Winter Read online

  Inca grimaced. “Who would do that? I can’t remember the last time we had a murder around here.”

  “1976,” Olly said. “Before either of us was born. That’s how rare it is.”

  “Any leads?”

  “None.”

  Inca smiled at Molly and changed the subject. “So, I hear you’re going to be wined and dined at Levi and Jim’s?”

  Molly nodded. “I’ve heard great things.”

  “You heard right. Levi is a genius chef and what Jim doesn’t know about wine isn’t worth knowing.”

  “They’re a couple, right?”

  “Right. Although don’t be surprised when you see them; you would never know they were a couple unless you knew them. Always busting each other’s balls like they’re brothers rather than lovers.”

  “That’s what best friends are for,” Olly said, winking at Inca. Inca rolled her eyes and got up.

  “I’ll leave you two alone. Gotta get back to it. It was really good to meet you, Molly.”

  “You too.”

  It was only later, when Inca skipped out to go to the Farmer’s Market, that a sense of loneliness crept over her. She might be having trouble getting over the breakup of the relationship, but she knew Olly had been right to end it. Still, she wondered if her heart would ever ‘unfreeze’; the idea of that shocked her. Had she even given her all to Olly? Was that the reason why he had ended it? She couldn’t tell.

  Loading her groceries into her car, she was startled by the squeal of tires as a Porsche screeched into the parking spot beside her. The driver got out; he was tall, with wild dark curls, and when he turned towards her, she could see his intense green eyes. He stopped when he saw her and Inca flushed at his scrutiny. His eyes seemed to bore right into hers, searching, questioning.

  Inca got flustered and one of her bags slipped out of her hands, spilling fruit across the parking lot. She scrambled to retrieve it and she sensed him walking towards her. He crouched down and helped her, without saying a word. As he handed her an orange, his fingers brushed hers and she felt a jolt of electricity. She looked up to see him staring at her. A furious pulse began to beat between her legs and she couldn’t look away. He was unsmiling, but his face wasn’t unfriendly, just entirely focused on her.

  Inca managed to find her voice. “Thank you.”

  They both stood at the same time. He dwarfed her petite frame and Inca suddenly felt both utterly vulnerable and supremely turned on. He gave a curt nod then, in a motion so quick she hardly registered it, brushed the back of his finger down her cheek. It left her skin burning, but he turned away and stalked off, leaving Inca open-mouthed behind him.

  She got into the car and sat, blinking. “What the hell was that?” She glanced at her burning face in the mirror, half expecting there to be a scorch mark where he had touched her. There wasn’t, of course, but her entire face was bright red. She sucked in a deep breath. Jesus.

  On her drive back to the teahouse, she suddenly remembered where she had seen him. He was one of the Winter twins. She suddenly wished she’d paid more attention to the article Scarlett had pointed out. So, they must have completed on the Fletcher mansion and moved in … there hadn’t been as much fanfare as she would have expected, given Scarlett’s excitement. But maybe they were just a private family.

  She got her answer when she returned to the Sakura. Gasping from the cold air that whipped around her, she stumbled into the backroom of the teahouse and dumped the bags of groceries on the floor. Tugging her coat off, she could hear Scarlett’s infectious laugh, Nancy’s soft chuckle, and another voice, masculine, deeper, accented. Inca felt a thrill go through her as she walked into the teahouse’s main room and saw him there. Dark curls, now brushed into a neat style, intense green eyes but now he wore a friendly smile. He looked up as Inca came into the room and his smile widened. She felt her face burn.

  “Hello again,” she said, but his eyebrows shot up.

  “I’m sorry?”

  God, that voice. Deep, mellifluous, sexy as all hell. Inca blinked. “We just met? At the Farmer’s Market?”

  He smiled. “I very much wish we had, but I think that may have been my brother.”

  Now that she saw him, yeah, he was wearing entirely different clothes and, instead of being combed neatly, she realized this man’s hair was shorter. Apart from that, there was absolutely no telling them apart. She smiled.

  “I’m sorry, my mistake.”

