She lifted a brow when she noticed the arrival of the man who’d tried hitting on her that night. Gary Coughlin. She was trying to recall what he’d told her about himself beyond his name. He had said that he was fairly new to town and had come to the party with a friend who was a business associate of Jace. Someone named Ron. CEO of Zimmons Aviation Supply Company. She also recalled him saying he was a divorcé. She jotted all that information down for Manning to verify later. She hated having a suspicious mind, but it came with the territory.
A few minutes later she became curious when the video showed Coughlin reentering the party from the patio. That was probably during the time he’d left her out there with Dalton. She saw what looked like a smile on his face when he went straight to the coatrack, got his coat and left the party without saying good-night to anyone...not even the man he’d come to the party with, someone whom she could only assume was named Ron. Interesting.
“So this is where my shirt ran off to.”
Jules turned in the direction of Dalton’s voice, and her breath caught. He stood there, leaning against her coat closet door, shirtless but wearing a pair of dress slacks. The sight of him made her mouth water. Hadn’t they made love for nearly three hours straight? So why were her hormones kicking up and acting crazy again? It could be because at that very moment her five senses were on full alert and focused on him. And all that sexiness had her head spinning.
“You want it back?” she asked, knowing that even if she gave it back, his aroma would still be on her skin.
He chuckled, and the sound sent a distinct warmth bubbling through her. “That would leave you naked, and I love seeing you naked, Jules.”
Not as much as I love seeing you naked, she thought, even as she figured that more sex was the last thing either of them needed right now. Sexual hunger she could deal with, but sexual addiction was way too crazy to think about.
“I’m finished watching the video of Shana’s dinner party.”
“Did I miss anything?”
She decided not to mention her suspicions about Gary Coughlin until she checked out a few more things. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, I did miss something. I missed you in the bed when I woke up.”
She smiled. Is this the man who had just told her the other day that he didn’t like waking up to women in his bed? But then, it wasn’t his bed in there; it was hers. “You needed your rest.”
She patted the seat beside her. “Now, come sit down, and let’s watch the next video. Since you weren’t at the open house at the wine boutique it might be useful for you to review it with me.”
“And afterward...”
Jules grinned. “You can go home if you like.”
He moved across the room and slid in the seat beside her, pulling her into his arms, leaning close to whisper into her ear. “And what if I don’t want to go home?” He ended the question with a warm lick beneath her ear, across her cheek and down her neck, making the muscles between her legs tighten in arousal. “Then I guess you can stay.”
“I’ll make sure you won’t regret the invitation.”
She just bet he wouldn’t and felt her hand trembling slightly when she picked up the remote. Like the other video, the quality was good, and she tried shifting her focus away from Dalton and to the video by jotting down details on her notepad. She made note of the times people arrived and departed from the party at the wine boutique. She noted several people had attended both Shiloh’s open house and Shana’s dinner party.
“That’s Sandra Timmons,” Dalton said in a tone that let her know the woman wasn’t one of his favorite people.
She nodded. “I recognize her from the picture we have of her. She’s a nice-looking lady.”
“Whatever. And that’s Sedrick, her asshole of a son.”
Jules remembered Sedrick Timmons from his picture, as well. “I don’t see a family resemblance between him and Shiloh.”
“Probably because he looks like his father and she looks like...”
When he stopped in midsentence, Jules decided to fill in. “Her mother?”
Dalton shrugged. “I don’t see any similarities between the two women.”
“Probably because you like Shiloh but don’t like her mother.”
“Maybe.”