Jared finished his list of unusual package deliveries to investigate and began gathering up the items he needed to take with him to the motel. When Darcy’s doorbell rang, he straightened and moved toward it, waving her back when she headed for it, too.
“I’ve been perfectly safe for three years now,” she reminded dryly, but she backed off and let him get it.
Finding Jim Ralston on her doorstep with a six-pack of beer in his hands made Jared immediately irritable. He’d never been the possessive type, certainly had never cared who his lovers had fucked before he’d come along. But the animalistic drive to claim Darcy as exclusively and irrevocably his extended beyond the bedroom. He fought it back with effort.
“Inspector,” he greeted the man.
“Deputy,” Ralston returned, his eyes lit with amusement. He was dressed casually in black jeans and a button-up shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves and open at the throat. His civilian clothes made him look younger and gave Jared his first inkling of what might’ve prompted Darcy to have a friends-with-benefits relationship with the man.
Darcy rounded Jared with a welcoming smile. “Come in, Jim. Ah, and you come bearing gifts. Deputy Cameron’s heading out for pizza with his partner, which has got me craving some. You up for that?”
Ralston stepped into the house, the storm door gliding closed behind him. “I’ll have to take a rain check. I’ve got a date with the insurance adjustor who’s looking over Nadine’s shop. She called after I’d already left the house to say she was running late, so instead of driving all the way back and waiting around, I figured I’d make a pit stop here until she calls again.”
Her eyes brightened. “Yeah, a hot date trumps pizza. Good for you.”
Returning to the coffee table, Jared grabbed what he needed along with the keys to the BMW. “I’ll be no more than a few hours. I’ll call if I’ll be back later than that.”
Darcy came to him, looking just as hot in stretchy pants and a V-neck T-shirt as she had in the red dress she’d worn to lunch. “You know where to find me.”
“Walk me out.” He glanced at Ralston, feeling marginally better knowing the man was going out to get laid tonight. “I’d like to see you tomorrow, Inspector. Go over a few things with you.”
“Absolutely.” Ralston gave a curt nod. “Buzz me and we’ll work out a time.”
When they reached Darcy’s car, Jared dropped his stuff in the back through the open roof, then turned toward her to catch her close. He brushed his lips across hers and murmured, “When Ralston leaves, lock up the house.”
She looked prepared to argue, then seemed to think better of it. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “For everything.”
“It’s been my pleasure, Deputy.”
“I’ll be back quick as I can.” He smacked her ass cheeks with both hands and squeezed playfully, lifting her to her toes against him. “Set out some lube on the bedside table. Bottled water, too.”
“You’re a machine.”
Flushed and sporting kiss-swollen lips, she looked like a woman who’d been fucked long and well. It suited her. If he had his way, she’d be looking just like that every day from here on out.
She grinned as if she knew his thoughts. “Lucky for you, I can take it.”
He pressed his temple to hers, needing her safe and happy and close. He needed the time and space to explore the connection between them, both physical and emotional.
Backing away, Jared admitted that his emotions were still raw from their interlude in the shower. She was deep under his skin already. “Yeah, lucky me.”
WAVING, DARCY WATCHED Jared drive away in the car that was her last real piece of her former life. She clung to it for that reason and because she loved it. Thankfully, her parents owned the house outright and she didn’t have to pay rent. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep the car with what the town paid her.
“Things are moving pretty fast with you two,” Jim said, coming out of the front door with an open beer in each hand.
She accepted the one he handed her and smiled. “That’s an understatement.”
Together they walked back up to her porch and sat on the swinging bench. With one leg tucked beneath her and the other on the ground, she rocked them gently.
“He likens it to being smacked upside the head,” she said. “I have to say, I did feel like I’d been sucker-punched when I first saw him.”
“I’ve been hearing the women around town talking about him. I gathered he’s considered very attractive.”
“That helps. But it’s not everything.”
“That’s true.” He tipped his bottle back and took a long drink, the muscles of his tanned throat working with each swallow.
She looked away. The sky was deepening into shades of pink, purple, and navy blue. The breeze grew in strength, cooling slightly and carrying a tinge of salt from the nearby ocean. “We’re due for another fire, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” he said. “And we’re just sitting here. Makes me so goddamn mad that we know he’s out there and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Deputy Cameron thinks Dani’s murder and the fires are connected.”
