Free Deadly Shadows by Jaycee Clark Page B

purples.”
    “You like Beethoven?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What about his Moonlight Sonata ?”
    “Blues and grays, swirling and melding.”
    He chuckled. “You’re right. That’s weird, but I like it. What other music do you like?”
    “All kinds of music. You?” She took another sip of the tepid tea.
    “Beethoven’s good. I like jazz, old World War II songs, Celtic.”
    “Celtic, huh? Never say so with a name like Aiden Kinncaid.” So they had something else in common. Music tastes.
    “One half Irish, one half Scot.”
    “There was no hope for you.”
    He smiled. “None.”
    He stood again and offered her his hand. This time she let him help her stand and didn’t take her hand from his as they walked out the hotel.
    “So you think of music and people in terms of color? What color am I?”
    “Blue,” she answered immediately.
    He grinned, a glint in his eye before he covered them with shades as they stepped out into the bright morning. “But is it just blue? Or are there different shades?”
    “Like your eyes.”
    He halted.
    Oh God, she had not just commented on his damn eyes.
    “My eyes?”
    Hell. “Uh, yeah, that blue color. Yeah.” Intense. The man was an intense cobalt blue.
    They stood on the pavement, halfway to his Jeep. She scrambled for something else to say.
    “Tim is navy, all somber and serious most of the time. And T.J., she’s pale green or blue, like winter ice.” Jesslyn shrugged. “I know it’s weird. It’s just how I think of things.”
    Aiden shook his head and helped her into his Jeep.
    As he slid in, he said, “No, I don’t think it’s really that weird so much as interesting.”
    The drive back to the house only took about five minutes. He walked her in, nodding to the replacement cop--whose name she couldn’t remember--and preceded to check the rooms.
    She stood in the kitchen and decided to wait to crank the coffeepot until after Aiden left.
    Tim’s be-careful-I’ll-talk-to-you-later note lay on the countertop. Immediately the idea of her two friends together popped unbidden in her mind. Nope, not gonna go there .
    Aiden stood in the doorway, still in his mountain wear but now he had a briefcase.

    43
    “Off to work?” she asked.
    He looked from her to the counter behind. “No coffee.”
    “Who are you? My doctor?” Okay so she’d thought it.
    His gaze, cobalt and hot as lightning ran over her again. “Depends.” He walked closer.
    “I always liked playing doctor.”
    “Ooohhhh.” She tossed the pencil at him. “Go to work. Get out of my house.”
    “I’m renting it. Have a signed contract to prove it.” He stopped in front of her.
    “You’re impossible and I’m trying to think here and you’re making it hard.”
    His dimple peeked at her. “That’s nice to know.”
    The man reminded her of a panther. He set the briefcase on the center island on one side of her, reaching across trapping her between him and counter behind her.
    “Don’t move your stuff,” he said, his voice quiet.
    She licked her lip, looking up at him. “I was going to run to the store and get some food.”
    “You’re changing the subject.” He leaned in ever so slightly and she felt her blood heat.
    “You don’t need to be out there alone in the cottage.”
    She couldn’t think with him this close. And why was he this close?
    “I-um-I don’t think….” She licked her lips
    “Good.” He lowered his mouth to hers. A breath away his eyes met hers and he smiled.
    “Don’t think.”
    A spark lit deep within her as his lips, soft yet firm, met hers. Jesslyn didn’t move, couldn’t move. Aiden didn’t touch her other than with his lips on hers. Before it started the kiss ended. His smile dimpled. She liked that single dimple in his right cheek.
    “I’m glad to see you don’t always bite,” he whispered.
    Bite? Jesslyn blinked, shook her head as he stepped back, though still kept his arms on either side of her.
    “Depends,” she whispered.
    This close she watched