Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) (13 page)

Since she knew he was there, he moved closer and took up a position on her right side. He wanted to see her face, and she looked so beautiful sitting in the moonlight that he was half afraid she was a fairy, her wings hidden until she flew away. “I was just thinking that tonight was like the old days. Me waking up in the middle of the night with you singing and writing.”

“I’m still a night owl, and I do my best stuff when everyone else is sleeping.”

“I would imagine that being an entertainer keeps you up and out ‘til all hours of the day and night as well.”

Shelby shrugged and finally looked up at him. Her blue eyes were luminescent in the pale light. “I could say the same about you. Homicide isn’t exactly a nine-to-five kind of job.”

Mike gave a faint smile. “I sometimes wonder why I even bother to sleep.”

Shelby laughed lightly.

Mike’s gaze was drawn down from her face. His shirt was misbuttoned, as if she’d been in such a hurry to leave her room that she couldn’t be bothered to button the shirt correctly. And he was glad, because he got an incredible view of her cleavage. No bra. Which made him wonder if she wore any panties.

Calm down, Marine
.

He had to give himself a pep talk or his body would go off like a damned teenager with his first crush. When he pulled his gaze from the tantalizing sight of her body, he found himself the focus of an intense once-over. And he felt her eyes like an actual caress.
 

His jeans became uncomfortably tight as her gaze seared the muscles of his chest and arms. Mike enjoyed the way she looked at him. He was proud of his body, he used it like the machine it was; to fight and win against whatever obstacles might be in his way.

Right now, the obstacle was that damn shirt.

But he wasn’t sure he even wanted to fight or win, even though the sexual tension was thick.
 

She reached up to push the hair off her forehead, pulling his shirt tight across her breasts.
 

She had to be doing that on purpose, but he couldn’t pull his gaze off the intriguing gap the strained buttons made. And when she focused on the bulge in his pants and bit her full bottom lip, he almost lunged. But doing that would plunge him into a rabbit hole big enough to swallow his soul, which was still scarred from the first time around.

“What do you think of my new song?” Her voice was husky, but she stayed still on the floor.

“It’s a hit.”

“It will be—for someone else.”

Mike frowned as he considered her words. “Why wouldn’t you keep that one for yourself? It’s beautiful.”

“I’m getting out of the business,” she said it quietly. “That’s why these concerts are so important and why I have to be there. A lot of money is on the line. Enough that I can retire and take care of Rebecca. I want her to have a normal life. Being on the road with me isn’t good for her. She needs stability and a set of friends that she’s not scared she’ll lose if she goes on the road for a year or more.”

He heard what she said, but something else was bothering him. Why did he suddenly remember the words? “That song. It’s the one the killer stuffed into the hairdresser’s bag, isn’t it?”

When he saw her nod, he felt like everything clicked into place. He’d been missing a piece of the puzzle and that was motive. Shelby thought it was something to do with Rebecca but it wasn’t. And the stalking wasn’t a weird fetish for this guy. Somehow, he’d been close enough to know that she was quitting the music business. “Who knows that you’re done after this set of concerts?”

Shelby got to her feet slowly, staring as she cocked her head to the side. “What are you thinking?”

“Who knows, Shelby?”

“Madge, my agent, the band, and my road crew. I couldn’t just leave them hanging with no jobs after this. But everyone has been sworn to secrecy. I’m announcing my retirement at the end of the third concert.”

“Somehow this guy knows. This is the secret that triggered him. And he’s trying to make you understand that you have to keep singing. That’s why the crime scenes are staged the way they are. He’s recreating your biggest hits. And the fact that they’re all love songs probably has something to do with his fixation.”

“He thinks I’m singing to him, doesn’t he?”

Mike heard the revulsion in her voice, but she was right. “He’s deluded and crazy, but yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what he thinks.”

She shivered and hugged herself as she looked away and out the window. “All I ever wanted to do was sing and write songs.”

“And be famous.”

That produced a small smile. “True.”

“I think you’ve achieved that, many times over.”

Shelby turned back to Mike and shrugged. “My career been a lot of work with moments of sheer awesomeness. But no one ever realizes how tired I am, all the time. Or how many times my voice has been so overworked that I lose it for a week or so.”

“Or how lonely you are?”

She nodded. “Or that. The fans all think I have this amazing life that’s nothing but parties and glittering clothes. But I go to bed alone or sometimes I sneak in with Rebecca, because I can hold her close.”

“You chose to walk away from everything you knew, into that world.”

“I know.” She looked him over and took a step closer. “Sometimes I regret that choice.”

Mike stayed where he was, but part of him felt like running. She was too close, smelled too good and looked too damned sexy for his piece of mind. His jaw clenched, but he stood his ground. “What do you want from me?”

“A kiss, to start. One that isn’t filled with anger and regret.”

She stalked him in the moonlight, seductive without even trying.

She reached out and touched his stomach, which contracted at the light contact. “You make me feel things I thought were long buried.”

Mike sucked in a breath. “This isn’t a good idea, Shelby Lynn.” He used her stage name in a sad attempt to keep her at bay. But she just smiled, as if she knew he was desperate.

“I think it’s a very good idea, Detective.”

She pressed her body against his, her palms on his pecs, shaping the muscles and setting fire to his bloodstream.

“You brought me here to protect me. and right now I’m in danger.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I’ll die if you don’t kiss me, now.”

His body took over then, telling his brain to shut the hell up. She was in his arms, and he had her up on her tip-toes as his lips took hers. The years fell away, and she was his again, strong, passionate Shelby, who never shied away from telling him exactly what she wanted.

