Slow Burn (10 page)

CHAPTER 5

Ron watched as Ashley retreated, distancing
herself from him emotionally and mentally. He was still reeling
from her revelation.

His gaze fell on her slight form. She was a
strong woman, a go-getter who didn’t take crap from anyone, yet now
she seemed so vulnerable. The urge to move closer and offer her
solace stole through him. Like before, he fought it. He did not
intend to be emotionally involved with Ashley, or so he kept
telling himself, but he was failing miserably. Something about the
woman kept tugging at him.

Was it lust? Without a doubt. Those lush
lips, rounded, firm breasts and the gentle swell of her hips were
made for lovemaking. He would do something about it before their
association was over. What he couldn’t deal with…didn’t want to
deal with, were the tender feelings. His original intentions were
to come to her house and demand some answers, yet ever since he
walked into her loft, his emotions had shifted from one plane to
another. She set the pace, and he followed.

He moved forward to stand beside her, yet he
couldn’t open his mouth and ask the questions burning the tip of
his tongue. He needed to know what little she remembered, if she’d
ever tried hypnosis to recall the lost memories. His gaze dropped
on her silky hair, pulled back into a ponytail. The soft skin on
her nape peeked at him. An urge to place his large hand on its
base, massage it and ease the tension pouring from her stole
through him. Annoyed at the direction of his thoughts, he balled
his hands.

Ron shoved his hands in his pockets and
rocked on his heels. His gaze took in the childhood memorabilia all
over the floor and the empty boxes beside them. “Cardboard boxes
aren’t safe storage containers.”

She glanced at him. “What?”

He indicated the boxes with a nod. “These are
flammable. You shouldn’t be using them to store your valuables.” He
wasn’t surprised when she looked at him as though he’d lost his
mind. But talking about storage containers was safer and less
emotional.

Her hazel eyes sparkled with wry amusement.
“Thanks for the warning, Firefighter Noble. I’ll make sure I buy
the right containers.”

He looked around and frowned. “Make it
sooner. Combined with your painting paraphernalia, your home is a
fire waiting to happen.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’ve made your
point. And since you’re obviously not leaving, want to get down
here and lend me a hand?”

He squatted beside her. Despite her casual
tone, he could feel the tension emanating from her. He picked up a
porcelain doll in a frilly dress and tried to straighten the
creases.

“Do you mind?” Ashley retrieved the doll from
his hands. “Sarah Lee’s one of a kind.”

His gaze bounced between her and the doll.
“You give your dolls names?”

“Of course.” She gently placed the doll in a
bubble wrap and covered it, then placed it in a box. “They were my
companions when we were on the road.”

“Must have been lonely,” Ron murmured
quietly, intrigued by her despite his constant pep talks. He
continued to pick up more dolls and stuffed animals and pass them
to her.

“A little, but my mother treated everywhere
we stayed like home.” A smile touched her lips. “She would place
family pictures on every table and chest of drawers in our suite.
And my bed always had my favorite quilt and the dolls and stuffed
animals arranged the way I liked it, no matter how late we got into
a town. I don’t know how she did it, but each place always had a
homey feeling about it. She was really wonderful,” she whispered,
then overlapped the four flaps to close the first box.

“She had an amazing voice. They both did. I
never saw them perform, but I have a collection of some of their
music. They are reissuing them.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “But
I guess you already knew that.”

She nodded. “You see that metal case?” She
pointed at a box at the corner of the room.

He twisted his head to follow the direction
of her finger. It was the same sturdy, metal box where she’d
retrieved the camera. “
That’s
the kind of box you need to
store your stuff in, not these….” His voice trailed off when her
eyes narrowed with irritation. “Sorry. Yes, I see the box. What
about it?”

“It has an old record player, and stacks of
records of some of their old songs—the ones that will never be
reissued.”

“Really?” He wanted to ask why, but decided
to keep it for later. “Can we play some now?”

She smiled at the curious expression on his
face. Then her gaze fell on the clock on the wall and the smile
wavered. “Tempting as that sounds, I can’t. I have a dinner date
tonight and must clear this mess.”

