Desire (Desire, Book 1) - By Missy Johnson Page 0,20

out of the room, peering around the corner, and into the living room.

Devon.

My heart rate slowed and fastened simultaneously at the sight of him. Suddenly I felt lightheaded, as though I was going to faint. I stumbled toward the sofa. Collapsing on the floor in front of him would not be a sexy look.

“Kait!” Devon’s expression was both surprised and concerned. “Are you okay?” He grabbed my arm as I stumbled.

“Hi Devon, I’m fine.” I fibbed, as he guided me to the sofa. His touch was distracting. How was I supposed to focus on breathing when he was right next to me, his strong tanned arms around me?

“W-what, uh, are you doing here?” Shit. Now I was stuttering? My thoughts scattered around my brain like they’d just been put through a blender.

“I’m just making sure that forensics didn’t miss anything. I was going to come and see you later.” He added. Oh god. Now he was looking at me with those sexy eyes.

“You were?” I managed to splutter as a lopsided grin spread across his face. “Why?” My voice was almost at a whisper.

Come on Kait! Snap out of it! I told myself.

Only I couldn’t. All I could think about was what I’d do with this guy, a bottle of whipped cream and a pair of handcuffs.

“Before. On the phone. I wanted to apologize to you.” All my sexy feelings dissipated into thin air. Way to kill my mood.

“Right. That. No, that’s fine, I get it. You can’t tell me stuff that might interfere with the case.”

“You’re right, but I’m going to. I want to be honest with you.” Devon sat down next to me, his knee almost touching mine. “Your mom was spotted at a roadhouse in Denver, with a man. We don’t know for sure it was her, but two witnesses confirmed her identity from a picture line-up.”

“Wow. So you think she may have just up and left the kids?”

“We don’t know, Kait. It’s possible, but it is also possible there might be more to this.” He reached out and touched my knee, causing me to jump. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” He stopped, watching wide eyed as I reached across the table and put my hand on his.

“I wasn’t expecting it, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.” I murmured softly. The silence between us was building in intensity when his phone rang. I pulled my hand away, not completely sure of what just happened.

“I better go anyway, I need to pick the kids up from school.” I stood up before he could reply. Devon opened his mouth, before shutting it and nodding.

“I will speak to you soon, Kait.”

Chapter Ten

“Cassy Masters invited me to her party on Friday night. Can I go?”

Neri sat beside me in the front while Sam sat in the back, entertaining himself with his iPod.

“Who is Cassy Masters?” I asked, reaching over to turn the radio on. Neri waved my hand away and flicked through the stations.

“Focus on the road.” She said. I rolled my eyes. “Cassy is a girl in my class. She’s been nice to me. Helping me get to know my way around, and stuff.”

“Sure.” I shrugged. A party sounded like a great idea for Neri. “Maybe we should take you shopping for something to wear.” I added. Neri grinned. I smiled back, her happiness infectious. It was the first time I’d seen more than a smile off her since she got here, so it was good to see her relax for more than a second.

“Thanks Kait. Jeremy’s going to take me.” She added excitedly.

“How old is Jeremy exactly?” I asked suspiciously, not sure I was going to like the answer. If he was going to take her, he had to be older than sixteen. What if she said he was twenty? Or older?

“He is seventeen. Almost eighteen.” Neri replied. Not so bad, but still…what kind of guardian was I not to point out the problems with this? I couldn’t be her sister all the time.

“Neri, that’s a pretty big age gap for someone so young.”

“I’m not young.” Neri said hotly.

Okay.

Wrong choice of words. The first rule of parenting was not to make the teenager feel like a child.

“Have you two...been intimate?” I asked. Neri blushed bright red.

“Kait!” She exclaimed, covering her face with her hands. I glanced in the rear view mirror at Sam, who was busy with his iPod.

“Neri I just want to make sure if you are being sexually active, you’re being safe about it.” This conversations