Page 12 of Wham Line

She shook her head.But as I reached for the door, she said, “Dash, we couldn’t find her.”

“Who?”

“Nalini.”

The doorknob was cool under my touch.“It was a crazy night.”

Millie nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.

When I got to our bedroom—it was now all but officially our bedroom, since Bobby only ever slept in “his” bed when he worked an overnight—Bobby was naked.

This wasn’t uncommon.Somehow (I suspected because Bobby was incredibly attractive and had all those muscles) he’d grown up without the slightest compunctions about casual nudity.(I also suspected that Bobby had never had a minor panic attack upon entering the boys’ locker room.) He stood near the bed, a towel hanging from his hand as he looked at his phone.He had broad shoulders that ran down to the tight vee of his waist, and as Fox was fond of pointing out, he had a majestic, er, derriere.Strong thighs.Strong calves.And he did this thing, when he wasn’t thinking about it, where he curled his toes into the rug.He was doing it now.

With a glance over his shoulder, Bobby asked, “Did you get him settled?”

I nodded.

Bobby tossed the towel in the hamper and set down his phone.He came over to me.His arm settled on my hips, and he pulled me to him.

“He’ll be okay.He’s frightened.”

“I’mfrightened.”

That made him laugh quietly for some reason, but when he spoke, his voice was serious.“Indira will be okay too.”

I made some sort of sound, but even I wasn’t totally sure what it meant.I nuzzled into Bobby’s neck.“You’re naked.”

He laughed again, squeezing me more tightly against him.His hand slid up my shirt to caress my back, the warmth of skin against skin, but that was all.The night had been so bleak, and my whole body felt heavy.

He didn’t even have to say anything.

“Maybe not tonight,” I said.

“I know.”

“It’s not that I’m not interested.”

“Hmm.”

“Because Iaminterested.”

“Dash.”

“Veryinterested.”

His laugh vibrated through me.Then he turned me toward the bathroom, patted my, uh, rump, and gave me a push.

I rinsed off quickly; the rain had left me clammy, and the hot water and soap felt wonderful.I toweled off as Bobby brushed his teeth.

“Indira didn’t kill Mal,” I said.

Bobby stopped mid-brush and fixed me with a look in the mirror.

“She didn’t,” I said with a defensive chuckle.“And I’m not snooping or sleuthing or anything.”

“Yet,” he bubbled around the toothbrush.

“Rude!”But I couldn’t stop there.“It doesn’t make any sense.Why would she shoot him?He’s her ex-husband, okay.But she hasn’t seen him in years.And then out of the blue, they stumble into each other, and she decides she can’t wait another minute, she has to blow him away right now?That’s crazy.”