Imminent Affair

She walked beside him, and upon entering the living room, Daniel made the introduction. Rex rose to meet her. He also checked her out a bit too closely, putting Daniel on edge. From what he knew, Rex was single and somewhat of a player.

Daniel gave his comrade a territorial stare, and Rex looked back at him with a curious expression. Apparently the other man had wanted to gauge Daniel’s reaction, to see what he and Allie were truly about. And now he knew.

Daniel had the hots for his female friend.

“Let’s get started,” Rex said, settling back onto the sofa and elbowing a leopard-print pillow.

Daniel sat next to him, leaving a leather recliner for Allie.

For a moment, they were all silent, then Rex turned to Daniel and said, “Tell me what you recall from your past.”

“I recall bits and pieces about my parents. My dad lives close by, and my mom died when I was a boy. I’m from the Lakota and Haida Nations.”

“Do you remember being from those tribes or is that something you were told after the coma?”

“I remember.” He paused, then frowned. “I also remember Mom’s body being laid out at the funeral house. It isn’t a good memory.”

“No. I don’t suppose it is.” Rex furrowed his brows. “Do you have any good memories?”

“Not really.” Daniel paused once again, pondering the question. “Actually, my memories of Allie are good.”

He glanced her way, and she scooted to the edge of the recliner. As soon as their gazes locked, he broke eye contact. He wasn’t comfortable with Rex watching.

“How good are they?” the P.I. asked, almost making the query sound like a double entendre.

Not that good, Daniel wanted to say. “They’re kind of warm and fuzzy, I guess.” He hoped that didn’t sound stupid, but it was the only description that came to mind. “I don’t remember her as much as the feeling of being around her.”

“And it was warm and fuzzy?”

“For lack of a better term, yeah.”

Rex shifted his attention to Allie. “Does that sound about right to you?”

She nodded. “Daniel and I were close.”

“But there was no romance?”

“No.” She started to fidget.

Annoyed, Daniel squinted at the P.I. “Is this line of questioning necessary?”

“Yes, it is. I need to know if there’s anything that happened between the two of you that the vandal might have seen or heard.” Rex pushed Allie a little further. “No romance at all?”

“No,” she said again.

“Not even one little oops? One little kiss?”

She responded with another fidgety, “No.”

Rex kept pushing. “Were you visibly attracted to each other? The way you are now?” he added, not mincing his observations or his words.

Her breath hitched. “Yes.”

Damn, Daniel thought. This hungry-for-each-other thing wasn’t new. He gave Rex a flustered stare. “Can we move on now?”

Rex gave him a tight nod in return. “Yes, but I’d like to know about other women from your past. Do you recall any of your former lovers?”

“No, and I already told you about Glynis over the phone.”

“She’s a good place to start, but she can’t be the only significant woman from your past. I’m going to have to interview your friends and family and see what they know.”

“You’re an old friend,” Daniel pointed out. “Don’t you remember me being with anyone?”

“Unfortunately I don’t. You were private that way. But someone else from The Society might have a helpful recollection.”

Having his life dissected by other people sucked, Daniel thought. “What if the vandal isn’t a former lover? What if it’s someone with a whacked-out crush on me?”

“I plan to work on that angle, too. And I’m going to need as much cooperation as I can get from you.” He looked at Allie. “And from you. Whoever did this has probably been watching you and Daniel. Tracking your relationship. She might even blame you for his memory loss.”

Daniel spoke up. “You’ll get our cooperation. But I’m not sitting idly by. This is my investigation, too. Whatever leads you uncover, or the police discover, or I find out on my own, I’m following through on them. I’m doing the legwork.”

“I figured you would.” A second later, Rex addressed Allie, including her once again. “And you, too. From what I heard, you and Fearless made quite a team.”

“We did,” she admitted softly, drawing Daniel to the sound of her voice, to that warm and fuzzy feeling that lingered in his scattered mind.

Chapter 3

Allie rode beside Daniel in his truck. That was another thing about him that had changed. He used to drive a simple white van, but he’d traded it in for a sleek black pickup with custom wheels and tires.

Allie had never liked the van, anyway. His new vehicle was much sexier. But so was he. Everything about him left her breathless. She glanced at his profile and got warm and tingly.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Why? Don’t I seem all right?”

“You’re fussing with your seat belt.”

Because the device seemed too tight across her Daniel-deprived body. One little kiss, one little oops, as Rex had put it, sounded darn good about now. “I’m okay.”

“Are you nervous about seeing Glynis?”

Allie glanced out the window. They’d just dropped off Sam at the veterinary clinic where she would be boarded, and now they were headed to Daniel’s old lover’s house.

“Are you?” he asked again.

“Yes,” she responded truthfully. She’d never expected to confront his ex again. She’d had enough run-ins with Glynis in the past to last a lifetime.

“I can take you back to my place,” he offered. “I can do this alone.”