photos.”
“Would you count them when you go back to your room and make sure you have all twenty-four?”
“You bet. Are you thinkin’ that Bellows woman mighta run off with more than one?”
“Don’t know, but it won’t hurt to check.” I held up her photo. “Do you want your angiosperms back?”
“How ’bout you put it in your room safe for me, dear. If it’s what Conrad says it is, Tilly and me don’t want it nowhere around us. Last thing we wanna do is relive Hawaii.”
After seeing them out, I slid my closet door open and knelt to examine the small safe located inside. I read the operating instructions, and after ten frustrating minutes of fiddling with the key pad and passwords, finally got the system to work.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Be right there!” I yelled, a little stunned. In the time it had taken me to secret away one measly photo, Nana had completed a major computer search and was back with her results. This was so typical. Of course, it probably helped that her room was directly opposite mine.
I opened the door. “What took you so lo—”
Etienne cupped his hands around my head and kissed me with the hot-blooded fervor of his Italian side. Kicking the door shut behind him, he scooped me into his arms and crossed to the bed, lowering all six feet two inches of himself on top me. “Say you’ll marry me,” he whispered against my mouth.
“ Can’t, ” I choked.
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“ Can’t breathe! ”
He rolled off. “Sorry, darling. The idea was to coax a commitment out of you, not to crush you.” He touched his thumb to the corner of my mouth, his eyes lingering on my lips. “Have I mentioned today that I love you?”
I peered up at him. “Does Duncan know you’re here?”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “We seem to have lost track of each other in the hotel lobby, so I’m not sure what he knows.”
“How can you both be back from the hospital already? You should still be helping Jake fill out insurance forms.”
“It was a slow night in the emergency room. A tetanus shot, a few butterfly bandages, and they sent him on his way. We grabbed a taxi and dropped him off at the police station.”
“And you didn’t stay with him?”
He shrugged one shoulder with jungle cat ease. “How do you Americans say, ‘He’s a big boy.’”
I boosted myself to my elbows, eyeing him suspiciously. “A tour guest dies earlier and you don’t wrangle your way into the investigation? You take a man to an actual police station, and you don’t bother to go inside with him? You live in police stations, Etienne. What’s wrong with this picture?”
“I’m demonstrating that I can think of something other than work. In fact, I’m thinking of something right now.” He trailed a lazy finger up my arm and across my bare shoulder. “Can you guess what?”
“You’re having trouble with short-term memory loss again, aren’t you? You’ve forgotten you’re a workaholic.”
“I don’t have to be a workaholic anymore.” He nuzzled my throat with his warm, wonderfully soft lips. “As of last week, I have all the time in the world.”
“Oh, my God. You got fired.”
He lifted his head so that his nose touched mine. “I retired.”
“You WHAT?”
“Retired. They even had a little party for me. They gave me a very thoughtful going-away gift.” He stretched out his arm and exposed his wrist. “Gold watch. Swiss. Waterproof.”
“But…you’re too young to retire. You’re not even thirty-five! What are you going to do for the rest of your life?”
“You mean, besides make love to you?” He tangled his fingers in my hair and kissed me slowly and hungrily, but my mind refused to get with the program. If we got married, would I be able to handle Etienne’s retirement? Would I be preparing him three meals a day, watching him take afternoon naps, and listening to him say, “So what are you doing now?” every ten minutes? Uff da . This isn’t what I
“Would you count them when you go back to your room and make sure you have all twenty-four?”
“You bet. Are you thinkin’ that Bellows woman mighta run off with more than one?”
“Don’t know, but it won’t hurt to check.” I held up her photo. “Do you want your angiosperms back?”
“How ’bout you put it in your room safe for me, dear. If it’s what Conrad says it is, Tilly and me don’t want it nowhere around us. Last thing we wanna do is relive Hawaii.”
After seeing them out, I slid my closet door open and knelt to examine the small safe located inside. I read the operating instructions, and after ten frustrating minutes of fiddling with the key pad and passwords, finally got the system to work.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Be right there!” I yelled, a little stunned. In the time it had taken me to secret away one measly photo, Nana had completed a major computer search and was back with her results. This was so typical. Of course, it probably helped that her room was directly opposite mine.
I opened the door. “What took you so lo—”
Etienne cupped his hands around my head and kissed me with the hot-blooded fervor of his Italian side. Kicking the door shut behind him, he scooped me into his arms and crossed to the bed, lowering all six feet two inches of himself on top me. “Say you’ll marry me,” he whispered against my mouth.
“ Can’t, ” I choked.
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“ Can’t breathe! ”
He rolled off. “Sorry, darling. The idea was to coax a commitment out of you, not to crush you.” He touched his thumb to the corner of my mouth, his eyes lingering on my lips. “Have I mentioned today that I love you?”
I peered up at him. “Does Duncan know you’re here?”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “We seem to have lost track of each other in the hotel lobby, so I’m not sure what he knows.”
“How can you both be back from the hospital already? You should still be helping Jake fill out insurance forms.”
“It was a slow night in the emergency room. A tetanus shot, a few butterfly bandages, and they sent him on his way. We grabbed a taxi and dropped him off at the police station.”
“And you didn’t stay with him?”
He shrugged one shoulder with jungle cat ease. “How do you Americans say, ‘He’s a big boy.’”
I boosted myself to my elbows, eyeing him suspiciously. “A tour guest dies earlier and you don’t wrangle your way into the investigation? You take a man to an actual police station, and you don’t bother to go inside with him? You live in police stations, Etienne. What’s wrong with this picture?”
“I’m demonstrating that I can think of something other than work. In fact, I’m thinking of something right now.” He trailed a lazy finger up my arm and across my bare shoulder. “Can you guess what?”
“You’re having trouble with short-term memory loss again, aren’t you? You’ve forgotten you’re a workaholic.”
“I don’t have to be a workaholic anymore.” He nuzzled my throat with his warm, wonderfully soft lips. “As of last week, I have all the time in the world.”
“Oh, my God. You got fired.”
He lifted his head so that his nose touched mine. “I retired.”
“You WHAT?”
“Retired. They even had a little party for me. They gave me a very thoughtful going-away gift.” He stretched out his arm and exposed his wrist. “Gold watch. Swiss. Waterproof.”
“But…you’re too young to retire. You’re not even thirty-five! What are you going to do for the rest of your life?”
“You mean, besides make love to you?” He tangled his fingers in my hair and kissed me slowly and hungrily, but my mind refused to get with the program. If we got married, would I be able to handle Etienne’s retirement? Would I be preparing him three meals a day, watching him take afternoon naps, and listening to him say, “So what are you doing now?” every ten minutes? Uff da . This isn’t what I
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