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"It was on when I showed up," he countered. "Why do you think I went ahead and came inside?"
She frowned. "It was not on."
"Was too."
He didn't seem to be lying, which was odd. She very clearly remembered pausing in the kitchen before going to bed and staring at the back door. She purposely hadn't locked it as a small rebellion to him. Smiling, she'd turned and cut the lights before strolling back to her bedroom.
"Maybe Dylan came by again for some more bread," she murmured thoughtfully, though she couldn't picture Dylan leaving the light on either.
"Taggart," Malloy growled the name on an accusatory tone of voice. "He visit you a lot in the middle of the night?"
Willow yawned this time, feeling sleep seep in around her. "Only that once."
"In other words, you only caught him that once. Might be, he comes over all the time."
"He'd be welcome if he did," she retorted, growing irritated. If Malloy wanted to become suspicious of anyone, Dylan should be the last man on his list.
"Might be," he suggested as if he hadn't heard her. "He's been stalking you for some time now."
She laughed. "Malloy, you are so far off it isn't even funny. Dylan loves his wife. He's absolutely crazy about Camille. There's no way he looks at other women, much less stalks them. He treats my cousin like a queen. Okay? So, just stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking."
He didn't answer, but she could tell by the tension in his body he disagreed. She rolled her eyes and patted his arm, wondering if it was in a cop's basic nature to be so pessimistic and unreasonable. As she moved her leg up along his, delighting in the feel of his hairy skin sliding against her smoothly shaved calves, Willow decided his bad attitude wasn't really so annoying. It was actually sweet that he worried enough about her to suspect everyone else of evil doing. Even her closest friends.
"So," she said, ready to get back to the topic she wanted to discuss. "Who else am I supposedly sleeping with?"
Malloy must've realized she wasn't going to let the issue drop because he sighed loudly and finally answered, "Let's see, there's the dentist in Darlington."
Unable to stop herself, she snorted out an amused laughed. "A dentist? From Darlington? Seriously? I don't even know a dentist in Darlington." Still smiling over that one, she asked, "Who else?"
Malloy didn't answer immediately, so she bumped her elbow backward into his stomach to get his attention. "Malloy?"
He grunted. "Uh…the assistant county attorney was one."
She choked out an incredulous sound. "Hale? Rodney Hale? Oh, ick, Malloy. That idiot's a total ass."
"I thought you said I was an ass?" he countered, sounding royally offended.
She rolled her eyes. "Not that kind of an ass," she said, thinking that should be obvious. Hale was a moron who acted as if he knew everything about everything, while actually he knew nothing about anything.
Behind her, her lover relaxed. "Thank God. If you were going to place me in the same category as Hale, we were going to have some serious problems."
"I've only talked to Rodney a handful of times. And that's only when I've stopped by the county attorney's office to see Chase." Suddenly, her eyes shot open. "I wonder if Chase has heard that rumor. He doesn't like Hale as it is, but if he knew this, he'd be pissed. He turns pretty olderbrotherly and protective when he hears tales about me. Especially when he doesn't like the guy."
She wondered idly what Chase thought of Malloy. Did her brother even know him? Her eyelids went heavy, and she started to blink more. As sleep invaded her senses, she envisioned the man in bed with her joining her for a family gathering, meeting her parents, brother, sister-in-law and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. She imagined he would get along well enough with the crew. She had a crazy, jumbled assortment of relatives, but she loved every one of them. They'd welcome Malloy into the fold, no problem. Too tired to realize what direction her thoughts had taken, she snuggled closer to him.
A warm, familiar hand squeezed her hip. "Hey, are you going to sleep? Thought you wanted to talk."
She smiled a lazy, blissful smile. "You know, you're the first man to treat me like a normal woman. Not some trophy to be won, not the prettiest, most popular girl in school to brag to your friends about deflowering, or the judge's daughter who'll win you connections in the county. 'Slike you actually want me for me."
~ * ~
Raith frowned as she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Her last sentence had been deeply slurred; he wondered if she even realized what she'd just confessed. It bothered him. Okay, yes, she was gorgeous. Yes, her daddy was powerful. But w
ere all the men who came before him complete idiots? How could they not see how spectacular she was all by herself?
He pulled her sleeping form back snug against his chest and wrapped his arm around her. In her sleep, she sighed. The sound went through him like a boomerang. Damn it, this was not good. This woman was going to break his heart, he could feel it in his bones.
Thirteen