And what she wanted was this kiss.

Chapter 11

Shelby’s whole body shuddered as Mike plundered her mouth. His tongue slipped inside and turned her inside out. She pressed up against his gorgeous body, and there was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. “I’ve missed you,” she said when she could.

“No, you didn’t,” he growled back at her.

He might never forgive her, but Shelby couldn’t bring herself to be upset about it at this moment. Right now, all she cared about was that he was holding her and kissing her as if she was the only woman in the world.

He made her feel alive. A real, live, red-blooded woman that was wanted by a man. Wanted because she was a woman, not just a famous face.

She ran her hands up into his hair and scraped her nails along his scalp. It used to drive him wild, and she wanted him wild. Shelby knew that if he had time to think, he’d pull away. There was no way she wanted that, what she wanted was him. Hot and raw and inside her, making her forget everything but what they used to be together.

“Damn it. What’re you doing to me?”

Mike’s voice was ragged, and she couldn’t catch her breath enough to answer. So she nipped his chin and tugged at his hair, pulling his mouth back to hers. She rubbed her body against his, feeling his erection against her soft belly. “I want you.”

He kissed her again, more out of control this time, picking her up and turning. He set her on the kitchen counter, putting himself between her legs. His hands were on her bare skin at her hips, touching her.

“No panties,” he breathed out.

“I never wear any to bed.”

His hands flexed on her skin, but didn’t move.

Shelby’s palms roamed his shoulders and down his biceps, feeling the power there. He could so easily crush her with those massive arms, but he’d never been anything but gentle , even when he was young.

His body was rigid, and he moved his hands from her hips. “Shelby—”

“Just kiss me.”

And he did, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She took control this time, sucking his full bottom lip and biting him gently. Hooking her ankles around his waist, she pulled him closer, pressing his hardness against her straining body. She was more than ready for him. One quick flick of his zipper, and he could be inside her.
 

Shelby dove for the little strip of metal that separated her from heaven.

But he trapped her hands. “I don’t think—” But whatever he was about to say was lost as a door opened and closed, and Mike’s head whipped toward the sound.

Shelby also turned toward the hallway and saw the light to the bathroom shone under the bottom of the door. She sighed. Rebecca was awake. She looked at Mike, who was back to being the detective she didn’t know very well, instead of the passionate man she had in her arms just a few seconds ago. “I better go and check on her.”

Mike nodded and then helped her down from the counter, letting go of her immediately once her feet were on the floor again. Then he moved around her and into the kitchen.

That’s when she noticed the gun handle sticking out of the back of his jeans. “You always have a gun on you in the middle of the night?”

He looked back with his eyebrow raised. “I do when I’m protecting stubborn women and innocent children.”

She put her hands on her hips, the banter helping to calm her racing heart and out-of-control libido. “So you’ve had a parade of women up here then?”

But he didn’t play back. He filled a couple of glasses with water and came back to hand her one. “My experience has been that kids get thirsty in the middle of the night.”

Then he downed his own glass of water, and Shelby watched his throat work like a fascinated school girl. She shook herself out of it and held up the water in thanks. “You think of everything.”

“You should get some sleep,” he said.

Seemed like everyone in her life was always telling her that. But, she was tired. “You were about to stop just now, weren’t you?” She stared up into his eyes. “Before Rebecca went to the bathroom?”

He nodded, and then reached out to snag one of her curls. He pulled it lightly and watched it spring back into shape. “You and me—”

“Not a good idea, is it?” Boy, did her body disagree. And maybe the cold lump of tissue called her heart did too.

“I need to focus on catching this guy. My job is to protect you and Rebecca, and I can’t afford to be distracted.”

“And, I’m just a distraction?” She couldn’t help the sharp slap of disappointment, but she also understood she couldn’t expect Mike to ignore their history and pick up where they left off all those years ago. Her big bad Marine was running. Shelby had hurt him in the deepest way a person could be hurt. She had a long way to go to heal that, but she was determined to try. She’d seen a glimpse of what life could be like, and she wanted it. Wanted it with all her heart. Wanted him. “Thanks for the water,” she said softly. “And for everything you’re doing for us.”

She turned to go and take Rebecca back to bed, because the little girl was watching them from the darkened hallway, bright eyes inquisitive. When she went to her room a little while later, Shelby saw his door was closed.

She decided to ignore the finality of that. There would be another opportunity in the next couple of days to change his mind. She hadn’t picked Phoenix to retire just because it was her home town. She’d lied when she’d told him she hadn’t looked into his past. Not that she’d read the report Madge had on him. She hadn’t had to read past the initial page. The word—single—had been all she was looking for.

The truth was, she’d been wishing on a star when she chose to come back home. She wished with all her heart that the man she’d left behind might still harbor some feelings for her, the way she did for him. For a while now, she’d been lying to herself, thinking she’d never see him again. That the past was over. But she was a horrible liar. The possibility had always been in the back of her mind that she’d make sure to run into him. She had to.

Shelby Lynn might have loved the spotlight and the fame, but plain and simple Shelby Collins had never stopped loving Mike Hanson.

***

She’s not even there. I told you she doesn’t know you exist.

“Where is she?” He strained his eyes but the room she stayed in was clean and devoid of movement. Two days had passed since he’d seen her, and he was taking a chance coming here during the daytime. “I know she watched the videos.”

Maybe that big bitch she lives with wouldn’t let her watch.