Page 75 of Innocent Intent

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” she asked as she perked up and lifted another slice of pizza, consuming a healthy bite.

“A gut feeling.”

“A gut feeling?” She spoke with a full mouth, frowning at Davis.

“Yeah, a gut feeling. My instincts are pretty spot-on with those things. I trust my gut, and my gut is telling me that Tia’s guilty.”

Cassidy narrowed her eyes. “Your gut also told you I was guilty, so forgive me if I’m not over-the-moon excited about you counting that in the positive category.”

Davis nodded with a cocky smirk. “I never once believed that you were guilty of killing your husband, Cass. I did have moments where I allowed the evidence to challenge that feeling.”

“So, you don’t always trust your gut?”

“I do, but my job is to follow the facts, allowing them to create the narrative. The facts are sometimes misleading. In your case, they were completely wrong. Well, what little facts I did have.”

“And what if the facts challenging your gut feeling about Tia end up completely wrong about her too? Then what? She’s our only lead. I can’t imagine Captain Jones is happy with how long this is taking. They’re going to want an arrest.”

“I don’t give a damn about stats, Cass. If I don’t have a solid case, I’ll never rush to judgment just to meet metrics. What I feel about Tia and the evidence we have so far aligns. She may not have pulled the trigger, but she knows who did.”

“I hope so,” she said quietly.

“Enough about that for tonight. There’s not much else we can do, so how about we focus on something else.”

Cassidy smiled softly. “You’re not about to offer me coffee, are you?”

Davis threw his head back and laughed, lifting a slice of pizza. “No, I wasn’t going to offer you coffee. At least, not right now. I figured we could watch a movie or something, then, maybe, if I get lucky, we can have coffee in the morning when we wake up.”

His eyes met hers, and Cassidy’s smile grew. “I think I like the sound of that.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

24.

Cassidy awakened the next morning, snuggling into the warmth of the bedding that cocooned her body. The weight of the arm that had been draped over her waist and the press of a chest against her back were no longer there, but she felt completely at peace for a brief moment. She welcomed the momentary escape because her life was in total chaos. Although she could have stayed in the moment for a few more hours, she was anxious to find out where the missing element was.

Davis.

Cassidy padded into the bathroom to find that Davis had already prepared for her. There was a towel with a washcloth folded neatly on top of it and a single packaged toothbrush sitting on top of them. Just off to the side was a sweatshirt that belonged to him, which she couldn’t wait to snuggle into. She smiled at the items before taking in her reflection in the mirror. Her smile expanded when she noticed how happy she appeared. It had been a few weeks since she’d felt a genuine reason to smile.

What am I doing?

This feels right, but shouldn’t because . . .

Shaking the thought, Cassidy turned on the water, waiting for a warm flow before washing her face and then brushing her teeth. She and Davis had showered together after their final session, so she tugged on the sweatshirt he’d left her next to the stack of towels and nothing else before leaving the bathroom to find her gracious host.

Her thoughts drifted to the evening before with just how gracious he had been. Her body still ached with a pleasurable memory of how he handled her, and her smile expanded again.

The house was quiet, void of anything other than the creak of the wooden floors beneath her feet as she moved through the living room, frowning at the empty space. There was no sign of Davis, but the minute she reached the kitchen, she heard the muffled repetition of something coming from outdoors. She continued to the door that led out of the back of the house and peeked through the plastic blinds to find a screened-in porch with a heavy bag hanging in one corner and Davis pounding his fists into it. He was only wearing sweat bottoms, which hung low on his waist. His feet and upper body were bare, allowing Cassidy to admire every line and contour of his lean, toned physique.

This man is an anomaly.

A very sexy and complex one that I’m mildly addicted to.

She watched with a honed focus, enjoying how his body moved with precision as he switched up his movement. When she could no longer handle the distance between them, Cassidy turned the doorknob and pulled open the door, leaning against the door frame with one shoulder, folding her arms over her chest.

Davis glanced over his shoulder long enough to offer a sexy smirk before his fists dug into the heavy bag again. Several combinations landed with precision and skill while occasionally shifting his stance and dipping low, sending jabs upright into the bag.

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