Hot & Cold: An Ignited Romance

by Amy Briggs

  “So, are you saying you’d like to see me again Mr. Walker? We haven’t even finished spending time together today,” Dani let out a small laugh, still fondling his abs with her fingertips, unable to get enough of touching him and getting more shameless by the moment.

  “I think that’s pretty clear Miss Moore. I think you’re fascinating, and beautiful.” Surprise spread across Dani’s face, as no one had ever called her either of those things. She couldn’t help but love hearing them from such a stunningly gorgeous man, who was also so kind and gentle.

  “Uh, thank you,” she said hesitantly, blushing at him.

  “You don’t see it do you?” He asked, moving a little closer.

  “See what?” She uttered waiting for him to close in.

  Smiling like he had a secret, Scott said, “You don’t see what I see; You’re --” Just then, Dani’s cellphone rang on the bar taking them both by surprise, and Clayton Moore’s dorky mug popped up on the screen, ruining the moment. “Psht, you better get that,” he said, rolling his eyes and thinking what a perfect setup had just been trampled on by the big brother.

  Snapping back to reality, Dani rolled her eyes as well, taking her hand away from those abs, and she grabbed the phone to answer. “Hey Clay, what’s up?”

  “Sorry it took so long, where you two at?”

  “Um, we’re at Houston’s, that Steakhouse near Scott’s office.”

  “Still? I figured you’d have your face in your phone blogging or whatever waiting on me. Am I interrupting a moment?” He teased her.

  “Ah, you can GFY Clay, how about that?”

  “Perhaps later. I’ll meet you two there in a few minutes,” he replied with a chuckle.

  “Ok, see ya then jackass,” she teased right back, hanging up.

  “GFY?” Scott asked, confused.

  “Oh, it means go fuck yourself, pretty standard language between Clay and I,” she giggled. “He’s going to meet us here, probably to fill you in on whatever, and then take me home.”

  “Ok, well before we get interrupted again, I’d love to get you to agree to a proper date with me. You know, where I pick you up, and take you out, what do you say?”

  “A date?” She asked, surprised.

  “Yes, an actual date. I like you Dani. I think that’s obvious. I’d like to take you out on an actual date, to dinner or something where we don’t necessarily sit at the bar. We can call it dinner, if you’d be more comfortable. I mean you do have to eat,” he said with a hopeful tone in his voice.

  Feeling her face turn red from excitement and starting to blush, she said, “I’d love that actually, and yes, I do need to eat from time to time.”

  “How about tomorrow night? I’m not really into waiting.”

  “Don’t you have to work on this case?” She asked.

  “It’s more of a homicide investigation than arson at this point, I’m just along for the ride. Maybe the good detective will give me some slack tomorrow night. I have an in with him, I think his sister likes me,” he winked at her, causing her to laugh and blush even more. He was completely shameless, and she loved every bit of it.

  Dani placed her hand on Scott’s thigh softly, “I believe you’re right, she does.”

  Positioning his hand on top of hers again, gently rubbing it with his thumb, he smiled. “So it’s settled then, tomorrow, 7pm. You’re going to need to give me an address and a phone number or something now.”

  “Oh God, forget it then,” she teased. They both laughed, and she took his phone off the bar, adding herself to his contacts with her free hand.

  Scott thought to himself how perfect this timing was; to meet someone when he was finally done with school, settling into his career. He finally had time to devote to pursuing someone amazing like Dani. He was already thinking of where he could take her that would be special, when Clayton walked in.

  Dani quickly ripped her hand from Scott’s, like teenagers parting when their parents showed up. “Oh hi Clay,” she uttered with a sarcastic tone.

  “Lovely to see you as well Dani,” he returned her sarcasm. “Did I interrupt something?” He too had no shame, but not in the same way as Scott.

  Clearing his throat, Scott replied, “Hey there Clayton. Of course not, pull up a seat. What have you got? Anything new?”

  “Well yes actually. You’re gonna need a drink for this one,” he waved the bartender down to order one for himself.

