The Body Thief (17 page)

“So, do you live here on your own?” he asked
around a mouthful of pizza.

“Yes. I moved here a couple years ago.
Before that, I worked at the morgue in Westmead. I had a condo in
Parramatta.”

His smile widened and she wondered why.
“What’s so funny about Parramatta?”

“Nothing,” he hurried to reassure her. “I
used to live in Penrith. We were practically neighbors.”

She laughed. “Well, if you ignore the
thirty-minute commute in between.” She took a sip from her beer.
“Where do you live now?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t live very far
from here. I have a house in Cremorne.”

She raised her eyebrows, impressed. “Wow! A
whole house? I didn’t realize the police service paid so well.”

“Well, the privilege of owning it takes a
hefty bite out of my pay each week, but it’s worth it. I’m not on
the water, but if I stand on tiptoes on my balcony, I can catch a
glimpse of the harbor.”

“Nice,” she said and smiled.

He stared back at her with such intensity,
Sam’s heart kicked into gear with a slow and heavy thump.
Butterflies swarmed in her stomach and she couldn’t think of a
single thing to say. It was like the world had frozen in that
moment and there was no one but the two of them. The pizza, the
kitchen, the murmur of traffic outside—it all disappeared into
nothingness.

The tension continued to climb until she
couldn’t take it anymore. It was too soon. They’d been friends and
then they weren’t. Now they were… She didn’t know what they were
now. She blinked and averted her gaze and the spell was broken.

“Would you like another beer?” she asked, in
an effort to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, thanks. That would be great.”

She pushed away from the table and moved
over to the fridge. Feeling nervous and edgy and out of her depth,
she cast around for something else to say.

“Why did you transfer from Westmead to the
city?” Rohan asked, saving her from having to initiate more
conversation.

“I’d lived out west for several years. I
loved working at the Westmead Morgue. I’m not sure if you noticed,
but that part of town is very orientated toward families. There are
lots of houses with large backyards and kids playing in the parks.
I guess I kind of felt I didn’t belong. The city seemed to be a
better option for a single, thirty-something woman and it means I’m
closer to my mom. She lives in Lindfield.”

He digested her answer and seemed satisfied
with her response. “Fair enough. And you’re right about the western
suburbs. It was the same out in Penrith. I felt strange not having
to rush out the door to do the school run or to leave early in
order to take a sick child to the medical center. I think I was one
of a very few at work who was unattached.”

“You were in love with Daphne. It must have
taken some time to get over her. She treated you shabbily.”

He snorted. “That’s an understatement. We’d
been together a year and a half and then she decided to have a
fling with an old high school flame. And a biker at that.” He shook
his head as if still unable to believe it and Sam could see the
irony. Bikers were renowned for living on the wrong side of the
law.

And Rohan was a detective.

“Well, after hearing about her dishonesty
and what she did, I’m sure you’re better off without her.”

“I agree wholeheartedly.” He twisted the top
off his second beer and held the bottle up in the manner of a
toast. “Here’s to exes and accepting that sometimes things have a
way of working out for the best.”

Sam smiled and clinked her bottle against
his. “To exes.” They both drank from their bottles and then
simultaneously sighed in satisfaction. Catching his eye, Sam burst
into laughter and Rohan joined her.

It felt good to laugh and relax and forget
about the complexities that filled her life, even for a moment. Her
mother was dying of kidney failure; her brother was embroiled in…
She didn’t even know what. She was thirty-four and didn’t have a
significant other by her side. Nor was there one in sight. It was
enough to turn anyone to drink.

“I met your brother this week.”

Rohan’s quiet statement registered in Sam’s
brain a couple of seconds after he uttered the words and her heart
skipped a beat.
Rohan had spoken to Alistair?
That couldn’t
be good. Forcing a nonchalant tone, she asked, “Really? Where did
you come across him?”

“At the hospital. My partner and I set up a
meeting with the general manager and she asked Alistair to attend.
Initially I didn’t realize he was your brother but then I finally
put it together. He’s obviously quite a bit older, but he looks a
lot like you.”

