settlement.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense. So we’re back to Sarina and Garth?”
Nick nodded. “We’ll start with them, but as I said, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open.”
“And by starting with them, you mean…?”
“Let’s not get into that until tomorrow, okay? I can’t give you the entire detective crash course in one session.” With that, he rose, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Carly called the Marx brothers, and they all headed into the house. It hadn’t cooled down much, but the dogs raced directly upstairs—each to his favorite spot.
“You’d better lock up,” Nick suggested. “We’ve got a lot of strangers around.”
“I always lock up at night anyway, but I guess now we’d better remember to do it during the day, too. Especially when there are two little boys who might want to take Crackers outside again.” The mere thought made her shudder.
Once the main-floor lights were turned off, shetrudged up the stairs ahead of Nick, the heat increasing with every step.
“You think we should splurge on a couple of air conditioners?” he asked.
“I think we’d better not splurge on anything until we see how the shooting goes.” And when it was finished, of course, Nick would be leaving, so he’d no longer care about the house being hot
“Well, good night,” she said, stopping outside her bedroom door.
“Night,” Nick said quietly. “Carly?” he added as she turned away.
She turned back, her heartbeat accelerating.
But instead of making the move she’d expected, he said, “I was thinking maybe I’d go with you in the morning. Thinking that Jay, Goodie and Barb might be a pretty terrible trio to cope with on your own.”
“Well…” It was sweet of him to offer, and she very much wanted to say yes. But her brain was warning her that taking some time away from him would be far wiser. She had to figure out what was going on between them and…
Oh, why was she trying to kid herself? She knew exactly what was going on. She just needed time to decide for sure what she was going to do about it. Her resolve to do absolutely nothing seemed to be evaporating at a very rapid rate.
“No,” she said at last. “It’s nice of you to offer, but one of us might as well get to sleep in.”
He shrugged. “I’m not a great one for sleeping in. Besides, now that it’s occurred to them that there are wild animals out there, they’ll probably want to take Gus’s rifle along. And I’d rather it was me carrying it than Jay or Goodie.”
“I’d rather it was you, too,” she said, doing her best to ignore the imaginary voice that was whispering in her ear again.
This time, it was asking why she didn’t tell Nick that Gus had taught her how to shoot years ago? And that she could easily carry the gun herself?
“Then it’s settled,” he said, giving her a smile so warm it melted something inside her. “I’ll see you for breakfast?”
She nodded, but neither of them turned toward their doors. Her heart began beating rapidly again.
“Carly?”
“Yes?”
“You’re awfully worried, aren’t you?”
Not as awfully as she’d have been if he weren’t here to help. But she couldn’t say something like that unless she was sure she wanted him to—
“Would a hug help? Or is it too hot?”
Of course it was too hot, but she suddenly wanted a hug more than anything in the world. “I think it might help,” she murmured.
He gave her another smile, then stepped closer and folded her into his arms.
His body felt as hard and leanly muscled against hers as she’d imagined it would, and there was a slight scent of the outdoors about him that she loved.
She also loved the way be lightly rested his chin on her head and simply held her. If she’d had a fever of 112 degrees she couldn’t have been any hotter, but she didn’t want him to ever take his arms away.
When he finally did, he stepped backward and simply stood looking at her. The message in his eyes
“Oh, right. That makes sense. So we’re back to Sarina and Garth?”
Nick nodded. “We’ll start with them, but as I said, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open.”
“And by starting with them, you mean…?”
“Let’s not get into that until tomorrow, okay? I can’t give you the entire detective crash course in one session.” With that, he rose, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Carly called the Marx brothers, and they all headed into the house. It hadn’t cooled down much, but the dogs raced directly upstairs—each to his favorite spot.
“You’d better lock up,” Nick suggested. “We’ve got a lot of strangers around.”
“I always lock up at night anyway, but I guess now we’d better remember to do it during the day, too. Especially when there are two little boys who might want to take Crackers outside again.” The mere thought made her shudder.
Once the main-floor lights were turned off, shetrudged up the stairs ahead of Nick, the heat increasing with every step.
“You think we should splurge on a couple of air conditioners?” he asked.
“I think we’d better not splurge on anything until we see how the shooting goes.” And when it was finished, of course, Nick would be leaving, so he’d no longer care about the house being hot
“Well, good night,” she said, stopping outside her bedroom door.
“Night,” Nick said quietly. “Carly?” he added as she turned away.
She turned back, her heartbeat accelerating.
But instead of making the move she’d expected, he said, “I was thinking maybe I’d go with you in the morning. Thinking that Jay, Goodie and Barb might be a pretty terrible trio to cope with on your own.”
“Well…” It was sweet of him to offer, and she very much wanted to say yes. But her brain was warning her that taking some time away from him would be far wiser. She had to figure out what was going on between them and…
Oh, why was she trying to kid herself? She knew exactly what was going on. She just needed time to decide for sure what she was going to do about it. Her resolve to do absolutely nothing seemed to be evaporating at a very rapid rate.
“No,” she said at last. “It’s nice of you to offer, but one of us might as well get to sleep in.”
He shrugged. “I’m not a great one for sleeping in. Besides, now that it’s occurred to them that there are wild animals out there, they’ll probably want to take Gus’s rifle along. And I’d rather it was me carrying it than Jay or Goodie.”
“I’d rather it was you, too,” she said, doing her best to ignore the imaginary voice that was whispering in her ear again.
This time, it was asking why she didn’t tell Nick that Gus had taught her how to shoot years ago? And that she could easily carry the gun herself?
“Then it’s settled,” he said, giving her a smile so warm it melted something inside her. “I’ll see you for breakfast?”
She nodded, but neither of them turned toward their doors. Her heart began beating rapidly again.
“Carly?”
“Yes?”
“You’re awfully worried, aren’t you?”
Not as awfully as she’d have been if he weren’t here to help. But she couldn’t say something like that unless she was sure she wanted him to—
“Would a hug help? Or is it too hot?”
Of course it was too hot, but she suddenly wanted a hug more than anything in the world. “I think it might help,” she murmured.
He gave her another smile, then stepped closer and folded her into his arms.
His body felt as hard and leanly muscled against hers as she’d imagined it would, and there was a slight scent of the outdoors about him that she loved.
She also loved the way be lightly rested his chin on her head and simply held her. If she’d had a fever of 112 degrees she couldn’t have been any hotter, but she didn’t want him to ever take his arms away.
When he finally did, he stepped backward and simply stood looking at her. The message in his eyes
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