Her lips pursed as she considered the question. “I’ve had long-term boyfriends, but I’ve never been engaged. Have you?”
Leaning back in his seat, he shook his head. “I’m a busy guy, Darcy. I mostly work this region, but I’m also a SOG deputy—the Marshals Service’s Special Operations Group—which means I’m on call to go anywhere at any time. I haven’t had any serious relationships. My last long-term girlfriend was back in high school and that lasted less than a year. I don’t have commitment issues, but I haven’t met anyone who was worth the inconvenience of trying to get a relationship off the ground.” He took a slow, deep breath. “Until now.”
She stared at him, her gaze darting over his face. Their waiter approached and Darcy ordered, then turned her attention to laying her napkin across her lap as he did the same.
He didn’t say anything when they were alone again, thinking he’d lobbed the ball into her court and she could either keep it in play or drop it. Maybe the duration of the case was all he’d get from her. He wondered if staying out of her bed would make it easier to walk away at the end or harder. It wasn’t a situation he’d faced before. So he asked her, because he suspected she knew. Not from her point of view, but from the perspective of the other guys in her life who’d wanted the piece of her she kept to herself.
“If I stop f**king you,” he asked in a low, even tone, “will it be easier to stop wanting you?”
Twisting in her seat, she faced him. “I’m not sure what you’re proposing, Jared. More of this?” She gestured at the interior of the restaurant with a sweep of her hand. “More dates? Or just an understanding that we’ll have sex occasionally when the mood strikes and we’re in the vicinity of each other? Actually, aren’t they both the same thing when a relationship is too erratic to be steady? One just comes with food and/or entertainment, while the other allots that bonus time to f**king instead.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know what to ask for? I’ve never done this before.” He drummed his fingertips into the tablecloth and tried to figure it out.
“Jared.” Her voice had the slow, conciliatory note of someone about to impart bad news. “I don’t think we can have a casual relationship. The attraction between us…it’s too intense.”
“I figured that out when the first sight of you hit me like a two-by-four between the eyes. Listen…I’m not talking about fitting you into my life as it is. I’m talking about changing things to fit around you.”
“Making me a priority?”
“Yes.” He held her gaze. “With the expectation that you’ll make the same effort for me.”
“Maybe you should wait a few more days before you decide I’m not going to lose my appeal.”
“Don’t start playing games. It insults both of us.”
She exhaled in a rush. “Sorry. You freak me out. And the really scary part is I don’t care. As freaked out as I am, it’s not enough to get me to blow you off.”
“Good.” The rush of relief he felt almost made him dizzy. “So we make it work.”
“It’s going to be work. A lot of it. We’re too volatile. Too…greedy.”
“Like a thirst you can’t quite quench,” he agreed softly. “The flip side being that every time you take a drink, it’s the best f**king thing you’ve ever tasted. If that’s not worth working for, what is?”
Darcy set a hand over her tummy and offered a tremulous smile. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”
The rest of lunch became a slow exploration of the basics of who they both were. Jared talked about SOG—the Shadow Stalkers, as they were called—and some of the experiences he’d had that he could share. He told her about his sister, Casey, who fell in love every other day and was unable to keep a secret to save her life.
For his efforts, Darcy talked about growing up in Lion’s Bay, with most of her anecdotes featuring her sister, Danielle. He learned quickly that he’d pegged the sisters right. Darcy was the troublemaker; Danielle was the good girl.
Jared was sorry when the meal ended, wishing the day was already over so he could take her home to bed. The sharp bite of lust for her was always with him, but it was the sense that he was really inside her when they made love that he craved. She was cool and collected everywhere…except in bed with him. When he was inside her, he knew he had all of her. Every fascinating centimeter of her.
“I’m going to freshen up before we go,” she said when the check came.
“Meet you outside?”
“Sure.”
He’d just shouldered his way past the dwindling line at the front when his cell phone rang. Pulling it out, he didn’t recognize the number. “Cameron.”
“Deputy Cameron, Special Agent Michelle Kelley here. Your partner left a message that you had some questions for me.”
“Agent Kelley, yes. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I wanted to ask you about your impressions of Lion’s Bay and its residents, particularly anyone who struck you oddly.”
She snorted. “It’s a small town, Deputy. Everyone there is a bit odd in one way or another.”
“Right. Small town. What are the odds that two sets of Feds would end up there, investigating crimes with known MOs?”
“Zilch,” Kelley said bluntly. “But the MO of our Unsub was off. The basics were textbook perfect. It was the details that deviated to an unacceptable degree. I liked the mystery boyfriend, but we never got close to him. Never even dug up a name. In a town that small, where everyone knows everything, no one knew the victim had a man in her life. Not even the sister, who was—by all accounts—very close to her. But then, she hadn’t known the victim was six weeks pregnant, either.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah, got to me, too. I don’t see how this is helpful to you, though.”
“Maybe it isn’t.” He adjusted his grip on his camera. “The arsonist is familiar with the area. He’s got a local’s knowledge, but no one is pointing any fingers. I thought maybe someone might’ve rubbed you the wrong way, give me someone to look at.”
“I’m sorry, Deputy. I wish I had something for you, but the residents of that town gave up nothing. That case still haunts me. What was done to the victim…She was so young and pretty. A vet, for God’s sake. Lived in Lion’s Bay her whole—”
“A veterinarian?” The sounds of the traffic and conversations faded from Jared’s perception, leaving a stunned silence. “Michaels?”
“Yes. Dr. Danielle Michaels.”
Chapter nine
Darcy slid behind the wheel of her car and tucked her legs in as Jared closed the door behind her. He rounded the trunk and reached through the open top to set his camera on the backseat, then climbed in beside her.
