Chapter 11 #2
“No.” He sighed. “There are… things we need to discuss.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“First…” He cupped the back of her head, and moved slowly towards her. The kiss was light but hotter than the gas burner. Her mind stopped working as her desires took over her body. She leaned into him while his hands gripped her hips and his fingers fisted in her shirt.
“I wanted to do that earlier,” he admitted as he rested his forehead against hers. “Now maybe I can think a little more clearly.”
“Now I can’t,” she said with a chuckle.
“Today, earlier…” He leaned back a little more and searched her eyes. “I didn’t mean to be an ass about Nate.”
She smiled. “Dealing with jealousy isn’t really my forte. I can honestly say that I’ve never had anyone experience that emotion because of me before.”
“Well, now you can pin that merit badge on.” He sighed. “I like kissing you. I hope soon we can do more, but…” He shook his head slightly. “We need to get some things out in the open first. We both need answers to questions that are blocking us like a brick wall.”
She nodded slowly. “Trust isn’t something that comes easily.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as he dipped his head slightly in agreement.
“How about we eat?” she suggested after a heartbeat. “Then I can show you what I have gathered on this case.”
His eyebrows arched. “You’d do that? Share with me? A suspect?”
She smiled. “I removed you from the suspect list the moment I heard you sing Kara’s song at the wedding.”
He frowned and closed his eyes. “No one else knows that I wrote it for her.”
“No one else has to know.” She touched his cheek and placed another kiss on his lips. “Now, why don’t you grab us some beers while I dish us up food?”
They ate in the little dining area off the kitchen while she showed him the files that she had typed up on her laptop.
She held back the full police report along with some of the images of the car and Kara at the scene of the accident.
She did, however, go over one eye witness statement, an older man who had been out walking his dog.
They also went over his and Kevin’s statements, which were taken the morning after the accident.
There were no reports from a coroner. There were no more photos of Kara’s body, other than the one of her still in the car. There was no investigative report on the vehicle or the tire marks on the road.
The old man had heard the accident and rushed to the scene. He said he’d seen a man with a build that matched both Abe’s and Kevin’s perfectly, running away from the accident.
This is, no doubt, why Abe and Kevin were questioned the next morning. But since Abe’s roommate at the time remembered Kara dropping him off around nine-thirty, almost an hour before Kara’s car hit the cement wall under the bridge, he was taken off the suspect list.
“Is this normal for a case?” he asked, averting his gaze from the image of Kara’s wrecked vehicle sitting sideways in the ditch. It was the one image she was willing to show him. “The lack of… well, there just seems like there should be more here.”
“There should be more reports from the coroner, the impound lot, and even forensics. Kara had her seatbelt on and was strapped into the passenger seat. Not the driver’s side. Yet the police reports indicate that she was the driver and they suspected ice on the road to be a factor in the accident.”
“Ice?” He frowned and leaned closer. “But the accident was in late August. There had been some rain earlier in the evening, during dinner and when she dropped me off at home, but it stopped shortly after, before her accident. There would have been no sleet or snow.”
She nodded. “Yes, and all the weather reports show that the high temperature for that day had been seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit. The low for that evening was fifty-four.”
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“She was wearing jean shorts and a T-shirt that evening. Her shirt had little blue flowers on it.” His voice was low, soft, like he was pulling the memory from deep down.
No doubt he could see her perfectly behind his closed eyes.
“Her hair was braided in one long thick braid.” His eyes opened and he ran his eyes over Dylan’s darker hair, which she’d braided in two longer braids earlier that morning.
The pain behind his eyes made her swallow hard. She could remember just how her father looked that last day. What he’d worn. Every word he’d said to her. The pain of the loss caused her chest to ache between her ribs, and she reached out and squeezed his hand lightly.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t replay that last night we had together,” he said, and she nodded in understanding. “Which is why, I suppose, you are here. I don’t blame Kevin for wanting answers. I’ve wanted them too.” He took a deep breath. “What’s next? How do we get those answers?”
She thought a moment. “First step, since I have your full cooperation, is for you to answer more questions.”
He nodded and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, I’m ready.”
She shifted and sighed. “I’m not. To be honest, it’s been a very long day.” She glanced at her clock and winced at the late hour.
He did the same and sighed. “I have a meeting with my producer, James, and my PR manager, Tony, in the morning.” He groaned. “Will late afternoon tomorrow work for you?”
“Yes.” She nodded, not wanting to tell him that her schedule was wide open. Hell, the only reason she was in Pride was to get close to him.
When he stood up, she followed and was surprised when he started carrying their empty dishes back into the kitchen.
“I’ve got this,” she said when he turned on the sink water. He glanced over his shoulder at her and her heart skipped several beats.
“One thing that my mother taught me that stuck was to always clean up when someone else does the cooking.” He motioned beside him. “You can dry.”
While they worked on the dishes together, they talked about his music.
She was pretty sure he had hit a wall with talking about Kara and that night she died.
There had been moments after her father’s death that she hadn’t wanted to talk about it or her feelings either.
That was one of the reasons she’d hightailed it out of Pride quickly after the services.
When the last dish was dry and had been put away, she handed him the towel to dry his hands. Instead of taking it, he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“I don’t want you to think that I only came here for… answers.” His hands moved to her hips while his eyes landed on her lips. “I’ve been thinking about kissing you again.”
She felt her knees almost buckle. If he hadn’t been holding her, she might have just melted to the floor. God, why did he smell so sexy? He should smell like dish soap. Instead, there was a deep musky scent that surrounded him like a hug, and she wanted to be engulfed in it.
“Why think much longer?” she whispered, unwilling or unable to trust her own voice.
When his head bent down and his lips brushed hers, she melted against him. He tasted better than he smelled. The feel of his hard chest against her had her heart beat tripling.
When his tongue dipped in and trailed against hers, a soft moan started in her chest and escaped as he cupped her head so he could tilt it slightly.
She was putty in his hands. At that moment, she would have done anything to keep him from leaving.
He moved slowly, almost as if she were dessert and he was lapping her up and enjoying every lick. God, just the thought of him doing what he was doing to her mouth to the rest of her body had everything vibrating for him.
“Dylan,” he sighed against her mouth. “I want to stay…”
“Stay,” she begged, without giving him a heartbeat to decide. Her fingernails dug into his arms, wishing to hold him closer.
His eyes met hers and she could see that he wouldn’t. Not yet. She guessed he wouldn’t until she found some answers. Anything.
Her heart slammed back down to reality and she took a step back, missing the feeling of him and the taste of him so much she swayed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and, without saying goodbye, he walked out of her house, leaving her body wanting more than it ever had for that sweetest release.
Damn him.