Suzanne Cox - One Man To Protect Them

“And what a paycheck he must be getting to afford this place, the pool, the property, the barn.” Jayden swung her arm, indicating their surroundings.

Leigh made a face. “Remember, this is your nephew’s baseball coach we’re discussing. Besides, this house had been repossessed by the bank because the guy who owned it went to jail for drugs. Luke happened along at the right time to buy it, cheap.”

Jayden murmured, unconvinced. She wanted Leigh to stop defending him. As long as she could continue to dislike him, and continue to hold him responsible for the injustice of her sister’s killer being set free, she could ignore the rush of excitement she felt every time she saw him. Luke had way too much sex appeal. Through half-closed eyes she studied him while he laughed with Pete and the boys by the pool. What she honestly meant was that he had way too much sex appeal to ever be interested in her. This was a man she couldn’t trust, but she also couldn’t deny being attracted to him. Guys like Luke went for women with perfect makeup and stylishly clipped hair, probably even big hair. One of the single moms in tight-fitting shorts and an even tighter tank top joined the men, her hand sliding along Luke’s bicep as she talked. Luke listened attentively, and Jayden sighed. Yep, big hair and even bigger…

“She never quits. See that, Jayden?”

Glancing at Leigh, she pretended not to know what her friend meant. “See what?”

“Karen Singley has been chasing Luke since the day he came to Cypress Landing. You’d think she’d get the message. If he hasn’t asked her out in two years, well, he ain’t gonna.”

Jayden smothered a giggle. “I guess I can depend on you to let me know if I’m ever making a fool of myself over a man, Leigh.”

“Of course I will. Not that I’ll ever have to. You aren’t the type to do that, at least not anymore. I guess that one time you learned your lesson.”

Jayden clutched the side of the chair. She concentrated on the other end of the pool, this time not seeing Luke or Pete. Leigh touched her hand, but she had to ignore her for a moment longer, had to nail the lid on the nightmares that surrounded her last months in this town years ago.

“I’m sorry, Jaybird.”

Jayden nodded. She might have gotten angry if the comment had come from someone else, but not from Leigh, who’d been her constant support through their teenage years.

“I’m expecting uncomfortable moments now that I’m at the scene of the crime.”

“You don’t expect your best friend to trigger them. And there was no crime, either. No one thinks that.”

“Everyone thinks that, but I know what you meant and you’re right. I’ve learned plenty of lessons.”

Leigh gazed past her, eyebrows arching. “Here’s one lesson you won’t want to miss.” She inclined her head, and Jayden turned to see Pete and Luke stripping off their shirts to leap in the pool with the kids.

“I’ll tell you, my Pete is a looker—and he’s the only man I’m interested in—but Luke’s awesome, don’t you think?”

That was the understatement of the century. Pete was muscularly slim, like a model you might see in a men’s magazine. Luke’s body was much thicker, though not bulky, and tanned to perfection. She imagined his bare chest had captured the attention of every female here, but she couldn’t stop ogling him long enough to verify that. He tossed a water gun to one of the boys, then went under. When he surfaced, rivulets of water streamed down his face and he thrust the wet hair away from his forehead. His gaze locked with hers, and she felt herself blushing like a teenager. She hoped it was the sun. A slow smile curved his lips and he winked at her. A foam ball flew through the air, hitting him above the ear and he spun to attack the offender.

“Jayden, he winked at you. Did I miss something in the last few days?”

She still couldn’t stop contemplating the spot where he’d been and she racked her brain for a cure to calm her galloping heart. “No, he’s being ridiculous because I’m not fawning over him like I imagine half the women in town are.”

“He’s gone from that spot, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Her friend wore a wide grin. “You’re right. The single women, and a few married ones, are on the prowl for him. But Luke has never been ridiculous and he’s damned sure never winked at a female during one of his pool parties.”

Jayden poked Leigh’s leg. “Don’t get matchmaking ideas. I could never be with a man I don’t respect and I don’t have a high opinion of a guy who’s going to work hard to put Duke Swayze back on the street after he killed Eric Walsh.”

Her friend let loose a slow breath. “It is kind of difficult to get past the idea of him doing that, even though it’s what he’s paid to do. He doesn’t get to pick his clients. But the idea of Swayze killing Eric and getting off makes me sick to my stomach. Are they certain it was Eric’s body?”

“They did find his watch on one of the bodies.”

Leigh shivered. “That’s gruesome.”

Jayden stretched her legs and tried to relax. “Let’s change the subject, okay? Tell me what’s been happening in Cypress Landing for the past ten years or so.”

Leigh snorted and launched into an account of their high school classmates, while Jayden made the appropriate replies. Raising the boys and rebuilding her life here were of vital importance to her. People in town would expect her to make mistakes, to fail, but she wouldn’t. She watched her two little men bouncing in the water. They were good kids. She couldn’t mess up, not this time.

THE TWO-BEDROOM HOUSE Eric had been renting was a stone’s throw from her home. Jayden could remember when she’d been a teenager, a young couple bought this property and built the big house and the smaller one with it. They’d intended for the woman’s mother to stay near them when she got older, but the couple had relocated long before that. The property was next door to her aunt, so her sister and Robert bought the place the minute it became available. Now Jayden lived there. It was the boys’ home. The smaller house had become a source of extra income when her sister rented it, a simple act that had eventually led to an enormous problem for Jayden.

Things at the clinic had been slow, so when the sheriff’s investigator called and wanted to search the place, she came in person to unlock it. The sheriff’s car, a city police car and a van from the state crime lab sat in the drive. Jayden waited on the porch, unwilling to watch them trash the interior as they rummaged for evidence. She couldn’t imagine what clues they hoped to find. Certainly Eric wasn’t killed here, or at least she prayed not. The thought of that would keep her awake at night.

She rocked back and forth in the hanging swing on the tiny porch. The front door opened and the sheriff’s investigator joined her. Unlike most of the sheriff’s force, Jackson Cooper hadn’t grown up in Cypress Landing. He’d taken the investigator’s job and married a hometown girl not long before Jayden left, so she didn’t know him that well. He was a huge man and a little scary. As he walked straight for her it was obvious he intended to sit with her. She squeezed to one side and prayed the swing’s chains would hold both of them.

He eased against the slats. “Have you been in the house since Eric went missing?”

“No, I was waiting to see if his family might come for his things. And I knew you guys would be around.”

“Have you seen anyone go inside? Anything suspicious…noises over here at night?”

She tilted her head, trying to see his face. “What are you asking, Officer Cooper?”

“I think an intruder’s been in the house already. They didn’t tear it apart, but a few things seem strange. There’s no computer. Didn’t he work on a computer?”