Once she was covered in the silky pink robe, she inched the door open, half hoping he'd be gone. Maybe he'd only been a figment of her imagination. No, he was still there, but in a different spot, near the door.
"Trying to escape?" she asked, coming into the room.
"Eh, yeah." He appeared to be examining the doorframe.
"What're you doing here?"
He blew out a harsh breath as if he were letting off steam, and finally glanced her way. One would think gray eyes were cold, but his burned into her. "It's a long story."
"I've got all day," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He wasn't getting off the hook that easily, no matter how smoking-hot he was. She knew he was the type who'd try to charm his way out of any tough situation. And though he was three years younger than her ex, Nick was two years older than Emily, which made him twenty-eight, plenty old enough to take responsibility for his reckless actions.
He motioned toward the bathroom. "Your shower's still running."
"Don't move." On shaky legs, she ran into the steamy bathroom, shut off the water, then returned. "Okay. Explain what you're doing in my bedroom. How did you get into my house?"
Nick shifted on his booted feet, apparently searching for the answer on her ten-foot ceiling. "Where do I begin?" He finally met her gaze. "Jared was murdered."
She was expecting anything but that. Sudden chills prickled across her skin. She'd known her ex-husband died three weeks ago. His car had careened off a bridge into the Savannah River where he drowned. "How do you know he was murdered? The police said it was an accident." Even though Jared had been a jerk who'd cheated on her, he didn't deserve to be murdered.
"Don't ask me to explain how. I just know."
"So, why are you here, in my house? In my bedroom?" He made the cool, spacious room seem smaller and hotter. Even the subtle male scent of him was an intrusion—leather and some pheromone-laced cologne. Few men had been in this house during the past year. Her friend Tia thought she should get out more. Get laid. But who the hell needed a man? She didn't trust them.
"I was looking for a clue or evidence. Jared had a lot of antiquities lying around. Maybe some so rare and valuable someone would be willing to kill for them. I already searched his apartment and didn't find anything. I thought he might have hidden something here. Or maybe you got something in the divorce that was more valuable than anyone realized."
She shook her head. "I didn't get any of his antiquities. He put most of them in storage or safe deposit boxes while we were still married. He always had a safe too."
"The safe in his apartment was cleaned out," Nick said. "Does this house have any concealed nooks or secret passages where Jared might have hidden something?"
"No. There's a safe, but it contains nothing but my important papers."
"Damn," Nick muttered. As if lost in deep thought for a moment, he scratched the short stubble on his square jaw. She wondered what it would feel like brushing against her sensitive skin. A prickle of excitement raced through her.
Abruptly, his attention shifted back to her, his gaze dropping briefly to her cleavage. She tugged the robe tighter over her breasts. Her tingling nipples were beaded so hard, she couldn't hide them beneath the thin material. Was he remembering what she'd looked like naked?
He turned toward the door. "Well, I'll get going."
"Wait. You think you can simply break into my house anytime you want? You didn't say how you got in, or why you didn't ask my permission first."
He gave a slight grin which was far too charming. Naturally, he'd try to wriggle out of this. "You don't want to know."
"Yes, I do. You're supposed to be a cop. What are you doing breaking and entering?"
His jaw clenched hard and his silver eyes turned piercing. "I am a police officer, and I wasn't breaking and entering."
"Really? What do you call it, then?" Her heart-rate spiked with excitement at her own daring words. Was she nuts to challenge him this way? She didn't think so; she truly wanted to get to the bottom of why he was in her house uninvited.
"Look, I know I'm out of my jurisdiction and bending the rules. My only brother was murdered. I have to find out who did it and see them behind bars."
"The end justifies the means?"
His hardened cop look intensified. "Exactly."
"So, you picked my lock. Or did you break a window? Why didn't you drop by—and use the doorbell—when I was home? I would've let you search."
He shrugged, giving her a dark and mysterious look. "I didn't know if you would. I preferred that you weren't here, telling me where to look. I had to cover all the bases."