Deadly Desire (Carrington-Hill Investigations Book 2) (12 page)

She glanced to Garrett. He gave a slight shake of his head.

“The sheriff called me. What happened?”

“Maureen tried to kill me.”

His eyes widened as she recounted what happened at the park. “She’s in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm. I suspect that, after they treat her, she’ll be going to jail.”

Katrina mumbled something under her breath
, Sara turned. “Excuse me.”

Katrina shrugged. “Nothing, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

The sheriff headed toward them, like a man on a mission. He extended a hand. “We really need to quit meeting like this.”

“S
heriff,” Collin said in way of greeting.

“This shouldn’t take too long
, Sara. I just need to get your official statement.”

Sara glanced over at Garrett
, who was unusually silent. “Garrett, please take Collin home, and I’ll be there when I can.”

Garrett nodded before the
sheriff escorted Sara down the long hall and into a sterile interrogation room. The bare room had nothing more than a long desk and a couple of chairs. The sheriff pulled out a seat across from her, and Sara proceeded over the next hour to give him her accounting of what had transpired. Maureen most likely will be doing jail time for attempted murder.

“Do you think Maureen was Collin’s stalker?”

Sara shrugged at his question. “Everything points to Maureen. To be honest, she was really sloppy. I don’t think she has the street smarts to pull any of this off. I still think we’re dealing with someone else.”

The
sheriff leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest as they debated the subject. “It’s possible she just snapped. You did say that Collin fired her, and you and her tussled in that hotel room. Maybe it was enough to send her over the edge, and she wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Sara let his words mull around in her mind. It did make sense, but still she had a gut feeling that Collin’s woes weren’t over with yet.
“I’d need to see proof to buy into the idea that Maureen is the stalker. It’s still too soon to let our guard down.”

The sheriff stood
. “We’ll get a search warrant for her place and let you know if we turn up anything that points to her as being Collin’s stalker.”

Sara nodded and held out her hand. “
I also have some questions for her, if you can arrange for me to see her.”

He nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you for your help.”  

Chapter 13

Exhausted from a day of shopping and an
hour of interrogation, Sara arrived back at Collin’s at nine o’clock that night with one thing on her mind—a nice soak in a tub to ease the soreness in her arm and to rinse away the dirt from her body. She eased down the long driveway in the SUV that Lexi had left for her at the sheriff’s office. Cars littered the front of the mansion. Worse yet, they were cars she recognized. Not only was Marco’s shiny BMW parked out front, but her father’s SUV was there as well. It wasn’t bad enough that she had to deal with Maureen, but her boss and her father too? All in the same twenty-four-hour period?

She parked next to the SUV and killed the ignition. She gripped the steering wheel tight one last time before she blew out an annoyed breath
, exited the SUV, and headed right into the line of fire for the second time that day.

Garrett walked out of the house and down the stairs. As he approached
, he had a look of pity on his face. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. It’s getting pretty heated.”

She didn’t have time to ask for details before the door flung open again. Her father stood in the doorway. The hard lines on his face told her exactly what she was walking into. She walked up the steps holding her chin up. “Hi
, Dad.”

His gaze landed on the bright white bandage secured around her arm
, and his scowl deepened. “You’ve got some explaining to do, little miss.”

She lifted a brow.
Maybe had she worn the damn coat, she could have hidden the wound but she’d never hidden from anything before and she’d be damned if she was going to start now.

“Maybe you’d like to explain about being forced off the road, or how about the fact that your tires were slashed
?” He crossed his arms over his chest, “Or maybe you want to start by explaining what you have on the senator.”

Sara couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The old man meant well
, even though she didn’t want to recount what had happened for what seemed like the hundredth time. She walked up to him, placed a kiss on his cheek, and patted his arm as she side-stepped him into the house. “It’s all part of the job, Dad. I’m fine. Why don’t you go home?”

The door shut behind her, and she didn’t have to glance over her shoulder to know that the stubborn man hadn’t left like she suggested. Seemed her bath was going to have to wait a little longer.

Loud voices came from the direction of the kitchen, and she let out a long sigh. It appeared that her only quick escape route to the pool house was cut off. There was no way the men in that room would let her leave until she settled whatever the argument was about.

All talking ceased as she walked into the room. Collin’s face was red with anger. Drew had his arms crossed over his chest
, and Marco had his arms placed on the table with his head lowered as if exhausted.