  “Oh shit, what did you find out?” Scott asked.

  “Get a load of this shit. The bullet, was made of mother fucking blood. Frozen. Blood. Bullets.”

  7

  Scott’s mouth fell open in shock. “I’m sorry, did you say that the bullets were made of blood? Whose blood? The victim’s?” He couldn’t believe his ears, that sounded like complete bullshit.

  “I sure did. Fucking blood,” Clayton repeated himself nodding. “We don’t know whose blood though, we’re still testing that. So, there’s some missing pieces that I want to run by you and get your thoughts.” He figured that perhaps Scott might have some additional insight since he’s a different type of investigator and they hadn’t made much progress. Clayton totally respected the work that Scott and the fire department did in terms of solving their side of crime, and they were working well on the case together. It wasn’t lost on him either, that Scott had a bit of a thing for his sister, and sensed that was good for both of them. He may be a bit of a womanizer himself, but he wanted Dani to be happy, and she seemed more relaxed around Scott already and they’d practically just met.

  “Of course, what have you got?” Scott replied, listening intently.

  “Well, I’m wondering if you think that the fire was started to cover up this murder first of all,” he asked.

  “I mean sure, it could be,” Scott replied. “Arsonists generally start fires for one of a small handful of reasons. First, because they just like fire. That theory is out the window here obviously, because we’ve got a blatant murder. Second, they’re looking for insurance money. We see a lot of that in shit economic times. That doesn’t seem to be the case here either. Another of the top reasons that someone starts a fire, is to cover up a crime, which is definitely my presumption based on the evidence we’ve got here.” Scott thought back to any other reasons most fires were started intentionally, and most really did fall into one of those three categories, and it was pretty clear that whoever started the fire presumed it would have destroyed that body at some point.

  “Okay, so we definitely think that the fire was started to destroy the evidence. Let’s operate under that assumption because it seems the most likely. What about timing? Are you able to determine around what time the fire started? I can compare that to the autopsy when they get closer to narrowing down the time of death,” Clayton asked.

  “Yea, actually, from what I could surmise, it looks like the fire was probably started around six p.m. Now, that’s not an exact science. The problem with a fire being used to cover up a crime, is that it does usually destroy a shitload of what you would have been able to use as evidence.”

  “Like what?”

  “I was thinking about how the guy got into the house. By the time we all got there, the windows had been blown out, so the fire was seriously ripping. If the assailant forced his way in through the front door, you’d never be able to prove it because any damage to the front door was probably caused by the firefighters busting down the door. Now we should still ask if they forced the door, but you won’t have any forensic evidence to prove forced entry because of the fire.” Scott said, replaying the scene in his head.

  “Well shit. That makes sense. This guy is fucking smart.” Clayton rubbed his chin. “It would still be a clue, so I need you to find out. That will at least let us know if the guy forced his way in or if he was let in because he knew the victim.”

  “I’ll get that information tomorrow, and we can at least start to figure some of that out. Most of my lab results are back, but I ended up spending the afternoon here,
so I haven’t reviewed all of them yet and the rest should be back tomorrow,” Scott tried to restrain the smirk forming since he was more than happy to have spent the afternoon with Dani.

  Catching Scott’s glance in her direction, Dani smiled and blushed slightly. She’d not had that much fun flirting and getting to know someone in as long as she could remember. Trying to cover it up from Clayton was silly and probably unnecessary, but she couldn’t help but feel bashful about it. She decided to excuse herself to go to the ladies room and regroup, “I’ll be right back,” she interjected as she walked off.

  Scott’s eyes shifted directly to her ass as she walked away, when Clayton smacked him on the arm. “So, did you ask my sister out?” He teased. “I saw you two touching each other when I walked in, I’m a cop you know, you can’t hide that shit from me,” he laughed.

  Figuring it was okay to admit he was digging on her, he nodded. “Yea, we’re going to go out tomorrow man. She’s a cool chick bro, are you sure you’re okay with it?”

