Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 51

“We found a dead body.”
His body tensed. “Where? And who’s we?”
“Muffy and me. On our walk. We found Mr. Sullivan from the bank in the ditch next to the gravel drive on the next farm.”
His hand gripped my bicep and he pulled me back to look into my face, obviously trying to understand why I was so upset. “Did you see it happen?”
“His murder? No. We just stumbled upon the body.”
Irritation flickered in his eyes. “I told you to call me if you ran into trouble. Why didn’t you?”
“I was going to. But Deputy Miller showed up as soon as I got off the call with the 911 operator, and he told me that Joe was coming.”
“You didn’t call me because you didn’t want Joe and me to be together in such close proximity.”
I nodded.
The left corner of his mouth tipped up slightly as he tried to piece everything together. “It stands to reason he’d be there. Contrary to your track record, there aren’t many murders in Fenton County.”
“That’s not the only reason he was there.”
His face went slack. “You.”
“Deputy Miller said he’s told all the deputies to call him if I’m involved in anything.”
His jaw hardened. “Okay. So what happened?”
I cringed. “We had a huge argument. He accused me of finding the body on purpose, which is ridiculous. Muffy found him. Along with a field of fainting goats. In any case, he thinks I’m investigating the bank robbery.”
“Are you?” he asked dryly.
My heart lurched. “Why do you ask?”
“As we’ve already established, I’m an intelligent man. You and Neely Kate disappeared for a prolonged length of time last night. Then there was a commotion in the bar and you two reappeared just minutes later. Seeing as how I can’t come up with a reasonable explanation for one pregnant woman and another possibly pregnant woman to visit a bar, I can only presume you were up to something.”
I smiled at him through my tears. “I love you.”
“Rose, why are you crying?” The muscles in his chest tightened. “What did Joe do?”
I was torn with indecision. I didn’t want to lie to him. I refused to lie to him, but to tell him the truth could drive him away or push him to do something he’d regret.
“I want you to tell me everything.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “But let’s sit down first. You shouldn’t be on your leg.”
He hesitated, but then grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together, pulling me into the house. We sat on the sofa and I started from the beginning—stumbling upon the body, the deputies showing up, then Joe’s arrival and our argument.
“He threatened to arrest you?” His voice rose as his face reddened. “That is a blatant abuse of power. I could file charges against him.”
“Mason,” I begged. “Please don’t.”
He pulled his hand from mine. “There’s more,” he said quietly, watching my face. “I can tell there’s more.”
“I’m not going to keep anything from you. I promise. I just haven’t gotten there yet.”
“Go on.” His eyes darkened.
“He wanted to go somewhere to talk. I initially agreed, thinking I could convince him to leave me alone.”
“Did you really think that was possible?” There was a hard edge in his voice I wasn’t used to hearing. At least not directed at me.
I twisted my hands in my lap. “I started to panic about everything, so he pulled over to the side of the road. I told him that he had to leave me alone. That I belonged with you. I started to tell him why—that you respect me and value my opinion and then…he kissed me.”
The fury in Mason’s eyes sucked my breath away. “Did he force himself on you?”
I could see where he was going with this. His mind was already racing to figure out what charges to file against Joe. “At first.”
“At first,” he repeated without emotion. “What exactly does that mean?”
I turned away, unable to look at him. “He caught me by surprise, and I started to kiss him back before I came to my senses and pushed him away.”
“Did you do anything else?” His voice was cold, as though he was questioning a witness. I supposed he was.
“No.” The word was cut off by a sob. “No. The kiss lasted ten seconds or less.”
“You kissed him back.”
“Yes, I refuse to lie to you.”
“But you didn’t refuse to kiss him.”
How did I get here? How did I let this happen?
Frustrated, I started to stand, but he pulled me back down. “No, you don’t get to walk away from this.”
“It’s not what you’re thinking, Mason. I swear. He caught me by surprise and pinned me to him. I couldn’t get away at first.”
His eye twitched but his face remained expressionless. “Did you really want to get away?”
Shock washed through me. “How can you say that?”
“You admitted that you kissed him back.” His voice was still cold.
“I don’t know why I did it. Like I said, he caught me off guard. It was a momentary reaction, and then I shoved him away. I told him that I want you.”
“And do you want me, Rose?” His voice was still dark as he tipped up my chin, forcing me to look at him. Anger and power oozed from him.