Jim froze, his green eyes going wide. “What? Why?”
“He can explain it better than I can, which is why he wants to hook up with you tomorrow, I’m sure.”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “I’m speechless. Not a conclusion I would’ve jumped to.”
“I know, right?” Darcy took a pull on her beer. “Fucking insane. All of it.”
Reaching over, he set his hand on her bent knee. “I’m sorry. This has got to be really tough for you.”
She looked at the spot where her car had been and thought about Jared. Knowing he was working on Dani’s case was keeping her grounded and, for the first time in a long time, optimistic. Placing her hand over his, she squeezed. “I’m okay. Been a long time since I was able to say that and mean it.”
Her smile faded as the sheriff’s vehicle pulled up in front of her house. She watched as Chris got out and put his hat on his head, his gaze holding hers as he shut the door of his cruiser and rounded the front end. “Hey, Darcy. Jim.”
Jim returned the greeting, but she waited until Chris joined them on the porch, his boot-clad feet thudding heavily over the wooden planks and his leather holster creaking.
“What brings you out this way?” she asked.
“I need to speak to Cameron.”
“He’s not here.”
Chris cursed under his breath. “Where is he?”
“With his partner. Working the case.”
“Fuck. Did you know he thinks Dani’s murder is related to your arsonist?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in town two damn days and he’s going to wrap up a cold case along with the arsons? That’s bullshit.”
Her brows rose at his vehemence, but she wasn’t overly surprised. Chris didn’t like others digging into his cases and she couldn’t blame him. She knew how she’d feel in his shoes. “It’s an angle, but it’s not his only angle. I watched him compiling information—he’s covering a lot of bases.”
Leaning forward, Jim set his elbows on his knees, holding his beer in both hands. “Chris.”
Something about the way Jim said his name had Chris stiffening. Darcy frowned.
“What?” Chris snapped.
Jim stared at him.
“Don’t look at me like that, Ralston. You don’t know shit.”
Darcy’s gaze shot back and forth between the two men. “What doesn’t he know, Chris?”
Chris glared at Jim. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Putting both feet on the deck, she stood. “That’s crap. Don’t lie to me. Not about this.”
Jim pushed off the swing, too. “Dani told me.”
“Bullshit.” Chris ripped the hat off his head. “That’s fucking bullshit.”
“Dani told you what?” she demanded, her temper flaring.
Jim kept looking at Chris. “It’s going to circle back around to person of interest.”
“Fuck you, Ralston,” Chris shot back, turning to leave.
Darcy focused on Jim. “Jim?”
As his mouth opened to reply, his cell phone rang. “Damn it. Hang on, Darcy.” He stepped to the other side of the porch to take the call.
She set her beer on the little glass table by the swing and watched as Chris stalked back to his cruiser. She followed. “What the hell is going on?”
Then it hit her. Person of interest. There had been only one person of interest in Dani’s case…
“It was you, wasn’t it, Chris? You were the one seeing Dani.”
“No. Damn it.” He spun around halfway down her front walkway, his face red and eyes fierce. “It wasn’t like that.”
Darcy’s heart raced. “What was it like, then, Chris?”
He stared down at her when she came to a stop in front of him, his handsome face taut with strain. “She changed after you left, Darcy. A lot. She started dressing different, acting different, styled her hair and makeup different.”
“You were attracted to her.”
“No, I wasn’t.” He crossed his arms, looking ornery and defensive. “You’re the one I want. No one’s like you, Darcy. What we had…You can’t tell me you don’t think about it. We couldn’t get enough of each other.”
“Jesus, Chris.” She exhaled harshly. “We were kids. Teenagers for god’s sake. We were hormonal, and frankly, there wasn’t much else to do around this town.”
“I still get hard thinking about the things we did. Your mouth and hands on me…the noises you make—”
“What the fuck does that have to do with Dani?” Her sister wasn’t like her. She had been softer, sweeter. Sex had been highly personal for her. Darcy enjoyed sex for sex; Dani had equated sex with emotional commitment.