around the room. There wasn’t anything he could do this late at night but get some rest. Christmas was only days away—not that he could tell it by Charlie’s apartment.
There was a tiny, sad, fake tree with questionable decorations in the corner of the kitchen counter and a few lights strung at the window, but other than that, little Christmas spirit. That just seemed...wrong. He would have to do something about that.
At least that was something he knew he could solve. The Lindy situation was a whole other matter. Not that there had been another sighting. But he’d die trying to put all this behind Charlie once and for all.
* * *
CHARLIE HAD TOSSED and turned all night. Just knowing that Shep was in the next room had driven her crazy. What had almost happened before his phone call? She had just broken up with Daniel and yet if Shep’s phone hadn’t rung when it did...
She told herself she wouldn’t have succumbed that easily to Shep’s charm. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. But she had been more than tempted. She sighed. She could have fallen into his arms so easily...
This morning, she was still shaken. Worse, still tempted. She didn’t feel in her right mind.
So much had been going on. Lindy, Amanda, Greg. She thought about Tara’s baby daughter and the birth and smiled to herself. But now Tara was off for six weeks. Charlie would miss her desperately. But Tara had promised that she would be at Amanda and Greg’s wedding after Christmas—if there was a wedding.
Getting ready for the day, Charlie braced herself for seeing Shep. But when she opened the door, he wasn’t lying half naked on her couch. He was fully dressed in the kitchen. She caught a familiar scent.
“Pancakes?” she asked, her voice breaking with both relief not to find him half naked—and excitement at the prospect of pancakes.
“And bacon,” he said, grinning. “Have a seat. I poured you som
e orange juice.”
She sat and saw that he also had the newspaper beside her plate—opened to her horoscope. If Shep was trying to get on her good side, he was doing an amazing job of it. Or did this have something to do with what had almost happened last night? Was he trying to make her forget it? Or—
“It stopped snowing,” he said, disrupting her thoughts. It appeared last night had shaken him as much as it had her. “Looks like there’s another storm coming through.”
Charlie found Capricorn and read, worried about what the weekend would bring.
Facing a time of uncertainty in your life?
You think? She read the rest.
Trust in yourself. Only you know what you need. Be ready to make a difficult decision regarding your future.
That sounded ominous.
Don’t make the easy choice.
Was that Daniel? Or Shep, middle school math teacher and cowboy at heart? Not that either of those two choices were necessarily an option at this point.
She closed the Saturday newspaper as Shep put a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of her. It smelled delicious, making her stomach rumble. Had he read her horoscope? She thought of him in that towel last night and felt her pulse quicken.
He sat down with a plate of his own and nodded toward the newspaper. “So, good news today?”
She checked to make sure he wasn’t making fun before she said, “I can only hope. I promised Tara I’d stop by the hospital.”
“No problem. I’m waiting to hear from the judge.”
She looked at him, studying him for a moment, suddenly worried that he wasn’t telling her everything. “I thought that was the judge calling last night?”
“No, it was the homicide cop I talked to. Do you know someone named Jason Harper?”
She’d just taken a bite of pancake and almost choked on it. After washing it down with orange juice, she said, “Daniel’s roommate?”
“He’s been looking into your stepsister’s murder.”
She stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language she’d never heard before. “I don’t understand. Why would Jason do that?”
“I was hoping you would know. You said that you never told Daniel anything about your past. Is that true of Jason as well?”
Charlie nodded numbly. Until last night, she’d never mentioned anything to Daniel. “Jason and I have hardly said two words to each other in the past months since I started dating Daniel. Why would he care about Lindy’s murder?”
Turning her gaze to her plate, she ate, barely tasting the food. Shep had been convinced that Daniel might be involved. She’d thought Shep was jealous. Now she wasn’t so sure.
SHEP COULD FEEL her studying him. She’d known he wasn’t telling her everything. She knew him too well.
“The cop who found her,” she said quietly. “He’s the one who told you this?”
He nodded.
“It doesn’t make any sense. How could Jason even know that Lindy and I were related for that short period of time?”
It was something Shep planned to ask him when he caught up with him, but he didn’t want to tell Charlie that. She’d already said that she wanted to help. She would want to come along when he talked to Jason since she wasn’t working today.
Shep suspected the man would be more forthcoming without her there. He dug into his breakfast.
She took another bite, looking confused, and when she spoke, he knew she wasn’t really talking to him. “Jason knew about my past? He never said anything. Why would he care? I can’t believe that he was doing it on Daniel’s behalf. Daniel didn’t seem at all interested when I told him about Lindy last night. I don’t get it.”
They both fell silent for a few moments as they finished eating.
“Do you think Amanda will be visiting Tara as well?” he asked, changing the subject to a more pleasant one.
Charlie groaned. “I hadn’t thought about that. By now, Amanda will have told everyone she knows about me and...you.”
He grinned. “Hopefully, she’s no longer thinking you’re after her man. You aren’t, are you?”
