Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,43
wish I could say which one was true, and it seemed only time would tell. Time and proof.
I finished with my hair and met him in the kitchen where he waited with a mug of coffee for me. Aiden looked just right in the morning light in my kitchen. “Thanks.”
He glanced outside at the sparkling and still quiet lake. “Do you want to grab dinner tonight?”
My heart jolted. “Are you asking me on a date?” I tried for casual and teasing, but my stomach was flipping summersaults.
“Yeah.” He tucked one thumb in his jeans pocket in a cute tough-guy move that I’d only seen in movies. “Whoever is after me knows I was on the way here, so it seems dumb to try and keep you at arm’s length.” He rolled his neck. “I don’t want to stay away from you. All right?” Now he sounded defensive and totally adorable.
“All right,” I said softly. “However, considering you’re still a suspect in a homicide and I’m a prosecuting attorney, how about we have date night here? You can cook dinner.”
He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes warmed. “I’ll grill dinner. Deal?”
“Deal.” I couldn’t wait to tell Tessa about this, but I kept it cool. Or at least, I tried to keep cool. “If we’re dating, we can’t have so much of a wall between us. It doesn’t work for me, and it shouldn’t work for you. Why were you in Tessa’s apartment standing over a dead body?”
Aiden shook his head. “This is such a mistake.” He downed the rest of his coffee. “I was with Danny because we were going to grab a drink and catch up. We were the same age in school and hung out a little bit years ago. He had to drop something off at his girlfriend’s place, and I didn’t even know it was Tessa’s apartment. He went inside, I waited in my truck, and then I got tired of waiting and headed up to see the door open and him dead on the ground with the gun next to him. The shot had obviously been muffled by using that pillow that was by his head.”
My mouth dropped open. “So you went inside?”
“Yeah. I heard movement and got inside just in time to see somebody jump out the window toward the fire escape. I moved toward them, Tessa came in and grabbed the gun, and then all hell broke loose.”
I gulped. “Who was it?”
“I didn’t see anything but movement and maybe dark clothing.” Frustration coated his words now. “I also have no clue what Danny was dropping off. He might’ve just wanted an excuse to see her, and from what you’ve said, she wasn’t really his girlfriend.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police any of this?” I asked.
He lifted a shoulder. “Why would I? I can’t corroborate any of it, and it’s not like Pierce wants to help me out. Plus, I don’t like the next obvious question.”
I asked it anyway. “What kind of business were you doing with Danny?”
“None. We’re old friends from back in the day.” His gaze didn’t flicker.
“I know you were working with him to the point that you went on rides and camped out together,” I said, finishing my coffee. “Lie to me again, and we’re done.” Sometimes I could sound like such a badass. Which I ruined by yelping when Aiden hooked a finger in my shirt and yanked me toward him, his mouth taking mine.
Hard and fast and deep.
He kissed me for so long that I couldn’t think and then didn’t care about thinking. Only feeling. Man, he could kiss.
Finally, he released me to let me breathe, and I stared up into his eyes. A darker rim of blue surrounded his Iris. “I won’t lie to you again,” he rumbled.
What? Lie? Oh yeah. “Good.” I straightened my top and tried to get my body under control. We’d gone four times that morning, and I was ready for a fifth. Sometimes I wondered if Aiden was even human. “So tell me what you and Danny were really doing together that night.”
“We were going for a drink.” Aiden wiped my pink lipstick off his mouth with his thumb in a too sexy move that should be filmed. “It’s the truth. As for anything else about Danny, I’m under advice of counsel not to discuss my association with him. Protect both of us and stop asking, Angel. We don’t have attorney-client privilege.”