Explosive Attraction

chapter Fifteen



Darby held her breath, waiting to see what Rafe would do. She wasn’t normally bold, and she was shocked at herself for taking the risk that he would turn her down. If he did, she thought she might die of embarrassment.

He turned slightly, looking at her over his shoulder. “If I stay, I’m going to—”

She sat up and worked the towel off her body. She threw it on the floor and lay back on the pillows, open to his gaze. “I want you to stay...and everything that goes with that.”

His eyes widened and dipped to her breasts. And suddenly she was in his arms. But instead of pressing his lips to hers in a fevered kiss like he’d done in the car, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her close until her breasts pressed against his chest. He looked deep into her eyes, and slowly, as if to give her a chance to stop him, lowered his mouth to hers.

Stopping him was the last thing she wanted to do. If the killer came crashing through the door right now, waving a shotgun, she still didn’t think she’d stop Rafe from kissing her. She wanted this, wanted him, desperately.

His lips touched hers, like a match to dry tinder. She moaned and tried to get closer, sliding her hands up the contours of his chest, wrapping her hands behind his neck. He tightened his arms, crushing her against him. When he stroked her lower lip with his tongue, she opened her mouth for him, and nearly collapsed from pleasure when he worked his magic on her.

He devoured her mouth, his warm hands stroking over her skin, cupping her breasts. Her lower belly tightened, and she dropped her hands to his waist.

Darby had never been so free with her hands. She was practically a virgin, having only had sex once, and then only because she was drunk and in college, and very, very stupid. Nothing in her past had prepared her for the feelings flooding through her now.

She was hot, everywhere. Her breasts tightened almost painfully, and every little brush of Rafe’s hands across her sent little zings of pleasure shooting straight to her belly.

He broke their kiss, his chest heaving as he struggled to draw a breath. “If you want me to stop, tell me now,” he whispered, his voice ragged.

“Don’t stop.” She pressed a kiss to the base of his neck.

He groaned again and gave her another kiss before pulling back and looking into her eyes.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve made love.” He pushed her hair back from her face. “I don’t know how long I can last—the first time.”

She swallowed at the implied promise of more than one time. “Then I guess we’ll have to keep doing this until we get it right.”

He kissed the breath right out of her. Then he was filling her, stretching her, pulling her nerves taut with pleasure.



His every movement was a sensual wave of push and pull, hard and fast, driving her higher and higher on that tightrope until her nerves tightened and exploded into a dizzying wave of pleasure that had her calling out his name. Two quick thrusts and he joined her, falling with her back to the safety net beneath them.

* * *

“MORNING.”

Darby’s eyes flew open at the sound of a deep, masculine voice next to her ear. Rafe was standing beside the bed, leaning over her, wearing a T-shirt tucked into his jeans. He pressed a kiss against her lips before she could turn away.

She pushed at his shoulders, shoving him back. “Need to brush my teeth.” She covered her mouth with her hand.

Rafe laughed and moved back to lean against the wall beside the bathroom doorway. “Fair enough. I’ll just stand here and enjoy the view.”

View? Darby glanced down, and let out a shriek. She was completely naked, and the sun was shining through the blinds, leaving nothing to the imagination. She grabbed the sheet from the foot of the bed and yanked it up to cover herself.

“Such a shame to cover up all that luscious skin. I especially love it when you get embarrassed. Your blush goes from your neck all the way down to your—”

“Get out of here,” she said.

“I’m going to enjoy working that shyness out of you.” He grinned and turned to leave.

Darby’s mouth fell open when she saw the words on the back of his T-shirt—I’m a bomb tech. If you see me running, try to keep up. She shook her head. What was it with cops and dark humor?

She hopped from the bed and ran into the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

BREAKFAST, OF A SORTS, was waiting for her when she came downstairs.

Rafe was sitting on a bar stool at the butcher-block countertop that separated the kitchen from the main room. A pile of cereal bars was strewn across the wooden surface. Two bottles of water sat beside the mountain of food. He waved his hand. “Whichever family member uses the cabin last is supposed to stock non-perishable food for the next person, and keep the freezer stocked. Apparently one of my sisters was the last one here because there’s nothing in the freezer and we’re stuck with a stash of extremely healthy and bland breakfast bars to choose from.”

“What makes you think it wasn’t one of your brothers who left these bars?”

He gave her a droll look. “We eat real food, not woman food.”

“Woman food?”

He waved his hand at the countertop. “Low fat, low taste, high fiber.”

“It’s good for you.” She grabbed one of the bars and peeled the foil open. “What do you normally eat for breakfast?”

“Anything I can fry in a pan.”

She shook her head and took a bite of her cereal bar. Rafe seemed different this morning. Happy, less serious, more approachable. Did that mean he would answer her questions? There was so much she wanted to know about him, but one thing in particular.

