Page 67 of The Luminosity of Loriana Harper

Please let it be two minutes. Please let it be two minutes.

Colton pointed to the sofa.

Mitch, sensing the inevitable—and not wanting a fight—moved to the living room. After a long moment, he sat.

“You want to put on socks?” The cop eyed Mitch’s feet.

“You won’t be here long enough for them to get cold.” A bald-faced lie—his feet were already blocks of ice. Still a minor discomfort to move this thing along—whatever it was—was a small price to pay.

Colton eyed the rocking chair, Plato’s chair, and the other end of the couch. After clearly dismissing all three, he headed to the fireplace where he stood leaning against the mantel. A man without a care in the world.

Mitch waited.

Suddenly Plato strolled into the room. As he passed Colton, he arched his back and hissed. Then he leapt onto his chair and glared. Finally, as if suddenly remembering his manners, he glanced over at Mitch. He appeared to give a subtle nod.I’ve got your back.Which was patently absurd. Except obviously some animosity existed between the cop and the feline. Had Colton been here before? Was that the reason the cat was pissed? Or did he simply not like strangers in the house.

He liked me.

Well, so maybe the cat had good taste.

After a long moment, Colton’s lips twitched. “Nice to see you again, Plato.”

Okay, so staking his territory. He’d been here before. As a lover? As a friend?

Or, most disturbingly, as a cop?

I probably don’t want to know.

No, he probably didn’t.

“Why are you here? Clearly it’s not a social call.”

The cop’s dark-brown eyes flashed. They matched his dark-brown hair and gave him the look of tall, dark, and dangerous.

Illusion or reality. Hard to say.

“Does the name Marjorie Dawes mean anything to you?”

Playing dumb would get him nowhere. Would likely make things worse. “You know it does.”

“And where were you this weekend?”

“What is this about?”

“I ask the questions.” Sharp. Rude. Succinct.

And enough to intimidate him. “Friday night I was at the parade. Saturday I was at Healing Horses Ranch fixing their computer system. Sunday was a day off. Yesterday evening I was at Fifties with Loriana and Marnie.”

“And you came back here with Loriana?”

“As you can see.”Don’t antagonize him.

“Between Saturday evening and last night, did anyone see you?”

His stomach dropped. “No. I was online placing orders for equipment, working on my website, and arranging some advertising.”

“Which you could have done from anywhere.”

“True. But I didn’t. And my computer will show I did all that from the comfort of my home.”

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