He grabbed the tank top and yanked it over her head, tossed it aside, while she reached behind her back and undid the bra. It, too, disappeared, and then she was sitting astride him, her soft, hot pussy pressed to his cock, naked from the hips up. God, she was beautiful.

With dazed wonder, he moved his hands over her flat belly, up to feel the weight of her full breasts. Desire surged through him and his hips lifted, thrusting his hard-on into her softness. Her eyes closed, her face tight with raw need, and she quivered beneath his touch.

She opened her eyes, appearing bemused herself, and reached for the buttons of his shirt. She undid the top one, then the next, then impatiently slid her hands inside to feel his chest. He gasped at the touch of her fingers on his chest, his nipples.

He pulled her down and rolled again, twining his legs with hers, trapping her against him, heat to heat, kissing her again, wrapping his arms around her in a crushing embrace.

"Trey," she gasped, wrenching her mouth away from his, "stop. Please."

He could barely hear her over the roaring in his ears. Somehow, he managed to regain a fragment of control and gulped in a breath. "What?" he gasped. "What's wrong?"

She rolled away from him and lay on the edge of the bed, her back to him. As he tried to focus his blurry vision, he pressed a hand to his fly, his cock throbbing painfully behind it.

She was so slender he could see every vertebra curving from her smooth neck down to the swell of her bottom in those soft yoga pants. He watched her ribs rise and fall quickly with her agitated breathing.

"What is it, Marli?" he asked, straining to keep his voice gentle. But Christ, he was so turned on he could barely see straight.

"I can't do this."

He was silent. She'd been doing just fine a minute ago. More than fine. Ho, boy. He took a deep breath and blew it out.

"I'm sorry," she muttered into the pillow. "I just can't."

Communicating with women wasn't one of his strengths...witness his train wreck of a marriage. Marli wasn't his wife...hell, she wasn't anything to him, except...important. So important. He wanted to do this right.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, trying in vain to control the blood rushing to his dick and the furious pounding of his heart.

"Please, tell me why," he whispered. "Talk to me, sweetheart."

She was silent, but he waited, calling on every ounce of patience he possessed. Her heard her sniffle, then felt her roll, too. He turned his head and saw she lay beside him, her head on the pillow next to him. He reached up a hand and took her chin, tugging toward him so she faced him. He touched her mouth with his fingertips, then removed his hand. They weren't touching, just lying side by side, looking at each other. Even with eyes shadowed with pain, her mouth pinched, she was so beautiful.

"It's just wrong...to be...enjoying myself like this. At a time like this. Krista's dead," she said baldly. "I should not be doing this."

"Oh, Marli." He'd talked to victims' families so many times and he knew what she was talking about. "It's okay, honey. Life goes on." He reached out and touched her cheek with gentle fingertips.

Slowly, she lifted her hand and grabbed hold of his, pressing it to her face. "But it feels so wrong," she cried softly. "To go on with my life, when hers is over."

"I know."

She gazed back at him. Then she closed her eyes. "You were asking me earlier why I was so determined to find her killer."

"Yeah." He waited.

Eyes still closed, still gripping his hand and holding it to her cheek, she started to talk. "The night Krista was murdered, she and I had a big argument." She stopped and squeezed her eyes closed tighter.

Trey waited.

"She met...Rob...Sheldon...whoever. He was a smooth talker, and she really liked him. Then I sat down, and he started flirting with me a bit." She took a breath and opened her eyes. "I wasn't flirting with him," she said earnestly, eyes pleading with him to believe her. "I just...talk...and stuff comes out. I would never try to take a guy away from Krista. But she was mad. We'd both had a lot to drink. My fault again," she said a little bitterly. "I didn't want to be at a stupid country bar, so I was ordering tequila shots for everyone. Then Krista was telling me that I'm always attracting guys' attention, always flirting with them. She told me to back off. I was so pissed off." She paused, gripped his hand even tighter. "I don't do that."

"I know, sweetheart." He did. He'd seen it happen. She just said things, but she was so sexy and appealing it came across as not so innocent. He'd seen her suddenly become aware of how her words sounded and close up because of it.

