Chapter Fourteen
Marlie watched Evan check the side- and rearview mirrors. Living with him—even temporarily and for Noah's safety—added another layer to her uncertainty that any decisions she'd made in the last few days were the right ones.
Being Noah's guardian. Caring for a child again and keeping him safe. Sitting less than two feet from a man who made her feel things she had no business feeling. Her actions had led to her little boy's death. Today, her bad judgment had put Noah in danger. What gave her the right to crave a man's touch again, and when had that started to happen? It was like someone had flipped on her libido switch. When she'd opened the door to let him in, all she could think was how wonderful it felt being in the safety of his arms, and how selfish was that?
Evan turned onto West Colfax Avenue, again checking the mirrors before stopping at a red light. Behind her, Noah sat quietly, leaning against Blue. He hadn't said a word since they'd left her apartment. He'd crawled back into his shell, all the progress he'd made opening up over the last few days having disappeared like a puff of smoke.
When the light turned and Evan stepped on the accelerator, the Ford Explorer they were now in rolled forward.
"Why did we have to switch vehicles?" she asked.
"Somehow, they knew Noah was living with you. Either I missed a tracker under my G-ride, or I didn't see the tail, and they followed us from the farmers market." His hands tightened on the wheel. "I'm having the Yukon checked out."
He turned onto 6 West, then took the exit for C-470, heading them into the western edge of Lakewood. Again, Marlie twisted in the seat to check on Noah. His eyes were closed, his head resting against the garment bag containing Evan's tuxedo.
"When is your friend's wedding?" she asked in a low voice, not wanting to wake Noah.
"Next weekend. It's Deck's wedding, one of the guys at your apartment." He headed for the Morrison Road exit. "He's marrying an ER doctor at North Metro."
"Dr. Sampson?" She'd noticed the beautiful engagement ring the doctor wore.
He turned into a development. "You know her?"
"A little. They make a beautiful couple." Literally and figuratively. Dr. Sampson was not only kind but a stunning woman, and Evan's friends were two of the handsomest men she'd ever seen. Like him, they were tall and fit, and with that same air of undeniable, and somewhat annoying, authority.
"That they do," he answered with a hint of sadness.
The trained psychologist in her wanted to know why. Or was it the woman in her who was curious and wanted to pry into his personal life?
But it so wasn't her business.
The development wasn't old, yet it wasn't brand-new, either. Tall trees lined the main road. At the top of the hill, they turned onto one of the many cutoffs lined with beautiful houses of varying shapes, sizes, and colors, and with lovely manicured lawns and perennial flower beds. Houses like the one she used to own.
Noah had woken and rubbed his eyes. "Where are we?"
"My house." Evan aimed for a driveway at the end of the cul-de-sac and pressed the remote clipped to the visor.
The single-story house seemed small, sandwiched by two impressive two-story houses. Was there really room in the house for three people and a huge dog?
When the garage door opened, he pulled in and parked next to a large black pickup. "Let's go in and get you settled."
He opened the rear door for Noah and Blue, then grabbed the garment bag and slung it over his shoulder. Marlie gathered her handbag, her overnight bag, and the shopping bags full of Noah's new clothes they'd retrieved from her pickup.
"Evan!" Two women—two exotically beautiful women, Marlie couldn't help but notice—met them on the driveway.
"Marlie, Noah, these are my neighbors, Miriam Dominguez and Tally Patel."
Blue shoved his snout into Miriam's hand, a blatant demand for attention, to which she acquiesced. Rather than pet the dog, Tally stroked her hand up Evan's arm in a motion that could only be described as intimate.
"Hi," Marlie said. Aside from being neighbors, what did these women mean to Evan? With her dark hair and eyes, Miriam looked like a Hispanic princess. Tally's fuchsia pink sari made her look equally royal. Both women's dark hair hung loose past their shoulders. Large gold hoops hung in Miriam's ears, with a thick gold chain around her neck, and long, sparkling beaded earrings dangled from Tally's.
"As soon as we get these tulip bulbs planted"—Tally held up a bag with a picture of purple tulip flowers—"we're cooking outside, if you'd like to join us."
"You're all invited," Miriam added, looking from Marlie to Noah. Blue snorted. "You, too." She stooped to give Blue another pat on his head.
