Page 9 of Shallow Remains

“I wanna read it when you’re done,” Xanthe said.

“Why, you suffering from insomnia lately?”

Xanthe frowned in confusion. “No. What?”

“I just wondered if you were looking for some bedtime reading to put you to sleep, that’s all.”

Rafe laughed at her joke. “Pretty sure any kind of scientific paper would just make Xanthe stay up later.”

“Hundred percent,” Xanthe said with a grin. “Especially if it’s got a juicy amount of statistical analysis in it.”

Bronwyn groaned. “Oh, God, that’s the literal bane of my academic existence.” Why were stats programs so hard to learn? “Well, that and cremated remains—and please, don’t ever call them cremains. That’s just icky.”

“I would never.” His tone was dry.

“They’re extra challenging to identify.”

“I can imagine.”

“Have I missed any more bone sightings lately?” Bronwyn asked Rafe.

“Have you noticed any missed calls from me since we talked last?”

Her lips twitched at his dry tone. “No. Kinda disappointed, actually.”

“Trust me, you’d be the first person I’d call if anything else turned up.”

“Really? Aw, that’s so nice to hear. Thank you.” The man was fine. Distractingly so. It was so hard to imagine him as a hellion in his youth, but Willow swore he’d been a bad boy. Was there anything sexier than a reformed bad boy? Except maybe one who’d turned protector. “What about the tibia Rufus found? Have you heard anything about the analysis yet?”

Willow’s brown shep-mix rescue was currently stuck to her leg, watching the room fill up with anxious eyes. Poor guy wasn’t a fan of strangers or being in a room full of people, but he sure had a good nose on him. He’d sniffed both parts of that human tibia out of the rocks despite all the other smells at the beach, no problem. He’d make a great cadaver dog.

“No. It’ll be a few months longer, I’m sure,” Rafe said. “There’s a big backlog at the lab.”

She nodded. Forensics labs had a longer wait time than most people realized. A single tibia that may or may not be of forensic context and unlinked to any specific crime would be low priority. “Willow said you’ve been continually slammed since you came on as sheriff.”

He was only one person, and his department was small. The mystery of who had shot the man who’d tried to kill Willow and Tripp was still unsolved, and then he’d had the recent craziness with Blaine and Xanthe to deal with on top of the more usual things that came with his job.

Rafe rolled his gorgeous eyes. Wolf eyes. “The workload’s been brutal, and the investigations are taking forever because of all the different agencies involved. Fortunately, the Seattle PD is going to loan us a full-time detective to assist me for the next few months, so I’m looking forward to that.”

That’s where he’d been a cop before running for sheriff here. “I can imagine. Anyone you know?”

He nodded. “We worked some cases together before.”

“Bronwyn? Can I get a hand in the kitchen?” a voice called out from across the room.

She glanced over to find Mae watching her from the kitchen entryway. “Be right there. Excuse me,” she said to Rafe. “Duty calls.”

“Don’t let her keep you from us too long,” he said as she walked away, the deep timbre of his voice sending a ribbon of heat curling through her.

She smiled to herself and added a little extra sway to her hips, knowing he was still watching. Wasn’t a bad idea to keep him waiting. A man like him would be accustomed to getting what he wanted when he wanted it.

There was a whole list of reasons why she should stop at flirting. They had great chemistry, though chemistry had gotten her in trouble a few times in the past.

Not only that, her life was uncertain right now. She would be traveling a lot in the foreseeable future and living in the UK for at least three months starting next spring.

He was also a good friend of Willow’s, and the island was small. Everyone knew each other. People talked. She didn’t want messy and was sure he didn’t either.

A relationship was definitely not in the cards for them. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun as long as they agreed on clear ground rules up front and nobody got hurt when it ended.