the rest of your time here. But I would understand if you want to leave and stay someplace else.” She froze as she saw her cordless phone on the counter. Suddenly she remembered the strange phone call she’d gotten earlier in the day.
“I’m not going anywhere for now. Daniella, is something wrong?” Sam took a step closer to her and once again she noticed the sexy scent of him.
“It’s probably nothing,” she said. “I just had a weird phone call this morning.”
“Weird how?”
Once again she was struck not only by the rich color of his eyes but by the hard edge of intelligence that shone there. “It was an anonymous call. I didn’t recognize the voice, but it sounded like he said ‘for you’ and then hung up.” A cold chill walked up her spine. “But surely it didn’t have anything to do with Samantha’s death. That just doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Sam held her gaze for a long moment. “Let’s hope not,” he finally said, but the answer did nothing to dispel the cold wind that blew through Daniella.
Chapter Three
For you.
The two words were the first thing that jumped into Sam’s head when he opened his eyes the next morning. The sun was already up, and his first impulse was to jump out of bed. Then he reminded himself that he was on vacation. There was no reason to hurry out of the comfortable bed.
For you.
The phone call to Daniella bothered him and had kept him tossing and turning until nearly dawn. Several things that had happened the night before had kept sleep at bay.
Daniella’s story of the disappearance of her husband had managed to touch the heart he’d thought had died years ago. It was a testament to her strength that she’d continued on here, making a success of this place all alone.
At least she didn’t have to worry about the crime shutting her down. It was obvious that the bed-and-breakfast was merely the dumping site, and the murder had occurred elsewhere. The victim was from town, with no ties to the business where her body had been found.
They could all speculate on why the body had been dumped in this particular place, but at the moment it would be only speculation.
The other thing that had bothered him was the sheriff’s attitude toward Daniella. Obviously he hadn’t gotten over whatever past was between them. His attitude had bordered on rude, and Sam had a feeling the sheriff had a little bully in him. At least he’d agreed to provide patrols in the area.
Still, his mind kept returning to that damned phone call she’d received.
For you.
Had Daniella misunderstood what the caller had said? Was the phone call tied to the murder? And if so, then what did it have to do with Daniella? She’d said she didn’t know Samantha that well, that they’d had no relationship to speak of.
When he had finally fallen asleep nightmares had tormented him. He dreamed of monsters, but they were familiar visions, part of the past he’d spent his adult life trying to forget.
He finally pulled himself out of bed and padded into the bathroom for a shower. As he started the water he reminded himself that he was on vacation, that none of this was his problem.
Minutes later, as he dried off, his thoughts once again turned to Daniella. He definitely had the hots for her. Even through the stress of the night before his senses had spun with her clean, floral scent. When he’d touched her even in the most simple way his heart had raced just a little faster and a surge of adrenaline had filled him.
As hard as she was to resist, he didn’t intend to follow through on his attraction. He realized the last thing she needed in her life was a dead-hearted bastard nicknamed the Prince of Darkness. There had been enough dark ness in her life. He didn’t need to infect her with any of his own.
It was just after nine when he made his way down to the dining room. He knew he was too late for breakfast but was hoping to find some coffee.
The house was silent and the dining room empty, with no coffee urn set up. He followed the sound of clinking dishes into the kitchen, where he found Daniella standing with her back to him at the sink.
She was clad in a pair of denim shorts that cupped her sexy butt and showcased her shapely legs. Her pink tank top accentuated her light tan, and the burst of adrenaline he was determined not to feel surged up inside of him.
“Am I too late for coffee?” he asked, irritated at his immediate response to her.
She whirled around to face him, her cheeks instantly filling with color. “Oh, you startled me.” She grabbed a towel from the counter and quickly dried her hands. “Have a seat and I’ll pour you a cup.” She pointed to the kitchen table, and as he slid into a chair she got a mug from the cabinet.
“It’s quiet around here this morning,” he said, once she’d poured his coffee.
“Matt is out, and Frank just left to take Macy on a play date with her best friend. Would you like some breakfast? I’d be happy to whip you up some eggs or something.”
He shook his head and wrapped his fingers around the warm coffee mug. “No thanks, I’ll just wait until lunch.” What he wanted to do was take his coffee and leave the kitchen, escape from the warmth of her eyes when she gazed at him, from the scent of her that lingered in the air.
But before he could escape she poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table. “I want to thank you again for last night.” She reached up and tucked a strand of her shining blond hair behind a dainty ear. “Not only for supporting me when I talked to Jim, but also for listening to me ramble about Johnny and my past. I promise you I don’t usually burden my guests like that.”
“It wasn’t a burden, and I know that nothing about last night was business as usual.” He took a sip of his coffee and tried not to notice how soft, how silky, her hair looked, tried to ignore the impulse to reach out and tangle his fingers in the strands.
“You have a wife, Sam? Somebody significant in your life?”
Her question came out of left field and surprised him. “No, no wife, no girlfriend, no interest in having either,” he replied. “I like being unattached. What about you? You have a boyfriend? In the market for another marriage?” He wasn’t sure why he asked; it wasn’t like he cared.
“No boyfriend,” she replied. “As far as getting married again, I think you need a boyfriend to even think about it.”
“You and Jeff seem fairly close. Any romantic sparks there?”
She laughed, and the delightful sound of her laughter wrapped around the heart he professed he didn’t own. “Jeff was best man at my wedding, and at that time he promised Johnny that if anything happened to him he’d be there for me. He’s stayed true to his word. He’s like a big brother to me, but there certainly isn’t anything romantic between us.”
Sam would have bet his badge that Jeff felt far more for Daniella than brotherly feelings. The night before at dinner, he’d seen it in the man’s eyes each time Jeff had looked at Daniella.
“I’m not sure how I’d have kept it all together after Johnny disappeared if it wasn’t for Jeff and Frank,” she continued.
He knew he should get out of the kitchen, get away from her, but his body didn’t seem to be listening to his head. “How did Frank come to work for you?”
“Frank worked with Johnny at a factory in town, and they were friends. The plant closed about the same time we bought this place. Frank knew there was a small caretaker cabin on the other side of the pond, and Johnny agreed to hire him as a handyman and let Frank live there. He’s been with me ever since.”
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief as she got up from the table to answer it.
What