“Wanna stop by your sister’s place?” he asked, looking out the windshield. “She’s in Seattle, right?”
She took a deep breath, then let it out. “Okay.”
Backing out of the parking garage spot, she hit the road. Her grip was too tight on the steering wheel, but she couldn’t ease up. There was a block of ice in her gut and her throat was tight. It didn’t matter how many times she saw Dani’s headstone, it still had the power to break something inside her.
When they drove through the open wrought iron gates of the cemetery, Jared reached over and set his hand on her thigh. The knot inside her loosened. She set her hand over his and squeezed. “You’re not surprised.”
“I was when I found out.” He glanced at her, pushing up his shades so she could see his eyes. “Now I’m just glad you’re letting me in.”
“That’s why we’re here.”
His fingers linked with hers. “Is it so bad? Letting someone in?”
“No. I’m…grateful. It’s just…I can’t come here with my parents. They need me to be okay. And I try to be. For them.”
“But you’re not.”
“Dani was half of me.”
She followed the road for a couple miles, then pulled over to the side and parked. They got out and she led him across the lawn to the Michaels family plot. Jared didn’t say anything as she stood over Dani’s grave and felt her eyes burn. He just came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, setting his chin on her shoulder. They were there a long time, long enough for her to find her voice and tell him about the early-morning call that had irrevocably changed her life.
“There was talk of a boyfriend,” he said softly. “You didn’t know who he was?”
“Oh, I know him,” she said grimly. “I just don’t know his name. When Dani made it clear his identity was a secret, I knew he was someone familiar to me and she didn’t want me razzing her about him. That’s a big reason why I moved back to Lion’s Bay after she died. I wanted to figure out who he was and what he might know. I thought he’d come forward by now…that just looking at me every day would shake him up.”
“Do you know how f**king dangerous that is?” His voice was rough with fury. He turned her around to face his glare. “After what was done to her?”
She’d identified her sister’s body, although everyone in town had known who Dani was and one look at Darcy’s identical face proved it. The coroner had draped Dani’s body in a sheet from the neck down, but Darcy was aware of what the Prophet was known for…the sick mutilations he did to his victims’ bodies. “I can’t let Dani go while her killer’s still out there, Jared. And honestly, with her gone, I’m half dead anyway.”
“Bullshit. I’ve been inside you. When I’m touching you…f**king you…you’re so alive you burn me up with it. I see you trying to get out of this shell you’re just surviving in, living a life that doesn’t suit you one damn bit.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m going to get him, Darcy. He’s going to pay for putting that look in your eyes. I promise you that. Let me do my job. Let me keep you safe.”
Her breathing picked up. “You think he’s in Lion’s Bay, too?”
“I think it’s likely, yes. The candy shop—your sister have any connection with that?”
Darcy frowned. “She was a customer. Dani had a sweet tooth. She stopped by there almost every day to buy a dollar or two of candy to carry around in her lab coat. And we celebrated our twelfth birthdays there. Why?”
“Every place our torch has hit has been tied to your sister in some way. You being in Lion’s Bay is shaking this guy up, sweetheart. He’s systematically wiping your sister off the map. First by taking her out, then by taking out places associated with her.”
She caught him by the wrists. “If he wants Dani gone, why not take out the woman who looks like her?”
Jared’s gaze darkened. “If I’m right, he’s saving that pleasure for last.”
“I KNOW HOW it sounds,” Jared muttered into his cell phone as they entered Darcy’s house.
She watched him cross through her kitchen into her living room, then begin to pace. Something inside her shifted as she watched him move, his stride powerful and predatory yet utterly silent. Armed and dangerous. A trained hunter. And he was now on the hunt for the man who’d killed Dani. The morass of emotions churning in her tummy had no outlet and she had no way of dealing with them. She’d never felt like this before.
Because he was also hunting her. Deliberately. Systematically. And he wasn’t going to stop until he’d captured her. She wasn’t going to let him stop.
Whatever it was she felt for him, it was important. With a little time, a little compromise, and with no effort at all, she could fall in love with him. And part of her really, really wanted to. Wanted to experience the magic she’d only ever felt faint echoes of. She could have it with him. He wanted it, too.
“What have you got on your plate now?” he asked his partner, running a hand through his hair. “Okay. Good. When you head back to the hotel, give me a buzz and I’ll meet you there. We’ll order pizza and tear into this.”
He was hanging up when she walked past him toward the bedroom, their eyes meeting in a long meaningful glance. She gave him a cheery smile because she didn’t want him to worry any more than he already was. He’d been even edgier than usual since they’d left the cemetery; he didn’t need any more on his plate.
She was crying silently before she reached the bedroom. She closed the door far enough that there was no gap, but didn’t push it all the way—she didn’t want him to mistake her desire for privacy as a desire to shut him out. Then she undressed and entered the bathroom through the door in the master bedroom. Forgoing the bath, despite how tempting it looked, she got in the shower and welcomed the brief shock of cold before the heat kicked in with a vengeance.
The tears flowed freely, mingling with the water. Darcy stood directly beneath the spray, letting it course down her face like a veil, hoping to prevent puffy eyes that would give her away. She hadn’t cried since the flight that brought her home to Dani’s dead body lying in the morgue. She knew she was due, but that didn’t make the dam burst any easier to bear.
She felt him come in behind her and was grateful he couldn’t know that she was falling apart. Setting her hands on the tile in front of her, she bent her head as if she was directing the strength of the spray on her neck.
Jared’s arms embraced her and he curled around her curved back. He didn’t say anything when an unexpected sob shuddered through her.
She tried to shake him off, feeling stupid. “I need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need.”