Mountain Desire (Wild Mountain Men 3)

I groaned, rolled my eyes. We’d been feeling the pressure from his office ever since Erin Mills had been murdered in the fall. Who had we interviewed? What new evidence was there? What had we discover

ed?

“He wants resolution we can’t give him. Not without a break in the case,” I reminded him.

Nix knew the score. He was my partner, the only other detective on the Cutthroat Police Department. We were handling the Mills case plus our regular workload.

Kit took Nix’s hand, looked up at him. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about work tonight.” She’d been Erin Mills’s roommate and had found the body. She wanted to see the killer caught as well, but she was right, it was a party, not work hours.

Donovan Nash, who formerly worked in the DA’s office, joined us, handing Kit a mug that had steam rising from the top.

“Hey, Eve.”

“We were just talking about your dad,” I said.

I knew Nix really well since we worked together forty-plus hours a week. Because of that, I was friendly with Kit, although they’d only started dating right after Erin Mills was murdered. I’d also worked with Donovan, but only in the courtroom when I had to give testimony on a case he tried.

He’d quit the DA’s office and was going solo now. I envied him the freedom from office politics, although he didn’t get too much escape since his father was the mayor.

Donovan held up his hands. “I’m sure his constituents want a murderer behind bars. Not that we don’t,” he added when he knew Nix and I would bite his head off.

“Since you left the station before I did, you missed the memo. Meeting tomorrow, eleven o’clock.”

“On a Saturday?” Kit asked. “Never mind, I know. There’s a killer out there.”

Just talking about it made me tense. The stress was starting to give me heartburn, and I slept like crap. We had no new leads, no compelling evidence that pointed us in any specific direction. The killer was someone who’d known Erin. There hadn’t been a break-in at her house. A fight had gone bad. But who?

We’d learned that Erin had been an active dater. I wasn’t going to judge any woman for sleeping with a number of men. She’d been an adult, single, and it was her own prerogative. Because of that, it was almost impossible to narrow the suspect list. Was it a jealous ex-lover? A random guy she met at a bar and took home? Had she been stalked? Did she cut someone off while driving and they followed her?

These were the questions Nix and I asked ourselves every day because there were no answers.

A waiter came by with a tray loaded with hot drinks. Nix stopped him, handed one to me, kept one for himself. “Tonight we have fun. Tomorrow we deal with the mayor.”

He clinked his glass with mine.

“The party’s a hit. Your work is done. What should we do?” he asked Kit.

“Ice skate,” she replied almost gleefully.

“Come on, Kitty Kat. Show me what you’ve got.” Donovan wrapped an arm around Kit and led her toward the frozen pond, offering us a little wave as goodbye.

“You okay?” Nix asked me, studying my face.

I was tall, five-nine, but I still had to tip my head back to look at him. I nodded.

He angled his head toward the benches where Donovan and Kit sat to put on skates. “You good on your own if I catch up with them?”

I loved that he and Donovan were dating Kit together. They knew their minds, didn’t give a shit about what anyone thought and went for it. Kit looked like a very happy woman, and I envied her.

That made me think of Shane and Finch. I didn’t want a relationship, not anything like the solid one Nix was building with Donovan and Kit. It didn’t mean I couldn’t have that smile on my face like Kit’s, which looked like she had been well fucked, and recently. And often.

I didn’t need a relationship. I looked out toward the pond, saw Shane and Finch talking with Poppy. They’d offered.

All I had to do was accept.

I looked to Nix. “I’m fine. Go. Have fun.”

“You, too.”