Page 62 of Heating Up (Nugget)
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and strolled out of the office. It wasn’t until he was gone that Dana realized she didn’t know why he’d come to her office in the first place.
Chapter 12
The kiss had left him short of breath, not to mention that the erection he was still sporting was killing him. As he sat in his truck, grasping the steering wheel in the real estate office’s parking lot, he couldn’t figure out why the kiss had thrown him off-kilter like it had.
It was an amazing kiss, no doubt about it. But he’d had other amazing kisses. He’d like to chalk up these unidentifiable feelings he had for Dana to the fact that after seven months he was sex starved and he found her extremely attractive. But that didn’t explain why when he woke up this morning he’d had an urgent need to see her. So much so that he’d immediately showered, dressed, and drove to her office with absolutely no excuse for showing up. Thank goodness she hadn’t asked because his only answer would’ve been, “Hell if I know. I just needed to see you.”
Really, he should still be mourning the loss of Sue and figuring out why their relationship had gone bad. If it were up to Sloane, he’d be at a Dr. Phil retreat right now, exploring his feelings. The thought made him shudder. The strange part about Sue was that he didn’t even miss her. Sometimes he missed the idea of her. But when he tried to visualize what exactly that was, it wasn’t Sue’s face he saw. Rather it was the security he’d felt in knowing he was in a partnership with a woman who his family admired and adored. A woman more polished than a fireman’s dress shoes. A woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. Except him. She hadn’t been able to get him.
Even worse, he’d recently realized that having her happily married to someone else was actually a relief.
He drove the short distance to the Ponderosa. He needed coffee and breakfast, even though it was coming up on lunchtime. Steak and eggs would bridge the two, he told himself. His entire family teased him about his bottomless stomach.
Inside, the jukebox played country-western music. Oddly enough, songs about tractors and truck stops were starting to grow on him. From the moment he’d shown up in Nugget to visit his sister, the mountain town had gotten inside his head and wouldn’t let go. He loved the countryside, the rugged mountains, and the towering trees. And he found that the people here suited him. Welcoming, close-knit, and always ready for a celebration of some sort. It appealed to his social side. Aidan loved people and they usually loved him back. There was nothing better than going to the Ponderosa or the Bun Boy and seeing a bunch of people he knew and striking up conversations with all of them.
It also worked as an investigative tool, which was partially the reason he’d wanted a table in the restaurant instead of a place at the bar. Being out in the open would give him better access to diners. On the way, one of the owners was leaving with a sweet bundle in her arms.
“My girl Lilly.” Aidan reached over and bussed the top of the baby’s head with a kiss as she reached her chubby arms out to him, shrieking in delight.
The owner—Aidan had seen her around the restaurant but had forgotten her name—said, “How do you know my daughter?”
“I thought she was Nate’s daughter.”
The woman laughed. “She is. She’s also Mariah and my daughter. I’m Sophie.”
“Pleased to officially meet you, Sophie, although I feel like I’ve known you for weeks, ever since I started eating at the Ponderosa. Now, Lilly and I go way back.”
“I can see that.” Sophie let him lift Lilly out of her arms. “She doesn’t typically let people hold her. Anything new on the sporting goods fire?”
“Not yet. But if you or any of your employees saw anything out of the ordinary . . . anything that looking back on it now seems odd . . . I’d like to hear about it.”
“Give me an example,” she said, watching Lilly play with the sunglasses around Aidan’s neck.
“A stranger lurking around the store. Someone familiar who seemed particularly nervous the day of the fire. Even if it didn’t seem suspicious at the time, it might mean something now.”
“Okay, I’ll spread the word. So you definitely think it was intentional?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
“Who would want to do something like that?” she asked, tugging Aidan’s shades and neck cord away from Lilly. “Your glasses look expensive.”
They were, but he didn’t care. “Sometimes it’s someone with a vendetta . . . a person who was fired or thought he or she was ill treated by the business. Sometimes it’s someone who gets excited by lighting fires, and other times it’s a person who likes to watch the spectacle. People running from the building. Emergency crews responding with their sirens blaring. That sort of thing. Then there are those who have something financial to gain by it. Sadly, there are all kinds of reasons.”
“Poor Carl. I hope you don’t think it’s him.” Sophie took Lilly from him when she wouldn’t stop playing with his glasses.
He usually didn’t talk about who was or wasn’t a suspect. But as far as he could tell, Carl had no motive to burn his shop down. He didn’t even own the building, and his deductible was so high, he wouldn’t make much from the insurance money on the few store items he’d lost. “That’s not the direction we’re looking.”
“Thank goodness. I’m glad to hear that. I’ve got to get going, but help yourself to any table in the place.”
He chose one right smack in the middle of the restaurant. And within five minutes the barber helped himself to the seat across from Aidan.
“You looking at those Rigsby kids?”
Ever since Harlee had mentioned the Nugget Mafia, Aidan had been hoping to rub elbows with one of the town’s “power brokers.” “Excuse me?”
“For your fire. The Rigsby boys are looking real good for it as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yeah?” Aidan responded. “You think I should focus on them, huh? What’s your evidence?”
