Page 30 of Question Everything

“I want this, Kyle. I want you,” she said, her voice smoky with desire.

That was all he needed to hear. It no longer mattered if she had someone out there looking for her, or if she had a past that she couldn’t remember. There had never been a time in his life when he felt this emotionally attracted to anyone. She was vulnerable and let him see that, making him fully invested in what happened to her next.Christ!he thought to himself.I didn’teven feel this way about Meghan, and I almost married her.What a mistake that would have been! Knowing how he felt about Mia, knowing that she might not be his for long heated his blood even further.

For the first time since the incident with his service revolver, he wanted to feel something other than self-loathing. He wanted to lose himself in this woman who was more of a mystery than any case he’d investigated while working as a detective.Unsolved murders were less complicated than Mia,he thought. Then he realized that unsolved murders always had unintended victims. He didn’t want Mia to feel victimized. He used every ounce of his self-restraint and pulled himself back out of her embrace.

“Kyle?” she questioned. “What’s wrong?”

“Mia. I want nothing more than you in my arms, but is this something we really want to do now? I think we should we wait until we know more and know who’s looking for you.”

He watched her reaction. It was as if he’d just poured an entire bucket of ice water over her. She shrank away from him.

“Right. That would be proper, now, would it not?” She sat back against the couch, a protective, invisible shield held together by the arms crossed over her chest, keeping him at bay.

If he had a quick thought that her use of language had changed to be stiff and formal, he chalked it up to his sudden rejection of her affection.

“We have nothing but time on our side, Mia. We’re here with little else to do but try and figure out what happened on that night, why you drove off the road. I have faith that we’ll get to the truth, and once that happens, if you still want me, I’ll be here for you.”

“Even if I’m supposed to be with someone else?”

“I don’t think that you are. I don’t know why, but you don’t seem like the type of woman who would kiss another man if you were attached to someone. Call it gut instinct.”

“And you always trust your instincts?” she asked, moving further away from him.

“It’s how I moved from beat cop to detective. I haven’t used it in a while, but I think I want to flex it again. I want to figure this out so that we can move forward together.”

“And if we can’t. Move forward together, I mean. What happens then?”

“I’m not going to think about that tonight, Mia. We both need some sleep. Let me show you where Sarah’s room is and then you can pick one for yourself.”

“Very well then,” was all she said in response.

This time it didn’t go unnoticed, that stiff and formal response. He felt as though her outer veneer was beginning to crack. And when it did, he’d get to the truth.

After a miserable nightof tossing and turning, Kyle woke to the sound of an icy rain peppering the roof. He sat up in bedand looked out the floor to ceiling glass windows that framed one entire wall of the room. When his family had decided to expand the house, they had made it a point to want to bring the beauty of the outside in wherever possible. Each bedroom that faced the ocean on both levels of the house showcased the magnificent National Seashore. His grandfather had originally bought the large parcel of land before any restrictions were put in place by the government and so his family’s home was one of the very few allowed here, so close to the beach. That original investment, small though it was, had grown beyond measure. While Kyle knew that his family would never sell the property, but rather pass it down through the generations to come, it was still remarkable to know that what they had was priceless.

The sky was slate grey, and the surf was rough, churning up both sand and seaweed with a powerful force.It must be miserable out there,Kyle thought.No surfers out to brave this weather.He smiled to himself. When they were young, he and his brothers loved a good rainstorm. A hurricane was even better. The more severe the wind, the higher the surf. Nothing could keep them out of the ocean.

He pushed the blankets back and climbed out of bed, pulling on his sweatpants, and heading into the ensuite bathroom. He brushed his teeth, splashed some cold water on his face, the day-old stubble rough against his fingers. Then he quietly made his way past Mia’s room and down the stairs into the kitchen. The groceries were still out in the open, so he started putting them away in the walk-in pantry that flanked one side of the large space.

The kitchen had been carefully planned, with its extra-long cement countertop that had one of the two deep sinks that got constant use in the summertime. There were six stools tucked underneath and, on the wall, across from the pantry was a table that sat sixteen. Aside from Sibby’s house outside of Boston, thiswas the place his family gathered most often. In his mind’s eye, Kyle could hear the loud laughter and conversation that was the hallmark of any communal breakfast or dinner shared here. The stark contrast of it being just him, Mia, and the baby made the place feel almost empty. At least the boiler had finally kicked in and was churning out heat; he made a note to call the oil company to be sure that they continued to receive deliveries for as long as they were there.

On his last trip into the pantry from the kitchen, he heard Mia softly talking to Sarah. They must have just come downstairs. He wasn’t sorry about what happened between them the previous night, but he hoped she didn’t feel awkward about it, either. They were stuck up here together for now and they had to set some boundaries.

“Good morning, ladies,” he said with a smile as he stepped back into the kitchen. “How did you both sleep?”

“Sarah did great,” Mia replied.

From the tell-tale dark circles beneath her eyes, Kyle knew that the same didn’t apply to Mia.

“That’s good,” he said. “I was just going to make some coffee. What would you like for breakfast?”

“Coffee would be good for now,” she said, pulling a stool away from the counter and sitting on it. “It looks treacherous out there,” she said, glancing out at the ocean.

“Yeah. I think it’s a good day to be inside. I’m going to move the car into the garage. I’ll probably be scraping ice off the windshield for a bit. It’s nasty weather, but once the sun returns, we can go out onto the beach. I know you’re going to love it.”

“This house is beautiful. I can see why you’re drawn to it.”

He smiled and went to find the grinder for the coffee beans. In a few short moments he had everything ready and was just waiting for the brew to drip through the filter so that he could fill their mugs. He could tell she felt as uncomfortable as he didafter last night’s kiss and realized that it would be impossible to ignore it, no matter how much he wanted to do just that.

---