Carly Phillips - Sealed with a Kiss

And he did love Sonya. What had begun as a convenient friendship had blossomed after Melanie’s death. Frank couldn’t say the exact moment he’d fallen for his best friend’s wife or she for him. He only knew they’d been in love for years, but neither of them had ever said the words aloud or followed through on the emotional connection, never mind the physical. They cared about their families too much, respected each other, as well.

She cupped her hands around his face. “But you didn’t. You didn’t hurt my husband. We didn’t hurt anyone.”

“And as long as no one finds out how we feel about one another, nobody will be hurt,” he said, still not saying the words aloud. She was, after all, a grieving widow and he had lost his best friend. Nothing would alter those painful facts. He brushed his lips over her forehead, then merely held her close.

“I may have been increasingly unhappy but I never wanted Paul murdered.”

Frank clasped her wrist, brushing his thumb over the pulse point there. “I know.”

“I don’t want you taking the blame for this.”

“And I won’t. I already told you Molly’s lawyer friend, Daniel Hunter, is going to represent me. I’ll be fine.”

“He’s going to want your alibi,” Sonya said.

He clenched his jaw tight. “He already did and I told him I went out for a walk. I was alone.”

“But-”

“I…was…alone. End of discussion.” He knew Sonya well enough to know she’d respect his decision.

He wasn’t sure he could say the same for Hunter. He hoped the other man would put on a solid defense without digging too deep.

“The lawyer wants us to be up-front about…the abuse,” Frank said, gentling his voice. “I’m against it but he’s afraid the prosecution might somehow find out and use it against me. You know, as another motive for me to want to hurt Paul.”

He glanced at her face, expecting a stricken look.

Instead, she slowly nodded. “That makes sense.”

“But Seth-”

“He already knows. He couldn’t live in this house and not know his father had…issues with his temper. He’ll get through this just like we all will.” Sonja met his gaze with a determined one of her own.

She never failed to amaze him with her strength. He just wished she’d used that strength to leave her husband. Too late to think about that now, though.

He inclined his head. “Okay then, that’s settled.” Now to tell her about her husband’s affair. “Just one more thing.” He drew a fortifying breath because he knew this would be the most difficult of all.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s about Paul.”

She leaned closer to him. “Yes?”

“I had a visitor while I was in jail. Lydia McCarthy.”

Sonya sat up straighter. She adjusted her headband, then clasped her hands together in her lap. “What about her?”

“Paul and Lydia were involved.” He chose the most benign word he could find.

Sonya frowned. “Don’t try to make it sound all nice and refined. They were having an affair,” she spat out.

Frank rose to his feet. “You knew? ” And he hadn’t. Would wonders never cease?

“I lived with the man. Of course I knew. And frankly, I was relieved. Paul and I hadn’t had a marriage in a good long time. Not a real one, anyway. I stayed with him to keep our family together but I couldn’t stand his temper and…” She trailed off, glancing away. “I couldn’t stand for him to touch me that way.” She shuddered.

But when she met Frank’s gaze, sadness and guilt filled her beautiful eyes.

“Don’t,” he said in a gruff voice. “Don’t feel guilty for what happened to your marriage or to Paul.” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “We’ll get through this.” He tried like hell to reassure her.

Even if there were times when he wondered how.

HUNTER AWOKE the next morning with a plan. As of now, the police had the general on motive, opportunity and lack of an alibi on the night of the murder, all damning evidence, but the authorities didn’t have a murder weapon to tie to his client. In Hunter’s mind, the case was purely circumstantial.

His next step was to create reasonable doubt that his client had killed Paul Markham by finding other people with equal motive. He had his office staff preparing to file a motion to dismiss the case for lack of evidence. Considering how slowly the justice system moved, Hunter had plenty of time to interview and find evidence in favor of Molly’s father.

He’d start by interviewing those closest to the general, including his own family, Sonya and her son, Seth, and Frank and Paul’s secretary, Lydia McCarthy. And he hoped to do these things alone, without Molly’s distracting company, or help, at least until he had a better handle on the facts and the players in the case. He knew she wanted to help him and he’d resigned himself to that fact, but he needed to get up to speed first.

“Chicken.”

Hunter swung his head toward the bird and scowled. “No, I just want to be on an even footing with her. Is that so much to ask?” The woman kept him off balance as it was, Hunter thought. Enough to have him talking to a bird.

He glanced at Ollie but the macaw didn’t reply.

Hunter pulled together some papers his office had faxed over and tossed them into the duffel bag he carried instead of a stuffy briefcase and headed out of the study. There had to be a library in town where he could sit down and concentrate without distraction.

First stop, though, would be the coffee machine in the kitchen. The commander brewed a different flavor every morning, changing coffee as frequently as her hair. This morning he’d glanced out the window to see her working in her garden. Her bright red hair had been drastically altered to a dark brown with a hint of what couldn’t be described as anything other than eggplant, a rich purple made more vibrant by the sun’s rays. He really enjoyed the woman and her sense of humor, which in many ways reminded him of Molly’s.

Once again, Molly was in his thoughts, tempting him. With a groan, he turned his attention to the delicious smell and tried to identify this morning’s brew. “Hazelnut?” he wondered aloud.

“French vanilla.” Molly caught up with him as he poured himself a cup.

“Want some?” he asked.

