His heart stopped.
“Cameron was my friend, and I didn’t want to screw that up. I needed my friends then. Needed them badly. But I tried again, Bennett. Know that. I wanted to find someone else who’d make me feel the way you did—who’d make me feel even better.”
He’d deal with the jealousy. He’d deal. But he wouldn’t screw this up again.
“You know what really sucks?” Ivy whispered.
Not having you. That was what sucked for him.
“I couldn’t find anyone.”
He took a step back. Oh, hell…was she saying…did he still have a chance? “Ivy…”
“Are you going to search my house or are you going to keep torturing me?”
He wanted to touch her. He wanted to take away every bit of pain she’d ever felt. His life had changed—dramatically—in the last year. He’d gotten his priorities in order. He’d come back to Mobile because priority one was Ivy. He’d just needed a way to approach her.
I didn’t think a murder would be the path that brought us back together. “No torture,” he promised, his voice rough.
She turned from him and reached for the door handle. Before she could unlock the door, he caught her hand. His body moved in, and he caged her between him and that door.
“I never stay with a lover long,” he whispered, bending close to her ear. “Because the other women aren’t you.” That was his problem. One that tormented him. You weren’t supposed to find a perfect lover when you were barely a man, but he had. He’d found Ivy, and after her…
No one else had ever compared. No one could. Without her, he’d learned too late…he was lost.
She didn’t move, but she did say, “I thought you’d come to me, once you were back in town.”
He had, the very day that he’d returned to Mobile. He’d come to this damn house. He’d stayed across the street. He’d stared up at her lighted windows. He’d seen her silhouette.
I was like some stalker. And he’d been afraid. Afraid to walk up to that door and knock. Afraid she’d send his ass away.
Then he’d seen her being pushed toward the back of a patrol car…
Causing trouble again? Those had been his words, and they’d nearly stuck in his throat. He’d wanted to say…Ivy, dear God, I missed you.
“If you really wanted me,” Ivy said. “You should have told me.”
“I’m not good for you. We both know that.” He wanted to kiss the curve of her neck. Or maybe bite the shell of her ear. She’d always liked that, before.
“I don’t remember asking you to stay away.” Her voice was husky. “I never asked that. Not then, and not now.”
She was about to gut him. “It’s a dangerous path you’re taking. I walked away once. You expect me to do it again?”
Ivy turned then, her body brushing against his. “I don’t expect anything of you, Bennett. That’s the beauty of the situation these days. I can go into a relationship with my eyes wide open. I can say no strings, and I can mean it.”
There’d always been strings between them. Strings that connected them, no matter how far away they were.
Didn’t I come back, just for her?
He could have gone to any other town. He’d gotten better offers, much higher pay. But…
She was here.
“Now…why don’t you come inside?”
Every muscle in his body tensed.
“And do a thorough check of the place,” she continued quickly, “because—and don’t freak out—I don’t have an alarm set up, and I’d really feel better if we both went in together.”
No alarm? Oh, the hell, no.
He backed up a step and waited for her to head inside. The door creaked as she opened it. When they entered the cavernous house, Ivy quickly flipped the light switch, flooding the foyer with illumination.
“I’ve been fixing the place up.” Ivy waved her hand to the walls as Bennett locked the door. “Fresh paint. New flooring. Even a new banister on the stairs. It’s a slow process, but, one day, this place is going to be amazing again.”
“Amazing,” Bennett said, but his gaze was on Ivy.
She gave him a faint smile. “Team work, right?” Her voice sharpened. “Let’s get this search done.”
And they did. They went through the whole house, and what Bennett saw truly pissed him off. Too many places to hide. Too many ways to get inside. Too many unsecured windows. “You need an alarm. Now.”
“Right. It’s already on my to-do list,” she said as they paused in front of her bedroom. They were on the second floor. Half of that floor had been remodeled, half was shut down, empty. “I didn’t expect a killer to be coming after me. I didn’t expect—” She broke off as her gaze slid from his. “I should shower. I-I think I may still have blood on me.”
Bennett crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you didn’t tell me everything at the station.”
She was looking down at her hands. There was no blood on them. She’d scrubbed them, again and again, while he watched her at the station.