Brenda Jackson Read online

  He stood up and crossed over to her, reaching out his hand. She stared at it for a moment before placing her own hand in his. He tugged her to her feet, and when he wrapped his arms around her waist she made a feeble attempt to pull away. He tightened his hold, not letting her go.

  “You should have told me,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

  He lifted her chin to connect their gazes. He couldn’t help but see the hurt in the depths of her dark brown eyes and it was like a kick in the gut. He’d never meant to hurt her.

  “Things had to be done this way, Kim. Any false move could blow up in our face—cause potential evidence to be thrown out. I can’t risk him wiggling through any loopholes. Would you want that, especially if he’s guilty?”

  “No.”

  “Had I told you any sooner you would have caught the first plane here to confront both Villarosas and your mother, without any proof. That would only have pushed them closer together. They would have eloped before you could have stopped them. This way we both know what we have to do and we’ll work together to nail him.” He paused to let his words sink in.

  “So, are we a team or not?” he asked after a few moments.

  A part of Kim wanted to go somewhere and cry her eyes out. Finding out that the one man her mother believed could make her happy was a fake and possible murderer was bad enough. And then to be reminded that sex was the only thing between her and Duan, and that the only reason he was there was to work undercover—

  “Kim?”

  She tilted up her chin, scowling fiercely. “What?”

  “Are we or are we not a team? Do we not want the same thing here?”

  She sighed and looked up at him. “Yes, but I want to know everything I can about Villarosas and those two cases. Did you bring those reports with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, because I intend to read them. If Edward is innocent I’ll be the first to apologize to him and Mom for doubting him, but if he’s guilty of any crimes then I want to make sure he pays for what he’s done.”

  9

  KIM PUT DOWN the documents she’d been reading for the past hour and rubbed her eyes. As a nurse she was used to reports, some even thicker than the three-hundred-page document Duan had given her. However, most of them were medical in nature and reached a conclusion at the end, a diagnosis. Although a lot of information was documented from various sources in this investigative report, there was no definite finding.

  “Here, looks like you can use this.”

  She smiled when Duan placed a cup of coffee in front of her. “Thanks.”

  He eased into the chair beside her. After she’d started to read the report he had pulled out a laptop. For the past hour they had worked in amiable silence, the only sounds in the room those of her turning pages and him clicking on the keyboard.

  But the one thing she was constantly aware of was his presence. Just knowing he was there within arm’s reach was a comforting thought. All she had to do was sniff the air to breathe in the manly scent of his aftershave. Occasionally she would glance over at him, see how intense he was, and she realized how seriously he took his job as a private investigator.

  She’d never been a woman who needed or even desired to have a man underfoot, but having Duan here with her felt good. And knowing they were, as he called it, a team made it even better. After giving her the report, he had reminded her that he had asked her to consider him as a pretend fiancé before she’d mentioned Villarosas’s name. That was the only comforting thought in this entire thing.

  She took a sip of her coffee. It was good. Not for the first time, she wondered if there was anything Duan Jeffries wasn’t good at. She glanced back down at the report, thinking he’d certainly made it easy for her to follow along. The highlighted sections might as well have been her own, and all the questions he’d jotted on sticky notes were the same ones she would have asked.

  “Is the report boring you with all that investigative jargon?”

  She glanced over at him. Earlier he had been sitting on the sofa with the computer in his lap. Now he had placed the laptop on the table to take a break and enjoy a cup of coffee with her. And he had changed clothes. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and he was in his bare feet. He looked at home. Sexy.

  “No, I find all that stuff interesting and I’m amazed at how police officers and detectives can tie it all together and bring the case to a conclusion.”

  “Trust me, it’s not always easy,” he said, smiling over at her. “And in a lot of cases there are loose ends, things that don’t add up.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I saw those.”

  “And the sad thing is that without time, resources and money, those loose ends are never thoroughly checked out. There are a number of them listed in the report, but without proof it all boils down to speculation.”

  “And a lot of legal loopholes to slip through.”

  He held her gaze for a moment, then nodded.

  She gave a frustrated sigh, beginning to understand more about him and his work. A couple of weeks ago she’d asked him to tell her about himself, the good, the bad and the ugly. This had been his bad. The inability to right a wrong because of legal loopholes.

  “I refuse to let this be one of them, Duan. I will never be satisfied until I know the truth about what really happened to those women, and we don’t have months or years to find it out. There has to be something else we can do. Every day Mom is falling deeper and deeper in love with him, and I can’t live my life with her here in Shreveport. Whether in the Keys or wherever I’ll be living while in medical school, I’ll be constantly wondering if she’s safe or if Villarosas has decided to make her his next victim. If something has pushed him over the edge to make him want to harm her.”

  She stood and began pacing. “There is so much we don’t know about him. So much that Mom doesn’t know. Maybe we should go back there tonight and tell her that we’ve decided to stay at her place instead of at the hotel so we can keep an eye on things.”

