Page 13 of Innocent Intent
He tossed the clean bone onto the plate and smiled over his shoulder. “I don’t dislike small talk. I simply prefer to skip it. My life is so intrusive sometimes because of the job, I find that in my personal time, I appreciate the luxury of not asking questions.”
“I get it. I’m not complaining. That’s one of the things I like about you. You’re a straight shooter. You don’t bullshit around, and I know what I get with you.”
“Is that all you like?” He glanced over his shoulder again and noticed when her eyes lowered, taking in his body.
“Definitely not all I like, and definitely not the thing that tops my list, but it is on the list.”
He chuckled and lifted his beer. Davis was partial to Sam. Sam would be a viable option if he considered being in a relationship again. Even after her impromptu visit intruding on his personal time, he still didn’t mind much. She didn’t push too hard for things he wouldn’t give at this point in his life, and the sex was damn sure worth it.
“So . . .” She began, pausing to sip some of her beer to wash down the fries she’d just shoved into her mouth, “working on any interesting cases?”
Davis stilled briefly. His mind drifted to Cassidy but not to the possibility that she had killed her husband. No, his thoughts were of her eyes, her lips, and how she’d smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. He imagined it was what her home smelled like based on how it clung to her clothes the night he’d questioned her.
“No,” Davis murmured in response to the question, then lifted another wing without looking back at Sam. He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again.
“I bet you are. Not that you would tell me. So secretive, Detective Davis. I think that’s another thing I like about you. There’s so much hidden in that head of yours that no one will ever know.”
He scoffed, and she added, “And the fact that you’re well over a ten in the looks and sexual appeal departments doesn’t hurt either.”
“A ten? What’s the scale?” He turned, offering a cocky smile, and she matched it with a smile of her own.
“One to one hundred.” She winked, and he barked out a laugh, throwing his head back.
“That’s bullshit.”
“Yeah, it is. You’re a solid one hundred on a scale of one to ten.”
“That’s more like it.”
“Arrogant ass.” She tossed a fry at him, and he chuckled, lifting his beer. The two settled into watching a game with occasional trash talking banter between them while finishing their food. Sam cleaned up the mess, then rejoined Davis in the living room. Instead of settling in beside him, she stepped between his legs. She slowly removed her fitted hoodie and bra, dropping them both to the floor before she peeled out of her yoga pants, moving them over her hips and down her legs, stepping out of them once the spandex material was at her ankles.
Davis’s eyes slowly crawled over her body, enjoying each curve and every exposed inch of smooth, brown skin until Sam leaned forward and placed her palms flat on his thighs to brace herself as she lowered to her knees. She reached forward, working her hands beyond the elastic band of his pants and briefs, and wrapped her fingers around him. Sam’s eyes lifted to meet his, and a smile tugged at her lips.
“I was thinking since we’re done eating, I could show you how much I missed you.”
She didn’t wait for a response, and Davis groaned under his breath when her head lowered to his lap, and he felt her tongue and lips as she slowly took him in. Sometimes, the best things were unexpected, and Davis decided that Sam was the best at being unexpected.
5.
Staying busy was hard. The first few hours after learning that Niles had been murdered, Cassidy was in shock. When she eventually made it home that night, she’d sat in the dark for hours, not moving, thinking, or feeling; just existing. A suffocating wave of sadness and pain followed that. Her husband was gone. Their life had been a lie, and she had been cheated of the opportunity to get answers from him. No matter the circumstances, Niles was gone. Her life would never be the same, and Cassidy had nothing left but intense sadness and far too many unanswered questions.
Then there was anger. She was so fucking angry. Niles had utterly betrayed her trust, and he knew how difficult it was for Cassidy to trust. Having a past like hers had deeply wounded Cassidy. She found it hard to believe people cared without hidden agendas or seeking personal gain. Ms. Clara had been there, and she truly loved Cassidy, but the act of taking her in as a child wasn’t exactly selfless. Ms. Clara had always wanted a daughter, and Cassidy had been the perfect consolation prize.
Had Ms. Clara had a child of her own, Cassidy was convinced she wouldn’t have loved her the way she did. And then there were the biggest frauds in her life. Jana and Donald. She was their biological child, and they’d still refused to love Cassidy the way she deserved to be loved. Scarred. That was Cassidy’s default state of being, and Niles knew that. He knew her story and still chose to deceive her, breaking her further than she already was. The man who had promised to love her forever honestly hadn’t planned to honor that commitment.
Cassidy did her best to keep her mind occupied with anything other than her murdered husband or the fact that he wasn’t who she had known him to be, but it was damn near impossible while confined to the home they’d shared. Everything around her reminded Cassidy of Niles. The light scent of his cologne lingered in the closet. One side of their bathroom held his personal belongings—toothbrush, skin care items, and the moisturizer he used to keep his beard that she had been obsessed with soft to the touch. She used to love the woodsy, citrusy scent that lingered on her face and neck when she snuggled close to him at night.
Now, those memories, things, and scents angered her. As familiar as they felt, they were also a constant reminder that their life had been a lie. The reality she’d known with Niles Anderson had been fictional. She’d been married to a stranger. A stranger who she loved then and still now, no matter how much the thought of his betrayal hurt. There were so many things that didn’t make sense about his life. Things that now, being viewed from a different perspective, all felt so surreal.
Niles’s parents had passed during his first year of college. Neither of his parents had siblings, so there was no other family he was close to. Cassidy had never questioned him too much because she could relate to his family structure. She’d only had Ms. Clara as a solid fixture in her life until she passed away. It made sense that someone else’s story could mirror her own. But unlike Niles, Cassidy did have friends, college alumni, and peers from her career that she added throughout the years.
With Niles, there was no one, so it completely threw her when he mentioned dinner with a couple he kept in touch with from his past. Sure, Cassidy had complained about wanting to meet someone—anyone—from his past, but she’d never expected it to happen. Jake and Niles had been friends in college, and Jake’s wife, Zoey, had only met Niles a handful of times after they had married. Niles’s job kept him busy, so the story made sense. Cassidy was so thrilled to share a piece of Niles’s past that she overlooked many things back then. Neither Jake nor Niles disclosed any pertinent information about their past or their friendship. The conversation that evening had been safe and cautious, mostly about work, how Cassidy and Niles had met, and their future plans. Easy to overlook that it lacked depth.
“Cass, this is Jake and his wife, Zoey.”
“Nice to meet you both.”
“Same. I can’t believe this guy is actually with the same woman for longer than a few months. And one as beautiful as you, Cassidy. You sure you want to marry this guy? I have a few other friends I can introduce you to that are much better options than Niles.”