Charlie made a face at him and pushed away her plate. “I should get going.”
He picked up both empty plates and rinsed them before putting them in the dishwasher. Charlie went to brush her teeth and finish getting ready for the day.
When she returned to the living room, Shep was waiting by the door, already dressed for the Montana December weather outside. She didn’t even bother putting up an argument as they went down the stairs together, but once outside, she declined his offer to drive her to the hospital.
“Tara’s husband is picking me up. He just texted me, but thanks.”
* * *
CHARLIE GLANCED AROUND as she waited for Joe, almost hoping to see Lindy. This time, she wouldn’t hesitate. This time, she would go after the woman, chase her down, get answers one way or another. But even as she thought it, she realized that once the mystery was solved, Shep would be gone. Back to teaching middle school students math. Her hero.
Lost in thought, she didn’t hear the voice calling her name on the street at first.
“Charlie?”
She turned, frowning as she saw a man hurrying up the sidewalk to her. He slowed, suddenly looking as hesitant as she felt and she recognized him.
“I thought that was you,” he said and gave her a tentative smile. “I wasn’t sure you heard me. You probably don’t remember me, but I swear, you haven’t changed a bit since high school.”
“I think I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He laughed. “I forgot about your sense of humor. Smart as a whip, too. I’m sorry.” He held out his hand. “Andy Walden.”
She shook his gloved hand. Andy Walden. He was still nice looking, but he no longer made her heart pound at the mere sight of him.
“Wow, it’s been a while,” she said, hoping he hadn’t known about the unbearable crush she’d had on him. He couldn’t have, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked Lindy out or said those things about her. That would have made him cruel and she’d always thought he was nice.
“It’s funny,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “Seeing you brings back high school. I have to confess something.” He let out a nervous laugh. “I always wanted to ask you out. I even talked to your sister about it. Asked her if she thought you’d go out with me.” Color shot to his cheeks and it wasn’t from the cold. “I can confess it now, but I had the worst crush on you.”
She stared at him. “You told Lindy this?”
He nodded.
“Let me guess. She told you not to ask me out.”
“She said you had a crush on someone else.” He shrugged. “I know all this is ancient history, but seeing you just now... I should let you go.”
“Do you live here now?”
“No, just passing through on my way to Seattle. My mother still lives here and my wife’s family.”
Tara’s husband, Joe, pulled up to the curb.
Charlie hesitated only a moment. “I had a crush on you, too, Andy... Good to see you,” she said and stepped toward the waiting vehicle.
Joe chatted on about the baby and Tara as he drove them to the hospital. Charlie hated that she could only half listen.
Lindy. That old anger had surfaced in a flash when Andy told her about his crush. What a manipulative, hateful liar her stepsister had been. And now she was back.
SHEP WATCHED THE exchange between Charlie and the man who’d stopped her on the sidewalk. It seemed friendly enough. Shep pulled out his cell phone and snapped several photos of the man—just in case he had to identify him. The man could have been asking questions for all he knew. Or he could be a friend. Either way, Charlie hadn’t looked like she needed Shep’s help.
Once she was safely inside Tara’s husband’s car, Shep got int
o his pickup and headed for the gaming company where Jason Harper worked.
He’d called the number Mulvane had given him. It went straight to voice mail. Even though it was Saturday, Shep had tried his work number. A receptionist told him that Jason was working but not in his office. Did he want to leave a message? He’d declined.
Shep found the video games office in a brightly painted old industrial building near the tracks—not all that far from where Lindy had been murdered. The place looked trendy. Most of the vehicles parked in the lot were equipped with racks on top for skis, snowboards, kayaks or canoes. Bozeman was an outdoorsy kind of town and the people who lived here reflected it. Nor was he surprised to see posted on the front door that employees were allowed to bring their dogs to work with them.
After speaking with the same receptionist he’d spoken to on the phone, he was told to take a seat. Moments later, Jason came out, followed by a large yellow Lab. He wore shorts with long underwear under them and a long-sleeved T-shirt advertising a local business that sold drug paraphernalia.
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Shep asked as he took in the young man. Jason’s hair was long and in blond dreads that he’d pulled back into a low ponytail. He looked fit and tan even though it was December. His brown eyes had narrowed at the sight of Shep, but he looked more interested than suspicious.
“Sure, we can go in the conference room. It’s kind of crazy here today. We’re having a holiday party later.” He led the way down the hall, the dog following. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Shep declined. Jason got himself an energy drink out of a refrigerator at one end of the room and then ushered them into comfortable lounge chairs. There was no conference table. Instead the area looked like a nice living room.
It wasn’t until they were seated, that Shep asked, “Why are you looking into Lindy Parker’s murder?”
* * *
FORTUNATELY, CHARLIE didn’t see Amanda at the hospital, but the woman had been there. A huge white teddy bear sat in one corner of Tara’s room. Joe left the two of them alone to go get some things for Tara.