Page 40 of Sentinel's Kiss
“Exactly, but if it is the same killer, he’s been spacing out the murders one every eight months or so. So maybe the victim isn’t even pregnant yet?”
“Seems like there’s a lot of what-ifs,” he said.
“Certainly more questions than answers. Which is why I’m a little distracted this morning. Throw in that my brother is doing a Netflix special and I’m also a little irritated.”
“When it airs, come over to my place. We can watch it and chill.”
Ashley laughed. “I won’t be chill, but I might spring for the wine and Ben and Jerry’s.”
“Men don’t drink wine and eat Ben and Jerry’s. We drink beer and eat beef jerky or bar snacks.”
“Beef jerky gives me heartburn,” she said. “And don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like wine. It gives me a bitch of a hangover.”
She pulled out her phone and looked at it again. “So what did you wind up doing after I left last night? Did you go see Molly and Virginia again?”
“Victoria,” he corrected. “And it’s not what you think. They’re babies.”
“Like ’em young, huh?”
“Not like that. They’re newborns. Preemies.”
Ashley got very still and the color drained from her face. Warning flags went off in his brain, and Sentinel glanced around to make sure she wasn’t reacting to any outside dangers.
“They’re not mine.” He was quick to point that out. “The babies, I mean. I was at the hospital…”
Her eyes flared in panic and she started to sweat. Sentinel broke off what he was going to say. “Are you all right?”
“Can we not talk about this?” Ashley said, taking controlled breaths.
“Sure,” he said quickly.
“I’m all right,” she said. “I don’t need to know the details. It’s none of my business.”
“What if it was?” he asked. Shit, wasn’t he trying to avoid complications? But he didn’t like how scared and lost she looked right now. He wanted to help and he wanted to let her in. But you don’t share your secrets with a casual fuck. And damn it, he didn’t want to be a casual fuck to her. He knew himself. If she climbed out of his bed before he was ready to let her go again, he wouldn’t react well. They might as well have this conversation when they weren’t naked.
“What do you mean?” she said, swallowing hard. She had a death grip on her phone and he could see her hands were shaking.
“I like you.”
“I kinda got that,” she said with a trace of humor in her voice.
“I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t just be a booty call for each other. I’m not seeing anyone. Are you?”
She gaped at him. “No,” she said faintly.
“So why don’t we see where this leads?”
It was stupid. It was reckless. But he just didn’t care. He wanted her, and not just in his bed. Maybe it could work out. Maybe it would go down in flames.
Ashley got a little color back in her face. “You mean date. Go out on dates? Like normal people?”
“Baby, I don’t think I could ever be normal. But yeah. I don’t like the thought of you with anyone else.”
“I was a little jealous of Molly and Victoria,” she admitted. Then she held up her hand. “I just can’t talk about babies. It’s a sore subject.” Ashley blew out a breath. “More of a trigger really. I’ll have a panic attack and start to cry and since you’re locked in a car with me for the next three hours or so, we probably should put on the radio.”
“Got it.” Sentinel would get that story out of her at some other point.