Free A Man Like No Other by Aliyah Burke Page B

the airport waiting for the plane to take him back to
Texas
. He did his best
to focus on something else, but all he could see was Shania lying there, dead.

Chapter Six

    Serefina started at the doorbell
pealing through her home. Although soft and welcoming, the sound had been
unexpected. With a sigh, she stared at the object before her briefly, then
swung off the stool and headed for the front door, wiping her hands off on the
towel which had secured a spot on her shoulder.
    “Yes?” she questioned, swinging the
heavy door open.
    Any further thought got whisked away.
Taber stood there, a bag slung over one shoulder, looking fine as hell in a
black shirt, BDU’s and black boots. His hair showed proof of being run through
as if he were worried and unsure. Perhaps harried would be a better word. His
large truck parked beside her Xterra. Staring back at his face, she noticed the
strain. He appeared exhausted.
    “Come on in,” she said.
    He opened the screen door and proceeded
in, his inherent swagger making her think things she shouldn’t. Taber dropped
his duffel and stared at her. She cocked her head and did the same. Waiting.
For him to make his reason for being there known.
    “I’m on administrative leave.”
    Okay,
not what I expected.
    “And you’re here, why?”
    There it was. Her answer. Need flashed
in his gaze and she knew it wasn’t just a sexual one. He didn’t answer. Instead,
he countered with his own question.
    “Can I stay?”
    Could he? She didn’t really know him.
And yet in another way, she truly did. Trusting him wasn’t the issue. On some
deeper level, she already knew she did.
    “Of course.” She gestured with her
hand. “Rooms are upstairs. I’ll be back down this hall when you want to talk.”
One final glance and she walked away.
    Back in her room, which had been
converted to a studio, she sat back on the bench and picked up a trowel. With
deliberate careful marks, she cut out symmetrical diamonds all around the top.
When the last one fell free, she said, “Gonna tell me why you’re on administrative
leave?”
    She’d known he had been in the doorway
but had ignored him the best she could until she’d finished the task at hand.
    “I didn’t know you made pottery,” he
uttered, stepping farther in to view.
    She glanced at him and swallowed hard.
He’d changed into jeans, a T-shirt and wore socks. Damn, he’s just too good-looking for my own sanity.
    Focusing back on the vase before her,
she picked up another tool and drew lines below the diamonds. “Now you do.
Pottery relaxes me. Stop trying to throw me off.”
    “The body of an agent—Shania—turned up
in my hotel room. Dead. They’re searching for suspects.”
    “And needed you out of the way of the
case?” she asked, not believing for a second he would be the one who had killed
an agent. Why a female agent was in his room, however, that made her a bit
curious. Stop it, LeBenoit; we have no
claim on him. She realised she wanted some claim on him.
    “Yes.” He materialised beside her,
drawing up another stool.
    She’d never had anyone in her shop with
her before. It was her place, but
having him there didn’t feel all that bad. Kind of nice, actually.
    “Do they know where you are?”
    He captured her chin and forced an eye
connection. “Do you want me to leave?”
    She smiled. “Tired of being here
already?”
    His gaze was haunted. “That’s not what
I meant and you know it. Do you feel uncomfortable with me here because of
that?”
    Placing the tool down, she rotated her
seat until her entire body faced him, not just her head. “Taber, I don’t
believe you killed a co-worker. Trust me; what makes me nervous isn’t that. So
you are more than welcome to stay.”
    Those amazing eyes sparkled. “Thank you
for believing in me, angel. Now, let’s talk about what does make you
uncomfortable.”
    “Let’s not,” she retorted with a snort.
    “Can we re-enact the scene from Ghost ?”
    She burst out