The Forbidden Bride Page 14

  His gaze trailed over her lush breasts, down her slender thighs to her delicate feet. Reaching down, he pulled her leg higher on his, so that she rode his thigh and lightly touched the scar between her ankle and calf. “What happened here?”

  “Got caught in an explosion.”

  When she didn’t say anything more, he nudged her with his hips. “And?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes drowsy and misty blue. “You met Shelby Jessup, right?”

  He nodded, his breath hitching as her hand slid lower on his belly. “She witnessed a murder. When someone tried to kill her, she was put in protective custody and I was the officer assigned. One day, I took her to a meeting at an office building that wasn’t quite finished. An explosion went off and we were caught in a fire. A piece of wood speared me. Had to have stitches.”

  “Ouch.” Nate curved his hand over her calf, lightly grazing his thumb across the old wound. He could happily stay like this for at least the next twenty-four hours.

  Rolling her to her back, he kissed her. When he started to do it again, she held him still.

  He lifted his head, saw a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. His chest tightened. “You weren’t planning to leave, were you?”

  “I…don’t know.”

  He kissed his way down her stomach to the jut of one hip, his shoulders pushing her legs apart as he settled himself between her thighs.

  When his breath washed against her, she shuddered. “No, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Good answer,” he murmured against her inner thigh, smiling when she lifted to him.

  He hadn’t realized until that moment how badly he wanted her to stay. They had agreed this was strictly physical, but as he held her, Nate admitted there was something else. He felt…marked.

  He wasn’t even sure what that meant. Or how he felt about it. Of course, there was no way in hell he would say any of this to Robin. She’d said to take things as they came, so he would.

  Chapter 10

  Last night, Nate had decided to take things as they came. So far, things were coming along just fine. The sex had been great, then and this morning.

  His relationships since Stephanie had consisted of two dates with the same woman, three max, but this was different. He didn’t have that raw edginess churning his gut, the urge to put some space between him and Robin. When they had stopped at the hospital for a short visit with Kiley and Collier, and to collect Nate’s truck, he had wanted to pull her into the nearest supply closet and have her again.

  His gaze traced over the lightweight, red-hot sweater stretched across her full breasts and the slim-fitting slacks in the same red. Sex wasn’t the only thing they did well together. There was also work, which was why they were walking into Pattie Roper’s office building this morning.

  The towering glass and steel structure was even taller than the one where they had gone to interview Dennis Bane’s coworkers. Nate watched Robin carefully as she read the directory attached to the wall between two elevators. Pattie was the accountant for a plastic surgeon whose office was located on the thirtieth floor.

  Robin impatiently stabbed the button. Nate couldn’t tell if she was nervous about getting on the elevator. “I can have Pattie come down here to talk to us.”

  Robin turned with a frown. “Why?”

  “Because your vertigo might kick in.”

  “I had a problem with the elevator at Bane’s office building because it was glass. This one isn’t. I’ll be fine.”

  She wouldn’t admit it even if she weren’t, Nate knew. In fact, she seemed almost annoyed that he had offered to ask Pattie to come to the lobby.

  “Her office is thirty floors up. It wouldn’t be a big deal for her to come down.”

  Robin’s blue eyes flashed. “It’s okay, Nate. I have vertigo, not a fear of heights.”

  “Vertigo that’s sometimes aggravated by elevators,” he pointed out.

  “Not every time. You don’t have to take care of me.”

  “All right.” He didn’t understand why she was so damn prickly, when he was just trying to help. “We’ll go up.”

  A few minutes later, they stood in a surgery consultation room, alone with Pattie. Dressed in a sharp yellow sheath and cropped jacket, the auburn-haired woman had circles under her eyes. Her hair was pulled back, which highlighted the sharp jut of her jaw, the ashen cast of her complexion. Nate was reminded of how extremely thin she was.

  Robin started them off. “We need to ask you where you were on the fire-murder dates.”

  “All right.” Pattie pulled her cell phone from her jacket pocket. “I use the calendar on here. What’s the first date?”

  “April twelfth.”

  “I was at an accounting conference in Denver.”

  “May ninth?”

  “My daughter’s ballet recital.”

  When Robin gave the next date, Pattie scrolled down. “On June fifth I took the kids to my mom’s for the weekend. She lives in Stillwater. And you know where I was for this last fire, at Spur Creek campground.” She looked up from her phone. “Did y’all talk to Joel?”

  Robin nodded. “He can’t account for his whereabouts on any of the dates in question.”

  Alarm flared in the other woman’s eyes. “Do you think he’s the one who murdered those people?”

  Rather than answer, Nate countered, “Would you happen to have noted if he was with the kids on any of those dates, or if there might have been something special that he attended?”

  “Special? Like a school function?”

  “Yes. Or sports—whatever.”

  Pattie looked at her cell phone again, then passed it to Nate, showing him how to scan through her calendar.

  Robin leaned in to look with him, the sweet fragrance of her hair teasing him. He wanted to bury his hands in the dark, silky mass. And the urge to touch her that he’d felt since they had gotten up that morning hadn’t gone away, just because they were handling business.

  Pattie’s calendar was well detailed.

