Had he duped her into rooming together after all? She stepped outside and crossed her arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Grilling steaks.” His hair was mussed from the light breeze. An apron hung low on his hips and every time he reached for something, a thin trail of male skin became exposed at his waistband. Her mouth watered, and it wasn’t from the scent of cooking meat.
“I can see that. But why?”
He took a pair of tongs and nudged a steak, while the other hand shook spices across the surfaces. The man had grill skills.
“The usual reason. I’m hungry.”
Her PI was being purposefully obtuse. He knew exactly what she meant. Suspicion welled. He was too comfortable with the grill for this to have been his first time using it. “I told you we aren’t living together.”
“I heard you.” He swung the tongs around and pointed at the other side of the duplex. “That’s why I’m staying over there.”
For the first time, she noticed a low, Victorian-looking wrought iron fence that was about hip high and cut the shared duplex yard in two. It wasn’t high enough to keep out a squirrel much less a grown man. She’d been had.
The other yard had a similar set-up, without the grill. “You can’t be serious?”
He flipped the steaks. “It’s the perfect situation. I have to finish painting over there, and we can meet in the middle to work the case.”
Harper smelled a set-up. “You’ve already been living over there.” It wasn’t a question.
“For about four weeks. I moved over after I began work on this side.” He poked the steaks. “Getting the apartments ready is easier without the commute from home. And I didn’t lie to you. We aren’t living together.”
“Only by one wall separating us!” She grumbled a swear word under her breath. “You tricked me.”
“I never said I wouldn’t be nearby.”
Just what she needed was an all too good-looking Noah living under the same roof. Sort of. He was already spending too much time in her head. She didn’t need the sounds of him moving around the apartment, snoring, watching sports, and showering to distract her more.
That last was the worst. She’d already imagined him naked and wet. She didn’t need daily reminders. The guy fired up parts of her that had been dormant for well over a year.
Hopefully, the walls were thick.
He drew her attention back. “I can take you back to the roach motel if you’d like.” He stood with the tongs in one hand and the other on his hip awaiting her answer.
Damn. She should call him on that. Had the apartment not been so cute and perfect, she might have. But she was backed into a corner and he knew it. Her savings was going down fast and the place was free. However, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t find a way to get even with him for the deception.
Her revenge list was growing.
“I want the master key.” She strolled over and held out her hand. “I can’t have you wandering in at all hours.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Ha. That was exactly what he’d do and often. She waggled her fingers. “Gimme.”
Reluctantly, he dug in his pocket for a keychain. He took one key off the loop. “I can’t believe you don’t trust me.” He acted hurt. She knew better.
“I wouldn’t trust you to watch my goldfish.” She took the key and stuffed it into her pocket. “If I had a goldfish. And I trust you less not to wander into my apartment at night to watch me sleep.”
A grin appeared that promised sinful things and her knees wobbled. “Honey, if I’m in your room some night, you won’t be sleeping.”
Chapter 15
All the parts that made her female silently sang a happy tune.
She tried to make them shut the heck up, but her body wasn’t listening. It was envisioning rubbing up against him and purring, while her brain told her to bang her head several times against the nearest tree. Too bad the big trees were in the other yard.
No, Noah did not have Lori, but that didn’t make him available to her. Been there, done that, and she had a small tattoo on her left hip to show for it.
The day she’d lost her virginity, in Chinese script.
It wasn’t a good idea to make decisions about tattoos two hours after one’s first time. It wasn’t a good idea to get a tattoo in the throes of post coital bliss. And it was never a good idea to tattoo one’s body with a beautiful teen boy egging you on with his sexy voice and dreamy eyes.
Thankfully, he hadn’t pushed for her to write his name across her butt. Dopey and in love, Harper would have obliged.
Noah had a tattoo that matched, although, he’d probably got his changed to “Beer” or “Mom” after she’d called him all sorts of awful names. Why would he want anything on his body to remind him of her?
She never planned to ask if he still had the tattoo, or to look for herself. One day she’d planned to have hers lasered off. She’d just never gotten around to taking the leap.
“I think you have overinflated confidence that I’d want you in my bedroom. Unless the ceiling leaks or my smoke detector needs new batteries, you’re out. My bedroom is off-limits.”
Noah gave her a look that caused a small brush fire down below. With effort, she managed to keep it from a becoming a five-alarm blaze. If she didn’t keep her mind on clearing her name, she’d have more serious things to worry about than starting an ill-advised sexual relationship with Noah.
“I’ll try to remember that.”
Clearly, he’d already made plans to thwart the rule. Still, he wouldn’t coerce her into bed, so any sexual contact was her choice to make. “I’ll go make a salad.”
He turned back to the steaks. Harper emptied the two bags, noting that she had enough lettuce and fixings for two. She also put the crusty bread in the oven on low for warming.
She’d splurged on a store-made balsamic dressing. After whipping together the salad, she found four place settings of stoneware in a cabinet and took two. Mismatched silverware followed, with paper napkins left by the previous tenants, or Noah.