“Care to fill me in so I can take sides?”

“Always with a smart remark. You haven’t changed one bit. I would have thought that being shot at would bring you to your senses,” her father said as he strolled by her and over to the coffee pot.

“What can I say? I learned from the best.”

Sara patted Marco on the back as she followed her father to the coffee pot. To her disbelief, he held out a mug for her. She smiled, knowing that no matter how mad her father was, he always took care of her. “Thanks, Dad.”

He nodded.

She turned back to the rest of the room full of silent men. “What did I miss?”

Marco stood and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just a disagreement. Seems our client here wants to take you out of the line of fire, and I’m trying to persuade him that it’s a bad idea.”

Sara swallowed the scalding coffee along with the flash of hurt from the statement.  After everything that had happened, did Collin not see that she was damn capable of doing her job? Her hurt quickly turned into anger. She turned to her father. “Whose side are you on?”

Her dad raised his brow. “Do you even have to ask?”

She gave a slight nod. She already knew there was no way in hell that daddy dearest would want his little girl in danger. “Two votes for Collin.” She looked at Drew. “And you?”

Drew gave her his dazzling smile. “I don’t think Collin is thinking straight. I’m on your side.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about Drew. If you were truly on her side, you wouldn’t want to see her get hurt and you’d want her off the case too.” Collin argued.

Drew shrugged. “She knows what she’s doing; I’m still on her side.”

She gave another nod of acknowledgement before she turned to Marco, who’s vote, along with her own, was really the only one in the room that mattered. “What about you? Are you worried for my safety and do you think Collin’s threat has truly been eliminated?”

He shook his head. “
I’m always worried about your safety but, no, I don’t believe the threat is gone. Once we have the proof from the search warrant on Maureen’s place, then I might change my mind but, right now, it doesn’t add up. All we have right now is a jilted lover, with bad aim, that seems to be trigger happy. If ballistics can match the bullets found from the murder scenes with Maureen’s gun, then I’ll pull you from the investigation, but not until then.”

Finally
, a rational comment that she agreed with, one that wasn’t pitted against whether she was capable of doing her job or worry for her safety. She turned to Collin and tried to keep a straight face as she spoke. “Seems you’ve been outvoted, big guy, three to two. It looks like I’m staying on assignment for a little while longer. Not that the votes would have deterred me from staying.”

Collin threw his arms up. “I’m the paying customer here. My vote should have more weight.”

Sara shrugged. Even though Collin’s statement was true, she knew that Marco would do the right thing. It was encoded in his DNA, just like it was in hers. “Money or no money, I’m not comfortable dropping my detail until the job is done, and I have a gut feeling that this isn’t over.”

Drew placed a palm on Collin’s shoulder. “What’s the harm in waiting for the evidence?”

Collin shrugged off his brother’s palm and pointed at Sara. “She took a bullet and could have been killed. I won’t let her do that again…to protect me.” He shook his head and stomped from the room as he called over his shoulder. “You’re fired, Sara.”

As if his words were going to make her leave. She glanced at Marco
, who shook his head. Drew threw his arm around her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “He’ll come around to his senses by morning. He was just worried about you.”

Sara balled her fist
s at her sides. The stubborn man was going to drive her to drink and, if he thought he could get rid of her that easily, the man had a thing or two to learn. She placed a smile on her face and headed toward the same door that Collin had disappeared through. She turned under the threshold. “I’m sure you can all see yourselves out.”

Marco grinned, her father frowned
, and Drew chuckled. Her father placed his mug in the sink and stormed past her. “Your mother is expecting you for dinner next Saturday night. I expect you to be in attendance, with or without a date.”

The front door slammed as she spun on her heel and took the stairs two at a time up the banister toward Collin’s room. Their conversation was anything but over. She didn’t have butterflies in her stomach
. No, she had demons to exorcize, starting with telling Collin what a jackass he was being. 

Under normal circumstances
, she would have knocked on his door, but these weren’t normal circumstances. She had something to say, damn it, and he was going to hear it whether he wanted to or not. She shoved his bedroom door open and stalked into the huge room. Collin stood at the window with his back toward the rest of the room. She didn’t waste time appreciating the expanse of his personal space.

