Page 136 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
SADIE
Miles approaches, holding a cocktail. Looks like bourbon or scotch.
He rakes his gaze over me, stopping at the black skirt—the one I wore the night before.
He looks so good. I want to go to him, go up on my tiptoes and kiss him, feel the rasp of his late-day whiskers against my lips. He’s in jeans and a T-shirt, both dusty. His hair’s a mess and it looks like he spent a hard day working the ranch.
“Detective Hopkins.” His voice is deep and rumbly. “I thought it would be Peterson at the door.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because our housekeeper said the detective from yesterday wanted to see me. I just assumed…”
“If you think Mark Peterson will go anywhere on a Saturday evening that isn’t the pool hall, you don’t know him very well.”
“He came to your house this morning,” Miles reminds me.
“That was for me to do his work for him,” I mutter.
“I know him as well as I care to.” He looks away from me. “What do you want, Detective?”
I chew on my lower lip and inhale. His scent rushes into me—all woods and spice and man. “I’m so sorry, Miles. About this morning. I made a complete mess of everything.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, just as he did this morning. His biceps bulge, and I remember how solid every inch of him is. He meets my gaze.
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
I bite my lip. “How can I make this right?”
“Wearing that skirt’s a nice touch, but you fucked up, Sadie.”
I nod earnestly. “I know. I’m so pissed at myself. But you heard me. I leveled with Mark.”
“Eventually.”
“Yeah…eventually. I don’t have a billion dollars coming my way. I need my job.”
“Don’t toss the will in my face.”
“Fine, but I do need my job. You know it’s not a good thing for a detective to be in a relationship with a suspect. I know you’re not one. I told you that and you know I told Mark that. But he thinks you are and he’s my boss.”
I glance down at the glossy hardwood floor at my feet. “I don’t know what this is between us, but I like it. It’s…different. While I feel like I’ve known you forever, I haven’t. And you don’t know me.”
He’s quiet—too quiet—so I push on.
“Aren’t I entitled to one mistake? Are you going to tell me you’ve never fucked anything up?”
He still doesn’t reply.
Moments pass, and just as I’m about to give up, Chance Bridger walks toward us.
“Hey, Sadie. What are you doing here?”
“I just came to talk to Miles.”
“Update on the case? Serving a warrant?”
I shake my head. “No. Nothing like that.”
