All I Need Is You (29 page)

KAY OPENED HER eyes the next morning and let out a startled shriek. Her reflection blinked back at her. The blankets were twisted around her legs and her hair was wild around her head. Her horrified expression perfectly matched how she felt inside.
 

“Okay, that was sexy at night. Not so much when I have bed head and morning breath.”

Eli mumbled something in response and rolled in her direction, his eyes half-lidded with sleep. He looked mouthwatering in the morning, wearing nothing more than muscles and a smile. His arm darted out and dragged her against his chest, his head immediately moving to the curve between her neck and shoulder.
 

Kay’s thoughts blurred as his tongue dragged up the side of her neck. She was plastered against him, the curve of her bottom pillowed against the hard muscles of his abdomen. One of his thighs came up between her legs, and she shuddered when it pressed right between her thighs.
 

“You’re beautiful in the morning,” he muttered. His right hand meandered lazily down and stroked her over the cotton panties she’d worn to bed.

She gasped. The man was a menace, and he wasn’t even fully awake.
 

She swatted his hand away. “Oh, no you don’t! You’re just trying to sweet-talk me into morning nookie.”
 

His deep chuckle in her ear was almost as arousing as the hard length pressing against her bottom. “Is it working?”
 

Just then Hope’s plaintive cry echoed down the hallway. Kay immediately sat up. Eli did, too. He pressed a quick kiss to her shoulder before he climbed out of bed.
 

“You’re exhausted. I should know since I’m the one who exhausted you. I’ll get her.”

“Are you sure? She needs a diaper change.” Kay didn’t doubt that he had the best intentions, but morning diapers weren’t for the uninitiated.

“I may not have kids, but Jackson’s two boys used to produce diapers that looked like toxic waste. I think I can handle it.”

“Okay. She’ll only eat dry cereal in the morning. She can eat it with her fingers.”

“Got it,” he replied. His voice was muffled since he was in the middle of pulling on a sweatshirt. He stepped into the pair of jeans he’d left on the floor the prior night, then he leaned over the bed to give her another kiss.

“Sleep in a little bit. We’ll be fine.” He tapped the end of her nose and then he was gone.

Kay flopped back down in the bed and listened with half an ear to the familiar sounds of morning. Hope’s chatter was easily distinguishable from Eli’s deep rumble. Then there was the clanging of cabinets and the soft thunk of Hope hitting the table as she ate her cereal. It was comforting, these sounds of home and family. Before she knew it, she’d dozed off again. When she awoke, it was quiet.
 

She took a shower and dressed before going up front to look for them. When she got there, she stopped short at the sight of the man and woman on the couch.
 

“Jackson! And Ridley! What are you doing here?” Kay clapped her hands over her mouth.

“Surprise,” Eli whispered. He came up behind her and kissed her on the side of the neck. “I know you’ve been lonely and feeling stuck in the house, so I asked Jackson if they could come by.”

Kay turned to him and kissed him, not even caring that they had an audience. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

Ridley pulled her into a hug. “I am so happy to see you.”

Her friend had announced her pregnancy over Christmas, and she wore it well, glowing and happy. “You look fantastic. And you haven’t gained an ounce. How is that possible?”

Ridley shrugged. “I just hope I don’t have as rough of a time as Raina did. Although, she wasn’t a healthy weight when she got pregnant. She’s been living the model life so long she thinks it’s normal to eat lettuce and breath mints as a meal. I need food!”

“We can certainly make that happen.” Kay followed Ridley into the kitchen. Apparently her friend had brought along a bunch of food because the counter was covered with Tupperware containers and takeout boxes.

“Did you guys bring us dinner?”

Ridley blushed and looked at the boxes ruefully. “No, that’s just the food I brought along as snacks. I told you I was hungry!”

They laughed and linked arms as they walked back to the couch. “I want to hear everything that you and Jackson have been up to lately.”

Ridley glanced back at Eli. “I think I’d rather hear what you’ve been up to.”

MARA SIMMONS TUCKED her tote bag under her arm and rushed to catch up with her twin brother. She’d brought along several of her favorite movies, a couple of library books, as well as a pack of playing cards and some snacks. All Matt had told her was that Eli and Kay were in hiding but that Eli had asked him to drive up. She’d jumped at the chance to come along, and not just because she figured poor Kay had to be going crazy stuck in a house with Eli for the past two weeks.

There was a good chance she might need Eli’s help with something soon. Now was as good a time as any to start building up brownie points.

“So, why did we park so far away?” Mara huffed, already irritated that she had to lug her heavy tote bag so far.
 

“I don’t want to park right in front of the house. They’re trying to keep a low profile, not advertise that there’s a bunch of people there.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense.”
 

They crossed through several yards. Matt seemed like he knew where he was going, so she kept her mouth shut and followed his lead. It occurred to her then that he knew the way because he’d lived here for a few months last year. It was so weird sometimes to think that there were stretches of his life she wasn’t a part of. For years they’d shared so much that it was a foreign feeling to not know something about him. It made her feel distant and more than just a little lonely.

“We’re here. Approaching from the back.” Matt had his cell phone to his ear. He held up his hand to halt Mara’s steps. A few seconds later, the curtains on the back windows of the house in front of them moved to the side slightly.