  “And how do you suggest we explain our decision to do that without her getting suspicious of anything?” he asked.

  She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and threw her head back. “Do you have any better ideas?” she snapped.

  This woman knew how to pump up his adrenaline, Duan thought, for the good and for the bad. He felt her anger, he understood her frustration and knew her mother was her main concern. And knowing that, he would deal with anyone who dared to hurt her or someone she cared about. Mainly because he was beginning to feel this connection to her that he didn’t want to feel.

  He stood and moved toward her and she gave him a look that all but said, Don’t mess with me. He shrugged. She was a spitfire and was having one of her moments. He would help her through it.

  He came to a stop in front of her. “Yes, I have a few ideas that we can discuss in detail later. Most of them involve those blue sticky notes I’ve placed throughout the report. But right now I think you need to chill and work off some anger. I’m going to help you do that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I bet. And how do you plan to accomplish that?” she asked with a look that said quite simply that whatever he had in mind, now was not the time to try it.

  Duan smiled, reading her thoughts and knowing her assumptions were wrong. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have things ready for you,” he said, moving away and heading toward the bedroom.

  Kim looked confused. “Have what ready for me? Where are you going?”

  He turned and a smile touched the corners of his lips. “You need to be pampered so I’m going into the bathroom to prepare your bubble bath.”

  KIM SANK DOWN DEEPER in the tub beneath all the bubbles and closed her eyes. No man had ever prepared a bath for her. Duan had done more than just run the bathwater; he had made her feel special. And what she found so amazing was that he probably wasn’t even aware he’d done so. Certain kinds of deeds seemed to be an ingrained part of his nature
. She figured it had to have come from being the oldest and looking out for his younger siblings. Although she couldn’t imagine him ever being Terrence’s keeper, Olivia was a different matter.

  When she’d come to the Keys to be fitted for their bridesmaid dresses, Olivia had told her and Sherri that both of her brothers had been overprotective while she was growing up, Duan more so than Terrence. There were some things she could pull over on Terrence that she wouldn’t dare try with Duan. Kim could believe that.

  Kim breathed in the scented bubbles as she thought about her mother. More than anything she wished there weren’t so many unanswered questions in the hundred or so pages she’d already read on that first case involving Edward. With all the evidence and eyewitnesses interviewed, no one would have reason to suspect foul play of any kind.

  It seemed that Mandy Villarosas had been a bona fide flirt. Even the girlfriends with whom she’d gone away for the weekend had verified she had met some man in the club the night before she disappeared.

  That was close to ten years ago, before video cameras were used in most businesses. After reading that report one could almost sympathize with Edward for having a wife with loose morals.

  But what she wanted to gather from the reports—and she still had the second case to read—was whether there were similarities between the two women, physical or emotional. And more important, whether there were similarities between her mother and the two women. People became serial killers for any number of reasons.

  She shuddered at the thought that Villarosas was a serial killer, but until he was cleared of all suspicions, she would do everything within her power to make sure her mother didn’t marry the man.

  “Time’s up.”

  Kim opened her eyes and glanced over at Duan. He was standing in the doorway with a huge bath towel in his hand. “But, it’s only been—”

  “Almost an hour. Look at the bubbles.”

  She did. Most were gone. Talk about not having any staying power. “I’m disappointed. I thought you would be joining me,” she said, easing her body to sit up straight. “The tub’s big enough.”

  “Yes, but you needed this time to yourself.”

  She agreed that she had needed the time. He was thoughtful not only knowing it but making it happen. “I’m still worried about Mom, Duan.”

  He nodded as he slowly walked toward her and the hot tub. “Sure you are. You wouldn’t be the daughter that you are if you weren’t. Your mother has always meant a lot to you.”

  And yours meant a lot to you until you learned to stop caring, to shield the pain, Kim wanted to say. But she didn’t. Instead, when he reached the edge of the tub and opened the huge velour towel, she unashamedly stood up and he wrapped the towel around her before effortlessly lifting her out.

  He placed her on her feet and began toweling her dry, patting her wet skin. Never had she felt so taken care of. She could get used to this kind of attention.

  A part of her wanted to tell him that she could do it herself, but she didn’t. She liked the feel of his touch. And she especially liked his tender ministrations as he gently stroked every inch of her flesh. So she stood there while he took his time drying her wet shoulders, all around her breasts and down to her stomach.

  He bent down in front of her to dry her hips and thighs before gently patting dry the curls between them. She watched him and saw how long his lashes were, then noted that his breathing had changed. Without warning he grabbed one of his T-shirts and pulled it over her head, working her arms through the sleeves. It was then that he swept her off her feet and into his arms.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking up at him, studying the jaw that she found so fascinating.

  He looked down at her from beneath those long lashes. “The living room. I want to hold you for a while.”

