Forever Hers by Walters, Ednah (new ebook reader .TXT) 📗

you. So, what’s the deal with this lady at the lake house? I heard you were having problems.”

Even the new additions to the family were a pain in the ass. “Tell Faith I said hi.”

“She can hear you. Now she’s glaring at me for letting you know.”

Men in love acted like idiots. “I gotta go, Lambert. I’ll be in touch if I need anything else.” Eddie hung up and called Sly.

“Detective Fitzgerald,” Sly said in a high squeaky voice of a pre-pubescent boy even though he was in his mid-twenties. “Just a second. Oh, that was my boss. He just texted me to expect a call from you.” He laughed.

“Take it easy, Sly.” The boy was always nervous around him. “I need a favor.”

“Okay.”

“About five and a half years ago, there was a string of burglaries around the University of Virginia. In one of them, a grad student by the name of Charles Dunbar was killed. I need any information you can get on the burglaries. You know, the detectives on the case, their findings, and if the suspects were ever apprehended or witnesses questioned in connection to the case.”

“Are you asking me to access police archives, sir?”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d asked himself how far he was willing to go to help Amy. She could be lying to him or giving him half-truths. Hell, he could even lose his job over this.

Images flashed in his head. Amy looking vulnerable. Scared. Pissed. Raelynn clinging to his neck, trusting him in more ways than she knew, the vow he’d made. He couldn’t walk away from her and Raelynn now.

Taking a deep breath, Eddie said, “Yes.”

“I’m on it. I’ll call you after I find something.”

“Sly?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Try not to get caught.” Hanging up, Eddie plugged in the thumb drive Sally had given him and went back to the files on the present robberies, reading statements by eye-witnesses, listening to interviews of the suspects Briggs had rounded up and questioned. Six homes robbed, the last two, the robbers M.O. changed. The similarities between the case and what happened in Virginia were too uncanny. Maybe he was seeing things that weren’t there.

Sounds reached him from the living room and he glanced at his watch. It was past midnight. Frowning, he closed his laptop, got up and went to investigate.

As he drew closer, he recognized Amy’s voice. She was talking to herself again. The woman had some very weird habits. The lights were off and the glow from the screen bathed her face, giving her an ethereal look. She said something aloud, shook her head then furiously tapped the keyboard.

“What is it going to be, sweetheart? Foot or back massage,” she mumbled in a deep voice.

“I had a different kind of massage in mind,” she added in a breathless voice and laughed.

He couldn’t remember his mother ever reading aloud her dialogue, but then again, she often closeted herself in the den and asked not to be interrupted.

“Still up?”

Amy literally jumped. “Jeez, Fitzgerald. What are you doing skulking in the dark?” she asked, peering at him.

“What are you doing up so late?”

“This is when I write.” She twirled around in her chair. “I got my muse back and guess who gets the credit for that?”

“Calliope, Erato and Euterpe?”

She laughed. “Someone knows their Greek mythology. No, you.”

Eddie pushed his hands in the front pockets of his pants and walked toward her. One moment angry the next chipper, she was so unpredictable it drove him nuts. “Why me?”

“After talking to you, I realized that my character wasn’t flawed enough. Like a magician, I fixed him and my story flows better.”

“I’m happy I could help.” He stared down at her, and for one brief and crazy moment, he wanted to capture the smile on her lips with his mouth. She’d been through so much, yet could still find joy in the tiniest of things. “What exactly do you write?”

“Romance stories.” She got up suddenly, forcing him to take a step back. She moved closer as though daring him. “You know, flowers and chocolate, growing old and wrinkly together. Happily ever after, which you, my cynical detective, don’t believe in.”

He stood his ground after taking two steps back. “Rather die happy than be nagged to death.”

“You know, you’re totally screwed, right?”

“How do you figure that?”

“You’re missing out on life’s little joys: the excitement and euphoria of being in love, the heartache of not knowing if your love is returned or not, having someone through illness and health, celebrating together when you hold your child in your arms. You’re going to grow old alone and miserable.”

Eddie didn’t know why he reacted the way he did. Maybe it was the truth in her words which was piercing his conscience with razor sharp precision and the wish to shut her up or the silhouette of her curvaceous body from the glare of the screen behind her. Or maybe it was the combination of fatigue, her scent teasing his senses and the realization that he wanted her like he’d never wanted another woman.

He grabbed her arms and dragged her body flush against his. His lips crushed hers as his arms wrapped around her, lifting her clear off the floor. Her mouth was sweet, hot. A blend of coffee, vanilla and her natural flavor. He’d wanted to taste her lush lips from the moment they’d met. But a taste wasn’t enough. He wanted more.

His tongue burrowed deep, plunging in and out as he bent her over his arm. The feel of her lush body against his, the moans coming from deep inside her throat pushed him a little over the edge. He ripped his lips from hers and sucked in air, then she did something unexpected. She grabbed his head, pulled it down and picked up where he’d left off. Her lips parted, inviting his tongue to come and play.

Eddie didn’t resist. He couldn’t.

He reclaimed her mouth in a fierce kiss, savoring the taste of her lips. She matched him; bold, demanding and