Page 70 of The Murder Club

Dom moved to pull Bailey into his arms, savoring the warmth of her slender body as it pressed against him.

“I didn’t. Not until my best friend convinced me to attend his wedding in Pike,” he confessed.

She tilted back her head, her expression somber. “Now you’re caught up in a murder investigation. Not the best way to ease any worries.”

He gently brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I’d rather be here investigating a murder than anywhere else in the world.”

Chapter 14

Bailey opened the passenger door of the Land Rover, not surprised when Dom made a sound of frustration. He’d held his tongue during the drive to her house, but she’d known he wasn’t happy at her insistence that she needed to take care of a few things. And he’d been even more unhappy when she insisted she needed to do them without him around. Not that he was foolish enough to try to stop her, she wryly acknowledged.

“I don’t like you being alone,” Dom abruptly burst out.

Bailey glanced over her shoulder to the dogs, who were impatiently waiting with their noses pressed against the back window.

“I won’t be alone. I’ll have Bert and Ernie with me. And once I’ve cleaned the fridge and taken out the trash I’ll be over at Dorinda’s house.”

He snorted. “That’s not much protection. I should be with you.”

Bailey didn’t disagree with his logic. But she couldn’t have a bodyguard 24-7. Not unless she was willing to give up every ounce of freedom. She wasn’t going to take unreasonable risks, but she was going to do everything in her power to discover who the hell was stalking her.

“Dorinda won’t feel comfortable gossiping in front of you,” she insisted.

“Then I’ll wait here.”

She reached out to run her fingers along the stubborn line of his jaw. “You said you had stuff to do,” she reminded him. “Go do them.”

He growled low in his throat before he leaned forward and claimed a scorching kiss.

“The stuff I want to do includes you,” he muttered against her lips.

Her fingers stroked through the lush softness of his hair. “Maybe we should grab a pizza and a bottle of wine for lunch.”

He nuzzled a path of kisses over her cheek. “I can do that.”

Bailey shivered, suddenly wishing they were in the privacy of Lia’s house. Why had she been in such a hurry to leave? The trash would’ve lasted another day. And there’d been cake and Dom and, if she’d been smart, Dom covered in cake . . .

She forced herself to lean back, but her gaze remained locked on Dom’s mouth. It was baffling how he could create such delicious chaos with a simple brush of his lips.

“This won’t take long,” she assured him.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” he demanded, peering deep into her eyes.

“I’ll be careful.”

“And you’ll hurry.”

“As fast as possible.”

“Faster.”

“Okay. Faster than possible,” she swore.

Pressing a quick kiss against his lips, Bailey jumped out of the vehicle before he could wrap her in his arms. She was already regretting her decision to spend even a minute away from this man. Obviously she needed an hour or so to clear her mind.

Opening the back door, she let out Bert and Ernie and headed for her house. She barely got the door open before the beasts were rushing inside, scampering from one room after each other, as if they’d been away for a year, not a couple of days. Bailey waited for them to prance back into the living room before she leaned out the front door and waved toward the waiting SUV. If there’d been anyone hidden inside, the dogs would have alerted her.

She waited until Dom drove away before she grabbed the mail from her letter box and closed the door. She plucked out the bills from the junk flyers as she headed into the kitchen. Might as well take care of them while she was there. She had no idea how long she was going to be staying at Lia’s.