“What were you thinking, going to see Suri without me?” A couple passing by them in the parking lot glanced their way, the pace of their steps increasing as they did.
“Don’t you think we should have this conversation in private?”
Addy turned and headed for the hotel without waiting for his response. Shawn fell into step beside her, and they rode the elevator in silence. With each passing floor, her anger grew.
Who was he to be angry at her for going to see Suri? Yes, he was helping her, but she was a grown woman. She didn’t need his permission to go anywhere.
Not to mention he and his brother seemed to think she might have something to do with Cassie’s disappearance in some bid to inherit Cassie’s portion of their father’s insurance. A thought broke through her fury. Maybe Shawn coming to her aid when he did, injecting himself into the search for Cassie, wasn’t a coincidence at all. Maybe he wouldn’t tell her about his case because she was his case, and he was investigating whether she had something to do with Cassie’s disappearance. But who would have hired him?
The insurance company, maybe, but the small amount of insurance her father had held would hardly warrant an investigation. The money hadn’t even covered a third of his medical bills. And the company had already paid out. No, that made no sense.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Shawn’s offer to help find Cassie wasn’t one hundred percent altruistic.
Shawn opened the door to the suite and let Addy pass into the room.
She rounded on him before the hotel room door clicked shut. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I don’t take orders from you.”
He tossed the key card on the table and met her head-on. “I didn’t order you to do anything. We agreed we’d go see Suri together in the morning.”
“We didn’t agree to anything,” she shot back, pointing a finger at him. “You said you had something else to do. Fine. I didn’t. The only thing I care about is finding Cassie, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to do that, with or without you.”
“You could have been in real danger confronting Suri alone. The lies we already know she’s told could put her in jail for a significant amount of time. If it turns out she knows more than she’s saying or had a hand in Cassie’s disappearance, that gives her even more incentive to keep you quiet.”
Addy threw her hands in the air. “I can take care of myself.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t, but it’s stupid to run headfirst into a potentially dangerous situation without backup when you don’t have to.”
“Backup? Are you referring to yourself? Because I’m starting to question if I do, in fact, have backup?”
Shawn’s expression hardened. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Tell me about the case that brought you to Bentham.” She fisted her hands on her hips.
“I told you I can’t. The client wants to keep it confidential.”
“I saw the background check you had West do on me.”
Wrinkles appeared on Shawn’s forehead. “The background—Addy, we do background checks on all our clients. It’s standard operating procedure.”
“Except I’m not a client. You showed up at my hotel room with this serendipitous offer to help me find my sister. Why? Why do you even care if you have another case you’re working on?”
She watched his jaw clench. “I explained that. I needed a cover that explained why I was in town, and I knew West could help you find Cassie.”
“Is that the only reason?” Addy kept her eyes trained on Shawn’s face, looking for any hint of deception.
“Addy, why don’t you just ask the question you want to ask?”
“I saw your and Ryan’s comments about my father’s insurance payout. You think I had something to do with Cassie’s disappearance. Is that why you’re helping me?” The words spilled out of her mouth. “To keep tabs? Prove I hurt my sister for money? Well, if that’s your plan, you’re going to be disappointed. I would never hurt Cassie. I have no idea where she is, but I don’t need someone who doesn’t trust me to help me find her.”
Addy turned on her heels and stalked into the bedroom. She took her suitcase from the closet and tossed it on the bed before moving to the dresser.
Shawn stopped in the bedroom door, watching her throw her clothes onto the bed.
“For the record, I never thought you had anything to do with Cassie’s disappearance.” The heat she’d heard in his voice moments ago was gone.
His words were like a pin to the balloon of anger she’d been sailing on. She dropped down on the bed next to her suitcase. “I saw your comment. Motive, question mark.” She drew a question mark symbol in the air with her finger.
He sat next to her. “Money is always a motive.”
“One man’s change is another man’s treasure?” She smiled weakly.
“Something like that,” Shawn said, returning her smile. “But even if I found a note written in your handwriting saying, ‘make Cassie disappear,’ I wouldn’t believe you’d hurt your sister.”
Addy’s lips cocked up, and she sent a sideways glance at him. “Now I have to wonder how good a PI you are.”
Shawn chuckled. “Okay, maybe in that circumstance I’d start to wonder.”
Addy dropped her head into her hands. She wanted to trust him, but she felt fried, unsure whether to trust her instincts. She wasn’t even sure her sister was still alive. Wasn’t sure she’d ever know what happened to her. She was in no state to judge whether what she felt for Shawn was real or whether he was using her to some end he wouldn’t tell her about.
“The case you can’t tell me about, is it about me or Cassie? Is somebody, the insurance company or some long-lost relative I don’t know about, paying you to find out if I had something to do with Cassie’s disappearance?” Her heart squeezed as the words crossed her lips.
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw something pass over his face. Whatever it was, it passed too quickly to name.