“No thanks. I already had a cup. Where are you off to this morning?”

He turned to see her eyeing the duffel bag he’d left on the table.

“I have a defense to prepare, remember?”

“How could I forget?” Her lips turned downward in a sad frown as they did every time she was reminded of her father’s situation.

Hunter wished he could reassure her, but he didn’t have enough ammunition on his side, at least not yet.

“Listen, I’ve been thinking about Paul’s murder and there have to be other suspects,” Molly said. “The first thing we should do is look into the business and see who else had motive to want Paul Markham dead.”

He opened his mouth to speak but she kept right on talking.

“I’ve filled in for Lydia, their secretary, a few times. I have a rudimentary idea of how the office system works. We can see which recent closings had a lot of money passing into different accounts and look for anything suspicious. Maybe Paul screwed over someone he owed money or did business with.” She spoke quickly as if she expected him to slam the door shut on her idea at any moment.

Instead, Hunter grinned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were smarter than me.”

She squared her shoulders. “I was the valedictorian of our law school graduating class, remember?”

“By like two-tenths of a percentage point,” he reminded her. He cleared his throat. “Listen-”

She sidled up to him, bringing with her the intoxicating scent he associated with Molly. Perfume or shampoo, it didn’t matter. He liked it.

“Please don’t say you don’t want me involved in this case,” she said, her eyes wide and imploring. “This is my father we’re talking about and that makes me involved already. I want to help. Actually, I need to help-”

“You’re right.”

She blinked. “What?”

He pulled a long sip of black coffee. “I said you’re right. The coffee is French vanilla.” He knew it was a bad time to tease her but he couldn’t resist.

A rich flush rose to her cheeks. “Hunter, if you think you can distract me with nonsense, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“Me? Think I can distract you when you’re on a mission? Never.” He met her gaze with a direct, serious one of his own. “I completely understand your need to be in on this. I respect it even.”

It was a conclusion he’d already come to accept. He just thought he’d have some more time before they began to work together in earnest.

“Really?” Molly tipped her head to one side and narrowed her gaze.

“Really. Are you going to the senior center today?” he asked.

“Actually, I was hoping we could go by the center. It’s in the middle of town, on the way to anyplace you need to go.” She raised her eyebrows hopefully.

“I have to read through the paperwork my office sent over. I’m not as familiar with the players and the people around here as I need to be. I need evidence to back up the motion to dismiss the charges, and since the police aren’t going to do any more digging, I’m going to have to.”

She nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought, too. Other suspects. We can do it together. I just want to bring a cake by the center for Lucinda Forest’s birthday party. She’s the commander’s best friend and her family’s coming all the way from California. She and her granddaughter share the same birthday and the little girl is coming to celebrate with her. I baked Lucinda’s favorite cake. She’s counting on me to be there.”

“That’s nice. You should go. You can meet me at the library afterward.”

“Come with me and then we’ll go to the library together. I can answer any questions you have about the people around here and you’ll get your thoughts together that much quicker. Deal?” She clasped her hands behind her back and turned her body from side to side, her long, flirty skirt twirling around her ankles.

Once again he noted the subdued colors she wore, an earthy-brown skirt and black shirt, but before he could question her, she tugged on his belt loop, capturing his attention.

“Please?” she asked, still twirling the skirt as she moved.

Hunter could easily imagine lifting the flowing material, cupping his hands around her bottom and sinking inside her, sating the need he’d had for her for what seemed like forever.

His desire to be with her was at war with his emotions, which begged him to stay away from the senior center and any birthday party. “I’m not good with old people,” he hedged, hoping she’d take the hint and stop asking.

Molly let out a laugh. “Liar! I’ve seen you in town with your clients and I’ve watched you charm my old landlady more than once.”

“Anna Marie was easy. And fun.” He realized his mistake as soon as the words escaped.

“And Lucinda’s even more fun. You’ll see.” She reached out and enfolded his hand inside hers.

Her heated touch seared through his body. His heart pounded harder in his chest and he burned for her in a way that was becoming harder and harder to deny. More so since after last night’s kiss, he’d realized she wasn’t going to stop him from going further. If anything, she’d gone into full flirtation mode.

But there was the difficulty of what she was asking of him. “I’d rather not go to some stranger’s family party.”

He could go. After all, he was a grown man and his past was behind him. But he’d skip the event if he could. She stepped closer and met his gaze.

“Why not?”

Hunter hated admitting weakness, but what choice did he have except to explain?

He swallowed hard and found himself unloading on Molly. Again. “When I was in foster care, the families would celebrate the birthdays of their biological kids.” A cake, presents, all things never given to him. He remembered the parties, yet he couldn’t remember even being included in their celebrations. Strangers’ birthdays still made him uneasy.

So did the fact that he’d admitted this to Molly.

Her expression softened. “I understand, but I’ll be with you and you won’t feel like an outsider looking in. Besides, I make a mean chocolate cake.”

“Is that what you were doing in here last night?”

She nodded. “So will you come with me? Pretty please?”

He groaned. Why was it every time he wanted to say no, he found himself saying, “Yes,” instead?

***

MOLLY DROVE THEM to the senior center since there was no way to transport the cake on Hunter’s motorcycle. She’d tossed out the idea of him going with her in order to prevent him from leaving her out of her father’s case, which, judging by his packed bag, she was afraid he’d been determined to do.