The apartment was fully furnished down to well-used cooking supplies and utensils. Harper liked to cook and was pleased to have everything she’d need.
Noah walked in carrying the plate of steaks.
“Sorry, I didn’t buy any steak sauce,” she said and went to the fridge for two bottled waters. Had she known she’d be entertaining, she’d have bought beer.
He looked mortified. “A good steak seasoned well doesn’t need anything to make it better.”
O-kay then.
She retrieved and cut the bread and took it to the table. The salad made a bright centerpiece. They dug in.
One bite and Harper was swooning. “This steak is really good.” She quickly cut off another piece. “Yum. I’ve never had a better steak.”
“My granddad’s secret recipe.”
They ate for a few minutes, Harper finding that she enjoyed his companionship. In high school they’d been friends before anything else. She’d gotten to know him well while he worked to get her to date him. That was probably why it took so long for her to agree. He’d had to overcome the stigma of being a man-slut. She’d had to get over the belief he was after one thing. She suspected they were both surprised when they fell in love.
“How is your mom?” she asked and sipped her water. “Is she still working for J&G Construction?”
He nodded. “She’s the site manager now.”
“That’s awesome.” She’d liked Noah’s mom. “And your dad?” She hadn’t been a fan of Ed Slade. He’d been a lazy drunk and verbally abusive to his wife and kids.
Noah’s face closed up. “I don’t want to talk about him.” He pushed from the table and stood. “I should check the coals.”
Harper watched as he walked out, mystified by his abrupt
departure. She knew Ed was an ass, but they’d talked about him many times, usually when Noah wanted to vent. Something had happened after she’d moved away and she wanted to know the secret.
Clearly, he needed a friend.
He was killing the coals with the tongs when she walked over and put a hand on the small of his back. “Do you want to discuss this?”
“Nope.”
“I think you do.” She reached around and stopped the coal-killing by clutching his wrist. “We’re friends. Friends keep friends from exploding with bottled up anger.”
He let go of the tongs and faced her. “First of all, we are no longer friends. You lost that title when we broke up. Second, Ed is dead to me.”
“Wow, that’s brutal.” And her heart hurt.
“Deal with it.” Brushing past her, he stepped over the short fence and vanished into his apartment.
Normally, she’d let this go. However, leaving him to stew was not a good idea. She remembered the trouble he’d get into when he’d been upset, and it appeared that things may not have changed with passing years.
His apartment was quiet when she pushed open the glass door and walked inside. The place was the mirror match to hers, though the colors and style were different.
She didn’t linger on the interior design as she went from room to room looking for Noah. When she found him in the bathroom splashing water on his face, he didn’t seem surprised to see her.
“I should have known you wouldn’t leave it alone.” He took a blue hand towel off the ring and patted his face. “You always were nosy.”
“And you always were a butt face, butt face.”
From behind the towel he stopped drying and his eyes appeared over the top of blue terry cloth. There was a twinge of humor in the blue depths. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Deal with it,” she said, echoing him, and put her hands on her hips. “I’m not leaving until you tell me about Ed and why you’re so angry.”
* * * *
Noah wanted to turn her over his knee and paddle the sass out of her, but getting anywhere near her perfect little butt would cause all sorts of trouble. Besides, if she wanted a spanking, she’d have to ask for one.
After tossing the towel on the vanity, he crossed his arms. She’d always been pushy. “You won’t let this go?”
“You know I can’t.” She left the bathroom and sat on the bed. That wasn’t the way he wanted that to happen. “Despite your mean comment, I think of you as a friend, or former friend anyway. You can tell me anything. I won’t judge.”
He sat next to her. Their arms touched. If she was anyone but Harper, he’d tell her to mind her own business and usher her out of his house. Yet, for some reason, he felt he owed her, and should tell her the real reason behind the terrible way he’d treated her during the weeks before the breakup.
So he rubbed the sides of his neck, then faced her sidelong. “Okay. Don’t forget you asked.”
Her beautiful brown eyes met his. Lord, she was killing him off with her sexiness.
“I was a major ass in those days before you found me in the car with Lori,” he said. She nodded a little too quickly. “There was a reason that you didn’t know about, no one did. It was a family secret.”
“Having to do with your father?”
He nodded.
As if sensing something big, she curled her fingers around his. Comforted, he plunged forward. “Remember how I told you Ed had been sick and that’s why I wouldn’t let you come over?”
“I remember. I thought he had cancer. Or something contagious, like leprosy.”
“Leprosy? You always were a weird girl.” His fingers tightened around hers and held on. “The truth was worse than a disease, HJ. He was in jail. For manslaughter.”
Chapter 16
“Your father killed someone?” Harper’s stomach tightened. If true, then Ed was worse than a garden variety drunk. “Why didn’t I hear about that?” No wonder Noah had been acting like a jerk to her and doing crazy stuff. He’d had serious family issues that he hadn’t shared with her.
Again, the whole trust thing.
