EXCERPT:

The mood was broken when an energetic young waitress delivered their hamburgers. Sharon and Ryan immediately dug in. After her first bite Sharon said, “This is like old times.”

Ryan swallowed his bite of hamburger. “I thought this was a fairly new place. What do you mean old times?”

“Oh, Mick’s has only been here about seven years, but over seventeen years ago we were sitting in a booth much like this one, weren’t we guys?” Sharon didn’t wait for them to answer. “Of course I was with my brother that night, but you two wouldn’t have noticed if I had been sitting next to King Kong.”

Ryan was interested. “So you all knew each other as kids?”

Sharon answered for them, explaining how Quin and Aimee had met. “You know way back then I really thought you two were going to be an item. Oh, I knew Aimee had to leave for London right away, but I guess I thought she would come right back here, not stay in New York, when she returned to the States.”

Ryan was, as always, attuned to Quin’s body language, and when he saw Quin stiffen, he changed the subject in a hurry. “So, what made you go into the real estate business?” he asked Sharon.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were submerged in their own conversation leaving Quin and Aimee free. Quin didn’t know when he had appreciated his partner more.

“There’s so much I want to say to you.” Quin whispered.

Aimee nodded. “Me too. And…”

“Go ahead, tell me.” Quin pushed a stray tendril of hair off Aimee’s face.

Her reply was almost an apology. “I really need to ask you some things.”

“You can ask me anything. Let’s get out of here.” Quin got up and threw some money down on the table. In response to Ryan’s inquisitive glance, he said, “Aimee and I want to go somewhere and talk.”

Ryan nodded.

Quin held his hand out for Aimee’s.

She didn’t know if it was such a good idea for them to go someplace private. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Quin because she knew he would never do anything she didn’t want. No, it was herself she didn’t trust, and if there was to be any chance at all for them, they had to talk.

Mick’s had gotten even more crowded and noisy in the last hour. All the tables and counter seats were full. There was one relatively empty path along the counter and Aimee chose that route. She carefully threaded her way toward the door with Quin close behind. She was almost even with the nice looking young man sitting on the last stool at the end of the counter. She barely glanced in his direction as she concentrated on where she was going, but as she walked behind him she felt a pull like a magnet. She raised her gaze, at the same moment he turned ice blue eyes her way. Stunned, she stopped so short Quin almost fell over her.

Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, the man quickly turned back to his drink.

Dizzy nausea suddenly threatened and she pressed a hand to her head to ward it off. What in the world was wrong with her? It couldn’t have been that man looking at her, she was used to the discomfort of men leering at her. But this was…different. His eyes had been so odd, his gaze so…invasive.

Quin slid his arm around her, guiding her around the barstool to the door. “What happened back there? You looked like you saw a ghost.”

“I, uh …don’t know. Maybe it was just the heat.”

Aimee didn’t want Quin to take his arm from around her. She felt naked and exposed. For just that split second back there, she’d felt the world tip. “Did you see the guy sitting at the end of the counter, the one who looked at me?”

Quin glanced back. “There were a lot of guys and most of them were watching you. I know because I was watching them watching you.”

She suspected he meant it to be a joke but she didn’t smile.

“No, this guy was different. It wasn’t like he was watching me.”

“What did he look like?”

“I don’t know…he wasn’t bad looking. In fact some might think he was handsome…but there was something about him.”

Quin’s expression turned serious. They were standing just inside the door. He gently led her to one side. “Stay right here. I want to look around a little.”

Aimee clutched at his arm. “No, please don’t leave me here by myself. Besides, he didn’t really do anything.”

Quin hesitated, the look on his face telling her he knew she was right. “Okay, let’s go.”

When they stepped outside, the cold air felt good. Aimee drew in a huge breath.

Quin moved closer to her. “Here, let me help you with your coat. Coming out of that heat into the cold night is a direct invitation to catch cold.”

“Yeah, and as far behind as I am at getting our office online, Sharon would kill me if I got sick.”

Quin and Aimee walked to the parking lot. It was as full as the restaurant. “Did you bring your car or did you ride with Sharon?”

“We each brought our own.”

“Looks like we all contributed to the parking problem tonight—Ryan and I each drove, too.”

Aimee flipped the button on her key lock. As the interior lights turned on, she got a clear look at Quin’s face. Maybe it was the trick of the light, but inside she hadn’t realized how tired he appeared. Her hand tingled with the desire to cradle his face in her hands and kiss away all the tension lines. Nervously she wet her lips, and then realized her mistake as Quin’s gaze slid down and rested on her mouth.

The noise that erupted from his throat was part growl, part groan. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me? How the hell are we going to talk things out when I can’t even think a coherent thought around you?”

Aimee was glad they were in the middle of the parking lot. It was too public a place for either of them to make a move. Cars were jockeying around looking for a space. One was a few feet back waiting for her to get in her car and pull out. The driver had discreetly put his parking lights on for them so they wouldn’t be in the direct path of his low beams. Quin became aware of the car about the same time as she did. “Go straight home. I’ll call you. Maybe we can get some of this resolved over the phone.”

Aimee slid into the car, the warmth from Quin still radiating through her body. Creating her own heat she barely noticed the cold.

Mick’s parking lot was crowded with trucks and cars pulling around looking for a place to park. Aimee maneuvered her car around a dark blue sedan waiting on the side and worked her way to the exit.

Traffic beyond the parking lot was moderate. Driving through town, Aimee noticed how quiet it was. Woodsville pretty much pulled in the sidewalks at nine o’clock on weeknights.
Aimee turned up the radio and hummed along with a country western song about lovin’ and leavin’. A sudden bright light flashed in her side mirror, then her rearview mirror.

Frowning, she looked up. The car behind her had its high beams on. She adjusted her rearview mirror and sped up. The car behind her accelerated to match her speed, keeping just two car lengths behind her. A surge of fear raced through her. She rubbed her suddenly damp palms against her legs. At the next intersection she made a tight right turn. The car stayed with her. Taking a deep breath, she tried talking out loud to herself. “This is nothing but a coincidence. It’s all this stress from the murders.”

Aimee checked the locks to make sure they were in the locked position and slowed down. She would force him to pass her. One thing for sure—she wasn’t going to drive to her house and give away who she was and where she lived. She was only going thirty miles an hour now. The car fell back, still driving by the book…two car lengths behind.

Flipping her directional on, Aimee slowly pulled over to the curb in front of a well-lit house. “There are houses all around. Being this frightened is ridiculous,” she mumbled to herself.

Slowly, the car slid past—a dark blue sedan. She let out the breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. She’d wait five minutes and then go on home. Nervously, she ran her hand over the steering wheel. When she wasn’t there to answer his phone call, Quin was going to wonder what had happened to her. Would he be worried, or just angry? She thought about calling him on her cell phone but immediately dismissed the idea. He’d think she was being silly, or worse—think it was a juvenile ploy to get him to invite her over to his place.

She turned in her seat to get a better view of the street behind her. Looking up and down, she noticed almost all the homes were lit up inside. When she’d pulled up in front of this house, its porch light had come on immediately. She hated that she was giving the occupants any uneasiness, but she was going to religiously wait the five minutes.

She glanced at her watch. “These five minutes seem more like thirty.”

Finally the hands on her watch crept around to the allotted time, and she thankfully pulled away from the curb. There was no sign of the other car as she made her way through the streets toward home. Traffic was non-existent, giving the cold night an eerie feel. When headlights again hit her rearview mirror, her heart gave a violent lurch.