Chapter 9
Three hours later, after speaking to both forensic experts in Seattle and taking a deeper dive into the statistics and charts Noelle pulled up for him, Eli was convinced the pattern of incorrect information throughout Montgomery’s work was no accident.
He kneaded the tense muscles in his neck as he leaned back in his chair.
Noelle, who’d been milling about the kitchen, making them sandwiches for dinner and randomly tidying to keep busy while he perused her data, stepped up behind him and bumped his hands out of the way.
She rubbed his shoulders and neck and applied direct pressure to spots that were especially knotted with tension.
The warmth of her hands and relaxing massage worked magic on him.
He felt a catharsis and release of the stress he’d been harboring while at the same time growing keenly aroused by the erotic manipulation of her hands.
Shoving the files aside, he turned in the kitchen chair and drew her into his lap.
Noelle gave a feeble protest which he quieted with a kiss.
“I made us a little dinner. Are you hungry?” she asked, her voice breathless enough that the question sounded like a sexy invitation.
“Not for food,” he said, capturing the back of her head and kissing her again.
Noelle draped her arms around his neck, twisting her lips into a lusty grin. “I think I have what you need.”
Eli groaned his pleasure as he rose from the chair with Noelle in his arms and carried her to the nearest flat surface.
Laying her down on the couch, he covered her body with his own and plundered her mouth.
His tongue dueled with hers, and his hands tugged at her clothes.
Years of pent-up desire and longing were unleashed as they touched and nibbled and explored each other.
“I want to make love to you, Noelle. But not unless you’re sure it’s what you want, too.” He levered up on one arm to peer directly into her soulful brown eyes. “I moved on with my life after college, but I never stopped wanting you.”
Noelle’s breath stuck in her lungs. Desire had her body humming and left her mind a muddle. She still clung to enough of her senses to realize Eli had said he’d wanted her, not that he’d loved her. For a moment, she knew the sting of disappointment. A too-familiar pain swelled in her chest.
Unloved. A complication. A burden.
A mistake.
The word she’d heard her mother use echoed hollowly inside her.
When Eli brushed his fingers through her hair and narrowed an inquiring look on her, she realized she’d never answered him. “Oh. I, uh…”
This works well for you, a part of her brain justified. You can satisfy your hunger for him, perhaps even work him out of your system for good and leave town again without entanglements. If he doesn’t love you, you won’t break his heart again when you go.
Noelle forcibly dismissed the whisper that argued, And what about breaking your own heart?
Fisting her fingers in his hair, she drew greedily on his mouth, then whispered, “I’m a big girl, Eli. I know what I want and can take care of myself.”
A frown flickered across his face, but she didn’t let herself think too hard about the reason behind it. After toeing off her shoes, she stroked her foot down his jean-clad leg, before encouraging him to continue by raising her hips to meet his.
His shirt came off, then hers. Hands stroked, lips searched and sampled, and the heat rose quickly in her blood.
Eli had just unhooked her bra when a loud knock sounded on his front door. They both froze like high school kids discovered necking in a parent’s car.
“Are you expecting someone?” she whispered.
“No. I told Asher to come at eight. If that’s him pushing things earlier, I swear I’ll…” He didn’t finish the threat as another knock pounded on his door.
Scrambling to right his clothes, Eli headed for the door, hesitating only long enough for her to restore her bra and shirt as well.
An attractive young couple, their arms around each other, waited on Eli’s front porch when he opened the door.
“Took you long enough,” the man with shaggy brown hair said, pushing past Eli without a verbal invitation to enter. His gaze took in Eli’s rumpled hair and clothes as he ushered the blonde with him inside. “Were you asleep?”
“Um, no. Why—?”
The couple pulled up short when they spotted Noelle sitting on the couch, finger combing her hair. She knew her lips were swollen and that she’d missed a button when fastening her blouse. Busted.
