Page 60 of Silent Threat
First thing this morning, Cole had canceled all his scheduled acupuncture treatments.
Since that left a hole in his schedule today, he’d gone swimming earlier than usual, and ...Annie.
Her mad dive into the pool, the way his heart stopped, her see-through shirt, the way his heart stopped again—he didn’t know what to do with any of that. He knew what hewantedto do. He wanted to kiss her again.
He didn’t go to her morning feeding with her. He’d tracked her down and offered, but she’d said Detective Finnegan would be stopping by. The man had more questions and wanted to look at the house and yard again in the light of day.
Maybe he’d find footprints.
Instead of going with Annie, Cole had texted his mother, checking in—she was fine, other than some big drama at the knitting club. After she finally let him go—once he agreed that Letty was definitely copying her colors—he went for a run and bumped into Trevor on his way back. Trevor had been sitting in the courtyard with a sketch pad.
“Didn’t know you were an artist,” Cole said.
“Planning a new barn for my mother. She loves her horses.” He showed Cole his drawings. “I work on it every day. Takes my mind off other things. Kind of relaxing.”
Cole was glad to see the guy relaxed. He left Trev with a few encouraging words and went back to his room to text his CO with an update. They’d agreed on regular check-ins.
His CO texted back.
Msgs are still going to Yemen
2 in the past 3 days
And Cole thought,Shit.
Then noon rolled around, and Cole found himself in the parking lot once again.
“Need some company?” he asked when Annie showed up.
Her gaze hovered in the vicinity of his neck, and she wouldn’t look any higher. “Thanks, but I’m good. I have some errands to run. I won’t be back for a while.”
He shouldn’t have said anything about her nipples back at the pool. The sight of her clothes stuck to her body had poleaxed him. His body stirred at the memory.
“I’m going crazy in this place,” he said. “I need to get out for a while. You said we could be friends.”
After a moment, she gave a reluctant nod.
Relief loosened the tension in his shoulders. “Truck?”
“Car. I have to get groceries.”
He went around to the Prius’s passenger side.
“Finnegan have anything new?” he asked as he got in.
“Not yet.”
“I don’t like the idea of you going to the house alone.”
She didn’t tell him to mind his own business, but she looked as if the words were on the tip of her tongue.
Don’t think about her tongue.
They took care of the animals and bought groceries. They also stopped by the small PD so she could be fingerprinted, which took less than ten minutes.
When she drove by her house, he said, “You missed the driveway.”
“The food is for my grandfather.” The skin tightened around her eyes. “Sylvia, his housekeeper, has a bad back. She can’t carry heavy grocery bags anymore.”