"Thanks, ladies." Evan looked past the women to the street, where a silver sedan stopped in the road, then did a quick K-turn and headed in the other direction. "Probably not, but I'll let you know." He draped an arm over Noah's shoulders, directing him back into the garage.
As Marlie followed, she cast one last look at Evan's neighbors. They had their heads together, grinning and whispering.
At the top of a short flight of stairs, Evan punched in a code on a keypad, then held open the door, waiting for her.
"Thank you." She brushed past him, doing her best not to let a single part of her body touch his. Once inside, her jaw dropped. The house's small curbside presence had been hiding an enormous ranch house, shattering all her preconceived notions of the proverbial bachelor pad.
The garage door opened into what was probably designed to be the dining room, with a large silver chandelier and rich claret-red walls. Instead of a dining room table, a large black piano sat in the middle of the cream-and-red rug.
"Wowww." Noah ran his fingers along the piano's gleaming surface. "Do you know how to play? Can you teach me how to play?"
"Sweetie, don't touch." She tugged his hand away. "We don't want to leave fingerprints."
"It's okay," Evan said. "I can show you how to play."
Would he? Probably not. This living arrangement was temporary, just like hers and Noah's. They'd be long gone before that happened.
The dining room led to an enormous great room, with sofas and recliners, a fireplace and a big screen TV on one side, with a kitchen and another smaller seating area next to a bank of windows on the other. Sunlight glinted off the silver flecks in the black granite counters, of which there were many.
Lined up at the center island were three counter stools. Behind the island was a Wolf cooktop, complete with red knobs and flanked on either side by more granite and light wood cabinets. The other wall of the kitchen was lined with more overhead cabinets and an end-to-end granite counter. But the showstopper was the double bank of west-facing windows displaying a mature garden, a hardscaped waterfall, and sweeping views of the Colorado foothills. "Your house is beautiful."
Evan hung the garment bag in a closet near the main entry door over which hung yet another chandelier, this one in the middle of a recessed circular ceiling. "Thanks. Aside from sleeping, I'm hardly ever here to enjoy it."
Blue trotted ahead, his nails clicking on the shiny oak floor as Evan led the way down a short hallway. "This is your room," he said to her.
The room was yet another unexpected surprise. The walls were a cheery, creamy yellow. A twin brass bed with a green-and-white striped duvet took up one wall. Beside the bed was a small wood table. There was also a painted green bureau and a pale-blue upholstered armchair. "Thank you. It's lovely." She set her bags on the floor. It had been years since she'd slept in a room this nice.
"Your room is downstairs," he said to Noah, leading the way down a flight of carpeted stairs to what no one would ever call a "basement." The floors were covered in large area rugs. In the center of the room was a pool table made of light wood with intricate swirls. Instead of the typical green felt lining, this table had red felt. A rack on the adjacent wall held half a dozen cue sticks.
"You have a pool table!" Noah smacked his hands to his cheeks. "Can you teach me how to play that, too?"
"Sure." He nodded. "But first, let's check out your room." He went to another door and flipped on the lights.
Noah's room was twice as big as Marlie's but definitely more suited to a young boy's taste. The carpet was gray-blue, and the walls were a light-blue. Even the comforter on the bed was blue.
Noah's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "This is my room?"
"Yep." Evan leaned against the door jamb and crossed his arms, tightening and molding his shirt over thick biceps and chest muscles.
Noah sat on the edge of the bed. Blue hopped right up next to him, as if that was where he intended to sleep.
"Say ‘thank you,' Noah." He'd probably never had a bedroom this big.
"Thanks, Evan."
He watched Noah with an impassive expression. Must be a federal agent thing, keeping all your inner thoughts a secret from the rest of the world. But were these magnanimous gestures and kindness sincere or merely a means to an end?
Housing them here worked to his advantage. He needed Noah for his investigation, and he needed her to help get information from Noah.
When he turned to her, the look of impassivity in his eyes was gone. In its place was a warm hint of genuine caring. She mouthed the words, "thank you."
He grinned, then mouthed back, "you're welcome." And when his eyes dipped briefly to her lips, her heart fluttered, forcing her to confront what was now as obvious as an elephant perched on a picket fence.
