A Case of the Heart by Beth Shriver Read Free Book Online

direction in her life. Not just in her job but whether she was ready for a relationship. She was so used to fighting it, was it possible she’d missed someone along her solo journey over the last year?
    She stepped into the shower and let the warm water flow over her as her thoughts continued. She needed Christ’s guidance and strength with the challenges of her work and with Alex. Although he claimed he was just doing his job, she knew better. She also knew there was something happening between them, and it scared her more than Harris or Sanders ever would.
    Feeling refreshed, she climbed out of the shower smelling like a flower garden. She put on some sweats and walked into the kitchen toward the smell of chicken soup swirling in the air.
    ****
    Alex could smell her before he saw her, the fragrance fresh and clean. He looked her way and teased, “You must be as wrinkled as an old woman. I thought you drowned.”
    But she looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled up into a clip with wisps falling down around her neck. Bright eyes shone from her freshly scrubbed face.
    She gave him a weary smile and sat down at the old oak table. “I feel much better, just really hungry.”
    He ladled soup out of a saucepan. “I’ll give you more noodles since you fought with bad guys.” He grinned as he handed her a ceramic bowl and set the other on the table examining her as he inspected her injuries. “I hope you don’t mind my making us something to eat.”
    He brushed the hair from her face, feeling the silky length of it before it fell back against the other auburn strands. What a great excuse to do all the things he had always wanted to. But he felt guilty at the same time, like he was using her hardships to his advantage.
    She eyed him with a half grin as he took two bowls of salad out of the fridge. He loved to make her smile, and she had a great laugh. She was too tired tonight to laugh, so he would settle for a smile.
    “You didn’t have any crackers, so this will have to do.” He pulled out some bread from the refrigerator and laid it on the table.
    “I’m surprised you found this,” she said, gesturing to the food on the table.
    “Let’s go over this afternoon, one more time,” Alex suggested as they ate.
    “Sanders really panicked. Thank God you came when you did.”
    When she looked at him, he almost thought he saw her eyes mist.
    “You did pretty well on your own.” Amusement filled Alex when he thought back to the moment. “He hadn’t gotten up off the floor yet when I got inside.”
    There was the smile again, the one that sent his inside whirling.
    “Do you think this has anything to do with Scotty Harris or Rich Pirelli?”
    “Sanders claims he was a first-time customer of a frequent visitor that comes by the Harris place.”
    “Pirelli.” She mused.
    “We, I mean I, need do some more investigating. I’ll check with narcotics and make a visit to Carl’s.”
    “What’s going to happen to Sanders?”
    He could see her replaying the events again in her mind. Liz had close calls before but never had been physically hurt. If Sanders hadn’t been so drugged up, things might not have gone so far. But once again they had, and now Alex wished he had been there. “He’ll be out of commission for a while. Oh, and by the way, don’t do my job when you go on calls from now on.”
    “I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened.” She cringed.
    She had the curiosity-of-the-cat-thing, and Alex knew it. He shook his head, glad to just be here with her. He only wished it were under different circumstances. “So this is a night out with Liz Adams.”
    “Yeah, I’m a great date, huh?” She crinkled her nose and held her palm to her cheek, elbow on the table, and almost looked embarrassed.
    He knew her evenings usually consisted of working long hours, just not to this extreme. “If you’re a guy who likes excitement, yes.”
    He continued to do more for her the more she got into these predicaments, but