His Brother's Bride

“Yeah.”

“You want me to stop?” she asked.

“Not unless you want to.”

She didn’t. She left her hand there, not moving. Teetering on the brink of something she knew she could never discover yet wanted to so badly.

What she wanted was to feel the velvet of his skin. And more. She wanted it all.

But it was for solace, she reminded herself. And she couldn’t make love for solace.

Her hand slid off his leg.

Grabbing her around the neck, Scott kissed her—hard. Then he stood, turning away.

They walked back to the motel side by side and said good-night outside their respective doors.

Neither of them said a word about what had just happened.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“IT’S ANOTHER DAY AND A HALF until Dennis is due to meet with Murphy, so what do you say we head back to Cooper’s Corner and show his picture around there?” Scott asked Laurel the second she stepped out of her door the next morning. His plan was double-edged. Not only did he need to get to Maureen and see if she recognized Arnett from any old pictures in her dossier on Carl Nevil, but he needed some time away from Laurel.

“Sure beats hanging around here looking at deserted homes,” Laurel said.

As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get last night out of his mind. Just the sight of her hand on the strap of her bag was driving him insane. He recalled that hand on his body...on his thigh...

With clenched jaw, Scott moved up to the motel desk, paid their bills and pocketed his wallet. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t continue to be what Laurel needed—a perfect friend who was there for her if she needed him.

That was who he wanted to be. But he wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t really even a friend—not by his definition. He hadn’t been honest with her or loyal to either Laurel or his brother. And he couldn’t be there for her, either.

He was going to have to tell her the truth about his feelings for her all those years. About Paul’s death. There was nothing he could do to change things. No way he could go back and fix everything.

And he was going to do his job. The lives of three people could be in danger. William Byrd, Cecilia Hamilton and possibly Leslie Renwick. And now, if Nevil was somehow involved, after all, the Coopers’ lives could be at risk as well. Or their livelihood at the very least.

This was something he was good at. This was where he could make a difference. He needed to concentrate his efforts on solving this case.

While they had their morning coffee and bagels, Laurel also seemed determined to concentrate on the case. She had her little tape recorder out, documenting every word they said.

“Don’t you find it odd that Dennis is missing, too?” she asked. “That every single person we try to find in this case has disappeared?”

“If nothing else, it makes things more difficult.”

He took a sip of coffee, wishing he’d asked for less cream.

“So, in light of the fact that Dennis is Leslie’s new boyfriend, you want to rethink the possibility that Cecilia is her mother?”

That hand, holding her napkin. Last night it had been touching him...

“I’d like to, but I’m not convinced we can. There’s nothing that says Dennis knows about Leslie and Cecilia.”

She took a bite of bagel, licking the cream cheese off her upper lip.

“I just don’t think Leslie’s in cahoots with Dennis. Katy’s a good woman and she seems too fond of Leslie for Leslie to be involved in something criminal.”

“Bad people fool good people every day.” He should have had them put some Jack Daniel’s in the coffee.

“So you think we’ve got a double blackmail going on?”