  He stuck his hand out. “Tommaso Winter.”

  “Inca Sardee.”

  His green eyes sparkled. “Unusual name.”

  She grinned. “Indian. My birth mother was Indian.” She had no idea why she was telling him that and gave an embarrassed cough. Scarlett and Nancy were watching the interaction, Scarlett grinning openly. Inca surreptitiously kicked her friend. “Well, I hope my mom and this reprobate were making you feel at home. I understand you’ve bought the Fletcher mansion?”

  Now she sounded like she was interviewing him.

  God, woman, are you really going to fall apart at the sight of a handsome face?

  But ‘handsome’ didn’t really cover it with the Winter twins, she decided. They were glorious. Tommaso Winter smiled at her, and she noticed how his eyes crinkled at the corners, his cheeks lifted, his beautifully-shaped mouth curved.

  God, what is wrong with you?

  First his brother and now him. Inca was sure her face was burning.

  “We have. My brother and I decided we needed to be in the States for the time being.”

  “I would have thought high flyers like the Winters would be more New York-based.” This was Nancy, who was peering over her glasses at Tommaso. Inca groaned internally. Was Nancy about to go into one of her rants about the uber-rich?

  Tommaso grinned at her. “Neither Raff nor myself are New York people. And besides, Seattle is at the forefront of business— Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Boing? It made sense.”

  Nancy seemed satisfied with this. She gave Inca a slight nod—this one’s okay. Inca suppressed a smile. “Mr. Winter—”

  “Tommaso, please.”

  “Tommaso.” The name felt like a caress in her mouth. “Have you had time to get to know the town?”

  He shook his head. “I was hoping to find a guide.” His eyes twinkled at her and Inca felt her stomach flutter.

  Desire. God.

  Scarlett nudged her.

  “Inca’s an excellent tour guide,” she said brightly. “And she’s a total geek. She’ll tell you all about the lovely-but-dull-as-fuck little town we call Willowbrook.”

  Tommaso snorted with laughter. “Well, in that case, if you’re offering, I’d like that.” His eyes settled on Inca’s in a way which made her feel like the only woman in the world.

  “Of course,” she said, swallowing her shyness. “Just let me know when you have some free time.”

  Tommaso considered. “Is tomorrow too soon?”

  Inca didn’t look at Nancy or Scarlett. “Not at all; it’s my day off. Say ten a.m.?”

  He smiled and took her hand, kissing the back of it. “Perfect. I’ll see you then. Thank you, ladies, for your warm welcome. I have a feeling this place will be something of a haunt for me.”

  When he’d gone, Inca looked almost open-mouthed at her friends. “What the hell just happened?”

  Scarlett and Nancy were both giggling like schoolgirls. “I think you have yourself a date.” Nancy looked beside herself with glee.

  “With a billionaire …” Scarlett goggled at her and Inca rolled her eyes.

  “It’s not a date; I’m being a good neighbor.”

  “Good naked neighbor.”

  “Scarlett?”

  “Yes?”

  “Get back to work before I fire your sorry ass.”

  Knox Westerwick walked the half mile or so from the harbor to the police department. The station was as quiet as he’d found it yesterday. A couple of faxes sat on the machine and he glanced at them. Warnings about Lyme Diseas
e and a flyer for a town committee meeting. He checked the answering machine. No blinking red light. Knox wandered around the building. The police department took up no more than four rooms in the big stone-built structure—a glance at the bell pad indicated the other offices were let to a surveyor and an insurance company. He wandered to the big window overlooking the back of the office to see the back of a firehouse to one side, and apartments to the other. He could see down to the water in the distance, glittering green against an azure sky.

  Knox had to be honest with himself. He was bored. Bone-crushingly bored. Even scraping around, offering to speak to school kids about road safety or whatever small town cops talked to kids about these days, was a no-go. Olly had done all that recently, so Knox had accepted the grateful apologies of the principal and given up.