“Oh.” With whom, he wanted to ask. He’d
already checked her home for any male things and didn’t see any.
Her fingers were bare of rings. But those little observations
didn’t mean she wasn’t dating.
Lucky man.
“We’d better
finish here then. Wouldn’t want you to miss your date.”

She cut him a look, but he pretended not to
notice. Her soft flowery scent teased his senses, starting a now
familiar ache in his belly. He shifted so he could watch her. His
gaze followed the smooth contour of her face, the sloping cheeks,
the defined cheekbones and her sexy, slanting eyes now smudged with
mascara. Raccoon eyes, his mother called it. He’d dated his share
of beautiful women, but none of them would be caught dead
entertaining without a flawlessly made-up face. With Ashley, on the
other hand, vanity wasn’t an issue. Did she have any idea what a
major turn on that was?

His gaze shifted upward, liking the way her
long dark lashes contrasted her creamy skin. Her mouth drew his
attention the most. She’d chewed all traces of lipstick from her
lips, until the natural pink color was visible. He wondered how she
would taste. Succulent and sweet? Hot and exotic? Combination of
both? It didn’t really matter, the pleasure he’d get working with
and on them was limitless.

She suddenly looked up and raised a
questioning eyebrow.

Ron knew he ought to feel guilty for ogling,
but he didn’t. He was a red-blooded male, and she was a beautiful
woman. It was only natural for him to appreciate her God-gifted
attributes.

“How much of that evening do you remember?”
he asked.

She stood and nervously rubbed her palms on
her pants, her expression becoming guarded. He straightened too,
and followed her to the kitchen counter, where the photographs were
still spread out. For a moment she didn’t speak, just pursed her
lips and squinted at the glossy pictures.

“Not much.” She gave him an uncertain look.
“The ride to the club. The firefighters and lights from the fire
trucks. Sherry holding my hand while talking to my aunt and uncle.
It’s as though I fell asleep when we arrived at the club and didn’t
wake up until I was pulled from the edge of a gaping hole on the
first floor.”

Ron felt the tightening in his chest and
steeled himself against the pain. It still slammed into him, making
him clench his teeth. The floor had given away from right
underneath his father as he ran back to check on Ashley’s parents.
The man deserved a medal, not the ugly rumors Ron and his mother
had had to live with since his death. They deserved to know the
truth, and Ashley was the link.

“Have you ever thought of using hypnosis to
recover your lost memories?”

Ashley started to shake her head before he
finished speaking. “No. I never wanted to relive that night,” she
said.

“Even now?”

She glanced at the pictures again, wrapped
her arms around herself and shook her head. “I want to help you, I
really do, but hypnosis? I don’t know.” Frown lines appeared on her
smooth brow. “I think it’s better to talk to the other people who
were there that night. Kirkland shouldn’t be a problem. He’s like
an uncle to me. You can talk to Hogan.”

“Actually, that won’t be necessary. I have a
friend looking into this even as we speak. He can talk to Kirkland
and Hogan.” He was more interested in what she saw that night. “I
know it’s asking a lot, but it would mean a lot to me if you agreed
to hypnosis, Ashley.”

Her smooth brow furrowed. “A friend?”

Ron noticed how she totally ignored the issue
of hypnotherapy. Oh, the woman thought she was slick. She had no
idea who she was dealing with. “His name is Kenny Lambert. He used
to be with the FBI and now runs a P.I. firm. He’s very
competent.”

“What has he learned so far?”

“Is this really necessary?”

“I just want to know the truth, Ron. Going by
that letter you showed me, someone may have murdered my parents.
Not the faulty wiring and smoke rendering them unconscious story I
was given. What did your friend find?”

He knew he shouldn’t be irritated by her
third degree, but he was. When it came to this investigation, he
wasn’t letting her handle him. In fact, he didn’t want her
involved, period. It was too personal and too close to home to
share with someone. All he needed from her was the information
buried in the inner recesses of her mind, however damning it
was.