Coming here was a mistake. A big mistake, because she was attracted to him. Worse, she liked him, but thoughts like those would get her nowhere.
His entire life was about finding missing children. Living with someone like that—a man who dealt with the extreme depths of parental grief she'd personally experienced—was unfathomable.
While she might be physically attracted to him, it didn't matter.
She wasn't for him, and he wasn't for her. Not today. Not tomorrow.
Not in this lifetime.
…
Evan listened to Tony Wong's update, keeping an eye on Noah at the same time. The kid really did have a good arm, throwing the tennis ball for Blue to retrieve and tossing it again when Blue raced back with it. The eight-foot-high HOA fencing conveniently hid his backyard from the street but not from the blaring mid-afternoon sun.
"The Yukon was clean," Tony said. "No trackers."
Through the windows, he also watched Marlie putting away the last of their lunch dishes. He'd never wanted to kiss a woman so badly in his entire life. "Were there any hits on the prints at Marlie's apartment?"
"Negative," Tony continued. "Most were Marlie's and Noah's prints, although we did find a few partial glove prints. Vinyl, most likely."
He'd bet her lips were as soft as they looked, her mouth as sweet as the nectar he and Gracie used to suck from the honeysuckle flowers at his parents' house.
Would she want him to kiss her? Just because she'd thrown herself into his arms didn't automatically mean the answer to that question would be a resounding "yes." At the time, she'd been scared out of her mind. Fear did things to people, made them do things they wouldn't normally do.
"Evan, you there?" Tony said louder.
"Uh, yeah." Christ, his head was stuck way too far up his ass. Not that there was ever a good time in his world to let himself get derailed by a beautiful woman but if there ever was one, this wasn't it. "Any good latents on that tub of marijuana?"
"The techs are on it, and I sent bud samples to the forensic botany unit at the University of New Haven. I asked them to put a rush on it."
"Thanks, Tony." That university had the largest cannabis databank in the country, similar to CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System for human DNA. Like humans, marijuana had a genetic fingerprint. If anyone could track those buds to where they were cultivated, they could. "Send me their report as soon as it comes in."
"You got it."
Noah had abandoned the ball in favor of watching a cluster of monarch butterflies flitting around a patch of purple asters. Could be there was another upside to him being here. Experiencing some normalcy could be good for the kid.
Evan tapped his phone on the side of his leg, pondering Tony's report. If they weren't tracked from the farmers market to Marlie's place, then how did they find Noah there?
The man at the hospital who'd been looking for the boy…had he followed them from the hospital to Marlie's that day? Possibly, and if so, then it was still his fault. Or could there be a leak at the hospital?
He cued up Deck's number. A moment later, his friend answered. "Yo, Evan. What can I do you for?"
"I need a favor. Can you get with Tori and find out if anyone at North Metro or child services gave out Marlie's address as where Noah would be living?"
"You really think that's how they found him?"
"Not sure." He still couldn't ignore the possibility he'd been so distracted he hadn't seen a tail the day he'd followed them home from the hospital. Yet another reason why he shouldn't be thinking about Marlie in any terms, other than as Noah's legal guardian.
"I'll talk to her," Deck said. "We also heard back from Lakewood PD on the mall cameras. It was definitely Manello. He got into a car that was reported stolen. PD found the car abandoned a few blocks from the mall. He has to know there's a warrant out for him, so why would he risk it?"
Exactly what Evan had been thinking, and he had a theory. "He needs to grab Noah again before he can ID the location of the camp." Which made finding it and shutting it down even more important. "Thanks, man." He ended the call, then waved to Tally and Miriam, who were busy planting those purple tulip bulbs in their garden.
"You sure you don't want to join us later for dinner?" Tally called out. "Your friends are cute."
That they are . Although he wouldn't exactly call Marlie cute . She was pretty. Feminine. Smart.
He gave a quick shake of his head because, again, he and relationships were a futile and truly bad mix. "Thanks, ladies."
Blue snorted as Beulah, his other next door neighbors' Australian sheepdog, raced after a frisbee Eduardo threw for her.