  Knox glanced at the clock and wondered when Olly would make an appearance. He went over to the filing cabinet, searching for any old case he could follow up on. Nothing. He slipped the files back into the cabinet and sat back in his chair, toying with the idea of sneaking over to the teahouse to flirt with Inca and Scarlett. Instead, he picked up the phone to check in with Olly.

  “Hey, boss. Missing me already?”

  “Hey, Knox. Man … can you get whoever you can together and come out to the reservoir?”

  There was the briefest pause and in that moment, Knox knew something was terribly wrong. “What is it?”

  Olly’s voice was defeated and tired. “We found another one.”

  Inca glanced over to the man in the passenger seat. As they had driven from Main Street, Inca had kept up a commentary, a practiced overview of the town’s ‘McNuggets’—the twin harbor lighthouses; Geyer Lake and its adjoining golf resort; the west coast road with its views of the Cascades. Tommaso Winter was good company. He was funny and erudite. But he made her nervous. He would listen to her talk intently, his gaze occasionally dropping to her mouth, which made her feel both sexy and vulnerable. Every inch of her skin was tingling from his presence.

  He looked out of the window, seeing now the dense greenery, Douglas Firs, and trails leading off into the forest. “Where are we now?”

  Inca grinned. “The cunningly titled Forest Road. Top of the town. Around this bend …” He swung the car around a sharp bend, the right side of the road dropping down a steep cliff to the sea. A huge, stately building came into view. “Is the main source of income for our little place. Hunter’s Ridge Private School. Massive fees, bored rich kids.”

  “Hey, that’s beautiful.” He pointed out of the window. They were travelling back down the town now, along the coast road. Tommaso was looking at an outcrop of rocks just off the coast, rising out of the dark water.

  “Desolation Rocks. Just off Desolation Point, close to the Desolation Point Lighthouse, just in case you didn’t get the name the first time.”

  “So … Desolation, was it?” And they both laughed.

  “You got it. Look, I’m going to find somewhere to park and we can hike into the forest if you’re interested?”

  Tommaso smiled that devastating smile at her. “Love to.”

  Inca and Tommaso trekked the trail that lead through the center of the town. She took him to the town’s unusual Stave church. He seemed interested when she told him about the church’s history—how a Scandinavian immigrant had built it because he missed his homeland so badly he wanted something uniquely Norwegian in this little piece of America. Inca pointed out how the structure’s strange, quirky architecture was locked together by careful dovetailing wedges and post and lintel construction.

  “When we were kids,” Inca told him, “we were convinced that the lack of glue or nails meant it would come alive at night and turn into a Transformer.” She grinned at Tommaso’s raised eyebrows. “Hey, we were kids. We were pretty stupid.”

  “We?”

  “Me, my ex Olly, and his sister, Luna.”

  “You grew up together?”

  “They moved to the town when I was twelve. Before that, I was pretty much alone.” She regretted her last words. She felt his questioning gaze, but to her relief he didn’t ask anything further. They walked on for a few minutes in silence along Cemetery Trail, through the old-growth forest, the nursery trees springing from the decay of the fallen. At the gates of the cemetery, which stood in the center of the town, Tommaso stopped.

  “You know what I’m wondering?”

  ’What’s that?”

  “We’ve been walking a while now and I have yet to see any willow trees. For a town named Willowbrook, I would have expected there to be more. So far, I’ve seen one, the one in the middle of Main Street.”

  Inca grinned. “And you know what? That’s it. That’s your one. The founder of the town didn’t get far into the town before naming it.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope.”

  Tommaso considered this. “Well, I guess this town has another unique beauty then.” His eyes met hers and she felt her face burn.

  Tommaso smiled, moving closer, and when he leaned him, the feel of his lips on hers sent her heart pounding. His mouth sought hers and she leaned into the kiss, feeling his arms snake around her. They were breathless when they finally broke apart.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice, leaning his forehead against hers. “I just could not wait any longer.”

  Inca, dazed, shook her head. “It’s okay … but we barely know each other.”

