Kelly Jamieson by How (html) (best fiction books of all time txt) 📕

He slid his key card in and out andshoved down on the lever to open the door. He hit the switch on the wall and alamp illuminated the dark space.

The king-size bed dominated theroom, but a small, nicely furnished sitting area occupied a corner in front ofthe floor-to-ceiling window. Sliding doors opened onto a small balcony lookingout over the Pacific Ocean. Fronds of a palm tree swayed just next to thesecond-floor balcony railing.

The sky was the deep, intense darkblue that preceded dawn. Man, what a night.

He turned to Marli, dropping her bagonto the dresser. He moved over to her.

"You're amazing," he said.She'd been through worse than he had and was still standing. She was pale andkept swallowing convulsively, but she was hanging in there.

"No, I'm not," shewhispered.

When he touched his mouth to hers,she looked up at him with huge eyes, their sparkle dimmed by fatigue.

"We both need to get somesleep." He unzipped her black hoodie sweatshirt and pushed it off hershoulders. Underneath, she wore a thin ribbed white tank, the lacy cups of herbra clearly visible through it. He sucked in a breath, trying to remember thatsleep was the goal.

He looked down and his fingers undidthe drawstring tie of her black yoga pants, sitting low on her hips. Then heslid a finger inside them, tugging them looser until they dropped to the floor.

He reached down and yanked back thecovers of the bed so she could crawl in. To his surprise, she did so withoutarguing with him, for once. Man, she was one determined lady. She should be asniveling heap on the floor, yet she still stood up to him when he tried totell her what to do. He couldn't help but smile.

"What's so funny?" shemurmured, as she settled her head into the pillow.

"You are." He tucked theblankets around her. "You're awesome."

"Oh. Okay." Her eyes weredrifting closed already. "Tell me more about that later."

Still smiling, he went and hung the"Do Not Disturb" sign on the outside of the door and flipped thesecurity lock into place. Then he shed his own clothes and slid naked under thecovers.

Remarkably, Marli's breathing hadslowed, telling him she was asleep. She must have been exhausted. So was he,but having her next to him in the bed, the warmth of her body, the soft soundsof her breathing, was making him so horny he doubted sleep would be possible.

Trey woke up long before Marli did.For a while, he lay there watching her sleep.

She fascinated him. His eyes movedover her hair, so bright and shiny, long coils spread around her face on thepillow. He lifted one curl from her face and placed it behind her. Eyebrows andlong, long eyelashes a darker shade of gold framed her eyes. Her skin wasimpossibly smooth and creamy. She was obviously not the typical Californiagolden girl who baked in the sun. She lay on her side facing him and one slimshoulder curved out from beneath the covers, the thin strap of her bra slippingdown. Her breast was falling out of the cup, the smooth, full curve enticing,the nipple almost revealed. With one finger, he could edge the cup back a littlemore and see all of her, but he resisted, determined to let her get as muchsleep as she could.

A little mole marked her chest, justat the edge of her right breast, which he also longed to touch. He sighed. Hewas a patient man. He could wait hours at a hostage situation, questionwitnesses with endless endurance, pore over investigation material at length,but he found himself impatient for Marli.

He slid out of the bed and rummagedin his suitcase for clean underwear. He pulled on a pair of black boxer briefs,then a pair of baggy cargo shorts. He didn't bother with a shirt.

He found his laptop, plugged in tothe high-speed internet connection provided by the hotel and booted it up. Hestarted surfing the net, searching for news stories of Sheldon Barnes.

He learned as much as he could aboutthe most recent murder, but he really needed to talk to the feds. He sighed.His suspension was over. Now he was on vacation, so maybe they'd talk to him.

As he surfed the net and read, hecouldn't help but think about the night his life had all gone to shit. Thenight he'd let Sheldon Barnes walk out of that bar.

The woman Sheldon had been with thatnight had gotten lucky. She'd somehow convinced Sheldon to stop at a store soshe could use the bathroom and had run like hell out the back door.

But Krista Mackie hadn't been solucky.

Every murder victim touchedsomething inside Trey, but he'd learned over the years to shut off that part ofhim. He couldn't do his job if emotion distracted him. But knowing Krista wasMarli's best friend and seeing the pain in Marli's face made him able toclearly imagine the last moments of Krista's life.

Guilt ate at him. Marli's friendwould still be alive if he hadn't been wallowing in self-pity that night at thePinto Club. He hadn't told Marli that part yet. He so did not want totell her that part.

He sighed.

Marli stirred in the bed, and heglanced over at her. Her eyes flickered open. She looked so different withoutmascara on those gold eyelashes. Softer...vulnerable. He smiled at her and shesmiled back.

"Hey," he said softly,"you're awake."

"Yeah." She pulled thecovers up under her chin and stayed there.

He wondered if she was shy aboutgetting out of bed with him there. "Do you want me to...uh...go out on thebalcony?"

She stared at him blankly for amoment, then laughed. "God, no." She threw back the covers and swungher long, long legs over the side of the bed. She sat there, hands on the edgeof the mattress, leaning forward. "How long have you been awake?"

"Couple of hours. Do you feelbetter?"

She nodded and pushed a hand throughher hair, ruffling it