Page 14 of Stripped Bare

“I don’t know what I feel,” she admitted.“I’m a fountain of emotions right now, and I’m not used to that.”

“It’s hard to be detached when it’s family,” he agreed.“Or when you might feel something you never have before.”

“I don’t—”

“Will you at least admit there’s more than sex between us?”

She nodded.“Yes, but I don’t know how to do this.You’re the best sex of my life.There’s no denying that.Can we continue without labeling it for now?”

“Best sex of your life, huh?”he teased, but there was no missing the emotion in his gaze.She saw it through the grin he forced onto his lips.

“You have to know how amazing you are,” she said, working with him to lighten the mood.“I lose myself when I’m with you.I’ve never had sex like this before.”

“It’s the same for me,” he admitted, leaning in to give her a soft kiss.“Now, we better finish getting dressed.Nicole will be here soon.”

Stace startled.She’d completely forgotten about Nicole stopping by.Possibly because she’d already spoken to her sister’s friend and got nothing of use from her.Still, she needed to focus.

“And your friend?Ally?When will she be here?”she asked.

“This evening,” Shep answered.“I told her to pack an overnight bag.”

“Okay.”She sat to pull on her shoes.She felt the weight of his gaze on her as if he didn’t trust her relaxed acceptance.“She can have the room you’re not using.”

“Stace?”

She ignored his question.

“Nicole should be here in another hour.I’ll let you take the lead and ask the questions this time.In fact, I’ll move to the other room after introductions are made.I don’t want to influence what she says or what you ask in any way.We can compare notes afterward, see if anything different came up with you.”

“Sounds good,” Shep agreed, but before she could move to the door and out of the bedroom, he pulled her close again and took her mouth with another scorching kiss she felt all the way to her toes.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”she asked, breathless again.

“Just because,” he said with a smile on his lips.

She was smart enough to know it was to assure her she had nothing to fear with Ally coming here.

Chapter Seven

Stace wasn’t surprised when Shep wasn’t able to find out anything new from Nicole.The girl had told Shep the same things she’d shared with Stace.Chloe didn’t normally stop at the tavern, so her Friday night visit had been an impulse.They didn’t go there, preferring to go out closer to the college they both attended and hang with friends.

Nicole had started crying then, and Stace had felt those tears as if they were hers.Her sister’s friend had looked her right in the eyes and asked if she thought there was any chance Chloe could still be alive.Stace wanted to believe there was a possibility, didn’t want to take the hope away from Nicole.But finding her sister alive was becoming more and more unlikely.Still, she fought for hope.Taking a deep breath, she nodded and felt a pain in her heart as Nicole accepted her nod.

“She’s going to come back to us,” Nicole sobbed.“I knew it.I knew you wouldn’t give up.”

When Nicole finally left, Stace needed to get out, to do something, and thankfully, Shep understood.They went to the police station and spoke with the lead investigator again.Shep was great, putting everyone at ease, and they’d eventually been able to speak to the officer who’d been first on the scene.Shep even took the time to hunt down and speak directly with the 9-1-1 operator who’d answered the call.

Still, nothing.No “aha, this is what I missed” moment.Nothing to point them in a new direction, hell any direction.Nothing.And the four weeks since her sister had been abducted were quickly turning into five.

How did a woman disappear and no one had any idea where or why?There was always a direction.When Stace took on a recovery, there was always a starting point that led her in the right direction.Yet, here, there had been no other reported cases of women drugged in the area.Which didn’t mean it hadn’t happened, only that it hadn’t been reported.It also meant that no one had died from an attempted date rape drug gone wrong, either.There would be a record of that.

They’d spent the whole day circling and circling and found nothing.Not a single thing to help find Chloe.It was getting harder and harder to keep holding on to hope.Every time she returned to the home she’d bought for them, it was like a knife to her heart.Even Shep’s presence couldn’t prevent it.

“Ally will be here soon,” Shep said, breaking her out of her thoughts.“Maybe she’ll be able to pick up on something and help.”

Yeah, the fiancée of his best friend who he had almost fallen for.A psychic who could potentially find a clue where every other avenue had failed.Ally here to save the day and remind Shep how amazing she was.That bitchy thought made Stace realize she needed a moment alone.It was a good thing that Shep’s friend was willing to drop whatever she had going on in her life and offer to help.Stace knew that.

“I’m going to head up for a bit,” she said.“Take a nice long run on the treadmill then hit the shower.”

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