station houses and see if anyone has reported any stolen gear.” Collier straightened and stepped away from the fridge at the same time she popped the top on her soda can. His elbow banged her forearm, jostling her drink.
They both grabbed for the can, their combined grips crushing the tin and spewing soda all over her front and down her arm.
Collier quickly reached behind her and tossed her a towel. “Sorry.”
“No problem. I was in the way.” She blotted the front of her sweater then the sleeve and her hand. Facing the sink, she set down the towel and her drink, then turned on the faucet and put her sticky hands under the water.
“You missed some.”
“Where—” She broke off, jolted by the sudden feel of his big hand settling hotly on her hip. He reached toward her with the towel. With one knuckle, he angled her head and dabbed at the underside of her jaw.
She froze. They hadn’t been this close since the FOP Christmas party. She could feel the heat of his body and his subtle woodsy scent drift into her lungs. His lean thigh brushed hers, but it was the hand on her hip that shocked all her nerve endings. His fingers splayed low on her back, right where her hip curved into her bottom. He’d held her the same way while they danced. The memory was so vivid she could almost feel the provocative friction of his body moving against hers.
“Got it.” His voice curled around her with just an edge of seduction.
The low, sexy drawl was the same she’d heard that night, too. And her body did that same melt-in-the-center thing. The realization forced some energy through her dazed limbs. She turned off the faucet and plucked the towel out of his hand, drying her hands as she walked away. “Thanks.”
No way was she going all soft around him. She didn’t care how good he sounded. Or looked. Or felt.
Just then the phone rang. Collier crossed to the wall and picked it up. His side of the conversation consisted of “oh” and “yeah” and “okay.” She tried to read his face and determine if he was talking about the case.
In a few moments he hung up, his features tight and grim. “That was Jack Spencer, Terra’s husband. She’s in the hospital.”
Apprehension started a low drumbeat inside her. “Don’t tell me.”
“She’s having her baby.”
“Now?” Kiley squeaked.
“Now.”
She saw the realization in his eyes the same time it hit her. Now only the two of them would be working this investigation.
“Oh, great,” they said in unison.
Chapter 3
On Monday afternoon Collier left the fire investigator’s office early to attend Dan Lazano’s wake. Not just out of obligation to a fellow firefighter, but also because he had come darn close to being in that casket himself.
Lazano’s parents hosted the gathering at their modest brick home in northwest Oklahoma City. Collier stepped through the front door and scanned the people overflowing from the spacious living room into the dining room. He managed to make his way through the throng of firefighters, paramedics and city officials to Tony and Simone Lazano and offer his condolences on the loss of their son.
Collier might have resented Dan for what he and Gwen had done, but he hadn’t hated the guy. Not anymore, despite what Kiley Russell thought.
Thinking about his curvy new partner lit off a spark of irritation. Partnering up with her gnawed at him, but he figured it gnawed at her just as much. He’d seen that flare of panic in her eyes last night when he’d delivered the news about Terra having her baby before either of them had expected her to.
He wanted to believe it was the challenge of Kiley’s back-off attitude that put a kick in his blood, but everything about her from that sexy tangle of red hair to those luscious long legs charged him up. If she were any other woman, he would take her to bed and get her out of his system, but the redhead set off high-powered warnings in his head, and he’d learned the hard way to listen.
If he’d paid attention to those doubts about Gwen, things between them would never have gone as far as they had. Or gotten so ugly.
At a table draped with a white cloth, on the far wall of the dining room, he filled a cup of coffee and turned, searching the crowd. Shelby Fox, a former station mate, raised her cup, and he nodded at the slender brunette. A flash of red hair behind her caught his attention, and his eyes narrowed as Detective Russell let herself in the front door, then spoke to an older gentleman standing nearby.
She sure didn’t let any grass grow under her feet. No doubt she was here to work the crowd, see if she could learn anything about Lazano. The fact that she was doing her job shouldn’t have irritated Collier, but it did. And when she shrugged out of her heavy black coat and revealed the simple black dress beneath, his irritation edged into something else. Something hot and reckless.
Her hair was down today but pulled away from her face, the thick mass brushing her shoulders. It was the dress that had his grip tightening on the delicate china cup. The soft-looking, midnight fabric skimmed over every curve, accentuating her full breasts and trim waist. The hem fell just below her knees, and the legs encased in sheer black hose were the best Collier had ever seen. He couldn’t resist mentally following the line back up beneath her dress.
“Oh, hell,” he muttered, gulping at his coffee, then wincing when he burned his tongue.
“Pretty hot stuff, McClain.” Shelby Fox had made her way over and stood at his elbow.
“Huh?” There was no way she could’ve known he was looking at—lusting after—Kiley Russell.
She gave him an odd smile. “The coffee? I blistered my mouth a minute ago.”
“Oh. Yeah.” He’d already established he wanted Kiley Russell, but why did his chest always tighten when he saw her? Just like it had the night they’d danced at the Christmas party. He didn’t know, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to figure it out.
“Word is you could’ve been the one to buy the farm instead of Lazano,” Shelby said soberly.
“Yeah. It was too close.”
“Glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks.”
They sipped their hot drinks and spoke to other firefighters who stopped at the table for coffee or tea and sandwiches that had been cut into quarters.
Shelby reached across the table behind him and plopped a sugar cube into her cup. “How’s your first day on the new job, Investigator McClain?”
“I’ve spent most of it doing paperwork for the Personnel Department.”
The brunette shifted to make room for Jerry French, a veteran firefighter from Station One. “Anything on that warehouse fire yet, or any leads on Lazano’s murder?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
French jerked at his tie. “You got thrown right into the middle of a big humdinger, didn’t you? You been up to the hospital yet to see Terra and her baby girl?”
“I went early this morning,” Collier said. “But she was asleep and so was Jack. I’ll try again later.”
“Did she have to have a C-section?” Shelby asked. “One of the guys was talking about it.”
Collier nodded. “I think it took her and Jack by surprise, but I heard everyone was doing well.”
Talking about Terra reminded him of his new partner, but he didn’t see Kiley anywhere. Where had she gone? That instant last night when he’d had his hand on her shot through his memory. As much as he hated it, he wasn’t going to lie to himself about the electricity that arced between them. They struck sparks off each other, and he wanted to find out just how long they