Page 17 of Close Quarters

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “We’re moving straight past the friends stage.”

She lifted her head to look down at him, searching his eyes. “As nice as that was, I’m not sure it’s a great idea. We work together.”

He sighed. “I know. I had the same thought before you threaded your fingers through my hair. Then I couldn’t think at all. So, what do we do about this?” His hands were still on her hips, and he pressed her down a fraction so she could feel what she did to him.

Katie bit back a moan. He played dirty! But sex—at least at this stage—would do more harm than good. A few days ago, they were at each other’s throats constantly. What would happen when the passion inevitably settled into a deep burn instead of the flash in the pan it was now? If they didn’t build a relationship first and work on their issues, they were doomed.

Mustering up every ounce of willpower she had, she broke free of his hold and stood, backing away. “I think we leave it at this for now.”

He didn’t move off the couch. Just stared up at her with an arched brow. “Yeah?”

She tried not to let her eyes wander, but it was hard to ignore the bulge in his pants. She swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

He held her gaze another moment, then stood, taking two steps toward her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” His voice was low and soft, like his eyes. He reached out with one finger and brushed a tendril of her hair from her face, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she whispered back.

He walked around her, heading for the door. She turned to watch him go, not moving until the door closed behind him. When it clicked shut, her breath left her on a whoosh. She spun, backpedaling a few steps and collapsed onto the couch, her muscles turning to mush as the adrenaline left.

Her head fell back against the cushions and she stared up at the ceiling. What the fuck just happened?

Chapter 4

Katie glanced at the clock for the tenth time in as many minutes. They were back at the lab, processing evidence, and it was getting late. She was ready to leave, but Amanda was determined to finish processing a second body. Alex was assisting, and Katie didn’t want to leave without talking to him about what they found so far. She told Seb her concerns about Amanda earlier, and he said he’d look into her background.

She was still acting strange, hurrying through some steps and bodies, while taking a painstaking amount of time with others. Katie had a feeling she was looking for something specific. She just wished she knew what. After yesterday, though, she wasn’t about to talk to the woman unless she had to. It wasn’t the first time she’d faced some prejudice for the way she looked, but it was the first time it really bothered her, and it all had to do with Alex. She didn’t want him to start doubting her abilities because someone whom he considered a friend did.

With a sigh, she looked at the clock again. A minute had ticked by. Grumbling under her breath, she picked up a bone sample she just prepped from the body Alex and Amanda were working on, and put it in her brand-new gas chromatograph to see what it could tell her. While she waited on the machine to do its magic, she tidied up her workstation. Hopefully, by the time the test was done, they would be too.

While she worked, she tried not to peek at the clock again. Instead, she focused on her job, finding small tasks to keep her busy. Part way through her tidying up process, she flipped the sample over to the mass spectrometer, hoping to get some accurate dating on it. By the time it finished running, she was watching the clock again. There were only so many things she could clean.

She hit the button on the machine to compile a report, then sat down at her desk to open the file. Reading the results, she cocked her head. Strange…

“Hey, guys. You need to see this.”

“What is it?” Amanda asked, her voice sharp. “We’re busy.”

Katie gritted her teeth. She glanced back to toss the woman a glare.

Alex frowned at Amanda, then stripped off his gloves and walked over to Katie’s desk. “What did you find?”

She pointed at the screen. “That body you’re working on is considerably older than the other two. She’s also been moved from her original grave.”

“Shit, so there could be more?”

“Potentially, yes. The mineral composition of the dirt samples from around her body don’t match what I would expect to have leeched into her bones. Can you find a dirt sample from a joint? Some place where it would get stuck if she was dug up and moved? I’ll run it and compare it to the other soil samples we took as well as the online database and see if I get any hits.”

“Yeah. But why would they move her body?”

Katie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t have a choice. Someone got too close, or an animal dug her up, perhaps.”

He frowned. “Maybe. I’ll get you that sample. Good work.”

“Thanks. Are you two about done? It’s eight-thirty.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

She cast a quick look around him at Amanda, who was focused on the body. She had a magnifying glass in her hand, peering through it at the young girl’s right humerus. “I wanted to talk to you,” she said, keeping her voice quiet.

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