  “I wanted you as soon as I saw you yesterday.” God, the thrill his words sent through her. “Inca, why don’t we do this the wrong way around? Just go with it …”

  She was trembling so much that she could barely answer him. Tommaso lifted her into his arms. “Bella, tell me stop, at any time, and I will stop.”

  But she didn’t tell him to stop. Feeling as if she were in a dream, she let him lead her back to the car, him sliding into the driving seat this time, and then he drove them to his home.

  The Fletcher Mansion had been empty for many years and Inca had always wondered about what it was like inside, but at this moment, she couldn’t focus on anything but Tommaso Winter.

  Her sense had fled—who was this man? And why was she going along with it? All she knew right then was that if he wasn’t inside her soon, she might die of longing.

  Tommaso held her hand as they walked to his bedroom, and as he closed the door behind them, Inca realize what a risk she was taking. No-one knew she was here …

  All worries fled when Tommaso kissed her again, pushing her overcoat from her shoulders and running his large hands down her curves. “Bellissima …”

  His low, deep voice, with that Italian accent, sent vibrations of pure pleasure through her. His tongue gently massaged hers; he tasted wonderful, of fresh air and toothpaste.

  With a growl, he tumbled her onto the bed and then his hands were pushing up her skirt, pulling her panties down, and his mouth was on her then. Inca gasped at the feel of his tongue lashing around her clit.

  What am I doing? What the hell am I doing?

  But she didn’t stop him. He stripped her, kissing every exposed part of her skin until she was a quivering mass of desire.

  “Tommaso …”

  He grinned, standing to quickly strip his clothes off. He had a firm body, elegantly shaped, masculine, a small smattering of hair on his chest. His cock stood proud and huge against his belly as he covered her body with his. The feel of his skin next to hers was intoxicating, and Inca couldn’t tear her eyes from his clear green gaze.

  Tommaso entered her slowly, teasing her, making her moan with anticipation before slamming his hips hard against hers, his cock thrusting deep into her ready cunt. Inca had never experienced this intensity before; it was all consuming. Tommaso fucked her hard, his prowess obvious, his focus on her absolute.

  Inca came, almost crying with pleasure, and as she shivered and moaned, Tommaso buried his face in her neck as he too reached climax, pumping thick, hot semen deep inside her. He collapsed on top of her, his
mouth seeking hers, whispering her name over and over.

  Inca closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of him holding her. Was this what she had been missing all these years? Sensuality, desire … with the thrill of the danger. Who was this man?

  When she opened her eyes, he was watching her. His mouth hitched up in a smile. “You are beautiful, Inca. So beautiful.” His fingertips traced a line down her body, over her nipple, to her belly.

  She gave him a shy grin. “I have never done something like this before.”

  “Just go with it.” He was so confident, and his hand, tracing a pattern on her belly, was making her crazy.

  Inca touched his face. “I know you said we should do this the wrong way around. I think we achieved that.”

  He kissed her. “Inca, the moment you walked into that teahouse yesterday, I wanted to fuck you. But I suppose you have the same effect on most men.”

  Inca felt uncomfortable then. “Honestly, Tommaso, I hadn’t thought about it. As I said, this isn’t what I would normally do. But you, sir, are something else. And I thought, what the hell?”

  Tommaso grinned and moved on top of her. “You’re the perfect tour guide,” he murmured, “and, I hope, much more than that.”

  Inca smiled as he gently wound her legs around his waist. She could feel his cock thicken and lengthen against her thigh. As he teased her with the tip, she sighed happily. “I don’t expect anything from you, Tommaso, but … oh!”

  Tommaso grinned wickedly as he plunged his enormous, rock-hard cock back into her. “I’m going to fuck you all night long, Principessa, in every way you’ll allow … say my name, Inca …”

  “Tommaso …”

  “Scream it.”

  “Tommaso! God! Yes, yes …”

  Inca woke cold and shivering. The light in the room was blue, and she could tell it was very early morning. The bed beside her was empty and the sheet that had been wrapped around her was now down at her hips. She sat up, blinked, and shook her head. What the hell had she been thinking? Last night had been the most erotic, sensual time of her life, but in the cold light of day …