The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(51)
“Who is she?” she asked again, her voice raw.
“She’s no one of concern to you.” And he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk about this anymore, that was for damn sure.
“Because women kiss you on the street all the time?” She paused. “Or do they? Damn you and your superhuman good looks.” Her shoulders slouched forward as she turned away from him. “I remember her from your office,” she added a few moments later in a somber voice. “And she was in one of the photos my stalker sent me. She must mean something to you. I thought you never got involved with—
“She’s an old friend. Now, let’s drop it.” He stood and came up alongside her, joining her at the railing. Together, they stared down at the street. “I don’t feel like getting into all of this with you. I want to help you find the bastard who is stalking you, and I promised I would help you find your mother’s killer. Can we focus on that for now?” Please, for the love of God.
“Fine. I can forget the way you feel inside me. If you can,” she commented as her blue-green eyes dipped south of his hips, before slowly moving back up to his face.
Not fucking fair.
She started to turn away, but his arm banded around her waist, and he pulled her back. Her body was an inch from his, and her face so close. “You’re making me lose my damn mind. You know that, right?”
Her pink lips parted, her eyes still holding his. He swept his hand to the back of her head and brought her mouth to his.
And she returned his kiss, allowing his tongue entry to her mouth.
Without thinking, he lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around him—where she belonged.
With his lips locked onto hers, he carried her into the house before slamming the glass doors shut.
He would never make it to a room. Still holding her, he tapped a button by the door, and the automatic blinds began to close. “God, I need you,” he hoarsely said as he set her down.
And she must have wanted him, too, because she lifted her dress over her head and tossed it in one fast movement.
She was standing in nude panties and a beige lace bra, her hard nipples poking through the thin material. He came at her so quickly that she stumbled back and landed on the couch. A smile met her lips as she looked up at him, sinking her teeth into her lip. The woman was torturing him.
He knelt before her, his fingers skirting up the sides of her toned thighs before reaching for her hips, pulling her closer to him, to his mouth.
She braced each side of his shoulders when he pushed her panties out of the way, his tongue darting to her wet flesh.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered a second later as the elevator buzzed.
“Oh, God,” she shrieked.
He released his hold on her and stood as she grinned.
“Perfect timing.”
She rose to her feet, still in heels, and slipped her dress back over her shoulders.
“Tell me about it.” He shifted the material of his pants, hoping to calm his hard on. “Thank God I didn’t give the guys access to my place yet. I’d have to kill them if they saw you naked.” He grimaced at the thought.
“Last time I checked, you don’t have exclusive rights to my nudity. Just an F.Y.I.” She smirked, but the realization of her words hit him hard. “Will you kill every man who sees me naked?”
“I wouldn’t test me,” he grumbled.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KATE TUCKED AWAY HER NERVOUS smile and attempted to look professional in front of Jake and Connor.
Michael was standing about as far away from her as he could get while being in the same room. He’d gone behind his own personal Berlin Wall again. Damn him. “I almost forgot. What did my dad have to say?” she asked as they sat down at the large farmhouse table in the kitchen.
Michael shifted in his seat to face Kate, who sat to his left. “He said he was sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Your dad said your mother thought she had a stalker. Not long before she died, she told him that she felt like she was being watched.”
Like me. Oh, God. “Does he think there could be a connection?”
“He doesn’t think so. Or at least, the cops ruled out the idea of a stalker.” He pressed his palms against the table and looked at Jake. “What do you think?”
“I have two suspects in mind if there is a connection to your mother. Two people at the gala went to school with her. And one of them looks like the man you drew.”
Kate’s lips twitched as her nerves pulled at her heart strings. She reached for the folder that Jake slid to her. With a shaky hand, she opened it and looked at the first photo. “That’s him.” She stared down at the picture of the muscular, blonde man. The anxiety that coursed through her body made her feel like she had taken four shots of espresso.
“That’s Nathan Williams. He’s a real estate attorney. He has several offices, including one in New York,” Jake responded.
She moved Nathan’s photo aside to view the other.
“Erick Jensen.” She ran her fingers across the image of the face. She had danced with him at the gala.
“Michael tells me that Erick admitted that he knew your mother.” Jake looked down at the photo and back up at Kate.
“Yeah. He even asked me to help out with the winter ball in Boston.” Kate pushed aside Erick’s photo to study the image of the blonde man, who now had a name. “Given that this Nathan guy has a connection with my mom, do you think there’s a link between her murder and my stalker?” She tried not to feel a pinch of hope at the possibility of getting justice for her mother.