  “I notice you have certain weekends marked for Joel,” Robin said.

  “Yes, those are the ones ordered by the court, and he doesn’t miss them.”

  Nate returned her phone. “Does he always take the kids to his apartment in Presley?”

  “Yes.”

  “He never stays at your house with them?”

  Her mouth tightening, Pattie shook her head. “I don’t even let him come in when he picks up the kids.”

  Nate’s mom had been the same after his dad moved out. Beside him, Robin shifted, the petal-smooth skin of her arm brushing his. “Is it possible Joel might have left something of his when he moved out?”

  Good question, Nate thought admiringly, urging his mind to stay on the interview.

  The other woman nodded. “There’s a box of his stuff in the garage. It’s with some other things I plan to give away.”

  “We’d like to take a look at it,” Robin said.

  Though Pattie looked surprised, she nodded. “Sure. Now?”

  “Now would be great.”

  “Let me tell my boss what’s going on. It shouldn’t be a problem for me to leave for a bit.”

  Thirty-five minutes later, they stood in the Roper garage. After she pointed out a box between a cooler and an old light fixture, Nate pulled it down from the top of a metal shelving unit and opened it.

  Robin leaned in close to see what was inside. There were a few old T-shirts, two mismatched socks, and a shaving kit.

  Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, she opened the kit, then glanced at Nate. Excitement glittered in her eyes as she tilted the leather bag, showing him a razor, a toothbrush and travel-size shampoo.

  Nate grinned.

  “Will that help you?” Pattie asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “We’ll need to take this.”

  “That’s fine.”

  After thanking the woman for her help, Robin and Nate walked out. Once they were inside Nate’s SUV, she smiled. “We may
have just gotten lucky.”

  Nate thought he would like to get lucky with her, right now.

  She must have read it on his face, because she rolled her eyes, muttering, “Dream on.”

  He chuckled, pulling away from the curb.

  After leaving the shaving kit at the OSBI lab, they spent the rest of the day confirming Pattie’s alibis and formally clearing her as a suspect. It was late afternoon before Nate brought Robin back to the P.D., where they had left her car that morning.

  The sun was a glaring ball of yellow in a clear blue sky. As she started to open the vehicle door, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the readout and her mouth tightened. After a brief conversation, she hung up.

  Nate frowned. “Problem?”

  “Wendy.”

  “You guys haven’t talked everything out yet?”

  Stiffening, she shook her head. She didn’t snap at him or even tell him to mind his own business, but he could read between the lines. She didn’t want to talk about it, not with him, anyway. That was fine.

  He took her hand, rubbing a thumb across her knuckles. “Do you want to go to dinner?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He hadn’t expected that. He studied her face, wishing he could see her eyes behind her sunglasses. “Got plans?”

  “Nothing fun. I’ve decided to talk to my sister tonight.”

  “That’s good.” He squeezed her hand. “Will I see you later?”

  “Probably not until tomorrow.”

  He wanted her to spend the night with him, but they hadn’t made plans. Or promises. “Everything else is okay?”

  “Yes.”

  It would be difficult to deal with her sister, but Robin didn’t appear to need or want support. “If you want to call me afterwards, then do, okay?”

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  He fingered a strand of silky hair laying across her shoulder, then cupped her nape and brought her close. He kissed her, his tongue dipping inside the hot velvet of her mouth. She slid her arms around his neck.

  This woman was definitely different. Enough so that Nate was thinking about things with her that he hadn’t considered since his divorce. He didn’t stop kissing her until they were both breathing hard.

  She blinked dazedly at him, dark color streaking her cheeks. “Wow.”

  “That has to last until the next time I see you,” he said huskily.

  “I would much rather stay here and do this.”

  After another kiss, she sighed and climbed out of his SUV. He watched her walk away. Along the way, a uniformed officer stopped to talk to her, making her laugh.

  Suddenly feeling territorial, Nate realized he didn’t want to see anyone except her. He didn’t want her seeing anyone else, either. The thought that some other man might put his hands on her had him grinding his teeth hard enough to snap bone.

  This was the first time since his wife that he’d felt anything soft for a woman, something other than temporary. He was willing to take things further and see if there was more than sex between them.

  But what about Robin? Would she be interested?

  He had considered bringing it up, until she told him she was planning to talk to her sister that night. The next time she and Nate were alone, he would ask, but not if Wendy’s name came up. When he spilled his guts, he didn’t want her sister anywhere in that conversation. Just him.

  Three hours later, Robin found herself on Nate’s front porch. She didn’t question why she was there. Didn’t want to analyze what had brought her to his doorstep. Had no clue why it seemed so important to come to him. All she knew was she had to see him, tell him about her conversation with Wendy.

  Exhilarated, she rang his doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened and he stood there bare-chested, wearing khaki shorts and running shoes. At the sight of all that taut, naked flesh, her mouth went dry. Helpless to stop, her gaze traced over the dark hair of his chest, the hard muscles of his stomach, down his powerful legs. She was hit with the urge to run her hands over every inch of him.

  When she finally looked at his face, she found amusement in his eyes. Of course, he’d caught her practically drooling.

  He grinned. “I thought I wasn’t going to see you until tomorrow.”

