lead her out. Even though he assured her there was nothing to worry about, clearly it wasn’t the romantic evening she had hoped for.
~*~
Emily walked into the living room carrying a bottle of white wine and a couple of crystal goblets. Colin was seated on the sofa, waiting for her return, leaning back and resting an arm across the top of it. After Emily poured the wine and they each had a glass in their hands, she snuggled into the curve of his arm.
“Thank you for dinner, Colin. I especially enjoyed the dancing.”
“It was nice.”
“How’s the wine?” she asked.
“Good.”
She wasn’t sure what else to say, as she waited for him to bring up whatever he had on his mind. She set her glass down and laid her head on his chest, running her hand across his abdomen.
His arm slid down off the back of the sofa and hugged her gently. “I love being with you, Emily. I love everything about you—even the annoying things,” he said.
Here it comes! He’s going to tell me he loves me.
“I hope you feel the same way.”
“I do,” she agreed.
“But I think you’re hiding something from me.”
What?
She pulled away and sat up with start.
“What’s going on with you and Sully?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently, looking away, knowing full well what he meant.
“There’s something going on between the two of you, and I don’t mean romantically. Something you’re hiding from me and I want to know what it is. How can I trust you if you keep things from me?”
She wasn’t sure how to reply. She had promised Sully to keep his secret as long as she could, but if she shared his secret with Colin, he would feel obligated to turn him in. The ruination of the Sullivan family would not be on her head, she decided. What could she say to appease Colin?
“You’re not going to answer me?”
She shifted her body to face him. “Sully told me something in confidence and made me swear not to tell anyone.”
“Not even me?”
Especially not you. “No one.”
“You’d never agree to that if he’d confessed to murdering Lucas, so I know it can’t be that.”
“You’re right. He is still a suspect, though, at least in my book. He had motive and maybe opportunity. Ernie headed over to his house to search for the murder weapon after he left Maggie’s. I wonder what he found.”
“Don’t change the subject. What is the secret then?” he insisted, his eyes narrowing and his brows knitting together.
“I told you, I can’t say.” She stood and collected the wine and the glasses. “Don’t be mad,” she said as she walked out of the room.
Colin followed close behind her to the kitchen. “Does it have anything to do with the person that’s following us?”
“No,” she replied flatly.
“What am I supposed to think?”
“If someone told you something in confidence,” she set the wine and goblets on the counter, “I wouldn’t expect you to tell me, unless it directly affected me.”
He planted his hands at his waist and stared at her. “You’re saying it’s none of my business and I should stay out of it?”
She rested her hips against the cabinet and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m saying Sully told me something in confidence and it doesn’t concern you. I agreed to keep his secret for Maggie’s sake, nothing more.”
She pushed away from the cabinet and stood in front of Colin, looking up into his eyes as she ran her hands up his chest. “Please, just trust me on this.”
“For Maggie’s sake, huh?”
She nodded.
He raked a hand through his hair and peered down at her. He appeared to be studying her lips, then her eyes. He pushed a wayward strand of loosely curled hair back from her face and slowly traced her cheek with his finger.
“Emily, you have me under your spell,” he uttered, as he wove his fingers into her tousled curls. He brought her mouth to his and kissed her as she’d envisioned when they were dancing—deeply and thoroughly.
Her arms slid around his waist and up his back, and she held on as she melted at his touch.
I guess this is turning into a romantic evening after all.
~*~
The next morning, Emily awoke to rain slapping against her bedroom window. She ran a finger over her lips, tracing their outline, remembering the sensation of Colin’s passionate kisses and she felt a wave of gentle heat ripple over her body.
Relieved to have staved off Colin’s curiosity about Sully’s secret, she reclined