Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Shit. I’ve just made things worse for Miles.
And for myself.
But damn him, anyway. He could’ve stayed in the bedroom.
Miles is staring at me. I can’t look him in the eye, but I feel it—that fiery glare that’s probably a sign I’m going to get a spanking or something later. Why that appeals to me, I have no idea.
“Turned out to be nothing,” Miles says.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Mark stalks toward Miles but stops, leaving about ten feet between them.
Good call.
Miles does not look happy.
I don’t blame him. But what did he expect me to do? I’m investigating a case, and he’s a…
Well, Mark would say he’s a suspect. I disagree with that assessment. But no matter the evidence, he’s a person of interest along with both his brothers. If Mark knows I’m sleeping with Miles, he’ll take me off the case. Or worse, have me fired.
Only Sheriff Bryant or Mayor Vance can technically fire me, but Mark’s got a lot of seniority. It would be more to use against Miles, spinning it so it looked as if Miles slept with me to mess with the case instead of what it really was. Which was… I have no idea.
Fuck! I knew I shouldn’t have accepted Miles’s dinner invitation. I knew it, but I did it anyway.
I did it because I like him.
I more than like him. He’s amazing. He had me feeling things last night that I’ve never felt. I don’t just mean ridiculously amazing orgasms either. I like him and how he makes me feel.
Miles towers over Mark, but I’ll give Mark a gold star for meeting Miles’s gaze. It’s more than I can do at the moment.
“So what is it, Bridger?” he asks.
“Like I said,” Miles says through clenched teeth, “it turned out to be nothing.”
“And like I said. I’ll be the judge.”
Time for me to intervene. “I already exercised judgment. It’s irrelevant.”
“What was it, Bridger?” Mark pushes.
“Jesus. The answer’s still the same. Nothing.” Miles brushes past Mark briskly and stands by the door.
“Wait a minute,” Mark yells at him.
“Let him go.” I set my hand on Mark’s arm to hold him back. “It was nothing.”
Mark rakes his gaze over my body and I snatch my hand back.
“Just what the hell is going on here, Hopkins?”
“Nothing that’s any of your business.”
He narrows his eyes. “It sure as hell is my business if Bridger is keeping evidence from me.”
I rub my forehead, trying to ease the ache that has erupted. “It’s nothing. I lied. He was here because I invited him.”
He’s quiet for a moment. Too long. I keep myself from squirming in the chair.
Finally—
“I see.”
“For breakfast. Just for breakfast.”
“And you met him in that?” He points to grungy sweats.
For God’s sake, Sadie. Grow a spine!
“We had dinner last night. He stayed over. Are you satisfied?”
The tension in my living room could be cut with a knife. I’m not ashamed I was with Miles. It was amazing. I also don’t want Mark to know about my sex life. Ever. It isn’t his business and it gives me the creeps.
But I crossed a line.
“I knew I saw a glimmer of recognition in his eye yesterday when we were at their house.” He spins at Miles and points.
“I’m a grown woman, Mark,” I reply. “Who I see on my off-time is my own business.”
“Not when it’s a suspect in a case you’re investigating!”
Miles pushes past Mark and stands in front of me, blocking the guy from getting to me. “You don’t talk to her like that.”
I like how he’s protecting me, but I did this to myself. Of course, he could have stayed in the bedroom, but that wouldn’t have been fair either.
“For the last damned time, the Bridger brothers are not suspects.” I step around Miles’s big frame. “I don’t care what kind of beef you have with their old man. They’re not him.”
Mark rolls his shoulders back. Points at me this time. “You’re off this case, Hopkins.”
I sigh, knowing I just fucked up my career. “Fine. Whatever.”
“I ought to go to the sheriff about this.” Mark sounds petty. Like a high schooler.
“Go ahead.”
“But I won’t.”
God, here it comes. He’s going to want something in return. A blowjob? Or something even more disgusting? Not that he’d tell me his expectations in front of Miles.
“All right. Thank you.” It’s easier to placate the man than argue.
“You’re a good cop, Sadie. I don’t want to take you off the case.”
“Then don’t.”
“Are you willing to forget about him?” Mark gestures to Miles.
I look at the guy who’s only been nice to me. Kind. Attentive. Thorough.
No.
The word is lodged in the back of my throat, and it desperately wants out.
But I also love my work, and this dead body is the most exciting case to come out of Bayfield in the little over a year that I’ve been here.