Free Explosive Attraction by Lena Diaz Page A

to touch him, and had desperately wanted him to touch her in return. She twisted her fingers together. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Lack of sleep had muddledher mind. She had actually convinced herself that Detective Rafe Morgan, a man who’d never made any pretense at even liking her, was attracted to her—and that she was attracted to him.
    How humiliating.
    If the floor had opened up beneath her right now she would have gladly jumped in the hole.
    No matter how tight and dark it was.
    “No problem.” She struggled to sound nonchalant.“I understand you were just trying to protect me. And of course it makes sense for you to stay in this room with me. After all, you are my babysitter.”
    He frowned and looked as though he wanted to argue, but she grabbed her suitcase and swept past him.
    “I’m going to take a shower.”
    * * *
    A FTER SPENDING ALL DAY and all night cooped up in the motel room, Darby was more than readyto go somewhere else, anywhere else. Still, the police station wouldn’t have been her first choice. But Rafe wanted her to meet with the sketch artist this morning.
    The sprawling complex off U.S. 1 that housed the police department was almost a second home for Darby. She’d been in the driver’s license office next door a couple of times. She’d been at the courthouse as an expert witness toomany times to count. And she was often in the police station to be interviewed by the detectives, including Rafe.
    But she’d never been in the police station as a witness to a crime, until today.
    The sketch artist sat across from Darby now. Sandy seemed nice enough, but Darby still couldn’t relax. The idea of trying to describe a man who’d tried to kill her, and was still out there somewhere,had her clutching her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. The confidence she normally felt deserted her. “The nose is wrong, but I can’t figure out why.”
    Sandy picked up her eraser and rubbed it across the drawing, leaving a white open area on the page where the nose used to be. “Take all the time you need.”
    “His nose looked a lot like mine,” Rafe said from the doorway. “Exceptit was slightly crooked at the end, if that helps.” He was holding a large, brown paper sack and a cardboard drink carrier with three cups. He set them on the desk. “The guys finally brought subs. Sorry it took so long to get lunch.”
    Sandy watched him closely, studying his face as her pencil moved across the pad of paper on her lap. She sketched in a new nose on the drawing, then held itup for Darby’s inspection. “Better?”
    A chill swept through Darby. Until now, the sketch hadn’t seemed like a real person’s likeness. But now, looking at that familiar face, all the fear and helplessness she’d felt in the boat, the marsh, the hospital, came crashing back.
    Her throat was too tight to speak, so she gave a small nod.
    A thoughtful look crossed Rafe’s face. As if comingto a decision, he pulled one of the sandwiches out of the bag and held it out to Sandy. “Would you mind eating somewhere else? I’d like a few moments alone with Dr. Steele.”
    “No problem, Detective Morgan. I could use a break anyway.” Sandy rose from the chair behind the desk, leaving her pad and pencil. She grabbed her soda and sandwich. “I’ll be back in, what, half an hour?”
    “That’llwork,” he said. “Thanks.”
    “Thanks for lunch.” She raised the sub in salute and left the office.
    Rafe closed the door behind her, moved one of the sandwiches to the edge of the desk so Darby could reach it and sat down across from her. “I ordered you a diet soda. Forgot to ask what you wanted to drink, but I figured diet was safe. My sisters love the stuff so I took the chance you might,too.”
    She smiled her thanks and scooted her chair closer so she could use the desk as a table. They ate in silence, and it wasn’t until she finished her sub that she realized she’d practically inhaled her food.
    Rafe’s blue eyes