“Yes, he does,” she managed. “Why… Why were
you meeting with the general manager? Have you discovered something
else? Why did my brother attend?”

Rohan looked at her. “It’s an ongoing
investigation. I can’t really talk about it. Let’s just say I think
you and your friend’s suspicions that something isn’t quite right
with the donation process is spot on.”

And just like that, Sam’s joy of the
previous moment disintegrated. Dread weighed heavy in her belly. It
was clear Rohan had discovered more evidence to support her and
Hannah’s concerns. Rohan had gone so far as to meet with the
general manager of the Sydney Harbour Hospital. A request had been
made for Alistair to attend. The possibilities circled around and
around in her head and none of them were good.

Then, she took a moment to think about it.
Alistair was the head of the Organ Donation for Transplantation
Unit. It made sense that the police would want to speak with him
and tap into his extensive knowledge of how the organ donation
process worked. Perhaps that’s all it was.

Feeling slightly better, she took another
bite of her pizza and followed it with a mouthful of beer. Her gaze
traveled over the white T-shirt that stretched across Rohan’s broad
shoulders and hugged his chest.

He’d arrived in a light Nike sweater, but
had discarded that upon walking inside. Though the night was cool,
it held more than the promise of spring and the temperature in the
kitchen was pleasant. He’d always been fit, with a tall, athletic
physique. Even when he’d been around in her apartment in his
capacity as Daphne’s boyfriend, Sam had always been aware of his
physical appeal. After all, she was a normal young woman and she
certainly wasn’t blind.

But a decade ago she’d never allowed her
thoughts to wander in that direction. She had a strict moral
compass as far as poaching someone else’s partner was concerned and
though she could appreciate how effortlessly handsome he was, she’d
never given in to a single naughty fantasy.

But now he was in her kitchen and there
wasn’t a girlfriend in sight. At least, not that she knew of. As if
reading her mind, Rohan asked the question she was dying to
ask.

“So, Samantha, are you seeing anyone?”

Heat crept up her neck. She kept her eyes
averted and shook her head. “No, I’m not. How about you?” The words
were out before she could stop them, but all of a sudden, she
didn’t care.

The truth was, attraction for him had been
steadily building way down deep inside and she needed to know, for
the sake of her own self-preservation, if there was a possibility
of something more happening between them.

“Nope. There have been girls on and off over
the years, but no one serious.”

“Why not?” she asked. “You’re good-looking,
you have a steady job and you’re certainly of age. Why haven’t you
found the right one?” Sam’s heart thudded at her audacity, but her
gaze remained fixed on his. The answer had become more important
than she imagined.

“I could ask the same thing of you,” he
murmured, staring right back at her.

Once again, the air around them grew charged
and the blood pulsed through Sam’s veins. Rohan leaned forward
across the small table until his face was inches from hers. Her
breath quickened and the butterflies in her stomach took off in a
frenzy of flight, but she couldn’t move away. A moment later, his
lips brushed hers, soft, slippery and tasting of beer and
pizza.

Tentatively, she returned the kiss and his
hand came up to cup her cheek. Gently holding her head in place, he
slowly explored her mouth. When at last he pulled away, their
breathing was unsteady. Rohan stared at her. Filled with desire,
his eyes had darkened to cobalt. Sam was powerless to look
away.

The kiss had been like nothing she’d
imagined or experienced before. Though she’d dated in college and
one relationship had lasted nearly six months, she’d never had the
time or inclination to spend hours in the college bars, flirting
and drinking like many of her friends had. She looked back now and
realized her college days had been fairly boring. She’d go to
class, study hard, enjoy the occasional social outing and then do
the same things over again.

“I probably should be sorry for doing that,”
Rohan said, his voice husky, “but I can’t bring myself to
apologize. I didn’t come over here with the intention of seducing
you, but you are just too damned hard to resist. The whole time I
knew you, I was with Daphne and I never really noticed you.”

