Free Hot as Hell by Helenkay Dimon Page B

burglar or someone who was trying to hurt you, then you should tell me. We can work this out nice and easy and without too much trouble. The prosecutor will understand.”
    Noah appreciated the detective’s style. Didn’t appreciate Lexy being the object of her police tactics. “Lexy was with me in the dining room and then on the patio when this happened.”
    “And how do you know when the murder occurred? You have some experience with murder, Mr. Paxton?”
    The target circle just moved from Lexy’s chest to his. Exactly how he wanted it. “I know enough.”
    He felt Lexy flinch at his side.
    “Not that you would dream of lying to cover for Ms. Stuart,” the detective said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.
    “He’s telling the truth. We were together,” Lexy insisted.
    In the background, Noah heard Tate talking to Detective Lindsay about relocating guests. Tate fought the idea with everything he had. Mentioned the cost and problem about lost profits several times. When a few of those lingering outside heard the detective’s suggestions, they ganged up on Tate. Words like “refund” and “lawsuit” flew around the courtyard.
    “I need you both to come to the station now,” Detective Sommerville said as a statement, not a request.
    Not going to happen . “No.”
    “Excuse me?” Detective Sommerville said at a near roar that would intimidate most men twice her size.
    Not Noah. “I said no.”
    “You’re refusing?” The disbelief in the detective’s tone suggested that people did not deny her very often.
    “Lexy has had a hard evening. We’ve both experienced a terrible shock. Now is not the time for this.”
    “You’re a big man, Mr. Paxton. You don’t strike me as someone who surprises easily.”
    “It’s not often I see a dead guy on my fiancée’s floor.”
    When Lexy refrained from denying the engagement, Noah knew she needed a few minutes to get her act together. Which was good, since he planned to give his assistance with or without her permission.
    If Lexy had something to confess, and he guessed she did, she could do it to him. Only to him.
    “Just a few questions and then you can come back to the spa and get a good night’s sleep,” Detective Sommerville said.
    Lexy’s eyes widened as she glanced around the disheveled room. “I’m not sleeping here.”
    “No, you’re not. This is a crime scene and off-limits from here on,” Detective Sommerville started writing something down on her notepad. “We’ll find you another room.”
    “You can sleep in mine.” An offer Noah planned to make before the dead body showed up anyway. This just assured Lexy’s agreement. He would have preferred a willing bed-mate to a scared and potentially homicidal one, but he decided not to be particular on this point.
    “Where are you staying?” Lexy asked.
    The detective’s pen stopped. “You don’t know where your fiancée’s room is?”
    Noah ignored the detective’s curious look. “Two doors down.”
    “That’s too close to this room.” Lexy wrapped her arms around her stomach and shook her head. “I need one somewhere else. Maybe a place in Arizona.”
    The detective’s amusement faded with that remark. “You may not leave the state.”
    “She was kidding,” Noah said.
    “No, I wasn’t,” Lexy insisted.
    “So, what’s this about separate rooms?” the detective asked.
    Suddenly everyone in Utah gave a shit about his sex life, or the obvious lack of one. “You have a problem with chastity, officer?”
    The detective’s gaze traveled over Noah’s shoulders and down his body. The scrutiny made Noah want to shift his weight. Hit the wall. Something. Instead, he stayed right where he was. No way some tiny woman holding a gun and a pen was going to make him flinch.
    He did not need another woman trying to make his life hell. Lexy held that position and was excelling at the task, thank you.
    “I don’t see what our separate room arrangements have to do with a murder.” Lexy