A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

They waited a moment longer and Auri got to study Cruz’s strong features up close and personal. His eyes shimmered under spiked lashes, but they were red.

She giggled softly and asked, “How long were you in the shower?”

“Not long, why?”

“Your eyes are red.”

He turned his head and squeezed them with a thumb and index finger, then sniffed and said, “Allergies.”

“Are you sure? Your voice seems a bit scratchy.” She lifted a hand to his forehead.

He flashed her a nuclear smile, but it came on the heels of a momentary frown, almost as if he were hiding something. “I’m good. Better now.”

She’d been so focused on herself and her own silly life, she hadn’t picked up on the fact that Cruz did seem a bit different lately. Quieter. More reserved than usual. Which, for Cruz, was saying a lot.

“Cruz, is something going on?”

“You mean besides the hottie lying on top of me getting wet?”

“Hottie?” she asked, stunned. When he only grinned, his gaze traveling over her face, his words sank in. “Oh, right, sorry.” She started to squirm off, but he put a hand on her butt and held her to him.

“Hold on a sec. Don’t move just yet.”

Something powerful washed over her when his hand caressed her ass. A warmth spread throughout her body and pooled in her lower abdomen. “Why?”

“Well, I didn’t want to alarm you, but do you remember when I was helping you inside and we fell on the bed?”

“So, like, thirty seconds ago?”

“Yeah, my towel fell off.”

She went completely still, afraid to move. “You mean you’re … you’re naked?”

He nodded.

“Underneath me?”

He nodded again.

“What do we do?” she whispered, and the corners of his mouth formed the most breathtaking grin she’d ever seen. Part humor and part sensuality.

“I figure we have two options.”

“Okay,” she said, her pulse quickening with each sweep of his gaze across her face. Like she was beautiful. Like she could complement the likes of him.

“You can take off your clothes and join me—”

She sucked in a soft breath.

“—or you can close your eyes and roll off me. I promise to get dressed quickly.”

Without the slightest hint of hesitation, she squeezed her eyes shut and rolled.

He laughed and rose off the bed.

She heard him rummage through his dresser, then walk to his closet where a soft swoosh of material echoed in the room.

“Okay,” he said.

She sat up, lowered her hands, and lifted her lashes to find him in a pair of black gym shorts and an army-green T-shirt.

“Is that what you sleep in?” she asked.

“Depends on what’s clean.” He sat beside her. Close beside her. His warmth seeped into her skin. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“Oh, right.” She’d almost forgotten. “When we were helping my grandparents today, Sybil and I found clippings and reports from an old case with multiple missing persons right here in Del Sol.”

He lifted a strand of her hair and studied it. “Okay.”

“Long story short, we’re pretty sure Mrs. Fairborn is a serial killer.”

Surprise took hold of him. “Mrs. Fairborn?”

She nodded.

“The Mrs. Fairborn?”

She nodded again.

“The same Mrs. Fairborn who just celebrated her eightieth birthday?”

“Yep. And we need help breaking and entering into Mrs. Fairborn’s house tomorrow while she’s at the station confessing to stabbing that man at The Roadhouse and hitting Levi with a Toyota Tundra even though she can’t drive and has no car.”

“Okay.” He said it so nonchalantly, Auri tried to figure out how to make him understand.

“You’ll be doing the breaking.”

“Okay.”

“It’s illegal.”

A dimple creased one corner of his mouth. “Did you expect me to try to talk you out of it?”

“No. Well, maybe. A little.”

“The way I see it, if I get caught breaking into a house with the sheriff’s kid, my part in all of it will get swept under the rug.”

“You think my mother would sweep a third-degree felony under the rug?”

“Yes, I do. You’re her daughter.”

She scoffed. “You don’t know my mother very well.”

“I’m not saying you won’t get in trouble. I’m saying I won’t. Because you compelled me.” He tucked the strand of hair behind her ear. “I’d be under your spell. That’s something your mom will understand. I promise. Also, she likes me.”

Auri tilted her head. “She does, doesn’t she?”

“She let me stay in your room when she could’ve arrested me.”

“That says a lot.” Something dinged on Cruz’s small desk and Auri looked over at the clock perched atop it, the red digits forming the numbers eight zero zero.

“Oh, my God.” She catapulted to her feet. “Is that the time?”

“Did you sneak out again?”

“I’m so sorry.” She twirled around, looking for her things even though she didn’t have any. “I have to go.”