Page 83 of Tell Me (Savannah 3)

In a burst of heat she convulsed, gasping, panting, hearing his primal groan as his muscles tightened, then released, and his breath came out in a rush against her ear.

She went limp against him, but still he held her close, breathing hard, his slick body pressed intimately to hers.

“What got into you?” he asked on a gasp, and she laughed, realizing they were still joined.

“I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.”

Chuckling, the water still flowing, he kissed the top of her wet head and finally took a step backward, their bodies disconnecting. “Wanna hear the good news?”

“Mmm. Tell me.”

“At least we know we aren’t making a sex tape.”

“What a relief.” She turned and wound her arms around his neck, warm water spraying her face. “You know, Reed, while you were washing me? I think you missed a spot,” she whispered and kissed him hard on the lips.

“Did I?”

“Uh huh.”

“And I think you’re trying to mess with me.”

“See, you are good at your job,” she said and dragged him downward into the tub, where they were crunched in a tangle of arms and legs. “From now on, I’ll just call you Ace.”

His laugh was a deep rumble. “And you’ll be Bambi.”

“Bambi? Why?”

“Because you, darlin’, are trying to bamboozle me, and it’s just not going to work.”

“We’ll just see about that,” she said, because she knew, deep in her heart, she wasn’t going to quit her investigation. She had a job to do and she’d do it, with or without his help. For now, though, she’d close her mind to everything that had to do with the Blondell O’Henry case and pay attention to the man she was going to marry.

CHAPTER 25

Any way you cut it, the drive to Charleston was going to take more than two hours, probably closer to three. One way. And it would have to be in a rental car, as Nikki’s Honda was still being repaired. Well, so be it. As soon as Reed left for work in the morning, she found her way to the nearest agency, rented a subcompact, and was on her way. She’d mentioned to Reed that she planned to drive north to locate Lawrence Thompson, and he hadn’t been happy about it. He’d sternly told her to keep in contact. Their argument of the night before had diffused a little, and he was being more rational, accepting the fact that her job did come with a few built-in dangers, though he didn’t like it and made that point very clear as he’d dressed for work.

“Just be smart,” he’d cautioned as he found his keys near the front door. “And be careful.”

“I will.”

“And for God’s sake, keep me posted.”

“Don’t worry,” she’d said, bussing his freshly shaven cheek, the scent of aftershave tickling her nostrils. “I will. Promise.”

With that, he’d rolled his eyes and left, his own job calling. “I’m holding you to it,” he’d yelled over his shoulder.

As soon as the back door slammed shut, she’d gotten to work. Her calls to Jada Hill had gone unreturned, and she wasn’t having much luck with anyone else, including Steve Manning, the stoner whom Amity had dated in high school and who was now a security guard for On the River, a hotel not six blocks from where she worked. She’d learned when he would be on duty and planned to visit him when she returned from Charleston. Brad Holbrook, after college, had taken a job in Japan with an import-export business; as far as she could tell, he was married, with three stair-step children, and though he’d been in and out of the country, his work kept him mainly on the West Coast. According to his widowed mother, he “never came and visited, not like Peter,” who obviously, at least for the time being, was the “good” and favored son.

She would still love to talk to Brad, whose dreams of a career in major league baseball had fizzled out at Georgia Tech. Since Brad had been in school in Atlanta when Amity had been killed, he might have some insight into what had happened to her. She figured it was a shot in the dark, but worth the try.

The one person she did connect with was Ruby, Mikado’

s dog groomer. “Does that little one need an appointment already?” Ruby had asked.

“Not yet,” Nikki said. “I was actually calling about something you said about your brothers and Blondell O’Henry.”

“Oh. All I can say is that they thought she was the hottest thing to ever hit Savannah. Woowee!”

“Did they ever say who was dating her? I mean, before Calvin?”

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