In her ornate bathroom, Nadine stood under the spray, thinking about Wes. They hadn’t talked about last night, but at the same time, she was talked out. And she felt comfortable with what they’d discussed, even if there was work to do. That might not be the sexiest thing in the world, but she had a lot going on in her life and only wanted to know that:
1. She and Wes were good.
2. They had a future that was stable and they could work on.
3. Having fantastic sex was still a go.
Drama-free was liberating.
That being said, she thought as she dried off, there was always the chance for things to go seriously off the rails as they so often did.
Luckily, it wasn’t at breakfast, where a bowl of fruit sat on the table along with toast cut into little heart shapes. Wes poured the coffee and looked at her as if waiting for her reaction.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the coffee. She wanted to give him a kiss and, after a brief hesitation, leaned in and pressed her lips to his. “I love the toast hearts.”
His entire body relaxed, and he pulled her in for a much longer kiss than she had risked, making her confidence sing. “I thought you might.”
They sat down to eat. As Wes handed Nadine the (salted) butter, he said, “I’m glad we talked last night.”
“Me too.”
“To confirm, because I want to be sure. Are we in a relationship?” Wes asked.
She grinned, heart pattering. “You want to be?”
“With you?”
She poked him under the table with her foot. “No, Erma.”
He glanced at the cat, who was grooming on the counter. “That’s a nasty idea on every level. So yes to you, no to Erma.”
As if sensing the rejection, the cat jumped down, paws landing with a slight thump, and stalked out of the room with her tail high. “Don’t be a sore loser,” Nadine called after her.
“Are you competing with a cat?” he asked.
“Looks like I don’t need to.” It was so easy to be with Wes that she was almost giddy at seeing him across the table.
Wes helped Nadine clear up, stealing small kisses that caused her heartbeat to soar high enough to hit a satellite in geostationary orbit, then pulled her to the couch as they passed through the salon. “We need to talk about the story,” he said. “To make sure we understand each other.”
Right, because they weren’t staying at Dot’s house as a sort of happy honeymoon retreat. Nadine ran her hand along the silky tassels. “We only have a week left until Brent needs us out. I don’t plan on saying anything to theHeralduntil we’re completely finished here.”
“I’ll do the same at theSpear.” He shrugged when her eyebrows rose. “What happened is in the past, but I’ll refrain from mentioning it again or to anyone else.”
“How should we talk to them about a joint investigation?”
They sat thinking, and then Wes said, “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. We have time left. Let’s decide after we have evidence no one can debate. A slam dunk.”
Nadine mimed throwing a basketball, and he laughed, kissing her cheek and making her smile.
***
Six hours later, they had nothing.
Ten hours later, nothing.
The next day, “Nothing,” reported Wes as he went to the window for some fresh air. Confident they’d seen everything in the house but that damn basement, they’d decided to power through the rest of the attic boxes.
Nadine fell backward on the floor, a sheaf of papers at her chest. He left the window to lie beside her, appreciating her closeness almost as much as the breeze from the fan. By unspoken agreement, they’d started working as a team. While he’d enjoyed the game of the earlier search, it was nothing on being able to spend time with Nadine talking about everything and nothing, and what they were or were not finding. He was dozing off when Nadine sat up.
