Hidden Love by MINK

7

Silas

“Ihave to go.” She pulls the shirt from between us.

“You could stay.” I lean in for another kiss.

She looks like she’s going to avoid it, but then she kisses me hard, her arms going around my neck. When she breaks away again, I chase her mouth.

“No, I really have to go.” She shakes her head, her curls bouncing, and pushes at my shoulders.

I sigh and sit up. “You could stay, Jamie.”

She turns her back and slides my Ramones T-shirt on. Of course she looks perfect in it. “Me staying is just putting you in more danger.”

“Look.” I hold up my hands, palms toward her. “We don’t have to do …” I glance at her lips. “We can talk about whatever it is you came over for, okay?”

She chews her bottom lip.

“I’ll put a shirt on, okay?” I jump up and sprint to my room, grab a shirt, and hurry back to her.

She hasn’t moved. I can breathe.

Her palms go to her cheeks. “I really only came over here for a lockpick.”

I sit next to her, careful to keep my hands to myself. It’s difficult, especially now that I know what she feels like pressed against me. Her soft tits, the way her lips part, the heat she keeps hidden between her thighs. I wipe my mouth in case I’m drooling.

“I don’t have one handy.” I smile in what I hope is a disarming way. And, honestly, it’s not even a lie. All my lockpicks are in a drawer in my dining room. So, not handy.

“Yeah, I guess that was a longshot. You aren’t exactly criminal material.” She shakes her head. “And coming over here just made you even more of a target.”

“I can handle myself.” I lean back, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.

“You sure can.” She nods, then looks away and whispers, “Oh my God, you are a train wreck,” to herself.

Oh, dreamgirl, if you only knew how much I want you.

“Why do you need one?”

“Oh.” She shrugs. “I just have some locked things that I really want to be unlocked. You know how it goes.”

“If it’s in your house, I can come over and take a look.” I’m just teasing her. I know full well whose apartment she wants to get into.

“No,” she says a little too quickly. “Not in my house.”

“All right.” I let my gaze slide lower, taking in the still hard nipples pressed against the ‘A’ and the ‘N’ of the Ramones T-shirt. I need another taste of her, badly, and with the way her heartbeat is fluttering in her throat, she needs me, too. “Can I help you some other way?” I don’t mean for it to sound crass, but it does.

Her hands clench on her thighs, her eyelids fluttering. She likes crass. Good. Because I’m going to own every bit of her with my tongue as soon as she’s ready.

“I’m good. I’m, yeah, I’m good.”

I change tactics. “Okay, let’s talk about the person who you think is killing everyone around you. Do you have any clues about who it is?”

Chewing her lip, she stands and starts to pace. I’ve seen her do this plenty of times in her house, though she’s always talking to Toby instead of me.

“Okay, I’ve gone through a list of people. First, I thought maybe it was someone who was mad at my dad for business deals. Good guess, right?”

“Sure.” I love watching her mind work.

“Maybe they’re mad at him and ruining my life to get back at him. Makes sense. Except--” She swipes a hand through the air. “The people who ended up dying were mean to me.”

“All of them?”

She frowns. “No. And that’s another problem. Mr. Martin from the gas station was never mean. He was the sweetest old man. So why would someone kill him?”

I shrug. “Maybe that death didn’t have anything to do with you?”

“It did, though! Because it wasn’t just a death. It was a murder of someone who knew me. These things are connected, but I just can’t piece it together.”

“If it’s not an enemy, then maybe it’s a friend?” She paces back in front of me, her breasts bouncing beneath my shirt.

I lick my lips. “Go on.”

“But here’s the thing, Silas.” She lowers her voice dramatically. “I don’t have any friends.”

“I’m your friend.”

“Then you’re in danger, like I said.” She shakes her head and continues her sexy walk. “I’ve been back through people who know me. Granger from high school, my first boyfriend who turned out to be gay. Savannah, the mean girl who used to torment me because of my curly hair. Lindsay, my college roommate who was always so nice to me. She even got her hair permed so it would curl like mine. Betty at the bakery--gosh, I hope she stays safe. Her cupcakes are money. Oh, and then there was Mr. Ewing, my old boss. He died of a fall down the stairs in his home. Ruled an accident.”

“But you think he was murdered?”

“Definitely. You know what they found in his computer after his death?”

Yes. “No, what?”

“Upskirt photos. He’d planted a camera in the ladies’ room at the office where I was a receptionist during the summers.”

“Pig.”

“Right?” She continues pacing. “He was murdered. But he never mistreated me, not personally. I mean, maybe there’s a photo of me peeing or something. But how would I know?”

There had been footage of just that, but I took care of it. I wiped the videos of the other women, too, but left a link to the camera up on his desktop so it was plenty easy to find.

“How does Trevor fit into all this? Where did you meet him?”

“I can’t figure it out. We met when he contacted me to make travel arrangements for a vacation to Cabo.” She pauses. “But now that I think back on it, it was odd for him to do that sort of thing. I mean, his parents handled all that for him, right? Why would he be making his own travel plans? He was pampered his whole life.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” I agree.

“It’s him.” She nods. “It has to be him. Maybe he’s been watching me or something. But now he’s disappeared, and he’s getting ready to strike. I can feel it.”

“Don’t be afraid.” I stand and step in front of her, stopping her pacing. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“That’s the thing I keep trying to tell you. Nothing happens to me. It’s everyone around me who suffers.” Her eyes water.

I pull her to me and just hold her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She relaxes and wraps her arms around my waist. “I hope that’s true.”

“Believe it.” I kiss the crown of her head, her wild curls tickling my nose.

After a few moments, she takes a deep breath. “I need to get back. Toby will be waiting, and I have lots of things to do and …” She hurries to my door. “Sorry to bother you.”

I follow and unbolt the lock. “You can bother me anytime. I’m here for you, Jamie.” I’ve always been here for you.

“You’re so kind.” She looks up, her innocent eyes almost breaking my heart. “And I really don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be okay. You’re the one I’m worried about.”

She smirks. “Pfft. I’m not a target. But the killer definitely has some sick obsession with me. I don’t know why.”

I smile down at her. “I have a few ideas about why.” Reaching out, I twirl one of her wild curls around my finger.

Her lips part just the slightest bit, and I lean down for one more kiss.

“Go. Gotta go.” She wrenches the door open, and I have to step back to keep from getting whacked with it. “Thanks, Silas. You’re the best. Stay away from me,” she warns as she backs onto the porch. “For your own good.” With a cute clumsy step, she jumps to the ground and darts back to her house.

Once I’ve heard her throw all the locks, I close my door. My fingers graze over my lips as I remember the way she felt beneath me, how warm she was, the taste of her tongue, the scent of her arousal. She’s mine. All mine.

I return to the dining room and check the cameras again. The shadow is still gone, and when I look at Jamie, she’s running a bath. Good. She’s not the only one who needs some relief. I watch her, and when she moans my name as she comes, I come right along with her, imagining what it will feel like when I make her mine.

Once she’s tucked away in bed with Toby, I fire up my laptop. Time to do some digging on the suspect list she gave me, starting with her father’s business rivals. That shadow in her backyard isn’t coincidence, and I can’t lay claim to all the kills she’s recorded around her. Something else is going on.

My dream girl is in danger.