“You hired me to pretend to be your girlfriend so we could catch a killer. I’m a trained professional
, not some bimbo that can’t take care of herself.” Her cheeks felt like they were on fire, not from embarrassment but from anger, anger that he was foolish enough to think she’d go along with whatever he wanted. “I knew what I was getting into the moment I agreed to your assignment, and I thought you were smart enough to realize it too… I guess I was wrong.”

He spun around and advanced on her
, grabbing her arms. He lifted the bandaged one. “This….” He wiggled her arm. “This was too close. She could have killed you.” He released her and stepped back. “I won’t let there be a next time, Sara. I’m sorry you don’t understand; I just can’t.”

Her gaze held his. The intensity in his words
, coupled with the tension in the air, sizzled around her. Never in her entire life had she felt this much heat from an argument nor seen such sincerity in someone’s eyes. Her shoulders relaxed, and the heat in her chest evaporated. The man cared and, not only that, all of his passion was aimed at her. She covered the distance he was trying to put between them, no longer interested in keeping Collin at arm’s length. No, she wanted this man, now more than ever. His gaze searched her face before landing on her lips. She licked her lips, wishing it was his tongue instead of her own. She reached for him and crushed her lips to his. It wasn’t nice; it wasn’t sweet. It was demanding and rough. It was everything she felt for Collin. She didn’t hold back. She pressed her body against his as she ran her fingers through his hair. He only hesitated for a mere second before joining in with the same ferocity.

Buttons started popping
, and clothes were discarded at a pace neither one of them was willing to change until they were both completely naked.

“Commando…I would have pegged you as a boxer guy.” Sara giggled.

She wanted him and by the looks of his jutting erection, he wanted her just as much, and she wouldn’t deny either of them another second. This wasn’t a slow coupling between two people. This was raw and dirty, and it turned her on in every way. His hands explored down the length of her spine as his hardened erection pressed against her belly. He cupped her butt and lifted her in the air as he moved to press her back against the wall. His cock was pressed at the juncture of her thighs, but he’d yet to break the barrier. She was wet and wild for him. She wanted him to fill her. No, she needed him to fill her. She locked her legs around his waist.

He pulled his lips from hers. His breathing came out in quick pants that matched her own. “Are you sure?”

No words came to her lips. All she could do was nod.

He leaned his forehead against hers and tried to slow down. “We should stop and use protection. I’m clean
, but I don’t want to get you pregnant.”

She shook her head and squirmed in his hold, trying to align their bodies. “I’m clean too and on the pill.”

His gaze searched her face. No longer willing to wait, she latched on to his lips and kissed him with the same wild frenzy she felt down in her core.

He pressed her shoulders into the wall and aligned their bodies before surging upward and into her
, eliciting a gasp from her. He stood still and buried his head in the crook of her neck and let out a guttural moan. “Oh God, you feel good. Just like I knew you would.”

Unable to wait longer, she nudged him with her heels. “Collin, please. I need more.”

Collin slowly slid out from her and rammed home again. His pace quickened with each thrust. Every nerve ending in her body was strung tight and tightened further as he plunged his cock in and out of her, grazing her clit as he moved. She felt the stirring of her orgasm and knew she wouldn’t be able to last. Her tongue dueled with the same urgency, matching their movements. Her orgasm hit her hard and fast. She came, screaming his name, not caring if anyone left in the house heard her cries.

He kissed her neck and thrust two more times before letting out a deep groan in the crook of her neck. Their sweat
-soaked bodies glistened as if they’d just run a marathon. She enjoyed this type of workout a whole hell of a lot better than doing laps in the pool.

He kept her pinned against the wall
. Only when his breathing slowed did he finally raise his head. His blue eyes were clouded, but he’d yet to pull out or release her. “Next time I take you, it will be slow and on the bed.”

He pulled out of her and let her slowly slide down his body, keeping his arms around her until her legs became more stable. “Next time I let you take me,
I’ll be wet and in the shower. Speaking of which…” She walked toward the bathroom. “Care to wash my hard-to-reach spots?”

He appeared behind her as she turned on the water. He turned her in his arms and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “This doesn’t change the fact that I still want you off my case.”

Sara rested her palms against the hard planes of his chest. “And this doesn’t change the fact that I don’t care.”

He smacked her butt with his hand. “Are you always this difficult?”

She shrugged and stepped into the tub. “No….normally worse.” She grinned. “Care to come in and find out?”