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Malloy shook his head. "I didn't give this to you."
"But..." She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "It had to be you," she finally sputtered. "Who else would..." She pointed at the figurine, totally confused.
Slowly pushing to his feet, Raith eyed her soberly. "Someone who knows about us, I'd say."
Denying his reasonable suggestion, she merely swung her head from side to side. "It had to be you," she insisted. "I mean, I... I just gave you thank you sex for it."
He grinned. "Too bad you can't take that back."
DeVane blew out an incredulous sound. "Stop messing with me, Malloy. It had to be you. Now quit denying it."
Raith frowned at the object on her end table as if it might be toxic. "How positive are you about turning your kitchen light off last night before you went to bed?"
"A hundred percent," she said, frowning at him with irritation that he'd dare doubt her. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Jaw going hard, he took her hand and tugged her protectively close. "Walk me though the house. Tell me if everything else is as it should be."
But Willow, being Willow, resisted. Pulling to a stubborn stop, she scowled at him. "Just what do you think happened, Malloy?"
He could only shake his head again. "I don't know. But something didn't feel right when I came in last night."
She arched an incredulous brow. "Come again?"
He glowered at her. "I haven't been a deputy for seventeen years without leaning to trust my instincts. And my instincts said something was off when I walked through your back door last night."
"Off how?" Willow prodded.
He sent her a sour look. "I don't know. Like someone had been there who shouldn't have been."
"Oh, you mean, like you?"
"I mean, like someone who came across an unlocked back door to a sexy lawyer's house and decided to stroll right on inside."
"Again," she said, "you mean, like you?"
His gaze narrowed. "I thought you said you kept the door open for friends and family. Do I not fall under that category?"
Willow lifted her eyebrows to let him know he didn't.
He growled. "Just keep your back door locked from here on out."
Sending him a hot little smile, she reached out and trailed the tip of her fingernail up his chest. "But if I do that, how will you get inside to treat me to another late night visit?"
He grabbed her hand, letting her know he wasn't kidding around. Keeping his fingers wrapped securely around hers, he answered. "I'll knock. And any family member of yours who wants to come inside can damn well learn to knock too."
"You know," she murmured, hoping to change the tenor of their conversation because he was being totally ridiculous. Cops were definitely a paranoid lot. "This whole macho protective man thing you have going on is kind of hot. I feel all tingly and warm."
As if flipping a switch, his moody scowl changed. Eyes heating with desire, he tightened his grip on her hand and tugged her close. "Good. Because I'm ready to go again." Tossing her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, he carted her toward her bedroom.
Her body humming with anticipation, Willow let him.
~ * ~
Raith woke to the blaring of DeVane's blow dryer. He rolled over,
checked the time and cursed. After crawling out of bed, he found his pants and yanked them on. Limping his way to the opened bathroom door, he winced into the bright interior and paused in the entrance, leaning a shoulder against the frame.
"Why didn't you wake me?" He yawned and rubbed a hand over his beard stubble, but his fingers stumbled to a stop when he saw what she wore.
