Bubblegum Blonde (23 page)

"We got it covered." I patted his chest and smiled. I wasn't ready to admit to him, or even to myself for that matter, that we almost didn't have it covered and were well on our way to being dead with a capital D.

"What in the hell happened here?" Tyler looked around at the room. "Are you all right?" he lowered his gun and shoved it into the holster at his side under his arm.

"Well, Max there went insane." I pointed at Max's dead body on the floor. "He kidnapped us and then tried to kill us. As it turns out, he's your killer, not Jason." I motioned toward a very bloody Jason. He'd sat up and leaned his back against the dresser. "How'd you know where to find us?"

Tyler reached out and pulled me close to him, then started inspecting me as a mother would a child. It felt so weird and yet comforting. There might have been something more between Tyler and me than simple attraction after all.

Once he was satisfied that I wasn't seriously injured, he shoved his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath, then explained. "When I showed up at your place for our date the door was open. I knew something wasn't right. I went in and looked around and discovered that you were gone. There was a spot of blood on your bedroom floor, and your cat was freaking out."

 "I'm fine." I assured him. "Max hit me in the head with his gun, and then he drugged me and brought me out here. Apparently he drugged all three of us." I motioned to Silas and Jason. "Is my cat okay?"

Tyler looked at me like I should be worried about something other than my cat, but he didn't know me well enough just yet to know that Mickey was family.

"He's fine. He's at Mandy's."

"How? And again, how'd you know to look for me here?"

"After I called the station to report your house being broken into and you missing, I called Kelly, and she called Mandy. That's how Mandy ended up with your cat. As for finding you, Mandy used the Find My Phone app installed on your phone, and it led here. I called for backup and paramedics as soon as we pinpointed your location. They'll be here any minute."

I could already hear the sirens.

"What exactly happened here, and who is Max?" Tyler pointed to Max.

"It's a long story." I sighed. "All you need to know at this moment is that he's Lydia's killer. Not Jason."

Tyler pressed a small black circle on his collar that I assumed was his com system, called an all clear to the other officers, and advised that paramedics were needed on the second floor.

He then reached out, pulled me into his arms, and held me. I melted against his chest. I didn't care that we were standing in the room with a dead body, a gigolo, and my lying, cheating ex-fiancé. In that moment I felt like I was right where I needed to be. In Tyler's protective embrace.

"Not your boyfriend, huh?" Silas chuckled from his spot against the wall.

I turned and gave him a
shut-it-or-I'll-shut-it-for-you
look, but in true Silas fashion, he just laughed.

"I understand your need to embrace that beautiful woman," Silas said. "But I could use some assistance over here." He hissed in a pained breath and motioned to his bloody arm.

"And my face is killing me, so could you wrap it up, Barb?" Jason mumbled a complaint from where he'd propped himself up against the dresser.

"Good grief. You two are such babies," I grumbled.

Two officers and a group of paramedics entered the room and descended on Silas and Jason. The two groaned and hissed as their wounds were examined.

I shook my head.

"What a bunch of whiners." I'd been in a car wreck, had my head bashed in, been drugged, kidnapped, and in a fight with a murderer all within the last twenty-four hours, and they didn't see my whining.

Two weeks had passed since I'd been kidnapped by Lydia's murderer.

In the meantime, the police dug deeper into Max's past and learned that over the years he'd had several restraining orders filed against him by a handful of different girlfriends when he lived in another state.

Turned out, he was deceptively charming and quite violent when the feeling suited him. Apparently Lydia wasn't the first to get under his skin, just the first he'd ever succeeded in murdering. I felt bad for him in a way that I couldn't really explain. Maybe he really did love Lydia, and maybe he was just insane. We'd never know.

Jason, Silas, and I were bandaged and cleared to leave by the hospital. Doctor Hope wasn't all that surprised to see me again, nor was he surprised to see Tyler hovering over me. At the station we gave our statements and answered the same questions what felt like a million times.

I was a bit worried that Silas would be in trouble for his gigolo business, but as it turned out, he wasn't promising sex to his clients. The only thing his company promised was an escort and a little fun, which could have meant anything, so he and his guys were in the clear.

The fact that he gave them wild monkey love anyway was apparently beside the point. I was glad that he wasn't in trouble. Silas and I had become good friends over the past couple of weeks, and I was thinking of using him on future cases as a decoy if the opportunity presented itself. With the number of cheating wives I dealt with, I was sure I'd be needing his assistance more often than not.

Tyler and I had seen each other as much as our jobs allowed since the night he found me standing over the dead body of a gigolo. We took it as a promising sign that we weren't sick of each other yet. I woke up every morning wanting to see him a little more than the day before.

He even sent me
Good morning, beautiful
texts every day.

"So, what does the handsome detective have planned for the two of you tonight?" Kelly waggled her eyebrows at me.

I applied a thin layer of mascara and placed the lid back on the container.

"Dinner and a movie at his place. He worked today, and you know me. I'd rather stay in than go out."

Kelly propped her feet up on the end of my bed and laced her fingers behind her head. Mickey took that as an invitation to join her and curled up against her side. She petted him idly. "You two were made for each other." She laughed.

"Why would you say that?" I asked as I slid my feet into a pair of pink sandals.

"You're both workaholics, hate going out somewhere crowded, and well, not to be mean, but you're a bit boring."

I laughed. "Boring? Tyler catches murderers for a living, and as of two weeks ago, so do I. Not to mention our new stud friend, Silas. After all of that, how can you say we're boring?" I grinned and propped my hands on my hips.

Kelly chuckled. "Believe me, you just are."

I shook my head and finished getting ready for my date. I supposed Tyler and I were boring to some people, but it didn't bother me one little bit.

