Page 12 of Tangled Up In You

She was caught by a pair of strong male arms.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Adam asked in bemusement as his crutches fell to the ground.

Locked against his hard chest, his arms still around her, the last thing she wanted to do was kill him. Her heart was pounding, sending blood racing through her body, tingling every nerve. She was filled with a reckless desire. Impulsively, she acted on that feeling. She put her hands on his face and then went up on tiptoe to take the kiss she wanted.

ChapterFour

Adam's surpriseturned to passion as he took her spontaneous kiss to another level. And when they finally broke apart, his blue eyes were burning with a fire that sent another wave of heat through her.

"Damn," he muttered.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then she took a step back, her breath still coming fast. "So that happened."

She felt like there were other things she needed to say, but she couldn't find any words. Adam wasn't helping. He was just staring at her, his gaze unreadable.

"What are you thinking?" she finally asked.

"That you're going to be trouble."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you."

"I'm not complaining."

She pushed her hair behind her ears, feeling a little awkward after her impulsive kiss. "Thanks for catching me. When the door opened, I was startled, and I lost my footing."

"I thought you were going to lock the door."

"It was locked and then someone came in, and I forgot to lock it again. I'm glad I didn't knock you over this time. I'm really not trying to kill you."

He gave her a dry smile. "All evidence to the contrary." His gaze swept the room. "You've made some progress."

"A little." She drew in a breath and let it out, wondering why he'd come back, and then she remembered… "What about you? Did you find out something about the break-in? Is that why you're here again?"

"Yes. I reviewed the police report. The alarm was tripped at nine-fourteen p.m. last Friday night, one week ago."

"And Phoebe died last Thursday."

"One day prior to the break-in," he confirmed. "A key was used to enter the store. The alarm company responded at nine-twenty p.m. No one was in the shop when they arrived. The company contacted Phoebe's attorney, George Marconi, who arranged for the locks to be changed that night. No one could determine if anything had been taken."

"You're saying that someone came in with a key?"

"Yes. Who would have a key to the shop?"

"I don't know. I would assume the manager, but the attorney told me she left Friday morning, the day after Phoebe died. I don't know if anyone else worked here. The attorney also said that Phoebe didn't discuss the business with him, except to say she wanted to leave the building to me, which includes the shop, the yoga studio, and the apartment upstairs, where she was living."

"What kind of condition is the apartment in?"

"It's cluttered. It feels very much like Phoebe just stepped out for an hour. I couldn't sleep on the bed last night. It felt too strange."

He gave her a sympathetic look. "It's never easy when someone dies."

"I miss her more than I imagined. I always thought I'd see her again, but now I know I won't." Her voice trailed away. "Phoebe didn't have any close relatives, but it's still surprising that she left everything to me when I hadn't seen her since I was a teenager."

"You obviously made an impact on her."

"I loved her. But distance came between us. Should I be worried that someone is going to come back?"

"Well, the locks are new, so no one will enter with a key besides you. And there haven't been any reported incidents since last Friday."

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