Eduardo and Melissa Jenkins had lived there for just over a year. The first thing they'd done after moving in was to plant a small marijuana garden. Could be their proclivity to light up just about every day or could be something else he couldn't put his finger on, but beyond friendly greetings, he'd never really connected with them. Eduardo handed Melissa a thin cigarette—a joint. He wore their travel agency's bright red shirt with the company logo.
Eduardo held up the joint, calling out, "Want a smoke?"
Evan chuckled, shaking his head. It was a running joke between them. Like most of his neighbors, Eduardo knew he was an FBI agent and wouldn't touch the stuff.
"You sure?" Melissa asked, pushing her long dark hair over her shoulder. "You don't know what you're missing."
Yeah. He did. Taking a hit would get him one thing and one thing only. Fired . All it would take was a random drug test the agency could order him to take at any time, day or night. Sure enough, the light smell of pot drifted over the fence.
He turned to find Noah staring intently at his neighbors. "What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing. For a second, I thought…" Noah went back to watching Blue and the dancing monarchs.
"Thought what?" His neighbor wore a red shirt, similar to the one the man he'd chased at the market had on. He hitched his head to Eduardo. "That he was John?"
Noah nodded.
Evan looked back at Eduardo holding the joint to his lips. Same general height, build, and brown hair as John. Melissa was about the same height as her husband and with long dark hair. Like Margaret. But wouldn't he have recognized his own neighbors? While he didn't know them all that well, they didn't strike him as the type to run a forced child labor camp.
"Why is it doing that?" Noah asked.
One of the butterflies had landed on Blue's back. "Butterflies like Blue."
The back door shut as Marlie came outside. Blue trotted to her, the butterfly content to remain right where it was, parked solidly on the center of his back.
"They're beautiful," she said, joining them in front of the clump of asters. "Why is that one on your dog?"
"Can't say for sure, but I think it's because he's always brushing up against these flowers." He nodded to the purple asters, where at least a dozen monarchs hovered and flitted their wings, diving gracefully in and out of the flowers. "I planted them just for the monarchs. It's supposed to be a good source of nectar, and they need it for their long migration back to central Mexico for the winter. Mostly they travel alone, but when they find a good place to chow down, it's a feeding frenzy."
Blue shoved his head into the flowers, causing all the butterflies to take to the air in a flurry of black-and-orange beating wings. Evan knew what would happen next. "Blue, heel." His dog sat and, as expected, another butterfly settled between his ears. "I'm no botanist, but maybe some of the nectar or the aster scent gets transferred to his coat."
"Cool," Noah said. "He's like the butterfly whisperer."
"That he is," Evan agreed. "My friend Deck has a dog, Thor, who's really good with cats. We call him the cat-whispering dog. Maybe someday you'll meet him and see for yourself."
The comment had Noah grinning again, but when Evan glanced at Marlie, she'd crossed her arms, and her lips had compressed. Again, those lips…even frowning…entirely kissable. "What?" Something he'd said had royally pissed her off.
"It's a nice thought," she said, "but I doubt we'll be here long enough."
She had a point. He'd insisted on housing them for Noah's safety. The moment the case was over, Noah and Marlie would go back to her place, and that was probably for the best. Before he did something stupid, like start another relationship that wouldn't end well.
The intensifying smell of pot came from Eduardo and Melissa's yard.
Marlie sniffed the air. "Is that—"
"Yeah." And he didn't want Noah inhaling it. "Why don't we go inside and shoot some pool?"
…
From a stool at the high-top table, Marlie watched Evan show Noah how to rack the balls. He rolled the white ball to the other end of the table and grabbed two cue sticks from a rack on the wall.
Though she knew the basics, she'd never played pool, not even in the college bar where she'd met her ex. She'd always preferred watching from the sidelines.
"First, you chalk the tip so it doesn't slip off the ball." He rubbed the tiny square of chalk back and forth. "Here, you try it." He waited patiently while Noah mimicked him, chalking the tip of the cue stick. "This is how you position the stick with the cue ball." When he leaned over the table, his cargo pants hugged his glutes, giving her a glorious view of his—
Tight. Ass .
There really wasn't any part of the man's body that wasn't chiseled and buff. Had she ever ogled her husband that way? Honestly, it had been so long she couldn't remember. After they'd buried Aiden, her sex drive went from so-so to completely nonexistent. When her ex had reached for her in his grief, she no longer had it in her.
