Page 35 of In the Arms of a Hero

Tilting her head to the side, she stared intently, uncertain of his meaning.

“Now that we’ve built on our friendship, I’d like us to move our relationship forward. I really want to be with you, and I don’t want you ever to have any fears about me or regrets about us. My feelings for you never went away, and they’re stronger than ever.”

Her tongue darted out to lick her suddenly dry lips. Not wanting any misunderstanding, she asked, “Are we anus?”

“I want there to be. You and me, Belinda. Together. Exclusive. No doubts. No fears. No regrets.”

At that moment, her heart soared, but she tried to hold it like a string with a kite that was caught by the wind, threatening todance and skip away. Her feelings for him had never gone away, either, but hearing it from him gave her hope.

Their gazes held as they leaned closer. He held back, so she took the reins and closed the distance. The instant her lips touched his, it was as though every memory of kissing him came back–soft, strong lips molding perfectly to hers. The tingle that raced down her spine. And the zing of electricity that shot along every nerve from her mouth to her breasts to her core. Pulling back before she tried to push him back on the bench and do things that would frighten Mother Nature, she sucked in a breath.

She nodded slowly. “Okay. You and me.”

He glided his arms around her and held her close. They sat on the bench, the breeze blowing under the pine trees and the sound of the surf in the distance. Resting in his arms, she knew she was falling for him once again.

18

Aaron stared at the body on the shore and wished he had a cup of Belinda’s coffee in his hand. He didn’t need the jolt of caffeine because the corpse was enough of a jolt to his stomach. He needed it for the comfort it always provided. It might have been Bess’s blend of coffee beans, but Belinda’s hand would pass it to him, making him feel like it was her way of saying, “Have a good day.”

Now, staring at the gruesome sight, he wasn’t sure anything would have made this a good day.

“Christ,” Sam cursed under his breath as he stood beside Aaron. “What a way to start the morning.”

The call came from a renter staying south of Baytown in a beachfront house on the bay.

“I have to tell you,” Aaron said, looking at the house behind them. “Finding out whose property we were going to be on made me think someone was playing a joke on us. I mean, how the hell could we end up having to deal with Harry Malroney again?”

Two months ago, Sam and Aaron had to deal with the unpleasant homeowner of a million-dollar beach house when thieves had come in the night and stolen his kayaks, canoes, and even TVs from one of his rental homes. Now, getting another callfrom the irate man who was already blustering and threatening to call the governor was not who they wanted to deal with.

“I thought the same thing,” Sam said. “But dead bodies in the water washing up on the sand don’t get to choose which homeowner they land on.”

They had both noted and observed the body, ensuring that the tide would not carry it out into the bay again. But until the medical examiner arrived, they were unable to touch anything.

Already taking notes on the man’s clothing, Aaron muttered, “He’s not dressed like a man going out fishing.” A gray suit jacket was worn over a white button-up shirt, along with gray slacks and gray socks, and one lone shoe completed his apparel. The white shirt was stained around the area of a small hole in the chest.

Trying to think of something to talk about besides the corpse resting several feet away, Aaron asked, “How are Hayley and the kids?”

Even though they were starting a murder investigation, Sam’s expression relaxed as he smiled widely. “They’re good. Thank God, we’re all good.”

Sam and Hayley finally recognized and admitted their feelings for each other, and she and the kids moved out to the shore. Last month, he and Sam were tangled in investigations too close to home when the kids discovered two skeletal remains in Sam’s backyard while digging for dinosaur bones. Sam and Hayley had spent weeks making sure the kids were all right while he and Sam searched for the identity of the two victims. One was from over a hundred years ago, and the other from about thirty years ago. Unfortunately, Hayley had been caught up in the discovery of who murdered the second victim.

“I can go my entire life and never have cases like those again,” Sam said, shaking his head.

“Seriously. So when is the wedding?”

Sam grinned again. “Right before Christmas. The kids will have time off, and we’ll take them to Florida with us.”

“A honeymoon with the kids?”

Sam shrugged. “Right now, we want to make sure the kids are there to celebrate with us. Hayley and I will escape for a weekend sometime in the spring.”

Before they had a chance to talk further, Harry Malroney’s voice boomed out over the dune. “Sounds like the medical examiner is here, and he’s giving her an earful,” Aaron said. They turned to see deputies having to hold back the angry homeowner as the medical examiner walked down the private wooden pier to the sandy beach.

“Cora,” Sam and Aaron both greeted simultaneously.

Dr. Cora Wadsworth was now serving as the medical examiner for the two Virginia counties on the Eastern Shore. Aaron wasn’t sure of her age because she looked young, yet her knowledge of murder scenes appeared extensive. She had transferred from a major hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, to the rural Eastern Shore. He figured a story existed, but she kept her conversations strictly professional.

She slipped on her PPE suit, pulling the paper booties over her shoes as she approached. The detectives greeted her as she slipped under the yellow tape the deputies had used to mark off the area around the body.

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