Shawn pushed the suitcase out of the way and took her hands in his, looking into her eyes.
“Addy, I promise you. I know you love your sister and had nothing to do with her disappearance. I am not investigating you.”
The sincerity in his eyes caused her heart to stutter. She’d refused to get close to anyone after her divorce, throwing herself into her job so she wouldn’t ever be hurt the way her ex-husband had hurt her again. And what did she have to show for it? No husband and, now, no job. But here was Shawn, still standing by her side, helping her to find Cassie even after she’d pushed him away. Somehow he’d worked his way past her defenses.
She eased closer, raised her hand to cup his chin and kissed him.
He kissed her back, tugging her closer. The sweep of his tongue sent electric shocks through her. After a heated minute, he pulled back.
“We should stop. I don’t want you to do anything you regret.”
Her entire body screamed that she wouldn’t regret being with him. Even after their weekend together, when she’d vowed not to let it happen again, she’d never regretted being with him. She wasn’t sure that was possible.
His rejection stung. She scooted back on the bed, putting more distance between them. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Shawn reached out and cupped her cheek. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He rose from the bed and headed toward the bedroom door before turning back. “Sleep tight, princess.”
He shot one last look across the room before shutting the door behind him.
Chapter Thirteen
Shawn spent the next several hours reading the background reports Ryan had sent on Suri and Ben and left a message asking for a tour of Spectrum’s chip factory.
He also pulled a background report on Lance Raupp. From the superior attitude to the way he’d looked at Addy, the man had seriously
rubbed him the wrong way. Ben had the necessary access to pull off the fraud, but Shawn wasn’t convinced he had the smarts to pull it off. Lance, with a bachelor’s degree in business and a minor in computer engineering, hit all the right notes.
No matter how hard he tried, Shawn’s mind kept going back to Addy.
She’d been clear about why she didn’t want to get involved. He didn’t want to be like her ex, putting her in a position where she felt like she had to choose. He wouldn’t do that to her. She’d regretted their first night together, and he couldn’t, wouldn’t, let her make that mistake again.
He laughed softly, mirthlessly. This was the first time he couldn’t get a woman out of his head. He was honest with the women he saw, promising nothing beyond dinner, maybe dancing and a night of fun and pleasure. Some he saw for more than a night, but never much more. Never long enough for any ideas of longevity, much less permanency, to set in.
But look at him now.
One night with Addy six months ago and...and he hadn’t been with a woman since.
He’d teased Ryan in the early days of his romance with his now-wife, Nadia, mostly because that’s what brothers did. But a part of him had also seen the kind of love Ryan felt for Nadia—the all-consuming need to be with another person, to make that person happy—and he’d wanted it for himself. He wanted it with Addy.
His phone rang, mercifully pulling him out of his thoughts.
It was after midnight. He didn’t need to look at the screen to know who called.
“Got the chip,” Ryan whispered.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Nadia is asleep.” Ryan’s wife had just entered her third trimester, and Ryan could barely stand to leave her side. “Analyzing it now. Should have something for you by morning.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“What’s wrong?”
Ryan could read him better than anyone. Add in that there was only an eighteen-month age difference between them, and it was almost as if they were twins.
It also made it nearly impossible to keep anything secret from Ryan.
“Nothing. I just... Addy. Nothing.” Shawn’s frustrated sigh was so loud he looked to the closed bedroom door to make sure Addy hadn’t woken.
No sound came from the other side.
“Blue balls.” Ryan laughed.
“Good night, Ry.”
Ryan hung up.
Shawn put on his pajamas and brushed his teeth.
He skipped pulling the sofa out into a full bed and instead grabbed a blanket and two pillows from the closet near the door and stretched out on the couch. He’d slept in much worse accommodations, and he didn’t want to take the chance that moving the furniture would wake Addy.
He’d almost fallen asleep when the bedroom door opened with a click. Shawn sat up on the couch.
“Everything okay?”
Long, silky brown legs showed from under a pale green sleep shirt.
His groin pushed against the front of his pajama pants. He could only hope the darkness of the room hid his desire.
“Yes, I...” Addy took several steps toward the sofa.
Shawn got to his feet, meeting her in the middle of the room.
He curled a hand around her arm. “Addy, what is it?”
She reached up and stroked Shawn’s cheek lightly. “That weekend together wasn’t a mistake.”
His breath knotted in his chest. Whatever he’d expected her to say, it wasn’t that.
“It was a rare time I felt free to just be. No job. No responsibilities. I could just be me.”
Addy curled her arms around his neck, going to her toes and feathering kisses along his jawbone and down his throat. “And you saw me.”
A groan tore from his throat. “Addy.”
His resolve was evaporating fast.
She pulled back far enough to lay her hand over his lips. “I know what I’m doing, and I know what I want. I want to not feel scared. I don’t want to think. I want to just feel. I want to feel pleasure. I want to feel you. Make love to me, Shawn.”
