Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy. HelenKay Dimon

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СКАЧАТЬ being naked, although she wasn’t real fond of that either. The heart-to-heart he had planned was the bigger problem. She’d made a promise to her mother, although in her mother’s catatonic state, she likely didn’t understand the vow. But that wasn’t the point. Annie had enough guilt for a lifetime without failing her mother a second time.

      He turned away and lifted an oversized terry cloth robe off the back of the door. “Once you’ve settled in, we’ll get to the bottom of who you are.”

      “I told you—” Whatever she was going to say stuck in her throat when he cuddled her in the warm material and gently tucked in the loose ends between her breasts.

      “You can explain why you’re in Hawaii, what you were doing on the beach and how you got there,” he continued.

      Now that the uncertainty about her safety with him had eased, she could focus on his habit of interrupting. Very annoying.

      Other aspects about him were annoying, but for a different reason. Being soaking wet, his jeans clung to his body. Water dripped down his bare chest and lean frame, forming a puddle on the bath mat. When he wiped a hand through his damp hair, stray ends stood up straight. For some reason, the goofy look worked on him.

      Shame she couldn’t say the same thing about the intelligence lingering behind those dark eyes. He was going to be a problem. Hard to fool.

      Time to leave. She had to track down the yacht and find her camera. Out of habit, she carried around her photography equipment wherever she went. Being separated from it made her nervous.

      “I think it would be better if I got back and left you to your life,” she said.

      A sly grin tugged on the corner of his mouth. “You don’t know who you are or how you got here. Hard to imagine you know where you’re going.”

      She clenched at the cotton gathered between her breasts and adjusted the rest of the robe to make sure everything important stayed under wraps. “I meant that I should check in with the police. Look for a bag or some other type of identification, that kind of thing.”

      His smile beamed now. “You’re in luck.”

      Lucky, right. That was how she felt. “How exactly?”

      “I’m the police.”

      Her stomach dipped to the floor and took up residence there. “Excuse me?”

      “I’m Police Chief of Kauai County.”

      “County?”

      “That’s a fancy way of saying Kauai.”

      “The entire island? That’s not possible.” Please have that not be possible.

      “I promise it’s true. I attended the swearing-in ceremony.”

      The last thing she wanted was to talk with a police officer. She was operating under the radar on this. She didn’t want justice. She wanted revenge and didn’t plan to walk within the lines of the law to get it.

      “Show me your badge.” She wouldn’t know a fake badge from a real one, but the request seemed like one a smart woman would make.

      He grabbed a black leather billfold from the vanity and flipped it open. Shiny badge. He flicked it closed again before she could read the name.

      “You wanted me. Here I am and with all the time in the world to listen to what you have to say.” He paused, drawing out his comment. “Let’s get to those questions.”

      “But…” That was all she had. The rest of the sentence just kind of died in the air.

      He snatched up a towel and draped it over his shoulders. “Including your name.”

      “I don’t—”

      “Remember? Yeah, heard you the first seven times.” He grabbed both ends of the towel and pulled it taut against his neck. “I just don’t believe you.”

      The man was as smart as he looked, which was a damn shame.

      Chapter 3

      Copper. Out on the beach Kane had wondered. Looking at the mystery woman standing on his bath mat, now he knew. Her hair fell in loose copper-colored curls around her shoulders, drying as he watched. Those green eyes were the color of the grass in spring. The brightness a perfect opposite to her creamy pink-hued skin.

      Lovely and delicate. A beautiful woman.

      Except for the lying. She had not uttered a single truthful sentence since he dumped her in the shower and forced her out of her fake slumber.

      His robe dwarfed her petite frame, making her look sweet and vulnerable. After talking with her for five minutes, he knew that was a sham, too. This woman could hold her own.

      Now he had to see if she could tell the truth.

      “I’m ready when you are,” he said.

      She clenched the robe even tighter against her breasts. “You can look somewhere else. I’m not interested.”

      It took a few seconds for her comment to settle in. When the words hit him, so did a twinge of guilt. The woman likely suffered from something, even if that something was her own stupidity. No wonder she expected the worst from him.

      “I’m not offering,” he said, hoping to ease her concern.

      “Keep it that way, or I strangle you with this belt.” She twirled the material a bit.

      He wondered if she realized the move looked more like a striptease than a threat. The direction of his thoughts confirmed what he already knew—three months was too long to go without a woman. He’d started seeing sexual overtones everywhere, even from a nearly drowned woman.

      He exhaled for emphasis. “Look, Trixie, we have a problem.”

      “Trixie?”

      “Do you prefer Fern?”

      “To what?” She stopped twirling the belt.

      “I don’t know. Mabel?”

      “Who?”

      “Or is it Bertha?”

      A flush settled over her cheeks. “I don’t even know what we’re talking about.”

      Somehow he didn’t believe that either. He’d been in law enforcement in some form or another since turning twenty-one. That amounted to fifteen years of intuition and experience. During his time with the Drug Enforcement Agency he’d seen everything. Tracked down money and drugs. Dodged bullets and knives. Hell, he’d broken unbreakable perps. Same with his current position with the police department.

      This lady put on a good front, but she was playing some sort of game just like the rest of them. He just had to figure out which one.

      “We’re still working on your name,” he said as he towel dried his hair. “I see you as a Gertrude.”

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