Page 44 of Stripping Bare

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Tessa snappedher fingers for Badger and made for thestairs.

Jonah only indulged himself by watching her ass swing from side to side for three steps before going after her and catching her by the elbow. She, her bouncing breasts, and her stellar ass were going to killhim.

D-E-A-D.Dead.

She swung around and the anger flashing in her eyes only made him hotter. “What?”

Near the windows, her pocket-sized dog was giving him the stink-eye as if thinking:Man up, dude, or I’ll fuck youover.

“Stay,” he said. “Please.”

If she walked out right now, she’d be facing whatever this threat was alone. And the thought of that made his body and brain rebel. Safe. He wanted her safe andhappy.

This morning, she wasneither.

“I know we have some…” he rolled his hand as if that might make the words flow more easily, “…unresolvedhistory.”

Her snort made it clear she thought he was CaptainObvious.

“If I promise you that we will talk about what’s between us, can we table it fornow?”

“It’s been tabled for yearsalready.”

“I know. You’re right.” He intertwined their fingers, admired the contrast of their skin. Maybe it was time for him to try to untangle his mixed feelings about Tessa. Could he do that and survive? “But that’s damn hard to do while I’m worried about your safety. We—I—need to figure out who was in your files, because that’ll tell us who broke into yourplace.”

“Is that what you were doing all night last night, trying to track down my hacker?” Tessa askedhim.

“Yes, and I came up empty-handed.” And it was making him fucking crazy. Just like Tessa was. He couldn’t hide the truth much longer—that he wanted her so ferociously that it scared the shit out ofhim.

A knock on the door announced Maggie’sarrival.

Tessa said, “You’re right. We need to focus on this fornow.”

He pulled open the door. “Come on in,” he said to Maggie and led her to the kitchen. “You want somecoffee?”

Her eyebrows went up at his offer of hospitality. “Sure.”

Badger trotted over to her and reared up on his hind legs to sniff at her uniform. “Hey there, little guy.” She reached down to pet him and shot Jonah a questioning look. “When did you get adog?”

“Maggie, meet Badger. He’s Tessa’sbodyguard.”

Maggie turned her attention on Tessa and held out her hand to shake. “Hi, Tessa. I’m MaggieKingston.”

“I’m impressed that Haywood County elected such a young sheriff.” Tessa’s smile was genuine, but her eyes were shadowed, leading Jonah to believe her mind was still on their earlier conversation. Why couldn’t she see what was inside him? See the need that bordered on obsession and understand how dangerous that was forher?

“And a female to boot,” Maggie said. “We’re not as backward out here as a lot of peoplethink.”

Jonah made a one-shot cup of coffee for his cousin and slid it in front of her. “So what’s the news from Asheville?” His patience and hospitality only went so far. He wantedanswers.

“Just talked with my contact in the Asheville PD this morning. They went door-to-door on Tessa’s floor of the building and talked with the staff.But…”

Maggie’s hesitation told Jonah he wasn’t going to like what she had to say a damnbit.

“…in a pricy place like that, the neighbors make it a point to stay out of other people’s business. None of them saw or heardanything.”

“What about the idiot building manager? Did he give someone else akey?”