"Wanna break first?" Evan asked.
"Break what?" Noah's brows scrunched together.
"It's called ‘breaking' when you use this white ball—the cue ball—to break up the other balls. After you break, you see which balls went into the pockets, then you decide whether you'll shoot the solid balls or the striped ones. Pull the stick back smoothly and aim for the cue ball."
Noah hit the cue ball, which rolled forward, hitting the other balls with a loud crack and sending one of them into a pocket.
"Good job." Evan held up his hand for Noah to high-five.
Marlie smiled. Evan was a good teacher and so patient. He had the kind of positive influence Noah needed to guide him in the right direction and show him not all people were evil.
Twenty minutes later, they'd racked twice more, and Noah had begun sinking a few balls.
"I gotta pee." He handed Evan his cue stick and raced for the bathroom.
To fill the awkward silence, she asked, "Are you good friends with all your neighbors?" Meaning Tally, the beautiful Indian woman who'd stroked his arm like he was a Persian cat.
"Mostly Tally," he said, confirming her suspicion. "I've known her and Miriam since they helped me buy this house. They're both realtors. Quite the couple, aren't they?"
"They're a couple?" she squeaked out, feeling immensely oblivious for not having picked up on that.
"They've been together for over twenty years, ever since Tally moved here from India."
"Good for them. Most couples I know didn't last seven." Including hers.
Evan glanced at the bathroom door, which was still closed. "Wanna play?" He held out the stick. A corner of his mouth she decided then and there was the sexiest mouth she'd ever seen on a man, quirked. Something about his words and demeanor left her wondering if this was strictly an invitation to shoot pool…or something else.
She swallowed. "I don't know how." For that matter, was she referring to pool or that "something else?" Either way, she couldn't shoot pool and doubted she remembered how to kiss a man, let alone be intimate with one.
He held out his hand. "I'll teach you."
She took a deep breath, because again… What were they really talking about? She slipped her hand in his. Long fingers closed around hers, strong yet gentle. In comparison, hers seemed dainty. When she looked up, no hint of a smile remained. His eyes glimmered with heat she felt straight through her clothes to her skin.
He handed her the cue stick. "Here's how you hold it." He positioned himself behind her with his arms around her shoulders. When her backside pressed against his crotch, warm breath washed over her ear, and she could swear he growled. Every breath she took brought with it his spicy cologne. "Lean over and pull back smoothly." She did, whacking him in the chest with the end of the stick.
"Oh, shoot!" She turned in his arms. The cue stick thumped as it fell to the rug. She rested her hands on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart. "Did I hurt you?"
He covered her hand with his. "No," he whispered, his voice sounding raspy.
When she wet her lips, his gaze locked onto her mouth like a heat-seeking missile, and her breath caught. Did she want him to kiss her?
Yesss .
"Marlie?" Her name rolled off his lips in a low whisper, as if he were asking permission.
Somehow, she must have transmitted her answer, because he pulled her closer, until her breasts touched his chest. In slow increments, he leaned in, stopping barely half an inch from her mouth.
Kiss me , her mind screamed. Kiss me, dammit!
Lust-fueled blood pounded in her ears. Finally, after three years of being alone, she wanted a man. This man. She stood on her tiptoes, slipping her hand to the back of his neck and pulling him down. His breath mixed with hers as he opened his mouth, urging her to do the same. Their tongues stroked, gently at first, then with more urgency, making her blood sizzle. This was good. So, so good.
Waves of heat shot up her back, and her belly quivered with a need she'd thought long gone. When she groaned into his mouth, he pulled her tighter against him, angling her head and deepening the kiss. The quivering in her belly intensified, along with the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and let him take her right there on the pool table.
He pulled away, his chest heaving. A toilet flushed, and the bathroom door opened.
Evan tugged a phone from his back pocket and stared at the screen. Apparently, it hadn't been her belly vibrating after all. It was only his phone.
She licked her lips, tasting him and feeling the burn from his three o'clock shadow.
"Shit." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
Had the kiss really been that bad? Sure, she was out of practice, but come on .
"We have to go." His mouth tightened as he looked from her to Noah. "Now!"