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The kiss is far from gentle. It’s greedy. Fueled by anger and determination and lust and desire. I need Simone. I need to keep kissing her until the anger burns up in an out-of-control blaze.
I get lost in the kiss. Get lost in Simone’s floral scent.
She meets me stroke for stroke, not once slowing down. My hands grip her waist, pinning her to me.
I continue kissing her until Rose asks who’s at the door. As much as I would love to keep kissing Simone, I stop and rest my forehead against hers. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“Bad day?”
The TV is on in the living room, loud enough that I don’t think Rose can hear me. But even so, I keep my voice low. “Someone at the job site told the cops that they saw me dealing drugs to some teens.”
Simone inhales sharply, and her eyes widen. “They arrested you?”
“No, another neighbor told them none of that was true. I swear half the town believes I’m innocent of drug possession, and the other half has found me guilty.”
“Is that you, Lucas?” Rose’s voice travels down the hallway to us.
“I’ll be right there, Rose,” I call out. “I’m just kissing your gorgeous granddaughter.”
“Kiss her all you want,” Rose calls back, a grin in her voice. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“We’ll just be outside for a moment, Grams.” Simone’s eyes warn me she has something to tell me she doesn’t want Rose to overhear. The underlying message is downplayed by the singsong quality of Simone’s voice.
We step onto the front stoop. Simone shuts the door and sits on the top step. I join her.
“How much do you know about why Crystal and Walter want to build the lodge on the Wakefields’ property?” she asks.
“All I know is that it’s going to be a romantic getaway type thing, which is why Robert and Tuuli were leaning toward selling them the land.”
Until Simone and I got married. Now, who Tuuli and Robert will sell to is anyone’s guess. We won’t know for another three months and three days.
“Do you know anything about Sebastian, Crystal and Walter’s son?” Simone tells me about a conversation she had with Rose’s friends this afternoon.
“Can’t say I’ve ever met him. As far as I know, he doesn’t live in Maple Ridge.”
“It sounds like he’s moving back if they go ahead with their plans. Which means, if what Samantha was saying is true, he has more than enough reason to not want you and your brothers to win the bid.”
“Looks like my brothers and I need to do a little digging into Sebastian.”
“I can talk to Crystal and see what I can discover about him.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Simone.”
“Sure it is. It can’t hurt to try. She won’t even know the real reason I’m visiting her. I’ll just see if I can casually bring up his name in conversation. We need to start somewhere, and this is our best bet.”
I mentally analyze the pros and the dangers of involving her. Whoever framed me isn’t playing games. They don’t care who gets hurt—as long as they don’t get caught.
I can bask in the river of denial all I want, but that won’t change anything. The day Simone and I exchanged vows, she became involved in my fucked-up life. And this is Simone we’re talking about, the stubborn girl I grew up with.
She believes I’m innocent and will do whatever she can to prove it—even if I tell her to leave it alone.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
But as much as I hate the idea of involving Simone, I don’t have a choice. Besides, we’re not talking about her visiting drug lords or someone equally dangerous. We’re talking about her visiting an older couple who are well respected in the community. “All right. Maybe you’ll be able to find out something that will help me.”
Hopefully, her visit won’t open a crate of explosives.
24
