Till Death(61)

His brows creased together. “You okay?”

“Yo, Landis.” Detective Conrad was in the sitting room. “Can we talk for a second?”

“Yeah.” Cole’s gaze remained trained on me. “You all right, Sasha?”

I wanted to blurt out the whole marriage business, but now was not the time, so I nodded and smiled. “Sure.”

He studied me for a moment and then walked over. Detective Conrad clapped a hand on Cole’s shoulder. They headed toward the dining room, passing Mom on the way.

Her hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck in a low bun, but several thin wisps framed her face. She placed her hands on the desk and leaned over, whispering, “That is one attractive man, isn’t he?”

My lips twitched. “Yes, he is.”

“Such a small town,” she said, glancing over her shoulder, “and I’ve never seen that man. I would’ve remembered seeing that man.”

That made me laugh. “He went to the academy with Cole apparently.”

Her gaze shifted back to me. “Is that so?”

I nodded, wanting to tell her about Cole being previously married, but before I could say anything, the inn doors opened yet again. This time it was new guests.

By the time we had them checked in and upstairs, James was banging around in the kitchen preparing the evening meal, and an older man had showed up from the police department. I caught a quick glimpse of him, and luckily he wasn’t wearing anything that showed he was from a forensics unit. Cole and Detective Conrad were in the old kitchen with the investigator, and looking for things to keep my mind busy, I realized we hadn’t grabbed the mail yet.

Slipping out the front door, I hunkered down in my sweater as the brisk wind circled around me. Snow fell in a fine sheet, dusting the driveway. For once, I actually had boots on instead of flip-flops, but I was wary of the icy spots. I reached the end of the drive, and stepped outside the stone wall, reaching the mailbox. Wishing I’d stopped to grab gloves, I opened the lid and quickly yanked out the contents. There were several bills. Of course. Something from Triple A, and a small package about four inches long and narrow.

As I walked back up the drive, I turned the package over. Surprise flickered through me. The little brown package was addressed to me. Having no idea who it could be from, I glanced at the sender’s address.

“Where in the hell is your jacket?”

I glanced up at the sound of Cole’s voice. He was standing on the porch, the corners of his lips turned down. “In the back room.”

He prowled toward the steps. “Just in case you haven’t realized, it’s snowing.”

“I didn’t want to bother the investigator.” And I also was sort of avoiding him. I climbed the steps. “Besides, I’ve been outside for like two minutes.”

“It’s snowing,” he repeated.

“And I’m heading back inside now.” I walked past him, but he cupped my elbow. “Wha—?”

His mouth cut off my words as his other hand circled the back of my neck. The kiss caught me off guard, and I almost dropped the mail, but within seconds, I wasn’t thinking about what I held or anything other than the feel of his lips against mine. His kiss . . . damn, he always kissed like a man who believed he wouldn’t get another chance.

It was mind-blowing.

Lifting his mouth, he gently squeezed the back of my neck. “We need to talk.”

I believed that we needed to kiss again. I opened my eyes. A gust of wind blew snow onto the porch. A second passed, and then I remembered. My eyes flew to his.

“I know Tyron told you.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Cole—”

His pale eyes held mine. “I didn’t want you to find out that way.”

“How did you want me to find out?” I pulled free, putting space between us, because with him holding me, standing right there, it made it hard to be objective.

“With the words coming out of my mouth,” he replied. “Let’s take this conversation inside.”

My heart was thumping, partially because of the kiss. “I have to make sure everything is good to go for dinner service.”

A brow rose as he opened the door. “Your mother is in the kitchen with James, and I’m sure they have it covered.”

Warm air greeted us as the door swung shut. “What about the detective and the investigator?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “Shouldn’t you be with them?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I should be right where I am, talking to you. Don’t shut me out.”

I squinted. “I’m not shutting you out.”

“You just found out that I was married from someone other than me,” he said in a low voice, angling his body toward me. “We need to talk about that, but you’re coming up with excuses to delay it. That’s shutting me out.”

Placing the mail behind the desk, I admitted he had a point. I glanced toward the sitting room. One of the guests was resting in front of the fireplace.

“Okay. Let’s go up to my apartment.”

We didn’t speak on the way up, taking the main staircase and hitting the staff one from the third floor. Once inside my apartment, I leaned against the closed door. Cole stood in the center of the room. He opened his mouth, but I spoke first. “Why didn’t you tell me?”