She was stung by his insinuation. “Gee,
thanks.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” he hurried
to reassure her. “Of course I
noticed
you. You’re beautiful.
No man could overlook that. But I was in love with Daphne and she
was in love with me. At least I thought she was,” he added with a
grimace.

He reached out and took her hands. She
resisted, but he merely tightened his hold. “I can tell that you’re
mad and I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. This is coming
out all wrong.”

He drew in a deep breath and blew it out.
“What I meant was I never noticed you in a sexual,
available
way. I was involved with another girl. Something in my head shut
down the normal kind of response I might otherwise have had if we’d
both been single.” He shook his head and sighed. “Is any of this
making sense?”

Sam squeezed his hands. “I know what you
mean. I was having similar thoughts only a little while ago. I used
to see you come and go with Daphne and sometimes you and I would
play a game of chess. Even though I was aware of your good looks
and easy charm, they didn’t get me all hot and bothered because it
was like you said, my brain acknowledged you were with someone
else. The time we spent together was fun and relaxed and carefree
because there wasn’t the added pressure of sexual attraction. It
can put a strain on things, especially if it isn’t
reciprocated.”

Rohan nodded in agreement. “I was like a
brother.”

“Yes! That’s exactly how it was!”

His gaze shifted to her mouth, to her
breasts and then returned to her face. Her heart skipped a beat at
the heat in his eyes. “I don’t feel like a brother anymore,” he
growled.

“I… I see that,” Sam stammered, trying to
catch her breath.

“I want to kiss you again.”

“I’d… I’d like that.”

Desire flared brighter in his eyes. As if
needing no further encouragement, he pushed back his chair and took
her by the hand and drew her up close until she was pressed against
him. His head came down and he captured her lips in a kiss that
seared her brain and flustered her wits.

While the first kiss had been sweet and
tentative, this one was anything but. Rohan’s lips moved over hers
like a man starving. Everywhere they touched, heat followed. She
wound her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer and
sighed with relief when he cupped her bottom and held her against
his erection.

The hardness of it strained against her
belly and sent tingles of desire racing to her core. She couldn’t
remember the last time she’d felt like this. She didn’t know if
she’d
ever
felt like this. The few times she’d had sex with
her one-and-only, long-term boyfriend, they’d come together, more
often than not, late at night after quite a few drinks.

It was always her boyfriend who initiated
it. She’d merely gone along for the ride. While she’d found the
encounters pleasant, her world hadn’t shifted off its axis. Not
like it was with Rohan—and they’d only kissed. She couldn’t help
but wonder how extraordinary it would feel to make love with
him.

“You taste so good,” he groaned against her
lips and Sam opened her mouth and tangled her tongue with his.
Emboldened by his desire, she slid her hands down his arms, across
his back and finished at his butt. It was taut under her fingers.
She cupped his cheeks the way he was cupping hers and pressed him
closer against her core. Liquid heat flared to life and the blood
rushed through her veins.

His hands went to the hem of her sweater and
he dragged it up and over her head. A moment later, he unclasped
her white bra and dropped it to the floor. He stared at her with
such need, she felt like she’d explode.

Slowly, he lifted his hand and ran his
fingers over one of her breasts. Her nipple puckered in response
and she gasped from the heat of his touch.

“You’re so beautiful, Samantha,” he murmured
huskily. “I can’t believe I never looked at you like this
before.”

“
Shh
,” she whispered, pressing a
finger to his lips. “Let’s not talk about the past. We’re here
now—single, consenting adults. There’s nothing standing in our
way.”

He bent his head and kissed her soundly on
the mouth. “You’re right and I intend to make the most of it. I
want to feel you naked,” he growled. “Will you make love with
me?”

She stared at him and her breath came fast.
Her body screamed out for her to say yes. She thought about her
brother and the investigation, but just as quickly, pushed those
thoughts away. She didn’t want to think about the complications.
Right now, all she wanted to do was feel.