Crashing into Fate (Maple Grove #25) - Lynn Hagen Page 0,17

a heart attack when she found out. Even more curious now, Arlan went through the photos.

The shorter guy was cute as hell, slim, with amazing greenish-yellow eyes. His smile was warm, even trusting. The other guy was taller, thicker, and fuck… That was the dead guy.

“Here you go.” Arlan turned the phone so the other men saw the picture of the couple. “That’s the dead guy in the background.”

Scott didn’t have warm eyes. They were kind of flat and void of emotion. His lips were set in a thin line. Maybe Nessie had just defended himself.

But if that were the case, why had he run? If it had been self-defense, the cops would have understood, right?

Arlan handed the phone to Mike. This wasn’t any of his concern, and he would do well to keep his nose out of it. He already had enough on his plate.

Like the man standing right next to him, who had thick lashes that brought out the green of his irises, and a harsh, masculine edge to his jaw, which was covered with a soft-looking beard and mustache.

And god, why did Lewis have to smell so good?

There was also a kindness to him that touched Arlan in ways that made him want to get closer instead of moving farther away. Lewis had been nothing but nice to Arlan since they’d met, yet Arlan couldn’t get the image of that tiger out of his head.

That, more than anything, frightened him. Arlan was still trying to figure out how Lewis had done that, and with such ease. It had happened so fast that Arlan had almost missed the transformation.

Lewis’s tiger was huge, scary, and god, Arlan just wanted to forget that he’d even seen that.

“I’ll put this in the backroom until I call it in,” Mike said. “At least now they’ll have a photo of the killer.”

Arlan had to curl his lips in. For some strange reason he wanted to defend Nessie, and he didn’t even know the guy.

When Mike walked away, Arlan realized he and Lewis were alone. He also thought about what he’d seen early this morning. A tiger. Men with glowing red eyes. A deputy with claws for nails.

“Well, I need to get back to work.” Arlan headed for the door.

“Arlan, wait.”

* * * *

Lewis cleared his throat and gave a small cough to hide his laughter at seeing Arlan nearly fall on his ass when he spun around. His gaze zeroed in on Lewis’s groin, his face turning a bright shade of red before he quickly looked away.

Lewis was dead certain Arlan felt the pull. There was no mistaking the desperate hunger in his blue eyes. A hunger that called to Lewis’s beast as he closed the distance.

“I still wanted to talk to you.” Lewis placed his hand on the door before Arlan could haul ass. “Maybe not now since I know you have to work, but we really do need to talk.”

Arlan hesitated. His hand was on the doorknob, and Lewis saw his mate swallow a few times before he turned around. “I’m sorry I thought you were the killer, but…” He shook his head as he bit his lip. “I don’t think there is anything else for us to talk about.”

“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?” Lewis cocked his head to the side and gave Arlan the most charming smile he had in his arsenal. Lewis had to find a way to break the ice between them, even though this morning had been a complete disaster.

“Like what, a date?” Arlan’s brows shot up as his lips parted. “I didn’t mean—”

“That sounds great,” Lewis said before Arlan could back out of it. Arlan had been the one to mention it, and Lewis would love to spend time with his mate. “You can ask me anything you want when I take you to dinner. How does six sound?”

“I—”

“Fantastic. I’ll be back at six to pick you up.” Lewis lifted Arlan’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “Nothing fancy, though I would take you to The Canteen in a heartbeat if that’s where you want to go.”

Lewis didn’t give his mate time to refuse him. He walked out of the office and headed for his pickup. He glanced toward the window before pulling out and saw Arlan staring at him.

Lewis winked then pulled away. As soon as he was out of sight of the motel, he pulled out his cell phone and called Christian.

“I’m already aware of your situation,” the prince said.

“How?” The