“Yep.” He takes one step closer to me then cups my chin. “Except I ain’t leavin’ after.”
If it isn’t Nick, who is it?
This is the question that’s been bugging me since five a.m. I managed to lie around in bed for thirty minutes before I sneaked my way out from Drake’s sleepy hold and crept downstairs in my bathrobe.
Now, curled in the corner of my sofa, I realize I’ve asked myself the question “Who is it?” more this year than I planned to in the next decade.
We’re missing something. I’m almost positive of it.
Now, it’s almost eight in the morning and I have the urge to talk to do the one person we haven’t interviewed yet. The mayor himself.
That could cost me everything though, and Drake definitely can’t know. If the mayor suspects for a second that he knows about my desire to ask him every question in existence, then Drake’s fired. For sure.
Even though the mayor is in Dallas, I call his office anyway.
“Mayor McDougall’s office.”
“Ellis? Is that you?”
“Yep.” She yawns. “Who’s this?”
“Noelle—Noelle Bond. Sorry. Is Mayor McDougall there?”
“Nope, sorry. He’s out of town until tomorrow. Can I take a me-message?” Another yawn.
“Nah, it’s okay. I was hoping to catch him before meetings, but if he’s out, no worries. Have a good day!” I hang up and drop my phone on the coffee table.
Damn.
That girl sounds like she needs a coffee or ten.
I swing my legs off the sofa and carry my empty mug to the kitchen. I rinse it out under the sink, looking out at my yard. Needs flowers.
“Mornin’.” Drake yawns.
I turn. He’s still yawning, his hand buried deep in his hair. He’s wearing nothing but the pants he wore to work yesterday, and they’re slung low on his lips.
“Morning,” I reply absently, half distracted by my mind and half distracted by those little dent things at the bottom of his stomach that disappear beneath his waistband.
“My face is up here, Noelle.” He grins and walks toward me, hugging me from the side and kissing the side of my head.
“Sorry. I’m...thinking.”
“Already?”
“Hush. I’ve been up since five.” I set my mug in the sink and rest my elbows on the edge of the counter. “Just...thinking.”
His eyebrows draw together. “About the case?”
“Hmm.” I nibble on the side of my thumb, focusing on my yard once more. “It’s bugging me.”
I feel like I’ve said that a thousand damn times in the last few days. Probably because I have. God only knows how many times I’ve thought it, too.
“Did you ever find out what happened last night?”
“The tape thing?” Drake grimaces. “Yeah. The mayor got it, but they couldn’t get any kind of ID on the other person. All they got was a similar profile to the guy we got on camera in the hotel and the club.”
“So, it could be the same person? Couldn’t we tell the mayor that we found some stuff at Natalie’s house and know he was meeting someone last night and ask him?”
“If we want to lose our jobs, sure.”
“Ugh.” I drop my head down. “Can’t we lie and say it’ll help us arrest Nick?”
“If we want to be shot.”
“Oh my God, you’re so dramatic!” I stand up and huff my way to the stairs.
Seriously. If I didn’t know he was being deadly serious, I’d be calling the mayor’s private line right now.
I’m halfway up when my phone rings from the living room. I cannot catch a break here, can I?
“Hello?” I snap into the phone.
“Uh…” Carlton’s voice travels hesitantly down the line. “Did I wake you?”
“No,” I reply, softening my voice. “You didn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well. What’s up?”
“Can you go to the office to meet me? I did some more research last night and, uh, found something else.”
“Something else?” I frown as Drake appears in the living room doorway. “What something else?”
“You really need to see it.”
“See what?”
“There’s another video of the mayor,” Carlton replies after a long moment. “But, um, Natalie isn’t the girl in it.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I hang up and throw it on the sofa. Then I fight my yawn as I look at the ceiling. “Fuck me.”
“Noelle?”
“There’s another video.” I throw my arms out to the sides. “But fuck knows who the chick in it is.”
Drake’s face hardens. “Let’s go.”
My sentiments exactly, Detective. Not that I needed him to say it out loud, of course. Captain Obvious strikes again and all that. I should probably get him a cape with that on for his birthday or something. Except it’ll have to say Detective Obvious.
Ha. That’s it. His new nickname. Detective Obvious. I won’t be saying it out loud any time soon, because as hot as he looks buttoning that shirt while his muscles do that flex thing, I think he’s kinda pissed.
And hey. We did manage one whole day without fighting. As much as I like this new nice us, I’m kind of bored. And pissing him off is fun. Aw, hell. I’m gonna end up blurting that out by the end of the day. Then he’ll threaten to spank me or cuff me or something along those lines.
Wait. That’s an excellent reason to piss him off. One of these day, I’ll do it so much that he’ll simply have to follow through on his threats.
“Noelle. Focus.” He snaps his fingers in front of my face, jolting me back to reality.
“What?”
“You’ve been fondling that pair of panties for minutes. What the fuck’s wrong with you this morning?”
I look down at the blue thong in my hand. “I don’t know. It’s like my brain is broken from all of my epiphanies yesterday. I can’t focus on anything for longer than a few minutes.” I tap the side of my head. “Seriously, it’s like fucking kindergarten up in here.”
“Well, try to focus, yeah? We need to get to your office to see this video.”
“Video? Oh—right. That video,” I add when he looks like he wants grab my ankles, tip me upside down, and give me a good shake.
I put the underwear on and pull a dress from the closet. The red is bright and the skirt is full, probably not made for a day of running around like a fool like it seems like I could be doing today, but what the hell.
The dress is pretty.
And here I go again with the tangent.
I get dressed and quickly apply my makeup before my mind decides to waltz with a peanut or something. Honestly, I should video myself spewing out every random thought I have so that, next time I wake up at five in the morning and decide that it’s a good idea to get out of bed, I can watch it and remember why I need to roll the hell back over and go the fuck back to sleep.
Even that thought was way longer than it should have been.
Ugh, Drake was right. I really won’t use five words if I can use fifty. Or even five hundred.
Oh my God. I’m doing it again.
I need to be knocked out. Stat.
“Noelle!”
“I’m coming!” I yell, tugging my cowboy boots on, not even bothering to fully slide my feet into the bottoms before I run toward the stairs. I almost trip over my own feet, so I grab the banister and make sure my feet are in them properly before I run downstairs.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?” Drake asks me, handing me my phone and my purse.
“Ask me what’s right with me. It’s a shorter answer.” I set the alarm and follow him out.
“That’s always the shorter answer where you’re concerned,” he mutters, pulling his keys from his pocket as I throw mine into the depths of my purse. “I was hopin’ you could give me a definitive answer on the wrong side for once.”
“You know,” I say, getting into his truck, “I’m about to attach my gun to my person. It’d be a real shame if my finger accidentally played with the trigger.”
“And you’re back to normal. Your version of it, anyway.”