Dancing with Detective Danger by Lynn Crandall Read Free Book Online

investigation?”
    Sterling was on her feet. Hands planted on her hips, she stared him down. “Don’t patronize me. Why do I get the feeling Sara is a suspect?”
    Ben leaned back against the couch. “I’ll ask the questions,” he said, setting his jaw. “Did Sara know about the mistress?”
    “You’re joking, right? Sara is not a killer.”
    “I’m not suggesting anything.”
    “I can read between the lines. What kind of evidence do you have?” Sterling strode in front of her desk to stand directly in front him. Ben seemed calm, in control. It made her insides squirm.
    “I never said Sara is a suspect.”
    “So she’s not a suspect?”
    Standing to his feet, Ben looked down at her with those eyes and sent chills running through her. His look was cold, shielded.
    “Can we get back to where I ask the questions?”
    Sterling swallowed hard and turned away. “Strong-arming me isn’t going to get you anywhere. Besides, I have other appointments.” She turned back to face him.
    Ben shrugged. “Have it your way. Maybe we better stop right here, but you know I’ll be back.”
    “I’m sure you can find your way out.” With the sense of him nearly overpowering her, Sterling busied herself with papers.
    Silently, Ben walked to the door. Sterling couldn’t stop herself. She turned to watch him and then it was too late. She couldn’t pull her eyes from his strong frame. Even dressed in his conservative suit, he exuded untamed masculinity. His thick, dark hair shone like a luxurious mane. His strong shoulders, his sure stride — all declarations of his wild spirit.
    He paused at the door without turning around. “Please tell Lacey I hope her son is okay.” Leaving the door ajar, he was gone.
    Sterling quickly stepped to the door and soundly shut it. If only she could so easily shut him out of her thoughts.
    The sooner this case is closed,
she told herself,
the sooner I’ll be done with Ben.
    Still, she couldn’t shut out the small voice inside her head that questioned, would she ever truly be done with Ben?
    • • •
    Ben wiped the sweat out of his eyes with the back of his hand and reached up again for the bar. Bench-pressing his usual two hundred and fifty pounds, he gritted his teeth and willed his mind to focus on the fifth repetition.
    Thoughts of Sterling had been working his mind, stirring up emotions, ever since the moment he’d walked up to her at the Witt murder scene. It didn’t help that this morning when he’d dropped by the Aegar Investigations office Sterling had looked flawless, perfect. Her red suit was the picture of professionalism, but it couldn’t hide her gentle curves. And he could never forget the exquisite joy of running his hands along those sweetly feminine curves.
    “Okay, let’s add another twenty pounds, Chris,” Ben said, sitting up and reaching for another weight.
It’s the past, man. Forget it.
    “What are you training for, the Olympics?” his spotter asked, adding on another steel weight to match the one Ben added.
    Lying back down on the weight bench, Ben ignored Chris’s question.
Best if no one knows what’s eating me up.
He reached up and put everything he had into hoisting the barbell over his head. Memories of peering deeply into the wells of Sterling’s eyes, dusky with passion, grabbed hold of his gut. The two of them had always connected in such a way that intimacy went beyond the physical realm. It bordered on the spiritual.
    Well, that didn’t work. Now I sound like some gushy nut job.
Ben finished the last rep. and sat up to straddle the bench. “That’s it for me, Chris. Want me to spot you now?”
    “No. Thanks, Ben, but I’m done for the day. See ya later.”
    Ben lumbered to the locker room. Stripping off his shorts and muscle shirt, he walked to the shower and plunged his head into the hard spray.
Maybe I can wash her out.
    Hadn’t he tried to pull his life together after she left him? It had been damn hard and it had taken the better