  “I’m more than okay with it, just don’t turn out to be a douche,” he raised an eyebrow at Scott. “Listen, she’s been through a hell of lot, but she is a great girl and I can tell she’s comfortable with you. That’s a pretty big step for her in my opinion,” Clayton confessed.

  “My intentions are good, I’m no player man. I’ve been out of the game quite a while myself,” Scott admitted.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Been focused on my career. I was riding the trucks for a long time, and going to school in between. No time for a social life. Things are different now though, so it kinda works out perfectly.”

  “Nice, man. Well thanks for hanging out with her today, I needed to get some shit done, and looks like it’s working out for everyone,” Clayton was legitimately happy to see a little love connection forming.

  “Thanks for introducing us,” Scott replied.

  “Yea of course. Ok, so back to the case, I made you a copy of my notes so you could take a look at them,” he handed the file to Scott.

  “Thanks man, tomorrow I’ll get you a copy of all of my reports and notes. I really did intend to spend the afternoon in the office, not at the bar,” he laughed.

  “No worries bro,” Clayton laughed as well.

  “What’s so funny?” Dani stood in front of them, having returned from the ladies room quiet as a ninja.

  “Nothing at all sis, just some banter about the case is all,” Clayton replied.

  “Mmhmm,” she stared at them both suspiciously, not believing that at all. “Well, I was thinking about your case, and what if the perp wasn’t a guy at all? You both keep saying ‘the guy’, but what if it was a chick?”

  Both Scott and Clayton looked at her with a perplexed stare, clearly not having thought of that themselves.

  “I think you’ve been reading too many books,” Clayton retorted.

  “I’m just saying it’s feasible. And you shouldn’t rule out the possibility until you know why the victim was killed. All you know is that he was, you don’t know anything else at all.” Pleased with her own detective skills, probably derived from too much reading, she took her seat again.

  “Okay, that is possible, but I will tell you that statistically, most fires are started by men. I don’t know why, but it’s just a fact,” Scott interjected.

  “Most. Most doesn’t mean all,” she answered with a smirk.

  “You’re right, it doesn’t mean all,” Scott nodded and smiled back at her, enjoying her participation in the investigation discussion.

  “Alright kids, let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Clayton offered before slamming his drink down, ready to call it a night and get home.

  “Yea, looks like we have a lot of things to look into tomorrow,” Scott said.

  “And I hear you’ve got plans in the evening, so let’s make it an early morning,” Clayton couldn’t help himself.

  Slightly mortified, Dani rolled her eyes, realizing that the two of them must have chatted about her while she was in the ladies room. She didn’t want to keep her date a secret, but she certainly didn’t want those two sitting around gossiping about her like old hens either. “Yea, ok zip it pal. Let’s roll,” she said, standing up and getting her wallet out to pay her tab.

  “You can put that wallet away right now,” Scott grabbed her hand, causing her to jump.

  “What?” She asked a bit taken off guard.

  “I said put your wallet away woman,” he let go of her hand, lingering for a moment, and giving her a sweet smile.

  “Ok,” she almost whispered. Dani wasn’t used to that kind of chivalry. It wasn’t a date, so he didn’t need to pay for her or anything, and the gesture had taken her off guard. A smile formed across her lips as she met his eyes.

  Scott proceeded to pay the tab, musing to himself about their exchange. He was looking forward to finding ways to spoil her, and make her more comfortable with him taking care of things.

  They all gathered their belongings and started for the door when Clayton waved and headed in the direction of his car, “All right, I’ll hit you up in the morning Scott. Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime. Talk to you tomorrow,” he said, then gently grabbed Dani’s arm as she had turned to walk away. He whispered in her ear, “I’ll see you tomorrow beautiful.”

  She glanced into his eyes and smiled, simply nodding before walking off after her brother.

  8

  After an uneventful but busy day, Scott was pleased to see that it was finally almost time to pick Dani up. Throughout the day, he had talked to Clayton and compared notes, but they hadn’t made much headway in the case. His mind was on the evening, and he couldn’t wait to pick Dani up and take her out one on one, not on an impromptu lunch.

