“All right,” I said. “Why don’t you lie down? You can stay here with me or go to your own room. Either way, you look like you could use some sleep.”

I lay back down, scooting over to make room for him in case he wanted to stay. I hoped he would stay. I couldn’t think of anything sweeter than sleeping in his arms.

“Could we have dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Sure. You want to meet me after work?”

He shook his head. “Marj told me this morning that she’d be gone tomorrow evening.”

I nodded. “Yeah, she signed up for some kind of cooking class in Grand Junction. I’m so glad she’s finally pursuing her passion.”

“I want to have dinner here. Will you have dinner here with me?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Are you cooking?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t subject you to that. I’ll have Felicia make something nice.”

I smiled. “That sounds great. Now if you’re not going to lie here with me, go to bed. You need to rest.”

He got up and left without saying another word.

 

* * *

 

I spent the next day at work on the computer, investigating. It wasn’t practicing law, but I was beginning to like the investigation portion of this job. I was learning a lot, and with the Internet and social media, I could track down almost anything.

Larry left at five and told me to go ahead and take off as well, so I did. I wanted to go home and shower and change before my dinner with Talon.

An hour later, I was combing out my wet hair and putting on a slinky sundress when a knock sounded on my door.

Talon was the only one home. “Yeah?” I said.

He opened the door. “Dinner is ready.” Roger panted happily at his feet.

“Okay. Can you wait a few minutes? I just need to dry my hair.”

“Your hair looks great.”

I laughed. “It’s wet, Talon. I just got out of the shower.”

“Are you kidding? It’s sexy as hell.”

Men certainly had interesting taste sometimes. “Okay. If you say so.” I smiled. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”

“We’re not eating in the kitchen.”

“In the formal dining room? Just the two of us?”

He shook his head. “We’re dining in my bedroom.”

My skin pricked. Obviously, he had more than dinner on his mind, and that was fine with me. He didn’t take my hand as he had last night. I simply followed him across the house to his suite.

“Oh!” A small table had been set up, complete with fine china and candlelight. “This is lovely. Did Felicia set this up for you?”

He shook his head. “No. I did it myself.”

“Wow.” I was stunned. “It’s really beautiful, Talon.”

He pulled out a chair. “Have a seat.”

I sat, and he poured me a glass of red wine.

“This is Ryan’s top-of-the-line Cabernet Sauvignon. This particular bottle has been aged ten years. I hope you like it.”

“Are you having any?”

“I will with dinner. I prefer a good strong whiskey as an aperitif. This is Peach Street, made in a bourbon style right here on the western slope.” He lifted his old-fashioned glass.

I took a sip of the wine. “Delicious. Berries on the nose, with some subtle black pepper and cinnamon.”

“Ryan taught you well.”

“I enjoyed working with him a lot. In fact, I miss it. Though I’m enjoying my new job as an attorney.”

“I’m glad you’re happy there.”

Small talk. I was dying to know what he had wanted to tell me last night. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked.

“Let’s have our dinner first.”

Fine. I could wait. “What’s on the menu?”

He lifted the silver dome from my plate. “Tenderloin with green peppercorn sauce, broccoli rabe, rosemary polenta, and a sunflower seed baguette.”

I inhaled. “It smells great.” I took another sip of wine. “Felicia must’ve really outdone herself.”

“I asked her to make something special, and this is what she came up with.”

“Special indeed. Although any of her delicious meals would have sufficed. She’s a wonderful cook.”

Now I was making small talk. But we had to talk about something while we ate.

Talon picked up a steak knife and cut a piece of meat. “How was your day?”

“Good. A lot of investigating on the computer. Next week I’ll probably have to do some footwork for a new case. I’m sure glad today is Friday. I can use a day off.”

More small talk. How could we have so little to say to each other? Was sex all there was between us?

No. There was more. So much more. Love.

For the first time, I admitted it to myself. I had fallen in love with Talon. It scared the hell out of me, but it was the truth. Sometimes we were so close I felt like we were one person. And other times, like now, he was miles away, across from me at the table. His walls were up, and the only time he let me through them was when we were intimate.

I looked down at my plate. My filet was cooked to perfection—rare, just how I liked it. The red juice meandered into my polenta. I mashed the polenta with my fork.

Marj’s birth certificate popped into my mind. Jonah had told us to leave it be, but maybe Talon knew something.

“Talon?”

“Yeah?” He took a bite of steak, chewed, and swallowed.

“Marj and I found her birth certificate the other day.”

“So?”

“Well, it’s kind of confusing. It says her name is Angela Marjorie Steel. But she says you guys always told her that her first name was Marjorie and she had no middle name.”

He was quiet a moment. Then, “Why do you care?”

“I would think that’s obvious. She cares because it’s her name. I care because I care about her. We asked Jonah about it, but he wouldn’t tell us anything. He told us not to go snooping or we’d find things we didn’t want to know.”

He looked down at his plate. “If I were you, I’d take Joe’s advice.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

“I’ll just echo Joe’s sentiments. Leave it alone.”