The wind whipped a strand of hair in front of her face, and he swept it back and tucked it behind her ear. “You’re right. We’ve got nothing but time. I don’t want to rush anything between us.” Leaning forward he hovered his lips above her ear. “Anything.”
She gripped his shoulder, and soft little purr escaped her mouth.
He hurried and kissed her earlobe then backed off before he did something illegal on the city streets, surrounded by a growing number of holiday lights and colorful booths.
“Oh my,” she whispered. “I may be in for more trouble with you than I imagined.”
He hooked his mouth into a smirk. “Never.”
Amusement lit her eyes for a split second before they flew wide. “Oh my God.”
“What is it?” He whipped around to search for whatever had caused the color to drain her from her pretty face. A flash of blond hair caught his attention as a woman exited a café down the street and headed in the opposite direction.
A ball of cold, hard fury circled inside him. “Go inside with Mrs. Gurly. Stay there until I get back.”
He waited a beat to make sure Suzy was safe then took off down the sidewalk. He skirted past clusters of people adding holly-adorned wreaths to lamp posts and workers carrying in the last-minute touches for booths. He kept his gaze fixed on the back of the blond head.
She turned away from the square.
Shit.
He pushed his pace into a dead sprint until his lungs burned. He reached the corner and swung onto the connected sidewalk and came face-to-face with Chrissy.
15
“What the hell are you doing?” Rage vibrated Duke’s voice as he stared at Chrissy’s wide-eyed, feigned innocence. “You have some nerve to just be walking around town after what you did.”
She heaved a sighed. “And what exactly did I do this time?”
It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to grab her by the arm and drag her to the sheriff’s department. But he’d never laid a hand on a woman and never would. Even one as vile as Chrissy.
“Are you seriously going to stand there and act like you’ve done nothing wrong? That you’re not the reason Heather is laying in a hospital bed right now? That you didn’t break into Suzy’s apartment?”
Chrissy’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God. What happened to Heather? Is she all right?”
He shook his head, not buying into her bullshit. “Enough lies. I don’t believe one word from your mouth. Besides, I’m not the one you need to convince anymore. I’m calling the authorities.”
She reared her head back. “Why? Because I didn’t leave town the second you told me to? Now tell me what happened toHeather. And what about your friend? Someone broke into her place? That’s horrible.”
Ignoring her, he fished his phone from his pocket and called Spencer. When the deputy answered, Duke said, “I’m standing on Market Street with Chrissy. Send a squad car. I’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.”
“Wait, what? How the hell did you find her?” Spencer asked.
“She was walking out of the café,” he said, keeping his eye on her so she didn’t make a run for it.
“I just returned to the station. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Disconnecting, Duke put his phone back in his pocket. Anger tightened every muscle in his body.
With her lips pursed, she crossed her arms and tapped a booted foot on the ground. “Are you going to tell me why I’m supposed to talk with some deputy or just stand there in silence?”
“Trust me, I have plenty I want to say to you right now, but silence is probably a better option.”
“This is ridiculous. I should climb into my car and get the hell out of this place.”
He took a step forward, ready to keep her there himself if he had to.
She held up a palm. “But I won’t, because if someone really did those things you mentioned, they need to be found. And the sooner you and everyone else in this stupid town stops believing I’m some big, bad villain the better. I’ll tell the deputy anything he wants to know. I have nothing to hide.”