"Thank you," she whispered. "But Krista thought I did. I couldn't believe it. We were best friends since high school. Like sisters. We're both different--she was much quieter and more reserved than I am--but I loved her. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. I never realized all those years that she was thinking stuff like that about me. It hurt me."

"Yeah."

"And the worst thing is, when she went to leave with Sheldon, I was hurt and mad, and I practically dared her to do it. Rachel started to try to tell her she shouldn't be leaving with a stranger, and I just...let her." Her eyes closed again and a tear squeezed out and rolled down her smooth cheek.

"It's all my fault she's dead," she whispered. "And I can't bear it. I can't bear the thought that she's gone, and that she died hating me. And now she's gone, and I can never tell her how sorry I am."

Trey reached for her instinctively, pulling her into his arms. She buried her face into his neck, shaking, and one of her hands fisted in his shirt. Ah, shit. Yeah, he'd read the report, but none of Marli's tortured feelings had come out of that. Christ. He ran his hand down her back, and even though she was half-naked in his arms, he just wanted to hold her and comfort her.

"Hey," he said, after a while, "you can't torture yourself like this." Although he knew only too well the feeling.

She sniffled. "Easy to say," she said. "I asked you this once before...do you follow your own advice?"

He smiled against her hair. "You know I don't. But don't do as I do. Do as I say."

"I don't take orders from you, Special Agent Nicholson."

He kissed her hair. "You told me once that you were jealous of Krista's hair."

"Yeah." She pulled back and looked up at him, confused. "So?"

"Does that mean you didn't love her?"

"Of course not. I did love her."

"So Krista could be jealous of your...outgoing personality, but that doesn't mean she didn't love you, Marli."

She stared at him, and another fat tear rolled from her eye. "You're right," she whispered, looking at him in wonder. "God, you're right, Trey."

He hugged her closer. "I know that doesn't help with all the big questions, like why it happened. I know you feel guilty about not stopping her. Because you're a good person. But what happened to her is not your fault, Marli. No way, no how."

She curled into him, hanging onto him.

He'd never felt closer to anyone than he did to her at that moment. Not just physically, although she was as close as they could get without him being inside her. But emotionally, he connected with her, knew what she was feeling, understood where it was coming from. God, he'd never even felt like this with Lisa, sad to say.

His hands moved over her back soothingly, stroking her soft skin with the intent to comfort, not arouse. They lay like that, curled together, for long, quiet moments, tenderness and some indefinable emotion making something in his chest expand and soften.

Chapter 10

Well, she'd killed that mood.

Marli nuzzled her face into Trey's neck. God, he smelled good. She sniffed at him, then pressed her mouth to his skin, a soft, open-mouthed kiss. Emotions rose and fell inside her like lava in a lava lamp. It was such a relief to have finally told someone how she felt. Somehow, it shrunk the guilt and anguish down to size. Didn't get rid of them...and that was okay. But now, maybe she could handle it.

Trey was so amazing. How had he known? She supposed in his work he'd dealt with so much grief and sorrow he knew what people were going through. The fact that he understood her when she barely understood herself, though, touched something deep inside her. Made her soften, warm to him more than she already had. Jesus, next thing she knew she'd be thinking she was falling in love with him. Her hero.

She had to remember Trey was a cop, doing a job, passing through town, a man with shadows and secrets of his own that dogged him. Definitely not someone to fall in love with.

Slowly, she pulled out of his arms and again rolled to the edge of the bed, reaching down to the floor for her tank top. She slipped it over her head so she was semi-covered, although a quick glance down at her chest saw her beaded nipples were clearly on display through the thin white cotton.

She swallowed words that would tell him about the strange, soft emotions she was feeling for him. "I could use some food," she said instead.

He lifted his wrist so he could see his watch. "Yeah," he said. "It's seven o'clock. By the time we get something to eat, it'll be time to go."

She nodded, her tummy tightening. But tonight Trey would be with her. Really with her. Looking out for her.