“It happened in the thumb.” Michigan’s a peninsula shaped like a mitten. The thumb was, well, the thumb. “He and my uncle Charlie were cooking meth in Charlie’s pole barn. The lab exploded and Charlie was killed. After spending six months in a burn unit, and a few months in jail, dear old Dad was convicted of manslaughter and is serving thirty years.”
“That’s awful.” The story was hard to wrap her mind around. “Why was Ed convicted if they were both at fault?”
“Ed was the genius who lit a cigarette while mixing chemicals. We didn’t know where he was until his trial. Mom thought he’d left us and run off with some tramp. I didn’t want you to know. My family was already messed up without adding abandonment by Ed to the mix.”
“I would have understood.”
He rubbed her fingers. “Hell, I was eighteen. Teen boys don’t always think straight.”
“True.” Her own brother had gotten into a few scrapes, too. “Tell me the rest.”
“Charlie was a hermit and the family had long disowned him for his drinking and drugging. And Ed refused to contact us from the hospital. His lawyer hunted down my mom as a character witness. That’s how we found out.”
She did remember Ed smoked three packs a day, so the story made sense. Noah’s mom would crack open the windows even in the winter, so the second-hand smoke wouldn’t “kill them all.”
The tale also explained why Ed had been MIA for months. She’d suspected his relieved family didn’t bother trying to find him. This was far worse than a runaway husband.
Harper slid her hand out of his and made space between them. A whole lot of emotions welled. Anger was the biggest.
“The teen boy excuse aside, why didn’t you tell me this? You treated me like I’d done something wrong. You cheated on me and almost killed yourself on that old motorcycle of your father’s. I would have supported you, you know that.”
“That’s easy to say now, looking back.” He rose and went to lean against the dresser. “You think I wanted to involve you in this? I was barely eighteen and ‘that worthless Noah Slade’ was now head of the imploding Slade household. My father was a murderer and my family was facing a whole lot of crap once the news got out.”
“So you took away my choice?”
“Come on, Harper,” he snapped. “People already negatively judged you for dating me. I wasn’t about to make it worse.”
Pain burned her insides. “Dammit. I loved you.”
He looked away. “I know. That’s why you had to go.”
Harper didn’t realize she was crying until she felt dampness on her face. A simple conversation eleven years ago would have saved her a whole lot of misery.
Brushing her hand over her face, she walked over to him. There were so many more questions to ask, but she needed time to process this information before adding to the pile.
Noah was right. He’d had a load of crap to deal with. How would she have handled something like a murder rap had the killer been a member of her family?
“I want to punch you in the nose.”
“You should.”
She reached out, uncrossed his arms, and leaned against his chest. Hugging him tight, she listened to his heartbeat as he folded her in his strong arms.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with all that,” she said.
He kissed the top of her head. “You always were my biggest champion. I didn’t deserve you.”
Harper smiled. “True, but I loved you anyway, JD.” He’d always been a rebel so she occasionally called him JD for James Dean. It had been years since she’d thought of him that way. His nicknames after the breakup had been curse words.
Chuckling, Noah released and eased her back just enough to tilt her face up to meet
his eyes. “I hope one day you’ll understand why I did what I did.”
“I’ll try. No guarantees.” Geez, he had amazing eyes. It was those eyes that hooked the seventeen-year-old Harper and wore her down when she vowed not to date him. However, it was his smile, not unlike the one he wore now, that she never could resist. That grin had gotten her out of her panties more times than she could count.
“I really want to kiss you,” he said deep and soft.
“I think you shouldn’t,” she said but it was too late. His mouth brushed over hers. Once. Twice. A half second later, before she could hope he had a condom handy, the doorbell rang and saved her from making a serious mistake.
“Dammit.” He lifted his head and released her. Chimes sounded again as the unwelcome visitor leaned on the bell. “I’m going to kill whoever that is.”
Harper followed him through the house. He jerked open the door. A familiar, but much older face, topping a long and lean body, brushed past him and came to a stop when he saw Harper.
“Now I know why it took you so long to answer.”
“Adam!” In a second, Noah’s younger brother had her scooped up in his arms and squeezed her tight. She laughed as her stomach protested. She hugged him back, then demanded, “Put me down before I barf all over you!”
He reluctantly complied. “Girl, Lori told me you were back, but I can’t believe I’ve found you with this old donkey’s ass. I thought you’d have traded way up by now.”
Adam had been fourteen when she’d left. He was four years younger that she and Noah, and two years younger than Lori.
Boy had he grown up and filled out nicely.
She glanced at Noah. “You can give a pup a shiny new toy, but it always favors a ratty old shoe.”
Noah frowned. She winked and turned back to Adam to take a bit of revenge. “Let me look at you. You are so grown up and handsome. I can see which brother got the best Slade genes.” If nothing else, from the old pictures she’d seen, Ed Slade had been a very handsome man before too much booze and cigarettes had ruined his looks.
The frown deepened. Noah’s eyes threatened her with bodily harm. “Clearly you need glasses.”
The Sweetheart Mystery Page 9
