VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) by Suzanne Ferrell

night that tears wouldn’t find Brianna.
    “Who was that?”
    Abigail tore her gaze away from the street to find Luke standing in the bathroom door with only the hotel’s cheap white towel wrapped low around his hips.
    All moisture in her mouth disappeared.
    His wet blond hair was slicked back and last night’s stubble still clung to his face. Her gaze wandered down his body, taking in the well-defined muscles of his shoulders and arms, the pale hair over his sculpted chest and down over his abdomen. He didn’t have the overdeveloped six-pack body builders had, but what he did have heated her blood.
    “Abby?”
    Startled, she jerked her gaze north, only to see the corners of his mouth rise in a smile and a bit of a twinkle in his dark gaze. Damn, she didn’t want him laughing at her. Not again.
    Quickly, she turned back to the desk and lifted the note. “Detective Jeffers has been trying to get in touch with you. He wants to meet us for lunch to talk about the case.”
    “Lunch?”
    “Yes, he said you wanted to keep our presence out of the official reports. He wants to meet us at this address in about an hour.”
    Serious now, Luke strode over, his bare feet thudding softly on the carpeted floor, and took the note from her. “I know this place. It’s down near the baseball park. My brothers and I usually stop in for dinner when we come to town to watch the Indians play. Damn good fish and chips, not to mention the beer.”
    His body heat warmed her skin as he stood next to her. The scent of the masculine hotel soap tickled her senses, setting her nerves on high alert.
    What was she doing? Hadn’t she learned her lesson, that any desires she had for him weren’t reciprocated?
    Get a grip, Abigail.
    She’d wanted more from this man once before and it had ended with her humiliation. The last thing she needed to do was get distracted by his nearness. This time Brianna’s life depended on her focused attention.
    Ignoring the heat rushing to her face, she fled the room before he could comment on her awkwardness. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
    After washing her face and brushing her hair into a serviceable bun at the back of her head, she put on the navy-blue suit she’d hung in the closet last night and hoped it wouldn’t look too wrinkled. She smoothed her hands down the skirt as she stepped out of the bathroom.
    “You’re not wearing that, are you?”
    Jumping at the sound of Luke’s voice, she turned to find him leaning against the doorframe between their rooms. Thank God he’d dressed. Although the hip-hugging jeans and red Henley shirt stretched over his muscular chest was almost as sexy as his near-nakedness in only a towel.
    She was pathetic.
    “Yes, it’s this or my pajamas,” she said, a bit more peevish than she meant.
    “That’s all you packed for a visit with Brittany?”
    “ Brianna . If you must know, she left me the message when I was on an out-of-town audit. I never went home to get more than my work clothes. So, yes, this is all I have to wear.”
    He looked at his watch. “Okay, we should have time to stop and grab something before we meet with Jeffers.”
    “I don’t see why, this is a perfectly acceptable suit for a meeting with the detective.” She grabbed her laptop bag and slid the strap over her shoulder.
    “Yes, it would be if we were auditing the man in his office. We’re meeting him in a pub outside a sports facility.” He opened the room door for her.
    She inhaled as she passed by him—a little tremor of heat ran through her again, and she swallowed the sigh that threatened to pop out at the masculine scent of spice and hotel soap.
    Pathetic.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Luke pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall down the road from their hotel. The chain store should have just what they needed.
    “We really don't have time to be shopping,” Abby complained even as she climbed out of the passenger side. “We should be worrying about what's happened to Brianna,