He inhaled sharply, reining in his
irritation. Sometimes you had to give a little to receive more. “He
gave the letters I received to a former colleague with the FBI to
study the paper and check for fingerprints. According to their
expert, the sender appears illiterate yet the paper used was
expensive. The inconsistency indicates the person is attempting to
mislead us.”

“Fingerprints?”

“None. Not on the envelope, the letters, or
my car. The first two letters were left under the windscreen wipers
of my car. But if anyone or a company in my building ordered that
type of paper, Kenny will find them. He’s good at what he
does.”

Ashley shook her head. “I still don’t
understand. Why would this person contact you? Why not the
police?”

“Possibly he or she got the same response I
got last week when I asked the Fire Marshal to reopen the case—case
closed. The cops weren’t cooperative either. With no new evidence,
there’s no case.”

“Maybe they’re right.”

“No.” He shook his head.

“Ron, you’re blinded by your loss and—”

“Enough,” he snapped, causing her to flinch.
“Please.”

“Then don’t snap at me.”

She pouted, drawing his attention to her lush
lips. The thought of how they’d taste stole through him, but he
squashed it. This wasn’t the time to be distracted.

“You brought this to me, Ron, not the other
way round. I have a right to know what you’ve learned, and I sure
don’t want to waste my time chasing a wild goose here, okay?”

Unbelievable. Tenacious, bold and a real pain
in the rear, she held all the aces. He knew it, his mother knew it
and the faceless, nameless person who sent the photographs knew it.
But she wasn’t making him forget what was at stake by laying guilt
on him.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you, Ashley. But I’m
not answering any more of your questions unless you’re willing to
meet me halfway.”

Her shoulders sagged. “Don’t ask me to do it,
Ron. I can’t.”

He saw the fear lurking in the depths of her
eyes, and he couldn’t blame her for it. No sane person would want
to revisit what she must have seen that night.

“Don’t you mean you won’t?” He inched closer.
“Come on. As long as there’s the slightest chance that someone
started that fire, we can’t afford to leave anything
uncovered.”

Her eyes snapped with heat. “You’re not being
fair. You can’t waltz into my life and start dictating what I
should or should not do.”

“I know I’m asking too much, and to be
honest, I know nothing about hypnosis, but I’m willing to learn. I
promise I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

She let out a frustrated growl. “Haven’t you
heard anything I said?” When he continued to stare at her, she
looked away. “Don’t try to make me feel guilty. It won’t work.”

He had no intention of laying a guilt trip on
her, not when seduction often produced the right results. He
reached out to caress her cheek with his knuckles. The feel of her
warm skin, soft and smooth, sent a jolt through his system. In a
beat, desire pulsed along his nerves.

She stiffened, but didn’t move away. Her
eyes, wary and defenseless, tugged at him, making him feel like a
low-life for using the attraction between them to get his way.

“Ashley.” He kept his voice low, heard her
catch her breath and felt her body quiver. Perfect. “Do this for
me, babe.”

Her breathing became shallow, her gaze
asking, begging for…what? He was more than willing to accommodate
any needs she might have. His too. He moved closer and dropped his
head until her cheek was a whisper away from his. Anticipation
surged through him. He meant to seduce her, yet he was the one
losing control of his senses. Her scent, her warmth, the need in
her eyes all seem to call to him. Hadn’t he told himself a moment
ago he couldn’t afford to be distracted? The urge to taste her was
so strong he could barely breathe.

His “I need you,” was true in every sense of
the word.

Another shudder shook her body. Her mouth
opened, hopefully to say ‘yes,’ but the peeling sound of her
doorbell intruded. Ron smothered a curse and glared at the door.
The moment was lost when Ashley blinked, as though waking from a
stupor, and jerked away from him. Her eyes narrowed.

He braced himself for another slap, waited
while she glowered, her breathing uneven. He was surprised when she
relaxed and laughed.

“Were you by any chance trying to seduce me
into doing your will, Ronald Noble? Shame on you.”

His ears grew hot in embarrassment. Still, he
managed to flash a grin and stepped back. “You can’t blame a guy
for trying.”

“You’re unbelievable.” Ashley rolled her
eyes.