My Killer Vacation(44)

“For now. Forrester has an unregistered Glock—like the one you found on the beach, Taylor. Barnstable PD brought him back in for questioning and he claims it isn’t his. I still don’t like him for the murder, but obviously we can’t rule him out.”

Jude hobbles to the fridge for another beer. “Okay, moving on to the second person of interest. Why would Lisa want the murder investigated if she pulled the trigger?”

“The perp likes to insert themselves into the investigation,” I murmur, recalling what Myles told me yesterday, echoing the criminal trait I’ve heard many times before on Etched in Bone. They always return to the crime scene.

Something else occurs to me and I gasp.

“If the murderer ends up being Lisa, you’ll have to break the news to your friend, Paul.”

“Yeah.” He clears his throat hard, sets down his half-eaten taco. “I’m heading out now. Lock the door behind me. Keep the windows closed and secure. I’m going into town to check in with the police, then I’ll be back.”

This is it. My chance to sneak out to the sex shop. I’m going to walk straight in there and ask for the vibrator with the earthquake setting.

“Sounds good,” I respond with a grin.

His eyes narrow suspiciously at my bright tone and I busy myself with cleaning up.

Myles looks like he wants to say something, but he turns and leaves, closing the door with a firm click behind him.

Jude steps into my line of vision. “All right. What are you up to?”

There are some things a girl can’t even tell her non-judgmental best friend/brother. As in, I’m so hard up for an orgasm that I’m sneaking out while there is a murderer on the loose. “Nothing.” I hide my face behind a cabinet, pretending to search for something. “That was me trying not to point out to Myles that he’s finally sharing clues. I was trying to be casual.”

“Right.” Jude opens his mouth to say more, but his phone vibrates in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks at the screen, shoving it right back into hiding. “If you’re sneaking out behind Mad Myles’s back, I’m coming with you, though. Just to be safe.”

“I’m going to buy a vibrator,” I blurt.

“Cool.” He limps over to the counter and scoops up his keys, waggling his eyebrows at me when the roar of the motorcycle engine recedes into the darkness. “I’ll grab a drink at the closest bar while you browse.”





Chapter 12





Myles





* * *




I knew Taylor had something up her sleeve.

Not in my wildest imagination did I think it was this.

Across the street from the Sweet Nothings—the most discreet sex toy shop I’ve ever seen in my life—I sit on my bike in the shadows, watching as she casually strolls past the entrance, waiting until she’s alone on the sidewalk, passersby having ducked into the tavern next door. Then she backs up one step at a time, throwing herself into the shop in a blur.

Just like that, she’s in a sex toy boutique. You’ve got to be joking.

Am I pissed? Hell yeah, I’m pissed.

The fact that she would put herself at risk by coming out at night without me means my skin is roughly the temperature of the sun. At least she brought Jude with her. Initially, that gave me some form of relief. But after they parked in the municipal parking lot, they parted ways on the other side of the road. Jude vanished into the tavern and I can see through the window that some fella has already bought him a drink. He’s distracted. Who is with Taylor now? No one, that’s who. And far stranger things have happened than a woman being assaulted or abducted in public. Goddammit.

I get off my bike and start to pace.

It takes me about fifteen seconds to admit that Taylor’s recklessness is only partially to blame for my fevered skin. My sweaty palms and jumpiness.

She wants—needs—an orgasm so bad, she’s risking her neck for it.

And I’m to blame.

That isn’t arrogance talking, although, sue me if it is. I’ve brought her to the brink of climaxing twice without delivering. Thanks to a rogue buoy. Thanks to Jude getting stung by a jellyfish. Sure. But that doesn’t make the facts sit any better. Not at all. She’s horny, I’m the cause, and she’s about to get the relief she needs from somewhere else.

That’s not just a bitter pill to swallow, the damn thing is stuck in my throat.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don’t think I’m capable of letting this happen. I’m just not. I’m sure this makes me an intrusive bastard, but I can’t fucking stand the idea of her sailing over the edge with some piece of silicone when I’m the one who drove her there. Created the need in the first place. Until now, I was using the fact that we haven’t had sex to console myself, as agonizing as it has been to maintain that boundary—one that I’ve almost crossed twice now. As long as we don’t have sex, I’m focused. As long as I’m not sleeping with her, I can maintain my professionalism and objectivity. Right?

Yeah.

Only…Taylor’s pleasure coming from anywhere but me makes me want to kick a hole through the plate glass window advertising lingerie, massagers and aromatherapy in gold script. What is she picking out in there? Will I be able to stand by while she drives home with her purchase and uses it to get herself off?