  “I couldn’t wait.”

  “As much as I wish that was because of me, I have a feeling it isn’t.”

  “Part of it could be about you,” she teased.

  He stepped back to let her in, then closed the door behind her. The house was cool, after the sultry heat of the evening.

  “Has something happened with the case?” His gaze did a slow hike over her white sleeveless blouse and navy shorts, down her bare legs to her sandals. Her belly dipped as his gaze returned to her face. “You look like you have news.”

  “I talked to Wendy.”

  “Yeah?” Looking curious, he started through his open airy living area toward the kitchen, motioning her to follow. “Want a beer?”

  “No, thanks.” The long, sleek lines of his back flexed when he reached into the refrigerator. She wanted to slide her mouth over the smooth, golden skin of his shoulders, but she hadn’t come here for that.

  Anxious to talk about her sister, she moved to the end of the kitchen island, laying her purse on the countertop.

  Nate twisted the cap off a longneck, leaning his backside against the opposite counter. There was genuine interest in his blue eyes. “So, how did it go with Wendy?”

  “I pretty much vented every thought I’ve had since learning the truth. There was a lot of yelling and crying, but we cleared the air.”

  Nate nodded. “Did she say why she slept with Kyle in the first place?”

  Robin had expected the quick jab of pain in her chest at the reference to her cheating sibling and ex-fiancé. That would fade with time. She was more focused on the here and now. And the big man in front of her. “She said she wanted him and he didn’t say no.”

  “She wanted him?” His voice as incredulous as her own had been, he paused with the bottle halfway to his mouth. “That’s her reason?”

  “She said she was jealous of what I had, and it wasn’t so much about hurting me as it was about taking what she wanted.”

  Eyes sharpening, a muscle in his jaw flexed. “That’s splitting a damn fine hair.”

  “And it didn’t make what she did hurt any less.” She followed the line of dark hair down his torso, to where it disappeared beneath the low-riding waist of his shorts. His shoulders and biceps were huge, his muscles cut with definition.

  “Robin?”

  She hadn’t come here for sex, but she was starting to wonder why not. She stepped over to him, laid a hand on his chest.

  He put his beer on the counter and rested one hand on her waist. “What made you decide to talk to her?”

  “When she called earlier, I knew it was time. I was ready to get it done.”

  He fingered a strand of her loose hair. “Good.”

  She leaned into him, both hands on his chest now. The feel of his powerful body against hers from chest to toe, the scent of musky soap and clean male had her stomach clenching. “I’m not sure what will happen with Wendy and me, but I feel as though I can start putting it behind me.”

  He linked both arms loosely around her waist.

  “Our relationship was never great, but maybe we can build something stronger.”

  “And you want to do that?”

  “If I never want to see Kyle again, I don’t have to, but that isn’t true of Wendy. I’m still hurt and angry. And I imagine there will be days when I have no desire to forgive her. But right now I feel positive. I didn’t realize how much the issue was weighing on me.”

  One corner of his mouth hitched up as he lifted her slightly off the ground. “You feel lighter.”

  “Ha, ha.”

  He eased her down and tucked her hips tight against his. “Good for you. I’m glad the two of you talked.”

  She nuzzled his neck, her senses filling
with his clean, masculine scent. “You smell good.”

  Hard and hot against her, his hands curved over her bottom. She rolled up on her tiptoes to brush a soft kiss across his lips.

  He held her in place, his whiskey-smooth voice stroking every nerve ending. “What was that for?”

  “For listening.”

  “If I get one of those every time I listen, then start talking.”

  Sliding her fingers into his thick, silky hair, she pulled him to her and kissed him again, tasting the faint bite of beer.

  “Keep going,” he rasped, before sliding his tongue into her mouth and taking over.

  Something about him just fit her, in that deep secret place most people never reached. She flexed her hands in the crisp hair on his chest, his bare flesh hot beneath her touch. Sliding her palms up his iron-hard arms, she kneaded her way to his shoulders. There was no give in those muscles.

  When her arms tightened around him, he dragged his mouth to her ear, the tickle of his breath drawing her belly tight. “Did you come here for this?”

  “No, but I’m all for it.” She felt him smile.

  She nipped at his lower lip, and he hauled her up his body so that his erection fit between her legs. When she ground herself against him, he groaned. “Don’t start this unless you plan to finish it.”

  “Oh, I’m going to finish it.” She touched her mouth to his chest, then to his hard nipples.

  She felt the muscles of his stomach clench. His big hands moved up her back, then one slid around her waist to the front of her shorts. His slightly rough fingers slipped inside the waistband. The button gave, then the zipper.

  He pushed her shorts and panties to the floor, easing a finger inside her. She made a needy sound deep in her throat; his body went rigid.

  Raw, savage need flared in his eyes. “What is this, celebration sex?”

  “Call it whatever you want. Just give it to me.”

  He laughed, giving her a kiss that quickly turned from teasing to deep and demanding. And she surrendered.

  Growling impatiently, he picked her up and covered the three steps to the dining table, hooking a foot around the leg of one chair and pulling it to him.

  “Wait.” Robin stopped him before he could sit.