‘Interesting,’ she lied, before proving her point by saying, ‘My lips are used to graze the length of you.’
‘Many different grasses cover the plains, steppes and rolling hills.’
‘Many different positions cover my body with yours.’
‘OK.’ The word became huskier than before as the blood began to fill the pliable flesh beneath her hand. ‘On average they receive sixteen inches of rain.’
Megan laughed, tossing back her head. ‘You really want me to comment on sixteen inches? Sorry, pet, I didn’t bring any toys on this trip.’
‘Sixteen?’ Ryan gave her a look of mock horror. ‘Then it’s a good thing I didn’t mention the forty-five-hundred-to six-thousand-feet elevation.’
‘Ouch.’ Megan wrinkled her nose. ‘Are you done with the brochure now?’
‘Well, there was a section about the wetlands I was interested in.’
Megan laughed as he picked her up and tossed her down on the messy bed. This time, they came together slowly, not bothering to strip out of their clothes. By the time she came, he was right behind her, pumping his way to the grand finale.
Afterwards, as he lay next to her on the bed, panting for breath, he lifted his hand to show the crumpled brochure. ‘I told you that you were different. You are the only woman I know who’s been turned on by a land survey.’
Lightly, she punched his arm. ‘Tell a soul and you are a dead man, Mr Lucas. Farmers everywhere will be knocking down my door.’
‘About time,’ Zoe teased as Megan snuck quietly into the cabin’s living room. ‘Wow, sis, you look like you were up all night having –’
‘Shush!’ Megan frowned at her in warning, pressing her finger to her lips. The last thing she wanted was her parents seeing her come in, smelling of Ryan and looking like a dishevelled hooker. Motioning to Ryan to follow, she led the way up the stairs.
Zoe giggled. ‘Don’t worry. They’re all outside picking wildflowers. You’re safe.’
Megan sighed in relief. Taking the stairs two at a time, she almost ran into Kat on her way down the hall.
‘Oh, Megan, I forgot, Kat’s up there!’ Zoe yelled from below.
‘Kat,’ Megan said.
Kat glanced at her and then behind her to where Ryan was at. ‘Long night?’
Megan almost jumped to hear her sister speak. ‘You could say that.’
Kat nodded, walking past them to the stairs. Megan’s smile fell into a frown. It appeared as if Kat was still upset with her. Megan didn’t chase after her sister as she went to the blue room to change.
Ryan shut the door behind her. ‘It’ll be all right. Kat can never stay mad at you for too long. She’s said before that she tries, but loves you too much to –’
‘I can handle my relationship with my sister,’ Megan snapped.
‘Excuse me?’
‘I don’t need your advice about Kat,’ Megan said, lightening her tone, though it was still firm. ‘I’ll handle it. My relationship with my sister is my business.’
‘I just meant –’
‘Ryan, please, I don’t want to talk about it.’ Megan unzipped her dress, as she crossed to the bathroom to wash up. The material whooshed to the floor.
Ryan didn’t answer as she cleaned her face and brushed her teeth. He didn’t even try to come into the bathroom, which was fine with Megan. Any more sex and her sore, but sated, body would fall apart.
She came out refreshed, and quickly put on a fresh pair of panties and a bra. Ryan was still on the bed, his arms crossed over his chest. He hadn’t moved.
When he still didn’t speak, she asked, ‘What do you think about suggesting horseback riding today?’ She pulled on a pair of sweatpants. ‘I’ve wanted to try that. And maybe we can go fishing tomorrow morning. Or hiking.’
‘Why won’t you talk to me about anything serious?’ His eyes lifted to meet hers, but his body stayed still.
Megan blinked, swallowing nervously at his tone. She turned her back on him under the pretence of getting a T-shirt. Pulling the tightly fitted shirt over her head, she took a deep breath.
‘I said, why –?’
‘I heard what you said.’ She wound her hair into a bun and secured it with a ponytail holder, leaving it a messy version of her normal hairdo. ‘But I don’t know what you expect me to say. I already told you I don’t want to talk about my relationship with my sister. If you insist on asking, I’ll have to insist on ignoring you until you stop.’
‘I’m not just talking about your fight with Kat. You never talk to me about anything. It’s almost like . . .’ He sighed heavily.
‘Like what?’ She put her hands on her hips. This was not a conversation she wanted to have, not today, not after the great pressure-free night they had. Today should have been easy, light. She had started to relax and truly enjoy her vacation. Why couldn’t he just go with it? Why did he have to ruin it with talk?
