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Feeling the emotional weight of that statement, Sean moved across the floor. Damned if he would lose Lana as a friend. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from her chair, closing in on her as if his sheer presence could make her change her mind. “Leaving our relationship behind isn’t an option.”
When she smiled, his heart turned over in his chest. She was such a beautiful woman.
“Good,” she whispered softly.
He sighed. “Is that all you can say?”
She cupped his face. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to lose our friendship either. Can’t we just agree that we’re friends and leave it at that?”
“Friends who sleep together,” he clarified.
“What’s wrong with that?”
He sighed again. “Nothing, I guess, as long as sex doesn’t…”
She put her fingers over his lips. “Sean, you think way too much.”
He kissed her fingers. She seemed so nonchalant. Maybe that’s what got to him. Maybe it didn’t mean as much to her as it meant to him. It could be why she was acting as if this wasn’t a big deal. Friends or lovers. He didn’t like it and wanted to push her but knew that pushing Lana would net him nothing. She’d probably become angry and throw him out. Where would he be then?
“Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ve got my arson class today.”
Sean looked down at his watch. “And I’ve got to get the lawn mower fixed. I was supposed to be there ten minutes ago. I better call.”
When Sean left, Lana grabbed the pan off the stove and put it in the sink. She leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. Everything Sean had said had merit. But she didn’t know what was going to happen and worrying about it only caused more problems. Sean was too much of a good friend to ever disappear from her life. She had to believe that.
But her gut churned with the effort it took not to show him how much he meant to her. His friendship was more important than anything else, but if they started analyzing everything, it could only end in disaster.
Sean came back after twenty minutes, his hair wet. He gave her a rough kiss and drove off.
She didn’t know what she was going to do with him, but she thought it might be fun to find out. Sex brought them one step closer to a more intimate relationship. She’d always shared her thoughts and time with Sean. Now sharing her body seemed natural.
It had been wonderful to wake up to him this morning. His face seemed so peaceful in sleep. She’d watched his serene, sleeping face for long moments before she’d gotten into the shower. If it hadn’t been for her class, she would have stayed in bed with him all day.
Her first stop was to the SDPD labs and Kate. When she got out of the car, she saw Bryant talking to Sienna near the entrance. She’d have to pump Sienna for information on that as soon as she was done with Kate.
She went around to the side door and down the stairs. At the bottom, she turned right and went through a gray metal door. Kate was loading a slide when Lana walked into her lab.
“Hey,” Kate said, giving Lana a big smile. “What brings you here so early on this beautiful morning? Isn’t it your day off?”
Lana got right to the point. The other thing on her mind, besides Sean, had been the soil sample and if it contained remnants of the accelerant she was sure would be there. “The soil. Did you have time to analyze it?”
“Right. I should have guessed. Dane the pain was just in here.”
“Did he request a soil test, too?” Lana asked as she sat down on one of the stools close to the counter.
“No. He gave me some charred wood to analyze on a different case,” she said, walking into her office and searching through a stack of papers on her desk.
“He refuses to believe that there’s a killer out there. I’m going to prove him wrong. This guy deliberately set fires on the fourth floor and the basement. It was designed to trap the residents inside.”
“What evidence do you have to support that?” Kate asked.
“The spalling in the basement. I’m sure a fire was set there.”
“Spalling usually occurs when there’s an intense fire. Didn’t the lobby collapse from above?”
“Yes,” Lana said.
“Couldn’t it have caused a fire in the basement?”
