Free Murder in the Smokies by Paula Graves

concerned Sutton poses a danger to your town?”
    “Does he?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    She didn’t find his tone reassuring. “Cooper Security has a reputation as a trouble magnet.”
    “When you try to stop powerful, dangerous people, that’s what happens, Detective Hawkins.”
    Now she felt guilty about doubting Sutton. But she had to know if she could trust him.
    “I realize the Calhoun name doesn’t exactly foster trust in your neck of the woods,” Cooper added. “And I get it. I know the family history. But Sutton Calhoun isn’t his father. I have no complaints about his work. And I wouldn’t have hired him if I didn’t believe he could be trusted. Does that set your mind at ease?”
    “Yes,” she admitted. “I just had to know.”
    “Now you do.” Cooper’s tone was kind. “And if there’s anything we can do to help you, let me know.”
    She gave a soft huff of laughter. “I don’t think the Bitterwood Police Department can afford your rates, Mr. Cooper. But I appreciate the thought.”
    She hung up and slumped on the edge of the bed, staring at her closed door. What had she been expecting, to hear that Sutton was lying?
    Or was that what she’d been hoping? Had she been looking for a reason to kick him out of her house before she ended up falling head over heels for him the way she had when she was just fifteen and he didn’t see her as anything but a friend?
    Too bad. He was on the up-and-up. She’d just have to control her emotions the hard way.
    With a weary grumble, she pushed to her feet and opened the door, prepared to apologize to Sutton for taking so long. But when she entered the kitchen, she found he was no longer sitting at the breakfast nook.
    “Sutton?”
    “In here.” His voice came from the spare room down the hall.
    She followed his voice and found him sitting up in the fold-out bed, covered up to his bare torso. His smoldering gaze lifted to meet hers.
    Her knees trembled and she sneaked a hand out to grab the door frame. “I’m sorry. That took longer than I expected. I see you found the sheets.”
    “Yeah.”
    “I, uh—” Whatever she’d been planning to say drifted away like smoke on the wind as her reckless gaze drifted away from his hazel eyes to settle on his chest. He was lean and toned, with well-defined muscles that didn’t look as if they’d been built through reps on a weight machine at the local gym. Dark hair sprinkled his chest and converged in a dusky line that disappeared beneath the sheet.
    She made herself look away. “Do you have everything you need?”
    He took so long to answer she couldn’t help meeting his gaze again. “I think so,” he answered in a tone of voice that suggested there was at least one thing he didn’t have and wanted very much.
    “Okay,” she said, barely able to hear her own voice over the sudden thunderous pounding of her pulse in her ears. “Well, good night.”
    “Good night,” he murmured, his scorching gaze branding her.
    She forced her feet backward, out of the room, and pulled the door shut behind her. She stood with her hand on the doorknob, taking a couple of deep breaths.
    Too little sleep, too much stress, she told herself as her fingers tightened on the cool metal of the doorknob. That was her problem. A good night’s sleep would give her back a sense of perspective.
    But when she slept, she dreamed.
    * * *
    S HE LAY TANGLED IN yellow sheets that looked blue in the moonlight pouring through the bedroom window. Her blanket lay in a puddle on the floor, kicked away as she dreamed.
    She dressed like a child, he thought, her woman’s body clad in soft cotton pants and a T-shirt that could have passed for pajamas. He didn’t know if he found the appearance of innocence disappointing or exciting.
    Exciting, he decided. Although maybe it was the prospect of bathing himself in her blood that sent his pulse racing with anticipation.
    The window was unlocked, as he’d known it would be. He was a man of