“Okay, thanks.” Matt hung up and then twitched his head toward the house. “Come on. They’re waiting for us.”

“This is all very cloak-and-dagger. I had no idea your life was so mysterious.”

Matt scoffed and gave her a sardonic look. “There’s nothing mysterious about it. I just had to call ahead and warn them so they won’t shoot us.”

“What?” Mara stopped walking again.
 

Matt smirked.

She pursed her lips and shook her head slowly. “Ha ha. Very funny.”

“Thanks for coming with me, by the way,” Matt said. “Kay is probably feeling pretty isolated right about now. I think she could use a little girl talk.”

Mara suppressed a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Kay. She did. Of course, she wouldn’t have been quite as eager to give up her weekend if she didn’t need to ask Eli for a favor. She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder. To be honest, she was probably in need of girl talk just as much as Kay. Once she asked Eli for help, she wouldn’t be able to take it back. And it wasn’t something she felt comfortable discussing with her brother or any of their other friends.
 

But Kay was a relative newcomer to their group. She could give an unbiased opinion on the whole mess.

The back door opened and Matt stepped back to allow her to go first. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was grabbed by the arm.
 

“Mara! I’m so glad you’re here, too!”

Her breath left her lungs as Kay tackled her in a hug tight enough to almost knock the wind out of her. Ridley gave her a hug, too.
 

“I am so happy to see you guys.” Kay looked between her and Ridley with a big smile.

The poor girl
, Mara thought. She’d probably been going crazy out here with only Eli’s gruff company for the past few weeks.

“Don’t worry I came prepared for us to have a girl’s night right here. I brought movies and snacks.” Mara held up her tote bag.

The guys were already huddled around the kitchen counter, looking at a bunch of files. Tank was on the end, looking somber as usual. Matt stood next to Eli. They both looked tense.

“I want to hear what the guys found out first.” Kay sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and crossed her legs.
 

Eli’s lips tightened. “You don’t need to stick around for this.”

“I want to know what’s going on. If I’m in danger, I should be aware of it.”
 

Matt glanced at Eli, then brought the files over to her. “Eli asked us to go over all our cases that had incident reports to look for commonalities. Then we can hopefully spot something that will give us a clue.”
 

Tank stood in the corner, not speaking.

She didn’t know him well, but he’d always seemed like the kind of guy who spoke his mind. “So, who do you think is behind it,” Mara asked him.
 

“It had to be someone who knows Kaylee. Really well.”

Eli grimaced. “Tank, a word outside.”

Kay looked at her before jumping up. “Wait a minute. I want to know who he suspects. I’m not that fragile, Eli. I can take it.” She looked at Tank. “Who do you think it is?”

“Your friend. Sasha.”

Kay gasped. “Why would you think Sasha has anything to do with this?”

Matt cleared his throat. “She’s been depositing large amounts of cash for the past year. There’s no way she’s earning all that money at her job.”

Kay suddenly became very interested in her toes. “Oh, about that. I might not have been totally honest about her job.”

Eli suddenly looked murderous. Mara took a step back. “Maybe we should come back later.”

Kay sprang forward and grabbed her arm. “No, don’t leave. It’s not that big of a deal. I just didn’t want to tell you because, well, because Sasha’s still a little embarrassed about it. She’s been singing at this club lately and the owner pays her in cash. Under the table.”

“What club?” Eli demanded.

“The Black Kitty,” Kay mumbled.

Eli cleared his throat.

Tank suddenly looked like he was trying not to laugh. “So she’s a stripper.”

“No, Sasha isn’t a stripper. She just
sings
at a strip club. And I don’t believe she would ever hurt me. Not her. We’ve been friends too long. I would know if she was capable of something like this. We know each other too well to hide things.”

“So, she’d know that Tim gave you that figurine?”
 

Kay glanced up at Eli again before she sank back into her seat. Her shoulders sagged slightly before she answered. “Yeah, she’d know that. I showed it to her after he gave it to me.”

“I’m sorry, Kay. But until we know for sure that she’s not involved, I need you to avoid talking to her. Just until we sort this out.”

“But I already told her we were heading back today…”

Matt looked at her, his eyes full of sympathy. “Why don’t you girls relax a bit? Watch some of those sappy movies you like so much, huh?” Matt squeezed her arm before following Eli and Tank out of the room.

Mara smiled back as she watched them disappear into the next room.
 

Kay looked devastated. That just wouldn’t do. She reached into her tote bag and pulled out the movies she’d brought and a chocolate bar.

“You have every right to follow them and kick their butts until they tell you what you want to know. But if I was in your shoes, I probably wouldn’t want to know every detail. So if you want, we can ignore it all and distract ourselves with chick flicks and chocolate.”

Kay reached for the chocolate bar immediately. “No contest. Come on, I need to medicate.”

“NOW THAT THE girls are occupied, let’s talk for real.” Eli sank down in one of the dining room chairs, Hope perched on his knee. Matt and Tank sat on either side of him. Jackson took a seat in the corner. He looked up to see his brother watching him, a silly little grin on his face.

“What are you smiling at, runt?” he teased. His brothers were all taller than he was, but he had them all on muscle mass.