“I’m not half as amazing as you make me out to be.”
I shifted to face him, resting one arm on the back of the couch and running my fingers through his hair. “Isn’t that my prerogative?”
“I guess. I’ve been trying hard to win you over. I’ve had a major crush on you since the first time I saw you, but I was sure you were out of my league. My life feels like a constant battle of trying to fit a mold. Be someone I’m not to ensure I don’t upset people or cause waves. Please don’t get your hopes up when it comes to me. I fuck up more than I get things right. Most people who know me well enough don’t like me.”
“No one’s perfect, Kobe. Least of all me. If it means anything, I like who I see. Every part of you intrigues me. I haven’t been happy in a long time, but… You give me hope that I can be again.”
I continued to play with his hair as he peered up from his slumped position on the couch with an assessing expression that made me wonder if he was deciding if I meant what I said. Eventually, he aimed the controller at the TV and restarted the movie.
Neither of us paid it much attention. At one point, Kobe shifted upright and leaned against my side, one hand resting on my thigh. As I continued to run my fingers through his hair, he stroked his thumb along my leg. It was a small connection, but I got the sense Kobe took as much comfort in it as I did.
As the credits rolled, I spoke for the first time since he’d paused the movie over an hour ago. “I made a phone call today.”
His brows knit. “Oh?”
I motioned to a hallway that led to a home office. “I’ve got something for you.”
We stood and stretched before Kobe followed me to another part of the house. I had a brief moment of panic, worried that I’d left pictures of Angelique lying about. When or if I shared about Angelique, it would be on my terms, not because Kobe discovered a photograph and plunged us into conversations I wasn’t ready for.
Quickly scanning the office, I sighed with relief and invited him in. From the printer tray, I removed three pages and offered them to Kobe.
“What’s this?” he asked, scanning the documents with a frown.
“Your fiber analysis.”
“No shit.” Kobe leaned against the desk, shrewdly scanning the forms. “You didn’t have to do this. I could have waited until Monday.”
“It sounded important. I checked my notes and confirmed that fibers were collected from all three victims. The notation wasn’t included in the preliminary reports I sent you for Jesse or Ford, but they would have been added in a final report once I had all the data. Regardless, I called the lab and got what I could.”
Kobe’s brows creased as he took in the printed pages. “It’s silk. Natural in origin… fibroin and sericin with high crystalline content and an aligned fiber axis… I don’t understand any of this. There’s a color code. Can you look it up?”
“It’s a shade of red, closely resembling scarlet.”
Kobe contemplated, peering into the middle distance. “They were strangled with an article of clothing of some kind. Not a rope. I wonder…” He didn’t finish his thought.
“Does that information help?” I had examined the results earlier and couldn’t determine how Kobe might use the data to locate a killer, but maybe he knew something I didn’t.
“I have a thought, but…” Again, he stalled.
“Silk is commonly used in clothing. It doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“No. I know, but…” His forehead rippled as he continued to stare into space.
Kobe seemed to be seeing something inside his head he wasn’t sharing. I wanted him to talk it out, discuss his theories.
In the end, he tossed the pages onto the desk. “Forget it. I’m doing it again. I need to leave work at work.”
“I don’t mind. What are you thinking?”
Kobe shoved away from the desk and fisted the front of my shirt, dragging me into his space with a yank. I stumbled and we bumped chests. Kobe’s demeanor once again shifted. The focused detective I’d briefly witnessed was replaced with an entirely different energy.
“I don’t want to talk about dead bodies and theories and all the fucking pieces of this case that don’t fit together. I want to kissyou and touch you and take you to bed, Dominique. If you don’t want that, speak up.”
22
Kobe
I waited for aheartbeat, giving Dominique a chance to back out. When he wet his lips and flicked his gaze to my mouth, it was game over. I advanced, kissing him with bruising force as I backed him against a bookshelf. Random items clattered and toppled, a few falling to the floor. I didn’t care. If something broke, I would replace it. Hopefully, they weren’t priceless treasures. I wanted him with an urgency I couldn’t contain any longer.
