Reading Online Novel

Tender Is The Night(45)



But here he was-in the exact place he didn't want to be.

Except that he did want to be here, in this bed with her. He just knew it couldn't last.

Taking a deep breath, he rolled over onto his side and put his arm  around her, burying his face in the silky strands of her hair. She would  be gone soon, but for now …

She moved in closer to him, sliding her arm around his waist. He liked how she knew him, wanted him, even in sleep.

So he held her close until the night turned to dawn. The minutes passed  both far too slowly and far too quickly. Finally, he couldn't fight the  exhaustion, and he fell asleep, hoping she'd still be there in his arms  when he woke up.



* * *



Devin was just waking up when Kate walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

"Hey sleepyhead," she teased. "It's almost noon."

He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "I feel like I just fell asleep. When did you get up?"

"About ten minutes ago."

"I'm glad you got some rest. You fell asleep fast last night."

"I don't even remember coming into this room." She sat down on the bed next to him. "My clothes still smell of smoke."

"I'm sure mine do, too."

"I'm sorry about your home, Devin."

"It was just an apartment. Nothing in there was too important. I'm glad you weren't hurt."

"Right back at you," she said, knowing he was making light of his loss.  Even if the apartment hadn't held anything of great sentiment, it was  still his personal space, and now it was gone. "So what do we do next?"

"Well, I don't believe last night's fire is going to stop the real one  that's coming. That pattern is begging to be completed, and, if  anything, I think the arsonist is getting impatient. He's going to want  it to be done, before he's stopped."

"I agree. I think it will happen within the next two days. He might go  into hiding tonight, make sure we haven't found him, and then come back  out."

"Or he might be making plans to strike tonight," he said. "Let's talk to  Gerilyn Connors. At the very least, we can find out where Brad was last  night."

"That's a good idea. I just ordered some room service."

He smiled. "You always know what I need."

"It wasn't a big guess to think you'd be hungry now."

"I'll grab a shower."

As Devin got out of bed wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, she  couldn't help but look at him. His chiseled male body was pretty  spectacular, and she was more than a little tempted to join him in the  shower, especially when he threw her a teasing look and said, "See  anything you like?"

"Go," she said, waving him into the bathroom.

"There's room for two."

"But no time," she said firmly. "We have a lot to do today."

She let out a breath when he closed the door, putting temptation farther out of reach.

She pulled her phone out of her bag and saw a dozen messages from  numerous members of her family. Hunter had obviously told everyone about  the fire at Devin's house. She was just about to call her mom back when  her phone rang. It was Mia.

"Don't tell me the news already made it to Angel's Bay," she said.

"If you mean the fact that you were almost killed in a fire last  night-yes," Mia said, worry in her voice. "And I've texted you six  times. What the hell are you doing?"

"I was sleeping. I was just about to check my messages. I'm fine.  Totally one-hundred percent fine. Hunter should have told everyone that.  He saw me."

"What happened? Why are you in San Francisco so early? And who is this  new boyfriend you're bringing to the wedding who I've never heard  anything about?"

She sighed, waiting for Mia to run out of steam on her questions. "Okay,  he's not a real boyfriend; I just told Mom he was so she wouldn't ask  any more questions. I came to the city early to help a former agent on  an arson case. I didn't want Mom to know, but I ran into her, so I let  her think we were dating."         

     



 

"This is the guy you were waiting for in the car when I spoke to you the other night?"

"That's the one. We were at his place last night when the arsonist decided to send us a warning, but we got out in time."

"My dream," Mia said. "I dreamt you were surrounded by bright light. Remember? I told you that."

Her nerves tingled at the reminder. As twins, they'd always been very in  tune with each other. "There wasn't actually a lot of fire near me,  just smoke."

"To think you could have died last night-"

"Mia, stop. I didn't come close to dying, honestly. I smelled the smoke.  We left the apartment. And we came to a hotel. That's the whole story."

"Somehow I doubt that is even close to the whole story. And what were  you doing in this guy's house in the middle of the night? Are you sure  he's really a fake boyfriend?"

Her sister's question drew her gaze to the bathroom door. "Actually, I'm  not totally sure about that. He's an amazing man. But I'm going back to  work after your wedding, and my work is in DC. I don't know what Devin  is going to be doing after this case is solved. So I really need to not  like him so much."

"Oh, Kate, that's not going to happen."

"It could happen," she protested.

"Not in a million years. Once you give your heart to someone, you don't get it back."

"I can take it back. And I didn't give him my heart … just a lot of everything else."

Mia laughed. "How was it?"

"Better than I have words for."

"Well, that's good. Are you going to bring him to the wedding?"

"I'm sure this will be over by then, and if it's not, I'll leave him to  work on things. I'm not going to let you down, Mia. I'm going to be  there for you. I will stand up at your wedding. I promise."

"You better. Because we've been together since before we were born, and I am not doing this without you, Kate."

"You won't have to. I'll see you on Thursday."

"Don't get into any more trouble before then."

"I'm going to try hard not to."

As she ended the call, she hoped she could make good on that promise.



* * *



They arrived at Gerilyn Connors's architecture and design firm a little  before one o'clock in the afternoon. The office was housed in a brick  building with exposed beams and floor-to-ceiling windows. Lush carpets  covered the sleek, dark, hardwood floors, and expensive artwork hung on  the walls.

The receptionist told them that Gerilyn was still out to lunch, but that Eileen Raffin would speak to them in her office.

Eileen's space was just as pretty as the lobby. In addition to a large  mahogany desk, there was a seating area with white couches and chairs  around a unique-looking coffee table that appeared to have once been an  old steamer trunk.

Eileen got up from behind her desk and gave them a welcoming smile.

"I'm so glad you came by. I got the target list you texted me last  night," she told Devin. "And I have to say I was a little troubled by  four of the houses on there. They are all places that our firm worked  on. I don't want anything to happen to any of them. They're beautiful  properties, and I did the interiors for three of them."

She waved them toward the couch and chairs by the window. "Please have a  seat. I know that you've told me before that houses we've worked on  were targeted in the past, but I really thought it was just a  coincidence, that someone just didn't like historic buildings, but now  it feels like someone doesn't like us."

Kate saw the worried light in her eyes and felt reassured that Eileen  was being so open and honest with them. "It's possible this firm is a  target in some way," she said. "We wanted to speak to Gerilyn again, but  the receptionist told us she's at lunch."

Eileen nodded. "She had a meeting with a developer. So it's back to  Brad? I was really hoping you could clear him. Gerilyn has been happy  since they got back together, although this morning she looked more like  her old self."

"What do you mean?" Devin asked.

"She had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept. She said  she just had a bad night, but she didn't say why. She looked that way a  lot during her divorce."

"Do you think she's having problems with Brad again?" Kate asked.

"I didn't want to ask. We're close, but I let her talk when she wants to  talk. I try not to pry. It's difficult to watch your friend go back to  someone who hurt them before. I think that's why Gerilyn isn't telling  me much right now. But I hope she'll talk to you." Eileen glanced down  at her watch. "She should be back within about fifteen minutes. You can  wait here in my office. I actually need to go to one of the properties  on your list, the one on Village Court."         

     



 

"Why?" Kate asked in surprise.

"The owners want to redecorate. I did their original design about six  years ago. So it needs updating." Eileen paused. "Would you like to see  the house? You could come with me."