Free Grayson by Delores Fossen Page A

ordered, and Grayson walked across the woods to the body. Even the mini break from Eve might help because right now his stomach was knotted even harder than it had been in the middle of the attack.
    The dead man was still there, of course, sprawled out among the clumps of dried leaves and fallen tree limbs. Grayson snapped a couple of pictures and checked the signal. Still too weak to send the photos, but he made a mental note to keep checking. He made another mental note not to do any more looking at Eve. No thinking about Eve. No more need for her that was generated below the belt.
    Hard to do with her standing there in that body-hugging dress.
    “Thank you,” she whispered when he went back to her.
    He didn’t want to hear this. “Don’t,” Grayson warned. “Don’t say anything.” He wasn’t a man who dwelled on regrets, but by God he could make an exception.
    She stepped in front of him and forced eye contact. “Thank you,” Eve repeated, and she leaned in pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek. His cheek!
    Here his body was still burning for her, and she had risked giving him a brotherly kiss like that. The woman really was playing with fire.
    Grayson stepped back and fastened his attention on the area where the dead man was. “Did I hurt you?” he growled.
    “No.” Eve answered it so quickly that she’d probably anticipated the question. Which meant he’d been too rough. Grayson shot her an over-the-shoulder glance to let her know that.
    She shrugged. “I don’t mind a little rough. But you’re aware of that.”
    Yeah, he was. He knew every inch of her body and could have gotten her off with just a touch. But Grayson had tried to keep the pleasure factor out of this. For him that was impossible. His body was humming, and well satisfied, even though his brain was confused as hell.
    “How long before you know if this worked?” he asked.
    “I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my doctor.” She hesitated. “I figured I wouldn’t call you or anything with the results. I thought it would be easier that way. Is that okay?”
    Was it? Grayson didn’t have a clue what was okay. His brain was a mess right now. “Yeah,” he settled for saying.
    She pulled her coat around her and shivered. Eve was obviously cold, but Grayson intended to do nothing about that. He’d already done enough for the day.
    “I don’t want you to tell your family about this,” she insisted. “As soon as we’re out of here, I’ll leave so you won’t have to see me.”
    He gave her another look that was probably more scowl than anything else.
    She huffed. “Grayson, I’m not stupid. I know what’s going on in your head, and you’ll want to put as much distance between us as possible.”
    True. But distance was going to be a problem until he figured out why the man had wanted her dead. Grayson was about to remind her of that when he heard Dade call out to them.
    “Over here!” Grayson answered. With Eve right behind him, he went in the direction of his brother’s voice.
    Eve raked her hand through her hair, trying to fix it, and she brushed off the bits of leaves and twigs from her coat. Grayson tried to do the same.
    He soon spotted Dade, and he wasn’t alone. Deputy Melissa Garza was with him. Mel, as she liked to be called. And Grayson was thankful Dade had brought her along.
    “You okay?” Dade asked when he was still a good twenty yards away.
    Grayson nodded, but he was far from okay. He tipped his head to the body. “Single gunshot wound to the chest, and he bled out. It’s the man we chased into the woods behind Eve’s cottage.”
    Mel began to trudge her way through to the dead man, but Dade stayed on the path that led directly toward Grayson. As his brother walked closer, he glanced at both Eve and him. Not an ordinary glance but a suspicious one.
    “I have the photos,” Grayson said showing Dade his cell. Best to get Dade’s suspicious mind back where it belonged—on the investigation. “Is the medical