"Two things," he told her. "First, for not joining me in the shower even though you wanted to," he said and pulled his jeans back on. "And secondly, for having that girlie gel soap that no self-respecting man would use." He grabbed his shirt off the floor where it had fallen last night, shaking it slightly to get some of the wrinkles out. "Hopefully, the smell will wear off soon. I can't go around town smelling like a flower." He winked at her as he said, "Hard to be taken seriously as I hand out a speeding ticket when I smell like flowers."
She laughed again but backed up when he started for her. "You're going to be late," she reminded him.
He grabbed her anyway. "It might be worth it," he said and bent down to kiss her. "Get into the shower while I make breakfast."
Her eyes widened with the reminder about what she'd come home to last night. "No. No breakfast. Not with the food in that fridge," she told him firmly, pulling back and stepping out of his arms.
He looked at her curiously, understanding that she wasn't being coy. Something about the food in the fridge genuinely frightened her. "What's wrong with the food in your fridge?" he asked carefully, grabbing his belt, adjusting his pistol and other police accessories.
Halley yanked open a drawer, grabbing a pair of jeans. "That's not my food. That's the stuff that I discovered last night and then called you. The fully stocked fridge was my first clue that someone had been in my house again."
She grabbed a sweatshirt out of another drawer, unaware of Mike standing very still as he absorbed what she'd just said. Halley opened another drawer and then almost fell over her tangled feet as she tried to get away from the drawer. Or more specifically, what was in the drawer.
"What's wrong?" he demanded, coming closer, extending a hand as if to shield her in some way. He looked into the drawer, expecting to find a snake or something lethal. "It's just underwear, honey," he said, poking through the drawer. "Very nice underwear," he said with a grin. "But nothing to harm you."
Halley shook her head, clutching her robe against her chest. "Underwear isn't supposed to be in that drawer," she whispered, unaware of how her lips had turned white with fear. "My bras are normally in that drawer and I definitely don't put lavender sachets in my drawers," she explained.
Mike looked at her terrified features, then back down at the drawer. "You didn't … "
"No! I didn't! I wouldn't!"
He looked around again, then his sharp eyes zeroing in on her pale features. Settling his big hands on her waist, he pulled her closer. "You mean, last night's phone call wasn't just a ruse to get me out here?" he asked her carefully.
Halley was focused on the drawer but with that question, she tried to jerk back out of his arms. He wouldn't let her so she smacked his shoulder. Not that it hurt him in any way. She hadn't smacked him hard and besides, he was a big guy with too many muscles that would absorb any blows she sent his way. "I didn't call you out here as a ruse!" she snapped, furious with him for thinking something like that. "Is that what you thought last night?"
He laughed softly. "Well, the thought crossed my mind when there wasn't anyone around and there wasn't any evidence of burglary. Your stuff is all exactly where it was the last time I was here."
She shook her head. "Not my underwear," she told him.
He looked behind him, something cold settling inside his chest. A burglary was one thing. But someone messing with Halley's underwear … that spoke of a different kind of criminal. "Talk to me," he told her. "What else is wrong? How did you know someone had broken into your place?"
She tightened the belt of her robe, then took his hand as she led him out to her fridge. "This," she said when she opened the door. "Yesterday when I left here, I didn't have a whole lot of food left. I had some cut up stuff and maybe a container filled with leftovers, but my fridge was mostly empty. When I came home last night, it was filled up."
Mike glanced into the fridge, then at her frightened features. "And your mom didn't do this?"
Halley shook her head. "My mom is still in Gabain with Droon and Lina."
"She's not with Fleur?"
"No. Mackenna, Kelsie, and I are helping Fleur with Emma. Lina is having a hard time with her pregnancy. So my mom went out there to help Lina for a while."
Mike's face was looking grim as he grasped what was going on here. "What else?" he demanded.