Dropping his shoulders, he tilted his head forward. “Umm…your fingers are magical.”
Encouraged, she smiled and rubbed his neck gently, experiencing that feeling of control she’d always enjoyed. The clean spice, manly scent of his body sent strange signals to her brain, and her own tension began to unwind.
She needed to start drilling him for answers. “So, Austin. Can I call you Austin?”
“Yes. I like the way it sounds when you say it.”
He was such a flirt! She smiled. “So, Austin, how long have you known Derek?”
When she pushed her fingers a little harder into his neck muscles, a deep moaned escaped his throat. Against her will, shivers of delight skipped across her skin as warmth spread through her middle.Stop this insanity, Russell. He’s just a normal man…who is built like Adonis and is the most handsome man I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
“Derek and I were in college together, so I’ve known him quite a while.”
She needed to know more. “I wonder why he wanted to set us up?”
“Because Derek knows I don’t have time for a real relationship.” Austin chuckled. “How pathetic is it that I don’t even have time to find my own dates?”
“Has he set you up with other women?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the last girl?”
“Hillary.” His voice was lower. “But since I’d known her from my past, we just became friends. It’s too bad what happened to her. It’s hard to believe someone I’d gone out with could be murdered.”
Brittany’s spirits lifted. Finally, the topic she wanted to discuss. Was it a coincidence? She’d figure that out later. Right now, she’d ask him more.
“Yes, Hillary’s murder came as a complete shock to all of us. It makes me wonder why anyone would want to kill her.”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled, sleepily.
“Did you know her very well?”
“A little.”
“Did you like her?” she probed.
“Oh, she was nice enough, I guess. But more often than not, she nagged me. I just don’t have time for women like that,” he said in softer tones.
She gritted her teeth. That wasn’t telling her anything…not really. What she really needed to know if he was involved with Hillary right before she died? In Hillary’s apartment in Edmond, Brittany had noticed the woman owned several pieces of expensive jewelry, and she owned three closets full of fancy clothes. Yet, the girl had only worked as a secretary. Brittany and Kurt suspected Hillary was some rich man’s mistress.
Brittany blinked with wide eyes as the puzzle pieces began fitting together. What were the odds she’d found Hillary’s killer already? Mr. Reeder was wealthy. He’d known Hillary before she died. Brittany wondered if this Derek guy had something to do with the murder, too. Was it some kind of love-triangle?
She dared not ask, but it was her duty as a detective to find out the truth. Part of her didn’t want to think a handsome, rich man like Mr. Reeder could be a cold-blooded killer. There was only one way to find out.
“Austin? Were…um, were you and Hillary lovers?”