"I still can't believe you freed yourself with a porn DVD." Kelly laughed and rubbed Mickey's belly. He looked up at her and purred.

"When all else fails…" I chuckled. "What other choice did I have at the time? Max was about to kill us."

"And that would've been a major shame." She shook her head. "I love you and all, but that Silas is one hot piece of—"

"I'm just going to stop you right there." I held up a hand. "If you like him that much, you could always pay the fee and have a go at that hot piece."

She rolled her eyes. "How does Tyler feel about you and Silas becoming such good friends?"

"He's okay with it." I shrugged my shoulders. "He wasn't at first, but it's all good now." And it really was. Tyler hadn't liked the idea of Silas and me getting close after what had just happened with Max and the kisses we'd shared, but with a little lip action and my promise that I was only interested in him, he gave me the benefit of the doubt and toned down the jealousy.

It still amazed me that someone as hot and amazing as Tyler could be interested in little plump me.

"I need to get going. Lock up when you let yourself out."

Kelly hopped up off the bed much to Mickey's displeasure and followed me into the living room. "I'm on my way out too. Mark is waiting for me at his place."

We stepped out onto the front porch, and I locked the door behind me.

"You two made up, I guess?"

Kelly and Mark were on-again, off-again more than a pair of panties in Silas's bedroom.

"Yeah. Everything is all right with us now. We just needed some time apart."

I'm not sure how that could be, as they were apart more than they were together, but it was none of my business. I was still getting the hang of this whole dating thing. Fortunately for me, Tyler was a very understanding man.

"Have fun. Try not to get too wild," Kelly called to me as she made her way to her car.

I sent her a one-fingered salute, and she laughed, got into her car, and drove away grinning.

I stepped down the stairs and couldn't help but smile at the car sitting in my driveway. As of this morning, my days of driving the pea-soup wagon were officially over. Thanks to the insurance company and the increase in income from Jason's case, as well as some others I'd signed, I was now the proud owner of the black Cadillac CTS that I'd wanted. Since wrapping up Lydia's case, clients were flooding the office, and I didn't have to worry about paying the light bill anymore.

I slipped into my new car, sighed with pleasure at the new-car smell, and pulled out of the driveway.

I had a hunky detective waiting for me.

*   *   *

I pulled into Tyler's driveway and was a bit surprised to see the house was mostly dark.

I got out of the car and bumped the door shut with my hip, then shoved my keys into my bag.

I was beginning to wonder if he'd cancelled our date, and I'd missed the message, but when I reached the steps leading up to his front door, I froze in my tracks.

A trail of coffee-flavored hard candy and my favorite watermelon bubblegum led to the partially open door.

What was going on? Did Tyler have some kind of big plan that I wasn't aware of or ready for? I had the odd urge to turn around and run back to my car, but at the same time, I needed to find out what was going on.

I pushed the door open and saw that the trail continued into the living area. I followed the trail of goodies a few more feet then stopped.

I laughed.

"This is awesome."

The candy trail ended in the living room. Right in front of the television was a picnic-style dinner of pizza, beer, and even an after-dinner iced caramel macchiato with my name written on the cup…literally.

Tyler looked up from where he was already seated on the red-and-black plaid blanket and grinned.

He had the most devastating grin. I think my heart skipped a beat.

"So you approve?"

"More than approve," I said, then set my purse on the couch and knelt down beside him.

He leaned over and ran his thumb down my cheek, then tipped my head up, and kissed my lips. Just the simplest touch from Tyler could make my toes curl.

"Kelly informed me that we're boring," he said. "And since neither one of us cares for fancy restaurants or nightclubs, I thought I'd do something that we'd both enjoy. So"—he spread his arms out—"picnic dinner, dessert, and cheesy movies."

"She told me the same thing earlier." I laughed. "You have no idea how perfect this is," I assured him.

He dropped his arms and brushed my hair behind my ear. "Honestly, we've both been working such long hours, I just wanted to get you all to myself for as long as possible."

My chest ached from his sweetness.

In all of my thirty years, I'd never been with a man who made me feel the way Tyler did. He was strong, confident, gentle, caring, loyal, and even though he could go overboard with it at times, protective. Tyler was everything I'd ever wanted in a man, and it was still hard for me to believe that he wanted me. That he liked me just the way I was.

I looked around at the simple, yet incredibly thoughtful, setting and then at his beautiful, hopeful face and smiled.

In that moment, I knew that I was right where I belonged.

I leaned over and gave Tyler a soft kiss on his firm, plump lips, then leaned back and met his heated gaze.

"You can have me for as long as you want me, Detective. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

* * * * *

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Not only is Anna Snow a wife, mom, and lipstick junkie, but she's also a multi-published bestselling author of several romance, mystery, erotica, fan-fiction, paranormal, chick-lit, and thriller works.

Anna began writing as soon as she could hold a pen and hasn't stopped since. She loves life and can think of nothing she enjoys more than spending time with her family and friends. She loves reading, kitties, spending time outdoors, and did I mention kitties? *Big grin* Anna also loves to hear from her fans and answers all correspondence she receives.

To learn more about Anna Snow, visit her online at:
http://www.annasnow.info

* * * * *

Barb Jackson Mysteries
:

Blondes' Night Out (short story in the
Killer Beach Reads
collection)

The Blonde Before Christmas
(holiday short story)

Bubblegum Blonde

Other works:

Torque

All the Glittering Bones

Haunted Haven

My Sinful Valentine

Sinfully Delicious

Killer Kisses

Reluctant Angel

Guarding Eden

The Stranger Next Door

Tumbleweeds

* * * * *

If you enjoyed this Barb Jackson Mysteries short story, check out this sneak peek of another humorous, romantic mystery from
Gemma Halliday Publishing
.