“Oh hello.” The blonde glanced from Noelle to Eli to her partner. “We didn’t know you had company. I’m sorry.”
Eli dismissed the woman’s concerns with a flick of his hand. “You’re not interrupting anything. I was just, uh, discussing the Fiancée Killer case with Noelle. Her sister was one of the victims, and she, um, wanted a briefing.”
“A briefing? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” The shaggy-haired man’s eyes twinkled with mischief.
Eli rolled his eyes and punched the guy’s arm lightly. “Don’t be crude, man.” Motioning with his hand, Eli introduced the couple, his younger brother Parker and Parker’s girlfriend, Genna. “So, you had a reason for stopping by I assume?”
Instead of answering his brother’s question, Parker sent Noelle a curious look, much like the one Kansas had given her when they met earlier in the week. Noelle braced herself for the connection and suppositions. For subsequent necessary explanations. For judgments.
When Parker remained silent for several seconds, Genna answered, “We’re taking a quick trip up north to check conditions before a group from Boston arrives to go snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.
We want to go now so we don’t miss your mom’s party this weekend.
” She divided a glance between Parker and Noelle, her brow creasing as she elbowed Parker.
Returning her attention to Eli, Genna said, “Anyway, I left my snowshoes in Hetty’s plane, and she’s out on a trip at the moment, so I was hoping I could borrow yours? ”
“Um, yeah. I’ll go dig them out of my closet.” Eli started to leave but noticed his brother still staring at Noelle. “Parker? If you have something to say, just say it.”
Parker slanted a sly grin at his brother. “No. Nothing. But I am glad you took my advice.”
“Advice?” Genna sent Parker a querying look.
“Likewise, brother,” Eli said before turning to Genna. “A couple months back Parker and I had a conversation about…not missing opportunities.”
Genna glanced at Noelle. “Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?”
Noelle lifted her shoulders. “None.”
Parker motioned for Eli to hurry. “You were getting the snowshoes? We have a few more errands to run and have to arrange a plane that can leave at first light tomorrow.” He smirked. “And we want to let you get back to what you were doing.”
Noelle felt the heat that stung her cheeks, and she self-consciously smoothed a hand over her misbuttoned blouse.
Eli sent his brother a withering look as he headed down the hall to his bedroom.
“So…your sister was one of the women killed by the creep Eli is looking for?” Parker asked, his tone sympathetic. “I’m so sorry. I hate that we’re meeting under these circumstances, but I’m glad to finally make your acquaintance.”
Genna blinked and glanced at Noelle. “What am I missing?”
“Noelle and Eli dated in college. They were pretty serious to hear Eli tell it. But the family never got the chance to meet her before they went their separate ways after graduation.”
“Oh,” Genna said, then, “Oh!” as if suddenly remembering who Noelle was.
A pink flush rose in her cheeks as she flashed an embarrassed grin and schooled her reaction.
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, Noelle. I hope we’ll be seeing more of you in the future.
” Genna’s tone put a period at the end of the sentence, but a lift of her eyebrows made it a question.
“I don’t know. I only plan to be in town until my sister’s funeral, but that’s on hold until the medical examiner releases her body.”
Parker and Genna exchanged a look Noelle couldn’t interpret, and she fumbled for a way to change the topic.
“Has Eli asked you to our mom’s party?” Parker asked.
“Um, no. Kansas has, but I don’t think—”
Parker snorted. “What is wrong with my brother? Of course you’re invited. I’ll talk to him.”
“You don’t have to—I mean, I appreciate the invitation, but…
” Desperate for a way to change the subject, Noelle started to ask why they weren’t driving to their destination, then caught herself.
Had she really been gone from Alaska that long?
The sheer size of the state and vast wilderness without any roads meant getting to remote areas required small planes, often seaplanes that landed in lakes or on rivers.
What few roads there were often required long roundabout trips around mountain ranges to get from point A to point B.