  A part of her wanted to protest and say she didn’t need to be held. And that she didn’t want any man to assume she was a weakling that needed his attention. When he lowered his body on the sofa and cuddled her into his arms, for a moment she stared up at him, and he stared back. Then she snuggled closer to him, her head coming to rest against the warmth of his broad chest, and she could actually feel the beating of his heart beneath her cheek.

  She closed her eyes thinking that yes, she liked being held by him.

  DUAN THOUGHT THERE was something just plain sensual about a woman who was comfortable within her own skin. A woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t mind going after it, no matter what it was.

  He stood by the bed glancing down at Kim. She was a woman who embraced her sexuality like she had every right to do so, a woman so damn beautiful that his eyes were feeling sore just looking at her.

  She had fallen asleep in his arms and he figured she would rest better in the bed. But for a while he had simply enjoyed holding her, listening to her even breathing. It was a peaceful slumber, one he had helped make possible, and he was pleased with that.

  Over the years he’d had affairs with many women, but he could now say, quite truthfully, he’d never been involved with one as bold, brazen and gorgeous as this one. But then tonight, she had surrendered to his care and he had enjoyed pampering her, trying to ease her stress and tension. In a way, he wanted her to know that with him she could lighten whatever load she was carrying.

  She was worried about her mother and he knew that. And he was well aware that if she could do so, she would pack up and go stay at Wynona’s home for the rest of the trip. But he knew that wouldn’t be a smart move since they needed to convey as much normalcy in their relationship as possible so Villarosas wouldn’t suspect anything. Like he’d told Kim, they were now a team.

  A team.

  For some reason he liked the sound of that. While on the police force he’d had a female partner once. A very competent woman who was good at what she did, and he’d always felt secure that she was covering his back. But he and Kim were a different kind of team. He felt a bond with her that he couldn’t explain but knew existed.

  She shifted position in bed and the ring she wore drew his attention. The ring he’d placed there earlier that day. He felt a sudden tightness in his chest. Seeing that ring—his ring—on her hand did something to him.

  He never wanted to see it on anyone else’s hand. Sweet mercy. He rubbed his hands down his face, knowing what that admission meant. For all his bantering about how he never wanted to share his life with any woman, he knew if the circumstances were different, if she didn’t have dreams to pursue, he would make her a permanent part of his life. He could honestly say that he had never wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her. And that intense desire had originated the first time he’d set eyes on her.

  He had been drawn to her because deep down, in spite of all the sexual chemistry they generated, there had been another pull just as strong.

  They were alike in a number of ways. Both had parental issues they couldn’t let go of. Her father and his mother had turned them off ever having a fulfilling marriage of their own. But he could now say that the thought of settling down and committing his life to a woman didn’t scare the hell out of him like it once had, and he credited that to Kim. She was nothing like Susan Jeffries, and he believed she would never desert the man she loved or the children she’d given birth to. She was loyal and dedicated to a fault. Definitely the kind of woman any man would want to claim as his own.

  And the thought of any man doing that was something he didn’t want to think about.

  10

  KIM TRIED TO FEIGN SLEEP at the feel of a hard erection poking her in the back, dead center where her butt cheeks came together, and a hot wet tongue gliding across the skin at her nape.

  She closed her eyes and decided she wasn’t ready to let Duan know she was awake yet. She curled her hands into fists when he shifted and his tongue began moving down her spine.

  “Since you’re awake, how about flipping on your back so we can play,” a deep husky voice said, his heated breath sending sensuous sensations uncoi
ling in her belly.

  She smiled and glanced over her shoulder before turning onto her back. “How did you know I was awake?”

  He looked up into her face. “By the way you were breathing. I didn’t touch you until I knew I had your attention. You didn’t fool me.”

  And before she could make a comment to that, he shifted his body and leaned down to kiss her. The first thing that came to her mind was that his tongue was full of energy this morning, and the second was that she didn’t have one single complaint about it, especially after the way he’d pampered her last night.

  She so loved the feel of his mouth on hers, the way he seemed to put everything into every kiss they shared. And how he seemed to greedily lap her up, feast hungrily on her as he drove his tongue deeper and deeper inside her mouth.

  The ringing of her cell phone had them breaking apart, sucking in hard breaths. “That’s probably Mom making sure we don’t forget breakfast,” she said, shift ing to reach for the ringing phone.

  Before she got too far away, Duan reached out, grabbed a thigh and leaned down to place a kiss right in the center of her stomach before sliding off the bed and grabbing his own cell phone off the nightstand. He had heard the humming sound as it vibrated before day break, but had decided to miss the call since he didn’t want to wake Kim.

  He saw the missed call had come from Landon. While Kim chatted with her mother he moved toward the balcony to return Landon’s call. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  “Just wanted to check in to see if you’ve met Villarosas yet.”

  “Yes, I met him and you were right. He seems like an arrogant ass. How is Chevis doing with the first case?”

  “He’s trying to find out the identity of the man Mandy Villarosas was supposed to have flirted with that night at the club. Chev is convinced someone might remember something.”