Page 58 of Unpacking Secrets
A chill slithered down my spine at his words. With fresh insight, we flipped back through the other pages and found a number of similar articles—nearly a dozen bodies had been found, all told. A shudder rocketed through me and Henry pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms securely around my body.
A matter of life and death.Was this what my mother was referring to in her note?
“What do you think it means?” I asked, my voice muffled against his shoulder. “Why would Nan have kept these—and why would she lock them up?”
Henry only shook his head and held me tight to his chest. Neither of us knew the answer to that, and I wasn’t convinced we’d ever find out without Nan there to ask.
Just as I’d assumed my mother’s warning was a dramatic exaggeration, I had been damn near certain Henry was overreacting by asking me not to trek through the woods alone, but now? I was no longer sure what to think. Blue must have sensed our discomfort, because she immediately relocated to press her furry body against us both.
A sudden vibration from one of our phones made us both jump. Henry kept one arm around me while he grabbed his from the floor behind him, then he gave a short laugh.
“Libby’s inviting us over for dinner tonight,” he said. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
I peered up at him while I considered the offer. Though I was a little shell-shocked in light of our discovery, I felt strangely calm about Libby’s invitation. Being nestled in his arms slowed my heart rate for once instead of speeding it up.
We were safe. These crimes were decades old and we had no reason to truly believe anyone was at any real risk. Even if my mother was right about it being dangerous at the time, that was three decades ago.
“I don’t think this day could possibly get any weirder than it already is, so yes, let’s do it.”
Henry kissed the tip of my nose and cocked an eyebrow. “By ‘do it,’ you mean go to dinner, not get naked,” he clarified.
The words sent twin streaks of heat through my body, one straight to my heart and the other between my legs. I poked him in the chest.
“Cad,” I teased, remembering his comment about Nan loving that word, but his fingers were running lightly over my arm in a way that promised he’d be happy to deliver. The temptation of forgetting about these stupid articles proved irresistible, so I caught his earlobe between my teeth. “But why not both?”
His eyes went dark with desire and he fired off a response to Libby as succinctly as possible before tossing the phone aside.
“Your wish is my command,” he said with a smirk.
The sketch, the headlines, every real or imagined threat—it all fell away as Henry set about distracting me as thoroughly as he could manage.
Twenty-Three
Henry
WhenJulietfinallyinsistedshe needed to shower and get ready for dinner with Libby and Mark instead of lounging naked in bed, I groaned with genuine reluctance. Watching her stroll through the room, glorious in her nudity, as she gathered an armful of clothes from the closet and headed toward the bathroom was only a small consolation.
Once she was out of sight, I leaned back on the pillows and closed my eyes. All I wanted to do was spend my days with her: next to her, over and under her, inside of her. Any of those would satisfy me, but I wanted it all.
It was intensely rewarding and more than a little amusing that I was able to distract her so easily, take her mind off things with just a touch of my mouth or a sweep of my hand. I wasn’t usually the jealous type, as evidenced by my heartfelt support of Libby and Mark’s relationship, but I imagined that her idiot ex hadn’t possessed this particular ability when it came to Juliet Morrison.
My smugness was immediately dampened by the reminder that she’d not only had to deal with her own grief at the time, but also a selfish, oblivious boyfriend.
I shoved the thought aside and wondered why the hell I'd agreed to this dinner instead of spending the rest of the day and night in bed with Juliet, but I finally rolled to my feet so I could pull on my jeans. My shirt was nowhere in sight, so I strolled out of the bedroom to check the couch.
Along the way, I popped my head in through the open bathroom door and found Juliet applying mascara. She wore black leggings and a silky blue blouse that made my fingers itch to touch her, to see if the fabric was as soft as the skin underneath.
Pausing with the mascara wand aloft in front of her face, she gave a slow perusal of my bare torso in the mirror.
“I didn’t realize dinner was clothing optional,” she teased, but there was no mistaking the appreciation shining in those brilliant blue eyes.
I moved to stand behind her, setting my hands on her hips. My thumbs slipped under the hem of her blouse and I gave a slow smile when she shivered at the brush of my fingers.
“You look incredible,” I murmured against her ear. “Good enough to eat.”
Her cheeks colored, but instead of shooing me away, she closed the tube of makeup, turned, and ran her hands over my chest.
“As much as I like this look, I’m not sure your ex-wife’s current husband will appreciate you flaunting all that muscle. If he cuts off your soap supply, you’ll need to find a new reason for me to nuzzle you all the time.”
