She needed to escape. She was confused and panicky and there was a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. And Joe, damn him, knew her so well, he was probably aware exactly what she was feeling. 'I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“It will be okay, Eve,' he said quietly. For the first time, a faint smile lit his face.
'Don’t think about it. Ride with it, live with it for a while. I’m the same man you’ve known for the past ten years.'
But he’d been almost a stranger during those moments when he was looking down at her.
When he was touching her…
How many times had he held her in the last ten years? In friendship, in sympathy, quieting the pain, helping her through nights of torment and loneliness.
Never like this.
'Good night,' she murmured, then fled the room.
It was crazy, she thought as she took off her clothes and slipped into bed. It shouldn’t be happening. Damn you, Joe. You shouldn’t be feeling like this.
She shouldn’t be feeling like this.
Her breasts were taut, aching against the coolness of the sheet, and there was an unmistakable tingling between her thighs.
Oh, shit.
Not for Joe. She didn’t want to feel this animalistic lust for Joe. It didn’t have any place in the compartment she’d given him in her life.
Compartment. Where had that thought come from? Because she couldn’t bear to let him go, The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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had she kept Joe in the one area of her mind and heart where she could accept closeness? How incredibly selfish.
It couldn’t be true. She wouldn’t let it be true. Yet that night at the motel in Elijay, hadn’t she known there was something else between them, something she wouldn’t permit to come to the surface?
Perhaps tonight was only a temporary aberration on Joe’s part. Maybe tomorrow he’d be back to normal.
But what about her? Could she ever look at Joe again in the same way? When he’d touched her and stared down at her with such intensity, he seemed to have changed before her eyes. She’d suddenly become aware of him. The physical, sexual Joe Quinn.
The broadness of his shoulders, the slimness of his hips, his mouth…
She’d wanted to reach out and touch that mouth.
Heat. Tingling. Hunger.
Stop thinking of him that way. She had to regain her balance so she could convince Joe how destructive going in a new direction could be. Be logical, be cool…
She was so upset, there wasn’t any way she could be logical or cool. Damn you, Joe.
Joe, dressed in jeans and sweatshirt, his hair wet from the shower, met her in the hall when she came downstairs the following morning. 'Coffee’s made. Sarah, Jane, and Monty are in the kitchen. You’re late.' He smiled. 'Didn’t sleep well?'
She stiffened. 'I slept fine.'
'Liar.' He started toward the kitchen. 'Sarah filled me in on your progress, or lack of it.'
His manner was casual, she noticed with relief. This was the Joe she knew. It was almost as if last night had never happened. 'We still have a chance.”
“If Dom didn’t lie to you. Don’t bank too much on there being evidence even if we find Debby Jordan. Spiro says nothing of value has been uncovered at the graves at Talladega.'
'What about the cardboard box in the alley?'
'The same. The blood belonged to the security guard at the welfare house.”
“And the two graves in Phoenix?'
'Spiro sent Charlie here to help look into that. Nothing yet.” The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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“That doesn’t mean we won’t find something.'
'He wouldn’t have told you about Debby Jordan if it had a chance of incriminating him.'
'Yes, he would. He’s tired of being safe. He needs— I don’t know what he needs, but I’m part of it. And he’s made at least one mistake since I came here.'
'Sarah’s dog.'
She nodded. 'If he made one mistake, he may have made another.”
“And if he didn’t?'
