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Authors: Rhonda Pollero
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“You’re a very hard woman to help.”
“I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you,” I insisted as I rounded my desk fully prepared to roll his ass right out of my office and dump him into the hallway.
He stood, and we ended up toe to toe with little more than a hairsbreadth between us. My body started to tingle when I locked eyes with him. Very slowly, he lifted his hand and traced a whisper of a trail along my jawline. It felt as if my heart would explode in my chest, and it was hard to keep up the pretext of being completely immune to him. Correction. Impossible.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?” he asked as his fingertip found the rapid pulse point at my throat.
I swatted at his hand. “Don’t touch me. Don’t help me. Just go play with your ex-wife.”
He pulled a rumpled, tri-folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket. “I could do that, but then you’d never know what the ME found out about your skeleton.”
I started to grab for the paper, then remembered I wasn’t five. “It isn’t my skeleton. So what did the ME find?”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“What?”
Liam reached over and picked up the medallion I’d left on my desk. “Is this what you took off the dead chick?”
I pressed my lips together and glared at him.
He flipped the medallion in his palm and started nodding. “I can see why. Can’t be too many F.A.T.’s out there. Any idea why the deceased had it in her hand?”
“You’ve seen mine, so now I get to see yours, right?”
He handed me the paper. There was a lot of medical jargon that I could look up later, but what I wasn’t finding was a cause of death. “How did she die?”
“Undetermined, but that’s not the interesting part. Read the third paragraph.”
I did, but unfortunately that was part of the medical jargon, and I barely understood more than something had something to do with something that had to do with signs of crystallization and something else to do with dehydration. “I give. What is supposed to be jumping out at me?”
“That’s just a preliminary report, but it appears that your skeleton is pretty well traveled.”
“Excuse me?”
“Before she took up residence at your place, your dead roommate was in a humidity-free environment, then frozen and finally boxed up and placed in your closet.”
Men are like PMS—they irritate you for no reason.
four
S O THIS IS A homicide?” My adrenaline surged, though it was tempered by the knowledge that Vain Dane wouldn’t like my being mixed up in a murder. Again. With wouldn’t like being the understatement of the year, even though this was different. This time the murder had come to me and not vice versa, but I suspected Dane wouldn’t appreciate the semantics.
Liam shook his head, and the signature lock of black hair fell forward. My fingers twitched, wanting nothing more than to brush the hair back into place, followed immediately by ripping off his clothing and… focus !
Easier said than done when his body brushed against me as he stepped around the desk and sat in one of the two chairs opposite mine. In an attempt to redirect my thinking, I tossed the legal pad on the credenza, then poured myself another cup of coffee before settling into my chair. “What happens next?”
Liam was grinning at me. Not in a good way. He was mocking me. “What?” I snapped.
“Ever hear the expression NHI?”
I shook my head.
He leaned forward, poured half of my coffee into his mug, then took a swallow. I’m not sure what about him annoyed me the most: I just knew that the list was growing. Showing up unannounced, commandeering my desk and my favorite coffee cup, touching me just to get a rise out of me—which totally worked—or knowing that when it came to crimes, he knew more than I did. No wonder Vain Dane was sending me to the legal version of GED classes.
“Cop speak for no humans involved.”
“That’s harsh.”
“That’s reality,” he
“I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you,” I insisted as I rounded my desk fully prepared to roll his ass right out of my office and dump him into the hallway.
He stood, and we ended up toe to toe with little more than a hairsbreadth between us. My body started to tingle when I locked eyes with him. Very slowly, he lifted his hand and traced a whisper of a trail along my jawline. It felt as if my heart would explode in my chest, and it was hard to keep up the pretext of being completely immune to him. Correction. Impossible.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?” he asked as his fingertip found the rapid pulse point at my throat.
I swatted at his hand. “Don’t touch me. Don’t help me. Just go play with your ex-wife.”
He pulled a rumpled, tri-folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket. “I could do that, but then you’d never know what the ME found out about your skeleton.”
I started to grab for the paper, then remembered I wasn’t five. “It isn’t my skeleton. So what did the ME find?”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“What?”
Liam reached over and picked up the medallion I’d left on my desk. “Is this what you took off the dead chick?”
I pressed my lips together and glared at him.
He flipped the medallion in his palm and started nodding. “I can see why. Can’t be too many F.A.T.’s out there. Any idea why the deceased had it in her hand?”
“You’ve seen mine, so now I get to see yours, right?”
He handed me the paper. There was a lot of medical jargon that I could look up later, but what I wasn’t finding was a cause of death. “How did she die?”
“Undetermined, but that’s not the interesting part. Read the third paragraph.”
I did, but unfortunately that was part of the medical jargon, and I barely understood more than something had something to do with something that had to do with signs of crystallization and something else to do with dehydration. “I give. What is supposed to be jumping out at me?”
“That’s just a preliminary report, but it appears that your skeleton is pretty well traveled.”
“Excuse me?”
“Before she took up residence at your place, your dead roommate was in a humidity-free environment, then frozen and finally boxed up and placed in your closet.”
Men are like PMS—they irritate you for no reason.
four
S O THIS IS A homicide?” My adrenaline surged, though it was tempered by the knowledge that Vain Dane wouldn’t like my being mixed up in a murder. Again. With wouldn’t like being the understatement of the year, even though this was different. This time the murder had come to me and not vice versa, but I suspected Dane wouldn’t appreciate the semantics.
Liam shook his head, and the signature lock of black hair fell forward. My fingers twitched, wanting nothing more than to brush the hair back into place, followed immediately by ripping off his clothing and… focus !
Easier said than done when his body brushed against me as he stepped around the desk and sat in one of the two chairs opposite mine. In an attempt to redirect my thinking, I tossed the legal pad on the credenza, then poured myself another cup of coffee before settling into my chair. “What happens next?”
Liam was grinning at me. Not in a good way. He was mocking me. “What?” I snapped.
“Ever hear the expression NHI?”
I shook my head.
He leaned forward, poured half of my coffee into his mug, then took a swallow. I’m not sure what about him annoyed me the most: I just knew that the list was growing. Showing up unannounced, commandeering my desk and my favorite coffee cup, touching me just to get a rise out of me—which totally worked—or knowing that when it came to crimes, he knew more than I did. No wonder Vain Dane was sending me to the legal version of GED classes.
“Cop speak for no humans involved.”
“That’s harsh.”
“That’s reality,” he
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