Her lips, soft and sweet, took his in a hard kiss filled with intent and desire.
He slid his hands to her hips and carried her into the bedroom.
No other woman had stirred in him the feelings Addy did. He wanted her, not just physically, but he wanted to be with her. To sit beside her. To talk to her and hold her hand. To laugh with her and fight with her. And not just while they were here in Bentham. For the first time in his life, he wanted to build something real—with Addy.
He just hoped she felt the same way.
Chapter Fourteen
Addy awoke to the sun peeking around the curtains in the room and the bed next to her empty.
The last time they’d slept together, she’d been the one to slink away in the dark of night. Now she knew what it felt like to wake up the next morning alone. Of course, Shawn probably preferred it that way.
It left Addy with a sense of loss and more doubts than she knew what to do with. Not about what they’d done, but about where they’d go from here. Last night had been incredible. After they’d rested a bit, he’d awoken her with kisses down her spine and they’d gone at it again, this time in the voracious way of lovers long kept apart. He’d driven her to heights she’d only read about in the campy bodice rippers she’d sneaked out of the library as a teen. She cared for Shawn more than she should, far more than was prudent.
Trepidation spread through her.
Beyond the personal, she wasn’t sure what their night together meant with regard to him helping her find Cassie. Would he decide it was best if they didn’t spend any more time together, afraid that she might get too attached?
Too late.
No. Whatever they’d shared, she wouldn’t let it stop her from finding Cassie, and she had to admit she needed Shawn’s help. Even if things were awkward, she was an adult, and she could handle it.
And if he wanted to return to her bed tonight?
The sounds of the door to the suite opening and Shawn moving around in the other room interrupted her musing.
She tossed the covers to the other side of the bed and crossed to the bathroom.
Sometime in the night, she’d donned her nightshirt again, but that didn’t stop her from wrapping herself in the white terry-cloth robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. She ran a brush through her hair and brushed her teeth and stepped into the common area of the suite.
“Good morning.” Shawn flashed what could only be called a satisfied smile.
Her entire body flushed, and she tore her gaze from his, padding over to the table where he’d set two large paper coffee cups.
She reached for the cup on the left. “Good morning.”
He took the cup from her hand before she took a sip, replacing it with the second cup. “You still want to track down Ben this morning?”
Addy took a long sip of coffee, letting the blessed nectar fully awaken her brain. “Uh-huh. Absolutely.”
“Okay, then. The coffee is from the continental breakfast downstairs, but I figured we could get breakfast at the diner we ate at yesterday. I need more sustenance than a bagel after the workout you gave me last night.”
The unexpected comment had her choking on her coffee.
He patted her back until she caught her breath, a sexy smile on his stubble-roughened face. “I...yes. Breakfast is good. I’m going to grab a quick shower. Maybe we can stop by the sheriff’s office, too. We need to make sure Sheriff Donovan knows Suri lied about Cassie leaving town and that Ben and that creep Teddy are somehow involved in all this.”
“I left a message for the sheriff last night. We’ll follow up after speaking with Ben.”
Addy returned to the bedroom and quickly showered and changed into jeans and a black-and-white-striped top. While she got ready f
or the day, she tried not to think about last night, which only led to her reliving every amazing moment—and there were many over the several hours Shawn had spent in her bed.
Heat curled in her belly.
She was not looking for a relationship, Addy reminded herself. Last night was magnificent and she wouldn’t mind a repeat performance, but she was in Bentham to find Cassie. That’s what she needed to focus on.
Her stomach fluttered as she reentered the living room area of the suite.
Shawn looked up from the laptop he tapped away on. “You ready?”
Her stomach growled in answer.
At just after seven in the morning, Bentham’s rush hour wasn’t quite in full swing yet. The diner was nearly full, but Becky seated them immediately in a booth in the back next to a window facing the surface parking lot where Shawn had once again parked the Yukon.
They ordered, and their food was delivered to the table quickly.
She dived into her pancakes and bacon, eating until the pains in her stomach subsided. Shawn had ordered pancakes and bacon, too, but unlike her golden flapjacks, his pancakes were a muddy brown and surrounded by stringy pink wisps of meat.
She frowned at his plate. “What kind of pancakes are those?”
He grinned. “Whole wheat. And Becky even rustled up some turkey bacon.”
She shook her head. “That’s just sad.”
He laughed at the same time a black BMW swung into the parking lot outside the window.
Ben emerged from the car in a long camel-colored wool coat. As he closed the door, a black motorcycle pulled to a stop behind the car, blocking Ben from leaving.
The motorcycle rider straddled the bike and flicked his visor up. Teddy Arbury.
“Look.” Addy pointed to the scene beyond the window.
Ben crossed his arms over his chest, a sour look on his face.
“I wonder what they’re arguing about?” Shawn said, setting down his fork.
“With those two, it could be anything,” Becky said, slipping up to the table to drop off their check and refill their coffee cups.
Missing at Christmas Page 11
