Aiden sat in one of the black chairs in front of the desk and Hank sat across from him.
“What’s up?”
Hank picked up a pencil and tapped the eraser end on a stack of papers.“You got any leads on the Desiree Zimmerman case?I heard there was another incident last night.”
Aiden cleared his throat and loosened the collar of his dress shirt.“Two, actually.”
“Two more incidents?”Hank flipped through the papers and frowned.“Last thing I have recorded is that she was attacked in the parking lot behind her shop.Am I missing something?”
“Yes, sir,” he said.“Someone broke into her home last night.I didn’t get to fill out the paperwork yet, but—”
“Wait a minute.”Hank held up a finger.“Wouldn’t she have made a call to the station?”
“No.Because I was there.”
Hank rolled the chair away from his desk and reclined into the leather in slow motion.“Well, I’ll be damned.”Not a hint of approval lined his voice.
Aiden leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.“It wasn’t like that.She had nowhere else to stay with the inns full during peak season, so I camped outside in my car.”
Hank’s bushy gray eyebrows rose almost to his receding hairline.“Then what happened?”
“Then I got a call that she heard a noise and I checked it out.Couldn’t find anyone sneaking around the property, but she told me about some weird things that happened inside her house, so I did a sweep and found a window in her spare room open and dirt on the sill from someone climbing in.”
Hank nodded pensively.“I saw dispatch was out?”
“Yeah, I had them send someone to circle the area, but no luck.”
Hank picked up the pencil and jabbed the pointed end in Aiden’s direction.“All right.Do up the paperwork and call around for lodging.Even call places out in Silver Ridge.”
Heat warmed the side of Aiden’s neck.“I have somewhere for her to stay.”
“Good.Where?”
“My place.”He let the words fall, and a shockwave of silence and tension filled the room.
“Aiden.This isn’t the time for—”
“Look.”Aiden scrubbed his hand over his freshly shaven jaw.“Ms.Zimmerman and I have ties, and that’s all I’m comfortable saying.She’ll be better protected with me.”
Hank’s face relaxed, though only a fraction.“Fine.But I don’t like it.Keep it professional, will ya?”
Aiden nodded and slipped out of the room.
It’d take a will of steel to keep his hands off Desiree, but now he had no choice but to keep things platonic...at least until this was over and Hank was off his ass.
Which meant he had to find her attacker and fast, before his dick exploded.
CHAPTER 7
“Oh my, aren’tthese gorgeous?”Louise reached inside the box she’d opened and held up a handcrafted candle with crystals and rose petals sprinkled on top.
Dez took the candle and tried not to jump up and down.New products always made her giddy.She brought it to her nose and inhaled the scents of roses, vanilla, and peaches.“That’s incredible.I’m taking one of these home tonight.”
Only she wasn’t going home.She was spending the night—maybe more than one—at Aiden’s.A thrill of excitement rippled through her, turning her nipples hard.God, she wanted him again.Which was absolutely not something she should be thinking about at work.She shook off all thoughts of Aiden.
Louise chuckled and set the candles out on a shelf.
Dez went to another box and made room on a table near the front.The dark plastic hanging over the window made the usually bright and open space feel closed off.Her heart ached.It was almost as if a piece of her life had been ripped away.