She finished her cereal bar, then rested her chin in her palms while she watched him. “Why do you let Jake believe you cheated on your wife when she’s the one who did the cheating?”

Rafe choked on his water. He set the bottle down and coughed several times. He turned watery eyes on her. “What makes you think she cheated on me? I thought you believed Jake’s version.”

“Not anymore. You’ve risked your life time and again for me, even when you didn’t like me. There’s no way you would hurt someone you loved by breaking sacred vows. Besides, it’s obvious you knew who Clive McHenry was. And you admitted it had nothing to do with work. The only remaining conclusion is that it was personal. I figure you hired McHenry to see if your wife was cheating on you. So, again, why haven’t you told Jake you’re innocent?”

The carefree look on his face disappeared and his brows drew down. He took a long drink from his bottle of water.

Darby regretted that she’d destroyed his earlier light mood, but after last night, she knew what she wanted. She wanted Rafe. Not just for one wonderful night in a secluded cabin. She wanted more. She wanted a relationship. And to do that, she needed to understand him, to get to know him better. She didn’t want a lie standing between them.

“Why haven’t you told him?” she repeated.

“You don’t give up, do you?” He set the bottle down on the counter, a bit more forcefully than was warranted. “Bobby Ellington—the reporter we saw at the station—he snooped just enough to figure out that McHenry had evidence about an affair. Ellington assumed I was the one cheating, and that’s the story he ran in the paper.”

Darby gasped. “That’s terrible. Wait, are you saying you didn’t dispute the story? You let it stand? That’s why Jake thinks you’re the bad guy?”

“The only way to make the paper run a correction would have been to prove them wrong, to show them the report....” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “I would have had to show them the pictures to force them to print a retraction. What would be the point? Shelby was Jake’s only family. He can survive losing my friendship a lot better than having his precious sister knocked off her pedestal. He would have hated me even more if I’d tarnished her memory in any way.”

“You’re wrong. Shelby wasn’t his only family. You’re his family, too. You said the two of you grew up best friends. I’ll bet it’s eating him up to think you hurt his sister. That’s why he’s so angry. Not just because he thinks you cheated, but because you two were best friends. He feels you betrayed that friendship. If you tell him the truth—”

He held up his hand to stop what she was about to say. “Spare me the therapist mumbo jumbo. I don’t believe in it.”

Darby fisted her hands in frustration. “What do you have against therapists? Or is it really just me?”

Rafe briefly closed his eyes. When he looked at her again, his eyes were filled with pain. “Shelby and I saw a therapist. He was supposed to help us save our marriage. Turns out, all he did was help himself to my wife.”

Darby gasped and clutched a hand to her throat. “That’s why you used to despise me? Because I’m a therapist and your wife cheated on you with a therapist?”

He clamped his jaw tight, not answering.

“That’s a pretty broad brush you’re painting an entire profession with. Tell me, do you still feel that way? Do you think I’m a bad person, just because of my occupation?”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person. And I’m trying to look past your career choice.”

“You’re trying to...” Darby hopped off the bar stool. She was so mad she wanted to punch him. “While you’re trying to look past my profession, I’ll try to look past yours. After all, you’ll send anyone to prison, whether they deserve it or not. You don’t care if they’re mentally ill, if they can’t understand the consequences of what they’ve done.”

He hopped off his seat and took a step toward her, his eyes blazing. “It’s not my place to decide innocence or guilt, or even punishment. I find the facts and present them. You’re the one who ignores the facts. You’re the one who will do anything to get some creep off with a light sentence.”

Darby crossed her arms. “All the time we’ve spent together, everything we’ve shared, hasn’t changed a thing. You still think I’m evil. And I still think you’re pigheaded. Tell me, why did you sleep with me last night if you thought I was so terrible? It was just sex, wasn’t it? It didn’t mean anything to you.”

His entire body went rigid as he stared down at her.

Some of Darby’s anger faded as she watched the emotions play across his face. She was good at reading people, and she saw the hurt when she made her accusation. It was the one thing that gave her hope. She reached out toward him, ready to apologize, but he turned away.

He picked up his duffel bag from the couch. “Pack your things. We’re leaving.” He headed toward the door.

“Wait.” Darby ran to catch up with him.

He paused at the front door.

Anger radiated off him in waves. Darby realized nothing she said right now would get through to him. She’d have to wait until he calmed down. “I thought we were going to stay here for a while. Where are we going?” she asked. “To another hotel?”

It took him several minutes to answer, as if he was trying to calm down enough not to shout. “Buresh called while you were upstairs. He wants us back at the station. He said there’s a major break in the case. With any luck, you’ll be back home before the day is over. And except for work, you’ll never have to see me again.” He yanked the door open and stepped outside.