Golden Anidae (A Blushing Death Novel) Read Online Free Page B

through all of this already,” she snapped.
    “Why did you arrive at the scene this morning?” he continued, ignoring Enza’s frustration.
    I’d, however, had plenty of experience with cops. I took Enza’s hand in mine, squeezing just a bit in reassurance as she answered, again.
    “Soraida never called me to tell me she got home. I was worried.”
    “Is that something she does often?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she snapped, belligerent.
    He raised his eyes from the notebook and glared at her over the rim of his pretentious aviator sunglasses.
    Asshole, I thought as I rolled my eyes.
    “Ma’am, I would hate to think that you were being uncooperative,” he warned, pushing the sunglasses back up his nose with his middle finger.
    Enza’s posture tightened beside me. Digging her fingernails into my hand, she opened her mouth to speak. I jerked her hand closer to me and placed my other hand on her shoulder. Whatever she was going to say, she stopped.
    She glanced over at my hand resting on her shoulder and knew to keep her mouth shut. Smart girl. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, turning pain-filled eyes up to me.
    Ahh hell.
    I smiled at the uniformed officer and took a deep breath.
    “Officer,” I said sweetly, a pleading smile on my face. He didn’t notice that my eyes were hard and empty. “We have been more than cooperative. We’re the ones who called you in to begin with. We answered the same questions going on four times now so unless you are going to press charges,” I said with a warning in my tone and stopped. I was caught off guard by the smell of leather mixed with pheromone rich cologne. Under all that was the thick, enticing scent of male.
    I shifted, turning my face into the wind carrying the scent. He approached, still yards away. Tall, almost Dean’s height and Dean pushed 6’4”, the man was Hispanic, with dark skin, bronzed in the shade that Enza worked so hard to mimic with tanning. His hair was jet black and slicked away from his face like it was 1940.
    “That won’t be necessary,” he said in a rich, accented voice that purred in my ear. Meeting my eyes, something very few did any more, his eyes twinkled in the morning light, filled with confidence.
    I’d intimidated people before. Now I just scared them and he met my eyes as if he was just a man and I was just a woman.
    His eyes were a soft brown with gold flecks around the edges that reminded me of a sunburst as he gazed at me. He stood almost six inches taller than me with a quiet intensity, making him an imposing figure. The warmth of his gaze and his smile set me at ease and made my heart thump a half-beat faster.
    “Ms. . . .?” he asked, waiting for me to fill in the blank.
    “Dahila,” I answered.
    He held out his hand to me and I took it in a firm handshake. I glanced down at the difference in our skin tones, watching the muscles of his hand and wrist jump. I noticed the edge of a tattoo peeking out from under the cuff of his dress shirt, probably going all the way up his arm, his very muscular and attractive arm. My pulse raced at the thought of his muscular body bare before me.
    Jesus. What is wrong with me?
    “Well, Dahlia,” he said with a bright, winning smile.
    This guy definitely didn’t have to work hard to get laid.
    Focus!
    “Do you have a last name?” he asked, a devilish grin making the gold flecks in his eyes brighten.
    If I gave him my name, it would end up in the police report, becoming public record.
    SHIT! Jade would be able to find me before the day was out with a simple computer search, if she was still looking. I didn’t want to tell him but I couldn’t lie with Enza right there either.
    “Sabin. Her name is Dahlia Sabin,” Enza answered before I could stop her.
    She sure took care of that.
    “She’s my cousin from Ohio,” she added.
    God damn it! They would probably run my name for warrants which would flag Derek. This was getting better and better by the minute.
    “Well, Ms.