Read Online Veiled Intentions by Delores Fossen - Free Book Online

customer at Perfect Match and that the dead groom had been one of her fairly recent dream matches.”
    Katelyn opened a bottle of beer and took a long sip. “Which means nothing, of course. I had over a dozen dream matches so heaven knows how many she’s had over the past year.”
    There. She’d been trying to figure out a way to dismiss the fact that Joe had been her number one match. Not that it was important, but it’d been one of those little nagging thoughts in the back of her mind.
    When he didn’t respond, Katelyn glanced at him. No double take this time. Joe was staring at her. Well, he was staring at her beer, anyway.
    â€œWant one?” she asked, lifting the bottle. “It’s the good stuff. My favorite. I’ll have to thank Garrett for buying it.”
    â€œActually, I asked him to pick it up when he wanted to know what to bring over.”
    Katelyn had already reached for the fridge, but that brought her hand to a stop. She forced herself not to stop for too long so it wouldn’t appear she was shocked by that revelation.
    â€œWell, then. I owe you the thanks instead.” She took out a beer from the fridge, handed it to him and left it at that.
    Joe closed down the files and started in on his beer. It was obviously his favorite, as well.
    â€œAgreeing to go into that back office with Merrick wasn’t a safe idea,” he let her know.
    Oh, that.
    She hadn’t thought for a minute that he’d forget it. “No. But it was a smart one. Come on, you were on the verge of following him, but I just got around to saying it first.”
    He didn’t agree, or disagree. Joe sat there, staring into space while slowly sliding his fingers through the moisture on the longneck bottle.
    Judas.
    Even that made her body think of erotic things that it shouldn’t be thinking about.
    â€œTalk to me about Brayden,” she said to give her body something else to contemplate. “About this so-called investigation that the chief ordered regarding preferential treatment.”
    That got Joe’s attention off blank space. He looked at her again. “Is this the part where you tell me to back off and leave your brother alone?”
    â€œSomething like that. He’s had a rough time recently.”
    He nodded. “Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry about his wife’s death.”
    â€œHis wife’s murder, ” Katelyn quickly corrected. “She was murdered last year, and the case is practically cold. There are no arrests and no leads. Brayden has to live with that every single moment of his life. Any idea what that does to a good cop, to know he can’t solve his own wife’s murder?”
    Another nod.
    â€œBy nodding, I guess you mean to imply that you understand, but there’s no way you could,” Katelyn went on. There was a lot more emotion in her voicethan she wanted. But then, she’d never thought to discuss this objectively. “Brayden loved her, and it rips his heart to shreds to know that her killer is still out there somewhere.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” It probably would have been easier for him to turn his attention back to the condensation on his beer bottle, or anywhere else for that matter, but he didn’t. Joe kept his gaze firmly on her. “Do you honestly think that I’d believe there’s preferential treatment just because it’s an allegation?”
    She opened her mouth. Closed it. Frowned. And silently cursed him. It was a dirty-pool kind of question, one that diffused the indignation she’d planned to hang on to a little longer. It was a good barrier against the effects of that desperado stubble.
    â€œBrayden is lucky to have Garrett and you,” Joe said, getting up from his chair. “And you’re lucky to have them.” He spared her pj’s another glance. “I guess.”
    She couldn’t help it. She smiled. But she suppressed it as quickly as