He took a whiff and shrugged. “Smells like wine to me.”
“You are a true connoisseur.”
He winked and tossed the cork in the trash. Dani didn’t want to admit it, but she liked that he was so comfortable in her house already. He looked good here. Too good. Good enough that all she wanted was for him to take his shirt off. How could she have let herself forget until the other night exactly how much she loved his chest and shoulders? She would’ve been lying if she said that she didn’t long to touch him again, to have him pressed up against her. Being this close to him was only making her lips twitch with the memory of his kiss.
Cole raised his glass and clinked it against Dani’s. “To a great day.”
“To a great day.” Dani sipped her wine, trying to keep her eyes off Cole, but it was impossible. Part of it was just general admiration. He’d been in the sun most of the day and had that glow that took her breath away. The way it played off his icy blue eyes just wasn’t fair. No woman should have to withstand the pressure of being in the same room with that, knowing that it was best if she walked away. It was so impossible it should be an Olympic event.And now, with the bronze medal in Resisting Cole Sullivan, is Danica Moore of the USA. She could’ve taken the silver if she hadn’t allowed him to kiss her the other night and let it snowball from there.
Cole was staring off into space, absentmindedly gnawing on his lower lip, which was ridiculously sexy.
“You seem preoccupied. Everything okay?” Was he thinking what she was? That a kiss might be a bad idea, but a whole lot of fun?
“I’m fine. I was just so distracted by you and the boys today that I stopped thinking about the investigation into Jason’s murder. Now that things have quieted down, I guess my mind naturally wants to go there.”
“I’m sure it’s hard to keep your mind off it. Spending time with Megan yesterday really put everything into perspective. She’s struggling. She’s sad and mad and I think she’s even a little scared, not knowing what Rich might do.”
“I know. The whole thing is a nightmare, especially for her.” The crease between his eyebrows got deeper. Dani knew that meant he was stressed. “After spending time with the boys today, I realize just how much this is going to impact Jason’s daughter, Savannah. She’s not that much older than them.”
“What’s the next step? With the investigation?”
“You know I shouldn’t talk about it.”
“I know, but it’s my best friend we’re talking about. And you know you can trust me to keep my lips shut. I know exactly how dangerous things can get if someone goes around flapping their mouth.” Dani’s dad had worked in law enforcement. She knew not to talk.
“I’m coordinating a sting in the Sierra Nevadas near the location where the plane carrying Jason and Rich went down. There’s a sheriff up there who is a real slimeball. Everybody says he’s crooked, but nobody’s caught him. We got a tip that he took a bribe to lie about who died in that plane crash and have the body cremated before anyone could identify it.”
“That’s horrible. Did you say the Sierra Nevadas? Whereabouts?”
“Durango City. It’s a real mess. The sheriff is pretty slick, but we’re worried about him getting skittish. He doesn’t trust anyone. And it’s my job to figure out how we get him to confess on tape to everything that happened.”
Dani couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What’s this sheriff’s name?”
“Billy Orson. Real son of a bitch.”
She’d heard Cole correctly. The sound of that name made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “I’ve cooked for him before. In his home.”
“What? Are you serious?” Cole set down his wineglass.
“Yes. Remember when I got my first job out of culinary school working for that catering company? We got hired by the sheriff to cater this very extravagant party he threw. I guess he had the hots for my boss. They’d met in Vegas on vacation. As near as I could tell, he was just trying to get her into bed.”
“And what happened?”
“We were flown out there. Just the two of us. I was the sous-chef. He hired servers, but we did all of the food. I remember thinking that it made no sense that a sheriff would have a house that big and fancy. And he paid for us to fly out there, first class. Anyway, he was a total creep. Kept hitting on me all night.”
“Do you think he would recognize you?”
“Probably not. It was seven years ago. My hair was shorter and much lighter.”
“Do you remember the house well?”
“Yeah. We spent an entire day there and stayed overnight.”
Cole leaned against the kitchen counter, rubbing his forehead.
“Are you okay?”
He looked up at her, nearly knocking her over with the intensity in his eyes. “Yeah. Just got a lot of stupid ideas going through my head.”
