She
nodded, forced a small smile. “Okay.”
“Pasta, basil, cherry tomatoes and fresh green salad, washed
down with Templeton’s very best bottled water. How does that sound?”
She grinned. “Perfect.”
“Well, then...” He offered her his elbow. “Shall we?”
She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and let him lead
her outside. Something wasn’t right. Something deep and dangerous ate Jay up
from the inside out. He mentioned guilt with Sarah. She hadn’t turned up when
she was meant to. It didn’t make him the guy who clasped his hands around her
throat.
His intense need to find out who murdered Sarah could be a
smokescreen for something Cat didn’t want to contemplate. His calling her there,
knowing she once loved him, could be his only defense. She was a cop. A
detective. Which meant that to her he was a suspect the same as anyone else. She
didn’t know him anymore. He wasn’t the same carefree boy he was before. While
she was in the Cove, she’d leave no stone unturned...no matter how heavy.
Please, God, give me proof he had nothing
to do with this...and give it to me tonight.
CHAPTER FIVE
J AY WATCHED C AT SUCK the last morsel of raspberry pavlova from her
spoon, her gaze fixed out across the water, her features relaxed and content.
They’d been sitting outside for an hour, yet neither of them had brought up a
subject of any real importance. They skirted around their families, their jobs,
even their damn hobbies. Jay picked up his glass and drank.
His addiction and this whole life Cat knew nothing about hung
between like an invisible barrier. He had to tell her. Damn, he wanted her to
know. How could they progress past this superficial closeness until both of them
filled in the last seven years? Something lingered in her past, too. If there
was one thing he’d learned how to do in rehab, it was recognize pain and shame
in people’s eyes. He saw it deep and scarring in hers.
She turned, her smile bright even in the semidarkness. “You
okay?”
Here goes nothing. Jay stood.
“Shall we go and sit on the grass? Watch the sun go down?”
Her smile faltered and her brow creased for the briefest of
seconds before she smiled again. “Sounds good to me.”
“Great.” He forced a smile. “I’ll go and grab a couple of
blankets.”
Leaving her sitting but feeling the intensity of her gaze on
his retreating back, Jay hurried inside and whipped two fleece throws from the
living-room couch. His heart hammered and his throat was drier than his liquor
cabinet.
“Come on, Garrett, you can do this,” he said, quietly. “It’s
Cat. She’ll love you no matter what.”
Heading back out, he prayed that sentiment was true. Friends
forever, they had said. He, Cat and Sarah, the summer before he turned eighteen,
had sat on Cowden Beach, all a little drunk on beer and youth, vowing to always
be friends no matter who went away to college, committed a crime or got married.
They’d always be there for each other through thick and thin.
Now one of them was dead and the other was waiting outside to
hear all about his two-and-a-half-year mistake.
He stepped outside and his smile slid into place. “Let’s
go.”
She turned and smiled, flipping his stomach all the way over.
Beautiful, courageous, kind and caring Cat. Pulling up to his full six feet two
inches, Jay took her hand and led her across the veranda and down a narrow set
of steps onto the grass surrounding the cabin.
He walked to a spot that had a fantastic view of the horizon,
day or night, and flicked out one of the fleeces. Spreading it on the grass, he
gestured for her to sit. She did, leaning back on her elbows, which resulted in
her breasts thrusting forward. Jay averted his gaze and let the other blanket
drop from his hand to the ground. His attraction to her was insane after all
this time, but it burned with a passionate yearning he hadn’t felt for anyone
since. He wanted to be close to her.
Swallowing, he refocused and lay
nodded, forced a small smile. “Okay.”
“Pasta, basil, cherry tomatoes and fresh green salad, washed
down with Templeton’s very best bottled water. How does that sound?”
She grinned. “Perfect.”
“Well, then...” He offered her his elbow. “Shall we?”
She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and let him lead
her outside. Something wasn’t right. Something deep and dangerous ate Jay up
from the inside out. He mentioned guilt with Sarah. She hadn’t turned up when
she was meant to. It didn’t make him the guy who clasped his hands around her
throat.
His intense need to find out who murdered Sarah could be a
smokescreen for something Cat didn’t want to contemplate. His calling her there,
knowing she once loved him, could be his only defense. She was a cop. A
detective. Which meant that to her he was a suspect the same as anyone else. She
didn’t know him anymore. He wasn’t the same carefree boy he was before. While
she was in the Cove, she’d leave no stone unturned...no matter how heavy.
Please, God, give me proof he had nothing
to do with this...and give it to me tonight.
CHAPTER FIVE
J AY WATCHED C AT SUCK the last morsel of raspberry pavlova from her
spoon, her gaze fixed out across the water, her features relaxed and content.
They’d been sitting outside for an hour, yet neither of them had brought up a
subject of any real importance. They skirted around their families, their jobs,
even their damn hobbies. Jay picked up his glass and drank.
His addiction and this whole life Cat knew nothing about hung
between like an invisible barrier. He had to tell her. Damn, he wanted her to
know. How could they progress past this superficial closeness until both of them
filled in the last seven years? Something lingered in her past, too. If there
was one thing he’d learned how to do in rehab, it was recognize pain and shame
in people’s eyes. He saw it deep and scarring in hers.
She turned, her smile bright even in the semidarkness. “You
okay?”
Here goes nothing. Jay stood.
“Shall we go and sit on the grass? Watch the sun go down?”
Her smile faltered and her brow creased for the briefest of
seconds before she smiled again. “Sounds good to me.”
“Great.” He forced a smile. “I’ll go and grab a couple of
blankets.”
Leaving her sitting but feeling the intensity of her gaze on
his retreating back, Jay hurried inside and whipped two fleece throws from the
living-room couch. His heart hammered and his throat was drier than his liquor
cabinet.
“Come on, Garrett, you can do this,” he said, quietly. “It’s
Cat. She’ll love you no matter what.”
Heading back out, he prayed that sentiment was true. Friends
forever, they had said. He, Cat and Sarah, the summer before he turned eighteen,
had sat on Cowden Beach, all a little drunk on beer and youth, vowing to always
be friends no matter who went away to college, committed a crime or got married.
They’d always be there for each other through thick and thin.
Now one of them was dead and the other was waiting outside to
hear all about his two-and-a-half-year mistake.
He stepped outside and his smile slid into place. “Let’s
go.”
She turned and smiled, flipping his stomach all the way over.
Beautiful, courageous, kind and caring Cat. Pulling up to his full six feet two
inches, Jay took her hand and led her across the veranda and down a narrow set
of steps onto the grass surrounding the cabin.
He walked to a spot that had a fantastic view of the horizon,
day or night, and flicked out one of the fleeces. Spreading it on the grass, he
gestured for her to sit. She did, leaning back on her elbows, which resulted in
her breasts thrusting forward. Jay averted his gaze and let the other blanket
drop from his hand to the ground. His attraction to her was insane after all
this time, but it burned with a passionate yearning he hadn’t felt for anyone
since. He wanted to be close to her.
Swallowing, he refocused and lay
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