“How do you know Luke Phillips and Renaldo Sentinel?”
“Business.”
“What kind of business?” he asked, looking her over. His expression seemed guarded, yet his eyes showed his upset.
“You seem agitated at me. I don’t understand why. Did I do something wrong?”
“You tell me. We’re investigating the murder of a young woman. Phillips was one of the last people to be seen with her. He said she was a high-priced prostitute trying to land a wealthy man.”
Once again she shot from the hip, and was immediately offended.
“And what? You think I’m a high-class hooker who just finished servicing Phillips and Renaldo?” She raised her voice on the last syllable and Vin jumped in.
“No. Of course not. That’s not what my partner is insinuating, honey.” Vin placed his hand on Ellie’s shoulder and she stared up into Vin’s eyes.
“Well, what is your partner insinuating then?” She looked toward Justice, who ran his hand through his wavy blond hair. His blue eyes looked fierce.
“What kind of business are you doing with them?” Vin asked.
She explained about her company, about the designing, and about the new project as she reached into her car and pulled out her iPad. She showed Vin the pictures.
“You have to work with those men for how long?” Justice asked, sounding pissed off.
“I don’t know. However long it takes. Why? Do you think they’re involved with this murder? You think they killed this woman?” she asked, suddenly feeling very scared and nervous. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked from Vin to Justice.
Justice stepped forward and placed his hand on her left hip. He stared down into her eyes. “I’m sorry that I got angry with you. I’m just concerned. We don’t know how involved these two men are in this. It’s not your concern. As of right now, they’re not suspects, we were just questioning them as a lead in the case.”
He reached toward her face and cupped her cheek as Vin walked back toward his car. She looked toward him but Justice used his thumb to caress her chin, and she looked back up toward him, uncrossing her arms.
“When I saw you in there with them, it pissed me off. My brothers and I were kind of hoping to get to know you better.”
“Justice, I told you that I don’t date.”
“Why is that?”
She looked down and he used his thumb to draw her attention back toward him. She stared at his handsome face, his firm lips and couldn’t help but feel the attraction.
“I can’t explain it, but I just don’t jump into dating men.”
He stared at her and then smiled, moving his hand further behind her and against her lower back. He drew her against his chest and she placed her palms against his chest.
“You look gorgeous in red. The color suits you.”
“Thank you.”
He stared at her and he was so intimidating, so charismatic that she faltered under his perusal.
“Perhaps we can take things slowly, and maybe become friends first? Then, if the attraction is shared, we can take the next step. What do you say?”
“Justice, I don’t know.” She started to continue to deny his idea but then he raised one eyebrow up at her in such a sexy way, she found herself smiling.
“Okay. But no promises. I’m really not ready to date again.”
“Ah, sounds like a bad experience may have had something to do with this crazy idea of never dating again.”
“Maybe, but it has nothing to do with being crazy and everything to do with being cautious.”
He squinted his eyes at her and she hoped he didn’t push for more details.