AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Not a lot," he answered.
Leaning back in his chair, the beer he'd opened held loosely between two fingers, he stared at her with a thoughtful frown. "I went through the file Maddix gave me last night, checked it against the information a source of mine had. The police have no suspects, as we already knew. Tomorrow, I'll head to the construction site, see what I can find out there."
"You'll find nothing there," she informed him. "The building is more than halfway completed now. The area where Eddie was killed is completely filled in, and the workers refuse to talk to anyone about it. Maddix has covered his tracks well." She peeked over his shoulder as she started the dishwasher.
"Or someone else has." He sighed as he leaned forward and stared back at her intently. "Let's go under the assumption here that you're both telling the truth. That means, there's another player involve
d."
She shook her head. "How does that make sense? Only Maddix would have a reason to kill me. If someone else killed Eddie, then it wouldn't make sense for him to want to hurt me because I believe I saw Maddix?"
"That's one of the questions that now have to be answered," he told her.
"I wish I'd never seen it." Turning back to the dishes, she fought back her anger and her tears. "It's been nothing but trouble for me as well as my family, Nik. No one believes me, and Maddix plays the game perfectly. He's getting away with murder and no one even cares."
Even Nik believed him. Mikayla could tell he did.
The tension in her shoulders was so clear that Nik swore he could feel it in the air. Hell, he had no idea what the fuck to do here.
"Let's sleep on it, see what we can come up with."
"I know Maddix and Eddie argued hard for weeks before Eddie was killed." She swung back to Nik, her gaze fierce. "Loud enough that they were heard outside the office that sits on the construction site. Then again days later at the cantina. Maddix was angry at him over something. Has your buddy told you what they were fighting over?"
"Maddix hasn't mentioned it. And why are you just now mentioning it?"
"Because you're just now showing any interest in doing anything about it." She turned back to him, those incredible amethyst eyes damp and filled with pain. "No one wants to listen, Nik. That's what I keep trying to tell you. And no one wants to know the truth. The only reason I know about this is because my brother Scotty just happened to have been on the job site as well as at the cantina. He witnessed it." 91
Nik made a mental note to talk to her brother after he found out what he could at the job site.
For now, he had a hellaciously long night to look forward to, because God only knew it was going to be impossible to sleep. She was a single door away from him. The scent of her filled the entire house. The thought of her, sleeping alone in that big bed she had, spread out, tempting, and warm, was enough to drive him insane. Fuck.
He drank the last of his beer, his gaze on her back as she finished the dishes and set them in the drainer.
The clothes she wore practically hung on her, but they did nothing to make him forget the sweet perfection of her body beneath them.
"You should let me go to the construction site with you." Turning, she wiped her hands on a small towel as she stared back at him challengingly.
"And you should hop up on this table and let me have you for dessert," he suggested as he allowed a hint of the hunger he felt to fill his voice. Her face flushed. The prettiest shade of pink suffused her cheeks. Would the rest of her body flush so charmingly?
"I don't think so." Her voice was breathy, and he liked that. He knew she was at least thinking about it. That was a good thing. "And that has nothing to do with me going to the construction site with you."
"That's about as likely to happen as you letting me go down on you." He shrugged, watching her expression closely. "As a matter of fact, me going down on you is probably more likely."
His entire body tightened as he watched her catch her breath, watched her nipples tighten beneath her T-shirt. Hard, pretty little points that he knew were achingly sensitive. He wanted his mouth on them again. He wanted to lick them until they were cherry red and each breath caused a cry to part her pretty pink lips.
"I doubt it." She tried to sound firm, determined, but a virgin was no match for the sensualist Nik knew he was. He wanted her until nothing else seemed to matter. Wanted to taste her with a desperation that clawed at his balls.
"Don't make it a dare, Mikayla." He rose from his seat before turning and tossing the beer bottle in the trash. "I might not walk away from that so easily. You want, just as bad as I do."
He left the room rather than standing there and watching that need fill her. Damn, it was all he could do to make himself walk away.
Mikayla had dreams. Whatever those dreams were, they didn't involve losing her innocence in his bed. At least not yet.
He was going to have her before this job was over; he could feel it. He knew it. Just as he could feel the knowledge that taking her could destroy both of them. He didn't need this, he reminded himself, not for the first time. He didn't want to break Mikayla Martin's heart. He didn't want to steal the gift she was obviously saving for her husband. But the hunger was coming close to overriding his convictions. And that wasn't a good thing.
The next morning Mikayla stepped from the bedroom, in some kind of sinfully designed-to-stop-the-male-heart summer dress.
It was a soft lavender, sleeveless with a heart-shaped front that cupped her breasts 92
