Chapter 15
15
ETHAN
I accepted the call after I saw Brody’s name flash across the screen. “Yeah?”
“Anything?”
“Not a damn thing.”
“Shit,” Brody cursed. “And nothing yesterday at the bookstore?”
“No. Like I told Kyle last night, Mila worked all afternoon scouring the search history of every computer in that bookstore and found nothing.”
“Where are you now?”
“Back at the hotel, but we’re heading to the lake later. We’re hoping he’s one of the locals attending the festival. We have a picture of him, but we’re basically looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“The festival draw a crowd?”
“You have no idea, man.” I thought back to yesterday and shook my head. “This thing is huge. Wraps the entire lake, and there’s shit going on every day this week. We walked through some of it last night but never saw anyone remotely resembling the picture, so we decided to start fresh today.”
He sighed. “Without any leads, this might be a waste of time.”
“Maybe, but give us a little more time,” I replied. “The room’s already paid for. Besides, if we don’t find something, Striker’s coming here to look.”
Brody’s tone lightened. “You’re right about that.” When he paused, I waited. I’d known him long enough to recognize when he had something else to say. “You doin’ alright?”
My forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”
“With Mila.”
I could lie to him, but there was no point. He’d know and call me out, which would only extend a conversation I didn’t want to have. I leaned over the balcony and stared down at the pool. I didn’t see Mila, but I knew she was down there. “I’m handling it.”
“She with you?”
“Not right now,” I explained. “She went down to the pool. We thought it might be good to split up for a few hours and talk to people. I was just about to go back down when you called.”
“Whose idea was that?”
“Mine,” I admitted.
“You needed a break,” he surmised, but I didn’t reply. There was nothing I could say. He already knew I needed some space. “If you feel like this is becoming a problem...”
“It isn’t.”
“If it does?—”
“If it does, I’ll call you.”
I wasn’t just saying that. I would reach my breaking point, but I hoped I’d last long enough to be productive and find something to help this case before I threw in the towel. I’d already slept next to her for two nights, and both times, I’d woken up during the night with my arm around her waist. I immediately rolled to the other side, putting some much- needed distance between us, and prayed for sleep. That prayer hadn’t been answered, though, and it was showing in my mood. I continued to remind myself that this was my first big assignment, and if I had any hope of getting another one, I needed to keep this professional by putting aside my feelings. But that was a hell of a lot easier said than done when I slept beside the woman I wanted every fucking night.
Needing to change the subject, I moved on. “Talked to Everly this morning. She said Dr. Campbell’s fiancée, Millie, called her. I guess Millie wanted to get to know her before she starts next week. Sounds like they have a lot in common. You have anything to do with that introduction?”
He chuckled but basically ignored my question. “Millie will be good for her.”
“Not sure it’s a good idea to become friends with your boss’s fiancée.” I snorted, just thinking about Everly and Millie becoming friends. That had the potential to backfire, and I didn’t want anything to force Everly to move again.
“Colin has a way of separating his personal life from his professional life. As long as Everly does her job and doesn’t hurt Millie in any way, she’ll be fine.”
“Everly wouldn’t hurt a fly.” I frowned. “That’s why her ex is still a problem.”
“He still contacting her?”
“She said he texted over the weekend.”
“She answer him?”
“No. I told her she needs to get a new number since he’s still texting, but she doesn’t agree.”
“That would be my suggestion.” He paused. “I’m planning to stop at Colin’s office this afternoon. Give him a heads-up on all of this. Not the particulars, but just let him know she has an ex who doesn’t like the word no. You good with that?”
“Yeah.” I exhaled. “She thinks I’m being overprotective, and maybe I am.”
“No such thing when it comes to family, brother.”
I grinned. “Doesn’t surprise me you think that.”
He chuckled. “Keep me updated.”
“Will do,” I replied, but Brody lost my attention when I saw Mila walk across the area around the pool area toward the chairs on the other side.
I didn’t need to look at my phone when there was silence. Brody wasn’t someone who often said goodbye to end a call, but I couldn’t have looked anyway. My attention was immediately locked on the woman who had taken up residence in my mind day and night. Fuck, she was beautiful. She’d been wearing a coverup when she left the room, but now she was walking around in a yellow bikini like she wore the damn thing for a living. Not self-conscious at all. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a man stand, his eyes locked on Mila, and he began to follow her to the chair directly below our balcony.
“Hey,” I called out.
Mila tilted her head back and shielded her eyes with her hand. “Hey, baby.”
I could tell by her response that she knew he was following her. “You save me a seat?”
She laughed and looked around. “Looks like we might have to share.”
My eyes stayed locked on the man who finally walked past her. “I’m coming down now.”
She glanced to her side. “Can’t wait.”
I closed the balcony door and headed out of the room toward the elevators, relieved when it came quickly. Within a minute, I crossed the pool area to stand in front of Mila.
She smiled. “I got a good look. It wasn’t him.” When I didn’t reply right away, she tilted her head. “Part of me wished he had eyes on us and had followed us here. Lure him out, you know?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I was thinking he had.”
“I figured.” She shrugged. “You have good instincts, Ethan. That guy was watching a little too closely.”
My eyes flicked to the side when I felt like we were being watched, and I wasn’t wrong. The same man headed toward us again, his eyes locked on Mila as if I wasn’t standing in front of her. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her body flush against mine and leaned down, putting my mouth next to her ear. “He’s watching you.”
She slid her hands over my chest and looped them around my neck. “Does that bother you?”
Dropping my forehead against her shoulder, I breathed in her scent before lifting my head and watching him pass us. “Bothers me that he has the balls to stare when I have my arms around you.”
“Hmm…” she hummed quietly. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the jealous type.”
I squeezed my hands against her waist and slid my eyes back to hers. “Guess you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
She smirked. “I guess I don’t.” She leaned in closer and slid her hands down until they lay against my chest. Her smooth, sultry voice felt like fingertips sliding over my skin. “You know what I like?”
I wanted to know. More than I wanted anything else at this moment and that included finding the bastard who was stalking Beth. I wanted to know everything I could learn about Mila Kavanaugh, and I feared it still wouldn’t be enough.
“What?” I growled, sliding my hand over the silky skin of her lower back. Her skin was warm from the sun and so fucking soft I wondered if her whole body felt the same way, and it took everything in me to keep my hands from exploring.
She smiled seductively. “A puzzle.” She ran her fingertip down my chest and wrapped her hand around the hem of my T-shirt. “And you, Ethan, are a puzzle I want to solve.”
She shoved my shirt up, and I reached behind my neck to pull it off before throwing it on the chair behind her. But I kept my hand on her lower back. “I think you’re overestimating me.”
“I’m not, trust me.” She laid her hands on my chest and tilted her head back, the edges of her long hair brushing my hands. I barely held back the groan when my groin tightened. “Now that you came down, what do you want to do?”
My cell phone rang before I could answer her, and maybe that was for the best. I was about to say something I couldn’t take back, something that I wanted from her, but not because she was a puzzle to me. She intrigued me in a way no woman ever had, proving my attraction was growing well beyond physical.
I needed to rein it in.
If not for the team and the success of the case we were working, then for myself.
And my own fucking sanity.