Page 57 of Kiss of Deceit

I remained silent, shock coursing through me. He put that together much too fast.

“You think I need a fancy degree to read you?” he asked in a teasing voice I’d never heard from him before. “Maybe I know you better than you think, Dani.”

“Maybe you’re in the wrong profession then,” I tossed back. “Is that why Harry always comes to you for help?”

“Harry is allergic to hard work.” He paused. “I’m sure you’ve learned that after being at the station.”

He could have kept asking me about my past, but he didn’t. Something I was glad for. While I didn’t regret telling him, I really had no intention of going into more detail.

“Everyone has been working nonstop since Jillian got murdered,” I muttered. “But we still have nothing to go on.”

“It’s a small town, I’m sure the person will make a mistake.”

I scoffed. “Make a mistake when? When they’re committing another murder?”

“Let’s hope not. But they took more than one knife from the butcher shop. If I were you, I’d be working as if the person will kill again.”

“That is how I’m working it,” I replied slowly in surprise. “No wonder Harry comes to you for help.”

He buried his face in the crook of my neck, letting out a chuckle. “Was that a compliment?”

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “Don’t ruin it.”

“I like this,” he murmured in a low voice. “Much better than fighting with you.”

“Don’t.” The word tumbled from my mouth before I could stop it. I sucked a deep breath before continuing. “I’m not here for a relationship?—”

“Did I say anything about that?” he asked as he ran his fingertips along my ribs. “The snow is falling. Winter is here, Dani. And I can’t think of a better way to spend the cold nights than to have you in my bed.”

“No strings?”

“I don’t date. I guess that’s one thing we have in common.”

I swallowed thickly, not answering. His ex really messed him up if he didn’t want to date anymore. Sex was messy, especially when I was living with him. But…it was also normal. There was no denying that I was attracted to him. I hadn’t met another man in this town that held my attention. Maybe I could let my guard down. Allow myself to give into my desires. It could even help curb the craving that was eating me to find the killer before Harry so I could take care of them myself.

“I’ll leave the decision to you,” he said quietly. “I won’t do anything again unless you kiss me.”

“It hasn’t snowed yet,” I stated, completely changing the subject. “Winter hasn’t started.”

He chuckled. “It’s snowing now.”

The smugness in his voice had me untangling myself from him and getting off the couch. Moving slowly to avoid hitting the coffee table in the dark, I crept toward the window and cracked open the curtain. A layer of white covered the ground, with snow still falling heavily.

“I could smell it in the air earlier today,” he said from the couch.

“So we’re all stuck here now,” I muttered, letting the curtain fall back into place.

“Didn’t they tell you that when you applied for the internship?”

“Yeah, they did.”

My chest grew tight even though I’d already known I wouldn’t be able to leave. Even if the roads weren’t closed during the winter I was still here until my internship was over.

“You don’t like this town?” he questioned after a few moments of silence.

“I don’t like knowing I can’t leave.”

“I’m sure a killer on the loose doesn’t make you feel better.”