  Meanwhile, Clayton had planned to work late when Dani was snapping her fingers in his face at five p.m. saying that they needed to leave. “Let’s go man, I need to get home!” She huffed at him.

  “Whoa, someone got a hot date?” Clayton asked raising his eyebrows at her dramatically, knowing full well she had a date with Scott, but also feeling like as her brother it was part of his responsibility to give her shit about it.

  “You know damn well that Scott is taking me out tonight. So, let’s get a move on buddy. I’ve got some fussing to do, and this was your idea, so chop chop,” she was getting extremely impatient, as her nerves were unsettled.

  “Okay, okay, let me get my shit so I can do some work at home while I wait up for you,” he teased.

  “You better not Clay, that’s weird,” she sneered at him.

  “Oh I’m gonna. So too bad for you,” he couldn’t restrain his laughter. Giving her a hard time reminded him of when they were kids, and Dani was finally starting to act normal again, which made him ecstatic. Seeing her nervous about a date, showed how excited she was, and he had already noted how some of the color had returned to her face. Her expression over the last few days had changed from somber to playful, and he knew it had to do with Scott.

  Clayton gathered his stuff up and hustled home at his own pace, even though he saw Dani checking her watch every five minutes. As they got home, she took off to her room at his place and shut the door, likely primping or whatever women do before they go out.

  Not long after, Clayton saw headlights pulling into his driveway and he peeked out to see Scott hopping out of his car looking like he’d gone home to get a fresh shower and shave himself. Grinning to himself, he yelled out, “Hey Dani! Your boyfriend is here!”

  The door to Dani’s room flung open to reveal his sister, fully made up, her hair curled and done which she hadn’t done since before the attack. Surprised, he didn’t even get annoyed when she replied, “You shut the fuck up and get the door, I’ll be right out.” She slammed the door shut again dramatically, and Clayton suddenly thanked his lucky stars he didn’t have kids, because if that is what it’s like dealing with their attitude, he didn’t need it.

  Scott knocked on the door as Clayton opened it, us
hering him in. “She’ll be right out, how’s it going man?”

  Not sure if it was awkward or normal that her brother was letting him in, Scott suddenly felt like a teenager picking up his prom date, and was practically waiting for a lecture on what time to have her home. “It’s good bro. Uh.. are you sure this is ok?” He figured he’d just go ahead and ask, making sure the air was clear.

  “Yea, it’s totally cool man. It’s weird, but it’s cool.” He pointed at the couch, silently offering Scott a seat.

  Dani walked out, dressed in tight jeans, black heels, a form fitting, sparkling tank top in a shade of blue matching her eyes, causing Scott to gawk. Her long red hair was curled perfectly, and her makeup was just enough to enhance her already beautiful features.

  “Hi, are you ready?” She asked, grabbing her purse from a hook.

  “Um, yes. Absolutely. Uh, you look… stunning,” he said to her, completely mesmerized by her appearance. He’d thought she was beautiful from the moment they’d met, but in that moment, he was completely enraptured.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, waiting for Scott to get up so they could leave.

  “Okay kids, well you have a nice time. Don’t be home late. Or do, whatever. Just don’t fucking wake me up if you do,” Clayton broke the awkwardness of the moment with his commentary.

  Snickering and snapping out of his trance, Scott got up and opened the door for Dani so they could leave. “After you,” he said, not taking his eyes off her.

  “See ya man,” Scott said as Clayton gave a casual wave in their direction.

  Scott walked to the passenger side of the car to get the door for her, causing her to shyly smile again. “Thank you for picking me up here, I know that’s kind of strange,” she said.

  “I’d pick you up anywhere you asked me to,” he gently shut her door and hustled over to the driver’s side.

  “So, where are we off to?” She asked, gripping her bag nervously.

  Scott glanced over at her, “I was thinking I should probably feed you for starters, then I thought we could play it by ear. It’s a nice night out, maybe go someplace where we can sit outside and talk? I’m not really feeling a noisy crowd, how about you?”