She shrugs. “If you want him gone.”
No question. I’ll have this conversation now if it means he’ll be out of my hair ASAP.
“What about Jackson? Jenna?”
“I think you should slowly unroll all of this.”
I sigh. “It doesn’t seem fair to Jenna’s family. They don’t know she’s dead.”
“Then start there. But that means you’ll be stuck with Billy a little longer.”
I groan, teeth clanking together as I war with moral obligations and self-preservation. “I can’t keep running to Nick every time something else pops up. He’ll get suspicious.”
“Nah. Men love to help. Detectives thrive on solving puzzles. You’re just pushing the pieces in front of him. Pulling the strings that he doesn’t even see. Get crafty with your delivery.”
I’m not sure I believe it will work, but at this point, I’ll try anything. I may not love Billy, and there’s no doubt I want him out of my space, but it’s also more than that. Having lost one of the most important people in my life, I understand the need for closure and justice. Billy, Jackson, and Jenna deserve that.
“When the time comes, we’ll be right here waiting for a play-by-play of events,” Nina says, offering her placating smile.
“Or for the squad car to come for you.” Lanie doesn’t even bother to look at me when she says it, and I choose to ignore her.
The thought of telling Nick any of this makes my skin crawl. He’s the one person who could give me salvation or doom me to a life with Billy Garet.
“First things first,” Lanie says, waggling her eyebrows. “More gin.”
Two of Pentacles
WARM BREATH TICKLESthe back of my neck, causing shivers to race over my body in the most delicious way. The tender kisses that follow have me moaning into my pillow.
I need this.
“I missed you,” I whisper into the quiet space reserved for our most intimate moments.
An arm wraps around me, pulling me taut against a firm chest. The kisses to my neck grow more sensual, extending to just below my earlobe. The sensation is tantalizing, toying with the last of my composure.
My head tilts, opening myself for more of everything he’s offering, and he makes good on it, running his teeth up my neck to my ear, pulling the lobe between them and biting down lightly.
“Ah,” I cry out. “More.”
His hand crawls up my belly, stopping at the base of my breast. One finger moves across the bottom, creating a sensation that curls my toes. But it’s when his fingers grasp one nipple between them and squeeze that I just about lose my mind.
The smell of mint and leather washes over me, and I nestle into it. I’m about to beg for him to take me when he finally flips me toward him. My eyelids flutter as I smile seductively at Nick lying next to me.
My eyes fly open, and my body jerks to the side, as if trying to get out of dream Nick’s arms. I manage to get myself tangled in the sheets, and plummet from the side of the bed, falling to the floor with a loud thud.
“Ouch,” I say, making circles with my arm to work out the pain in my shoulder.
Lanie’s head peers over the side, her mouth stuck in an O, and her eyes narrowed in on me.
“What the heck? Are you all right?”
I blink several times, trying to formulate words. None come. My mind is too preoccupied with replays of that dream.
Holy hell. What was that?
“You plan to stay down there? I have no intentions of discussing your sex dream, if that’s what you’re avoiding,” she says, raising an eyebrow.
Oh dear god. Of all the times for Lanie to have a sleepover.
