Page 45 of Ice Cold Liar

If possible, those incredible eyes of hers widened even more.“Stop.”

“It’s true.My brother tells me that I’m a real dick all the time.”

Her laughter rang out.Husky and beautiful.He loved that sound.Drank it up greedily.

But then she stopped.Looked around.The laughter had vanished, and no smile lingered on her lips.“I can’t believe I’m laughing…here.”

“Want me to get you out of here?We can go to a hotel.Jeffrey has Henry at the fire station.We can get him later and?—”

“Talking to you is kinda taking all my energy.A confession I did not want to make.Like I said, I don’t like being helpless in front of you.”A whispered admission.“I’ll sleep and…then figure things out.”

He’d have her another place ready to go before she woke up.“Close your eyes,” he told her.“You don’t have anything to fear.”

“Sure, I do.”But she closed her eyes.

“You don’t have anything to fear fromme.” And he would protect her from any threat that came her way.

Only once again, she said, “Sure, I do.”

His chest tightened.“Naomi?”

“I think you could break me.Because I think…I think I could fall for you.If I’m not careful.”

She had not just said those words to him.

He didn’t speak.Didn’t leave, either.He stayed until her breathing eased into the rhythm of sleep.Made sure she was comfortable, that she didn’t immediately wake up, scared.

He didn’t like it when she was scared.

I am so fucked.

When Eb was sure that Naomi was resting deeply, only then did he finally slip from the bed.He padded silently from the room.Went back to the small den-slash-kitchen area.Hauled out his phone.Made a quick call.It rang once.Twice.

“You just can’t quit me, can you?”Hunter grumbled.Sleep roughened his voice.“Look, I am going to do your digging, if you’d give me a bit?—”

“I need help.”

“Yeah, I know.Got the previous phone call.But I don’t work miracles, so I need time?—”

“Hunter,” Eb cut through his grousing.“I need you.I need backup on the ground.”

“What’s happening?”Instant alertness.

“So many fucking things.But let’s start with this…someone tried to torch Naomi’s house last night.With me and Naomi in it.”

“What?”

“I have to get a secure place to stay with Naomi, stat.Her place has zero security and feels like a death trap.”Probably because it was.

“Can we go back to the torching?”

“I also need to talk with my sister.She’s working with the Ice Breakers.”Something that had not initially thrilled him, given Marley’s past and the pain she’d endured, but he could sure use her ties to the cold case solvers.“I’ll have to get my sister to set up a meeting between me and Memphis Camden.”

“Uh, why do you want to do that?”

“Because I have to find out if my partner—if Hudson was a serial killer or not.”

“Shut the hell up,” Hunter fired back.“Wait, for real?You are actually telling me that the dead guy could have been a serial?How the hell did you get to that suspicion?We talked less than five hours ago!You mentioned none of this to me.None.Zilch about any potential serial connection.”

---