Murder in the Smokies - By Paula Graves Page 0,74
worse, hadn’t she?
She’d been wanting her mother to find a new interest in life for years, after all. She certainly hadn’t been happy at her job in a long while, ever since Glen Rayburn’s promotion put him over the detective’s division. So what if she ended up losing her badge? She’d find something else to do.
And Sutton Calhoun had left her before. It had hurt like hell, but she’d lived through it, hadn’t she?
She heard the sound of a car engine pulling up outside, but she couldn’t find the energy to get up and see who it was. Maybe her mother had left something. Or Antoine had thought to go to Bramlett Nurseries to retrieve her phone for her.
Footsteps hit the porch with a thud. Not her mother, she thought. So Antoine. She stood up to answer his knock.
But instead, a key scraped in the lock.
Instinct put her immediately on edge, and she backpedaled toward the chest of drawers where she kept her Glock. She dug in the pocket of her jeans for her key ring, cursing her sluggishness.
The door opened before she found the right key. Daylight outlined her visitor, turning him into a tall, lean silhouette she’d know anywhere.
“Sutton.” A tingle of shock rippled through her body. She clutched the top of the chest of drawers, afraid she was about to tip right over.
He stood frozen in the doorway. “I didn’t think you were here. There aren’t any cars outside—”
“I thought you’d already left town.”
He shook his head. “I’ve got about an hour before I have to meet the chopper.”
“Oh. You came for your things.” She started toward the hallway. “Are they still in the guest room?”
She heard the door slam shut and a rush of footsteps behind her. As she turned, Sutton was right there, his arms snaking out to wrap around her waist and pull her close.
His mouth covered hers in a slow, deep kiss that sent her head spinning until she felt drunk with need. She clung to him, her fingers digging into his sides to keep her from falling, and she matched him kiss for kiss.
Dragging his mouth away from hers, he planted soft kisses along the curve of her cheek until his lips brushed her ear. “Tell me to stay.”
“Wait.” She tried to clear her head, but his mouth was sparking fires along her nervous system, making it hard to do anything but feel.
“Just say it, Ivy. Tell me to stay.”
She pushed against his chest, tearing herself from his grasp. Light-headed, she stumbled to the sofa and sat heavily.
Sutton sat next to her, grasping her hands between his. “I came here to tell you goodbye, but I can’t do it. Not this time. Please tell me to stay.”
She couldn’t think. She had to think, had to make a good decision, but he was sitting there, big and gorgeous and hotter than the August sun, and all she wanted was to wrap herself around him and make good and sure he never left her again.
“Antoine said—” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat and started again. “Antoine said you had to fly overseas to handle something.”
“I’ll quit my job.” He caressed her hands, his hazel eyes wild as he pinned her with his desperate gaze. “Say the words, Ivy. Just say them. Tell me to stay, and I’ll call Jesse right now.”
She shook her head. “You can’t quit.”
He stared at her a moment, his hands falling still. Then he let go of her hands. “Okay. Okay, then.”
He got up, his movements ungainly. Drunken. He staggered toward the door.
“You can’t quit because one of us is going to need a job.”
He went still, his hand covering the doorknob.
“I’m probably going to be booted from the police department.” She stood up and walked toward him. “My mother just informed me she’s selling her house and moving to Birmingham, at least for six weeks but maybe for good.”
Sutton turned around to look at her, his eyes blazing.
“There’s nothing to keep me here. No reason for me to tell you to stay.” She closed the last few inches of distance between them, laying her hands on his chest, her pulse thundering in her ears as she saw the truth in his eyes, a truth that had lived in her heart since she was a young girl in love with the boy next door. “So take me with you.”
He cradled her face between his palms. “I can’t take you to Iraq.”
“So I’ll wait for you in Alabama.”
He kissed her