smile had an irresistible openness—irresistible to him, anyway.
He had to admit that his attraction to her stemmed, in part, to her ignorance about him, about his family. About the dark cloud that hung over his head. Couldn’t she see it following him around?
When they got to her house, he stepped in front of her at the door. “Let me check it out first.”
He did a quick sweep of the small house, including the bathroom, where the note on the mirror still mocked him. “All clear.”
“I figured that.”
Crossing his arms, he blocked her entrance into the living room. “Don’t let down your guard, Elise. He’s out there. He’s watching you. He’s already proved that.”
“You’re right.” She swept past him. “I just don’t like the idea of this guy controlling my life. I don’t want anyone controlling my life.”
“I get it, but you still need to be careful.”
“I know.” She banged a few cupboard doors in the kitchen and emerged holding a bowl and a carton of milk. “I’d better leave something for Straycat.”
She tucked the milk in the crook of her arm as she slid open the door to the patio. The dish clinked as she set it down on the porch. “Straycat!”
“Does he actually come to that name?”
“No, he’s very independent.”
“I guess he doesn’t want anyone controlling his life, either.”
She jerked her head up and studied his face. Then she opened her mouth, snapped it shut and stepped into the room. “I’m going to throw some things in a bag. Would you like something to drink or eat? A banana?”
“Banana?”
“I just bought a bunch and I don’t want them to go to waste if I have to leave them for several days.”
“I’ll take one.” He walked into the kitchen and snapped a banana from the bunch. Peeling it, he strolled to Elise’s room, where she was pulling clothes from a hanger and stuffing them into a suitcase, and he leaned against the doorjamb.
“How’s your leg feeling?”
Without looking up from her task, she replied, “Fine.”
“Do you need me to do anything? Check your locks? Leave a lamp on?”
She stood back from the overflowing suitcase, hands on her hips. “You like to help, don’t you?”
Heat crawled up his neck and he took a big bite of the banana. Chewing allowed him to avoid the question. He swallowed and shrugged. “I’m a cop. That’s what we do.”
“Ah, but which came first?” She plunged her hands into the suitcase to flatten the clothes. “Did your desire to help people encourage you to become a cop, or once you became a cop did you just naturally develop that trait?”
He swung the banana peel back and forth. “You know, I never analyzed it. The career runs in the family.”
“Really?”
“My brothers are all in law enforcement.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“Three.”
“That’s a coincidence. I have three brothers, too.”
Great. He needed to change this subject. If he spent much more time in Elise’s presence, he’d be revealing all his secrets. Secrets better kept to himself.
He backed out of the room, waving the banana peel. “I’m going to toss this.”
When he returned to the bedroom, he took up his position at the door. “So, what do your brothers do?”
“Make my life miserable.” She leaned on the suitcase with one hand and used the other to yank at the zipper.
Sean took two steps into the room, hunched over and held the suitcase down while she zipped it. “Mine can do that, too.”
Still bent over the suitcase, she turned suddenly and her golden hair brushed his arm. “Nice to see a human side to you, Detective.”
He didn’t move an inch. The ends of her ponytail tickled his arm. The pulse in her throat beat out waves of her floral perfume. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and humor.
Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds, and in those few seconds he had an overwhelming urge to take possession of her plump lips. To lose himself in the rush of senses that her presence stirred in him. To find out what it felt like to taste sunshine.
The over-the-top thoughts running through his mind must’ve shown on his face.
Her eyes widened and her lips parted as she lodged the tip of her tongue in the corner of her mouth.
He didn’t need a body language expert to tell him what her response meant. Hell, he was a body language expert. If he kissed her now, he’d meet no resistance.
He smacked his palms on the lid of the suitcase and straightened to his full height, feeling as if he were emerging from a spell. “School stuff?”
“What?” Elise blinked her eyes.
“I can take your suitcase out to the car while you get your school materials.”
“Oh, yeah. I keep them all together in a bag.” She swiveled her head from side to side as if lost in her own house.
Sean hoisted the suitcase from the bed, pulled out the handle and stated the obvious. “I’ll take this.”
She nodded and scooted past him into the living room to retrieve her school bag.
Sean loaded the suitcase in the car and returned to the house.
Elise dropped her school bag at his feet. “I forgot my shampoo and stuff. I’ll dump it in another bag.”
She darted for the hallway, and Sean followed. As she plucked items from her medicine chest and a shower caddy, Sean pointed to the mirror. “Do you want me to clean that up? We got all the evidence we’re going to get from it.”
“Go ahead. It’s your message.” She hitched the bag over her shoulder and tilted her head. “Did you ever figure out what it meant?”
“He hasn’t contacted me again. Probably just a jab at law enforcement.”
He’d figured the guy probably knew his history and was taunting him. Wouldn’t be the first time.
“There’s a roll of paper towels on the counter and window cleaner under the sink in the kitchen.”
The lipstick smeared the mirror as he swept damp paper towels across it. A few more swipes and the words disappeared. If only he could erase them from his mind as easily.
Elise hovered at the bathroom door. “Ready? I have everything.”
“Let’s go.” He crumpled the used paper towels in his hand and dropped them into the kitchen trash and replaced the glass cleaner under the sink.
He loaded her remaining bags in the trunk of his car and took off for what he hoped would be her safe house for a while.
They wended their way through the city streets as the late-afternoon sun streamed through the buildings and glinted off the water that made an occasional appearance when they crested a hill.
Sean pulled into the lot at the Central Station in Chinatown, where Elise’s hybrid huddled between two patrol cars. If the killer had followed her here, where had he parked? Spaces were at a premium and he wouldn’t have wanted to risk a parking ticket, which could be traced.
Maybe he’d watched from his car as she went into the restaurant and then figured he’d have time to park in a public lot near Union Square and pick up her trail on foot