If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

obvious?
    Hell. Maybe.
    “I’m here to get something to eat, to drink. It’s not like they serve dinner at the hotel.”
    “Good point. If you’re going to be in town awhile, you ought to hit up Roz over at the Inn. She sublets the cabins every now and then—and they got better food there. A few of the cabins even have kitchenettes. Quieter out there. A lot more private than anything you’ll find in town.” He slid her an amused smile. “It’s only a few miles away from where Reilly lives, too.”
    “And that should make a difference, huh?”
    “You going to tell me it doesn’t?” He lifted a brow.
    Shit.
    Scowling, she focused on her drink and wished she’d ordered something stronger.
    “The Inn, huh? So where is it?”
    He laughed.
    He knew she was still in town.
    After all, this was Ash, and in Ash, anything different was a hot topic for discussion … Nia Hollister was different, and not only was she different, she was hot—in more ways than one.
    He’d heard she all but closed down the Grill with Law Reilly earlier that week.
    He’d heard she had been seen in the sheriff’s department.
    He kept hoping to hear she was leaving town, but so far, that hadn’t happened.
    As a matter of fact, as the days passed by, she’d spent them at the library,
researching
 … going through the archives. And rumor had it she’d spent today going through police reports filed through the city and county.
    As if it wasn’t bad enough just having her in his town, where she didn’t belong. Just having her here was bad. Troublesome. In a lot of ways. There was little question in his mind
why
she was here. She hadn’t accepted what had happened to her cousin. She wanted more, was willing to dig to find it.
    But how long would she stay …? How deep would she dig? Why was she messing around in the archives at the library? Over at the courthouse, rummaging through public documents?
    Slowing to a stop in front of the Ash Hotel, he glanced over—casual. He knew how to do casual. Knew how to go unnoticed, how to be unseen even when everybody was looking right at him.
    Then he narrowed his eyes, hardly able to believe what he saw.
    She was packing up. Loading her things onto her bike. Well, well. He hadn’t seen this easy ending coming. Still smiling, he pulled on through the stop sign and finished the drive into town. He was in the mood for some coffee and breakfast. Maybe he’d hit the café.
    She was leaving … good.
    Damn good thing.
    “You sure you’re okay?”
    Rolling onto her belly, Lena buried her face in her pillow and groaned. They’d only been married a few months and normally, Ezra just wasn’t the type to hover.
    Then again, normally, she didn’t spend several days all but hugging the toilet. It had finally passed, but she was still so damned tired. All week, all she’d done was sleep, wake up, try to eat … then lose interest and go back to sleep.
    “I’ll be better after about another twenty-four hours of unconsciousness,” she mumbled. “Go. Go to town, have coffee with the boys and talk about whatever you cop types talk about at these ‘not-staff’ meetings.”
    He sat on the edge of the bed and she could all but feel the reluctance rolling off of him. One roughened hand stroked her back, lingered low on her spine, his fingers digging into the tense muscles there. “If you’re sure you’ll be okay …”
    “Well, I’m really anxious to get my boy toy over—so get out already.” Then she sighed, rolled over. She reached out and her fingers brushed his leg. “Ezra, I’m not dying or anything. I’m even starting to feel better and just need some sleep. Go to town and while you’re there, get me some Tylenol and some chicken noodle soup. I almost feel hungry.”
    He chuckled. “Now I
know
you’re sick, if you want me buying you some sort of soup in a can.”
    “Hey, I’m sick … it’s not like
I
can cook it. And I want to get better, which means I can’t trust
you
to do it.” She forced a smile for him, even though her eyes felt heavier by the second.
    “Okay.” He sighed and bent over, his lips brushing over her chin. “I’ll call and check on you in a while.”
    “Umm.”
    She was asleep before he hit the doorway.
    Ezra glanced back, saw Puck lying there, his head on his paws, a mournful look on his face. If Ezra didn’t know better, he’d think the dog was having sympathy sickness or something. And as soon as that thought rolled through his mind,