Page 29 of Loving My Enemy

“Elka, please.”

I looked down at myself, naked from the waist up with my skirt up around my hips, I looked exactly like what he thought. “Get out! Get out!” I pushed at his chest until he moved and jumped off the table as the weight of my humiliation brought me to my knees.

“Elka.” He reached out for me and I smacked his hands away.

“Get out! Get out! GET. OUT!” The more he tried to talk, the louder I screamed, feeling more worthless than I had ever felt in my whole damn life. More than when I realized my parents had forgotten about me and left me at the funeral home. It had taken them just three days to forget about me. “Go. Please.” I glanced up into his horrified face then away, not daring to look up again until I heard the front door close behind him.

I scrambled to my feet and made sure all the doors and windows were locked before making my way to the bathroom for a long hot bath that, in the end, did absolutely nothing to soothe my sore muscles or wounded pride.

Leaving Tulip sounded really good, but as I made my way back to the kitchen later that night, I knew I couldn’t leave until after I kicked butt at the cook-off.

Tears fell as I got the first chili going and left it to simmer. Tulip had just started to feel like home but now it just felt like my old home.

Which meant it was time to go.

Chapter 17

Antonio

It was the middle of the damn night and I was wide awake, staring at the blades on the ceiling fan as they gently tore through the air with their hypnoticwhooshingsound, making a mockery of my inability to sleep. And all of it, my sleepless nights, my anger, and even my guilt, was Elka’s fault.

Elka and her lies.

And the look on her face when I entered her for the first time. Thefirst fucking time!I still couldn’t believe it. That look had been equal parts anguish and desire, and completely unforgettable. Hot as hell. But right on the heels of that had come another look: tear-filled blue eyes as she kicked my sorry ass out of her house. Not that I didn’t deserve it. I did. That and a whole lot more. I was pretty sure this would get me a special seat right in front of the fires of hell.

What in the hell was I thinking, entering her so roughly? But I knew that was exactly the problem. Ihadn’tbeen thinking. Not clearly or else I would have taken my time the way I wanted to, instead of trying to punish her for making me want her when I knew I shouldn’t. Because her body might be innocent, but shedefinitely wasn’t. Still, I couldn’t sleep because I screwed up and I needed to make it right. Somehow.

Because there was no way on god’s green earth she would let me within touching distance of her now.

The first thing I needed to do was figure her out. Make sense of why a twenty-four-year-old woman from a well-to-do family would simply up and leave. With her brother’s life insurance money. It had to be something nefarious, if not out-right illegal. She didn’t kill him; he’d died of natural causes from a lifelong illness, but everything else was suspicious.

Really fucking suspicious.

When it became clear that my conscious wouldn’t let me get any sleep, I took a hot shower to get me going, got dressed, and made my way into the office. The dirty little secret of law enforcement was the never-ending piles of paperwork, and since I didn’t have anything else to do, now was as good a time as any. But it turned out that paperwork wasn’t all that time consuming when you needed it as a distraction, which sent me in search of another one. This time my sights were set on my favorite distraction.

Elka Nyland.

I went digging into her background. Hersandher family’s. I found nothing to confirm my suspicions. But nothing to ease them either. Miles and Clara Nyland appeared to be good people with no criminal history, plenty of money, and two perfect children. I hadn’t been able to find even a whisper of scandal that could explain Elka’s sudden disappearance. Nothing made sense.

“Still hunting?”

I looked up at the sound of Tyson’s voice and frowned. “What are you doing here so early?”

“It’s nine o’clock. How long have you been here?” Ty stepped inside my office and shut the door, a scowl darkening his face. “Well?”

“Couldn’t sleep so I came in early, but I didn’t clock in so you’re off the hook, sheriff.”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking, deputy.”

I knew I was on dangerous ground. Ty was one of my closest friends but when he used his sheriff’s voice, there would be hell to pay. “I couldn’t sleep so I came in to catch up on paperwork. Did that, but it was still early, so I kept on doing my job.” No matter my own personal feelings about what Elka might or might not be up to, the PI had given us a reason to dig. Period.

“And has all this digging produced anything? At all?” Arms crossed, Ty wore a smug know-it-all grin.

“Nothing concrete.”

“Nothing, period,” he confirmed, and I nodded. “You could just ask her, you know.”

“Tried that,” I admitted sheepishly, hoping like hell Ty couldn’t see the guilt written all over my face. “Went horribly. As horribly as it possibly could have gone? Double it. No, triple it.” Without a hint of hesitation, I told him about our night. My surprise and how hurt Elka seemed by the whole damn evening. “So now I’m trying like hell to confirm my suspicions.”

---