Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Ace’s jaw hardened. “He seems like a narcissistic asshole to me.”
Her lips twitched. “I totally agree.”
He eyed the oversized couch in the living room. “How about I sack out on your sofa?”
May turned. “Ace.”
He met her stare.
Awareness crackled between them. His gaze dipped briefly to her mouth before snapping back to her eyes.
“I’m a big girl and know what I’m doing.” She stepped back, breaking the moment. “Go home. Get some sleep. I’m sure the troopers will want to talk to you again tomorrow, unless Tyler confesses.”
“Oh, that kid will confess,” Ace said.
“If he killed her,” May replied.
Ace nodded slowly. “His temper’s too volatile and they’ll get him to break.”
May studied him. “The troopers are that good?”
Ace huffed a laugh. “By the end of my interview, I thought I was guilty.”
She smiled up at him. “Thanks for driving me home.”
“Sure.” Ace didn’t step back or break eye contact. The night air had cooled, but heat still pulsed low in his bloodstream. “How about I kiss you this time?”
Need flashed in her pretty eyes.
“One kiss,” he said gently. “It’s okay to say no.”
She jerked her chin up. “I know it’s okay to say no. I’m perfectly comfortable doing so.”
Ace’s mouth twitched. “Good. I’m glad.”
She stared at him for a long moment, something shifting behind her eyes. Then she exhaled. “All right. One kiss.”
He didn’t move right away. Yeah, he could be patient when he wanted. The silence stretched tight between them, charged and fragile. Finally, he stepped closer, lifting a hand to her chin. His touch was slow and deliberate.
Her gaze flicked to his mouth. “Are you all healed?”
“Yeah. It was minor.”
“It still looks like it might hurt.” Her eyes darkened with the blue deepening.
“Let’s find out.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers, soft and testing.
She sucked in a breath.
Then he kissed her.
Fully.
His hand slid to the back of her neck, his fingers curling as he cupped her head. He held her gently but firmly, angling her mouth to his. The kiss deepened instantly, heat flaring fast inside him.
She tasted warm and sweet. She made a small sound against his lips, and something inside him snapped loose. Hunger surged through him, raw and demanding. Her hands fisted in his shirt, gripping tight as she kissed him back, matching him, meeting him.
The world narrowed.
Ace let the kiss go on, slow and consuming, until breathing became necessary. Until restraint became impossible. Reluctantly, he lifted his head.
May looked up at him, eyes bright, mouth slightly swollen.
“Now can I stay the night?” he asked.
Awareness returned to her gaze in a sudden flash. She stepped back quickly, the heat cooling into caution.
Ace saw it.
Felt it.
Understood it.
“No,” she said softly. She didn’t sound completely certain, but a no was still a no.
“All right. Lock the door behind me.” Ace turned, his body on fire, and his every nerve raw. His cock throbbed painfully, and his jeans felt too tight. He stepped onto the porch and waited to hear the door click shut and the lock engage behind him.
Only then did he move.
He climbed into the truck and drove slowly down the lane. At the bend, he pulled off to the side and switched off the ignition. From there, he had a clear view of the small blue-and-white clapboard house tucked against the trees.
Something about Senator Kyle Mercer didn’t sit right with him.
Ace leaned back in his seat. He wasn’t going to sleep much, so he might as well stay close and keep an eye on her.
His phone buzzed, and he lifted it to his ear. “Yeah?”
“Thought we were meeting for a drink,” Brock said, sounding rough and tired. “I just finished interviewing the kids from Montana.”
“Any luck?”
“Nope. But I was lucky the troopers let me sit in since you’re still their main suspect.”
Ace keyed in. “What about Tyler?”
“Tyler hooked up with some gal named Brandy. They were together all night. Every one of those kids has an alibi, even though most were drunk.”
Damn it. Ace stared at May’s darkened windows. “Then who the hell killed Laura Jordan?”
“I don’t know.” Brock paused. “But I do know you lied to the troopers.”
Ace’s shoulders jerked back.
“Where were you last night, Ace?”
Ace rested his head against the seat, his gaze fixed on the quiet house. “I went up to see Smitty.”
Silence reigned for a moment. “You did?”
“Yeah. He wasn’t home. I waited a couple hours and might’ve fallen asleep in the truck. Then I headed back to my place around two.”
“Smitty wasn’t there?”
That just figured, didn’t it? “No.”
“And you didn’t leave a note?”
Ace frowned. “Why would I leave a note? He’s probably out illegally hunting.”
Then Brock sighed. “Why now?”
Ace continued to keep watch over the woman in the house set into the trees. “I figured it was time.”
Chapter Ten
May’s first patient of the day was three-week-old Noah Jensen.