Fortunately, Eli returned a moment later, carrying his snowshoes with him. “Glad someone can get some use out of them. Until I wrap up this case, I don’t see myself getting away anywhere for recreation.”
“Except Sasha’s party, you mean?” Genna asked. “We’ve invited Noelle to come, so you two work out the details, okay?”
Parker leaned close to his brother and muttered something like “finishing what he started” under his breath, his grin wickedly teasing.
Eli sighed and opened the front door. “Don’t you have to be going now?”
Parker laughed and gave his big brother a hug on the way out. Genna, too, stopped for an embrace and a cheek kiss. “Thank you, Eli. We’ll bring them back in a couple days.” Turning to Noelle, she waved and called, “Nice to meet you, Noelle.”
Noelle returned a wave as the door closed behind the couple.
Eli faced her and groaned. “Sorry about that. I hope they didn’t put you on the spot while I was out of the room.”
“You mean any more than we already did looking like this?” She waved a hand to her buttons and ran her fingers through her hair.
Eli skewed his face with mortification. “I haven’t heard the end of this. Parker will pull this out to embarrass me at family dinners for years to come.”
Noelle noticed he didn’t mention the upcoming party, and her chest squeezed.
Was there a reason he hadn’t invited her before now?
And since the subject had come up with Parker and Genna, why wasn’t he asking her now?
Noelle had to battle down a swell of hurt.
Was her relationship with Eli amusing to the family?
She wanted to believe he meant the fact that Parker had interrupted their interlude, but old demons whispered that she might be the source of the awkwardness.
Did his family have a problem with Eli dating a woman of Korean descent? Was there another reason Eli seemed reluctant to introduce her to the whole family?
She swung away from him, struggling to keep her composure.
How many times had she fretted over these questions in college?
Eli’s family was so important to him, such a big part of his life.
How could she ever fit in? Even if race weren’t a part of the equation, she didn’t have warm familial experiences as any sort of reference.
She was terrified that once the Coltons met her, she’d prove a disappointment somehow.
That she’d embarrass Eli or cause dissension in the family in some way, because that was all she knew of family life. Rejection. Regret. Isolation.
Eli moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the side of her neck. “Now where were we?”
She wiggled free and buttoned her blouse correctly, tucking the tail in her slacks. “Maybe it’s a good thing Parker and Genna stopped by when he did. They saved us from making a mistake we’d regret.”
“A mistake?” He sounded truly stunned by her assessment, and she pivoted to face him, frowning.
“Yes, a mistake. I’m only in town for a few days, and sex between us would be fraught with all kinds of emotional baggage. We’d be foolish to open old wounds like that.”
He lowered himself slowly to the couch. “Emotional baggage,” he mumbled and bit the inside of his cheek.
Then glancing up at her, he firmed his jaw.
“The night we went to the Cove for dinner, you agreed to answer my questions about why you shut me out after college if I shared case information with you.”
Her gut swooped, and her mouth dried.
“I found a way to legitimately include you in the investigation. I’ve given you access to confidential files in the name of finding the killer. Now it’s your turn to make good on our deal.”
Noelle rubbed her hands on her slacks and moved across the room. If only the physical distance were enough to reestablish the emotional distance she’d once created.
Or had she? Seeing Eli again, the speed with which she’d fallen back under the spell of his blue eyes, his intoxicating kisses, his magnetism would say she’d never gotten over him the way she pretended.
Maybe all she’d ever done was bury her feelings, hide from the truth, fool her heart into believing she could find happiness without him.
But had she been happy these past many years?
Content, maybe. But she’d had no interest in dating anyone else. She’d not wanted second best. She’d searched for ways to fill the hole in her life by reading romances, learning yoga, working overtime. All of her attempts helped, in their own way, yet the empty ache remained.
“Is it smart to start this conversation when Asher is due here in a little while? Maybe we should wait until—”
“Noelle.” Eli’s tone stopped her. “I deserve answers, and I want them. Now.”