‘Like we’re not even . . .’ He paused. Megan didn’t move. Weakly, he finished, ‘Friends.’
Fine. He was going to force her to have this conversation. He couldn’t leave well enough alone. This was supposed to be a stress-free day. Things had finally become effortless between them. The night before had been wonderful. ‘What exactly do you want from me, Ryan? I don’t know you, not really. We work together – sometimes. But aside from this week, we’ve not spent any real time together. You have more in common with Kat than you do me.’
He didn’t speak, merely sat unmoving, his arms crossed, his brow furrowed.
His silence prompted her to continue. ‘We’re good in the bedroom, and that’s great, but we’re not close friends. It’s not in the cards. I’m a cop, my friends are other cops. It’s the way it is.’
‘Are you trying to convince yourself or me?’
‘It’s the way it is,’ she repeated, her tone harder than before.
Ryan slowly stood. ‘So that is all I am to you? Something to fuck.’
‘I wouldn’t have put it that harshly.’ What was wrong with him? She’d actually gotten the thought into her head that they could work their little situation out. Of course, they wouldn’t be married, but there was no reason why they couldn’t continue to be of service to each other when they got back to the city. It wasn’t like her job allowed for relationships. Seeing his face now, she knew how impossible that idea had been.
‘Harsh or not, Megan. Truth is truth.’
Megan had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew where this conversation was headed. He wanted some sort of sentiment from her. ‘Truth. Hmm, truth. Like the truth you told my parents when you said we were getting married?’
‘You’re the one who said you wanted to get married. You listed the traits, I fit the traits . . .’ He threw up his hand. ‘Why can’t we be engaged? Why is it so impossible for you to even consider marrying me? I filled your requirements. They were your words, not mine.’
‘Right. You gave me a choice.’ She snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. Motioning her arms around, she said, ‘I don’t remember being asked if this all was OK or not.’
‘The cabin? Your mom picked it out, not me.’ His voice rose in anger.
‘I mean Montana,’ she argued. If he wanted to have it all out, she’d give it to him. ‘I mean this family vacation. Only wait. This isn’t
your
family, Ryan! It’s
my
family. This is my life you are messing with.’
He looked like she’d slapped him. His face paled.
She lowered her voice, not wanting the others to hear them. ‘I know you are holding that picture over my head to get me to go along with your ploy to integrate yourself into my family, but it’s over. I know you want to replace your family and I’m sorry they’re gone, but this isn’t your life. This will never be your family, not like you want it to be. And I will not be blackmailed. Now, you seem reasonable for the most part and I have no choice but to appeal to your rational side.’ Megan went to the bed and pulled her carry-on bag out from under it. She took out the Preying Mantis’s case file. ‘I have a few pictures of my own I want to show you. These aren’t anything you’ll see in your newspapers.’
‘Megan,’ he began to speak, but stopped as she opened the case file.
She threw the victim photos down on the bed, one at a time as she said their names. The women’s battered lifeless faces were framed in a sea of insects. ‘Janice. Lucy. Patricia. Madeline. Consuela. Constance. Shanita.’ Megan pointed at them. ‘Now, you look at them and you tell me if you can live with yourself if you publish that photograph of me stepping on evidence. You might earn a few bucks, but you’ll ruin my reputation and my credibility before I testify for these women – women who can no longer testify for themselves. These seven were only in three years. Can you imagine what would happen if the guy got off on some technicality?’
Ryan did not look at the grotesque images too long. Megan understood. At first she could barely stomach seeing them – once average, everyday, never-hurt-anyone women taken from their families, their lives stolen to feed one man’s sick obsession. But, she had forced herself to look, until their faces were burnt into her head. She had been unable to sleep until the man who killed them was captured and brought to justice.
Ryan shook his head in disbelief. ‘You really have a low opinion of me, don’t you?’
‘I know what I know, Ryan.’
‘Do you?’
‘I know that I’m on this little forced leave of absence because of that crime-scene photo. I know that, every time you seem to snap a picture of me on the job, my life takes a turn for the worse. First, you ruin my career by putting that stupid photo of me taking down St Claud –’
‘That was a damned good picture. The people of New York needed that picture and, like it or not, they needed
you
. They needed a hero. They needed closure to the terror this man caused and the fact that you are a woman who took down a man who preyed on women only made it that much more potent. You might not like it, Little Darling Detective, but the people needed the morale boost. Hell, your beloved department needed the image boost.’
‘Image boost?’ A short humourless laugh escaped her. ‘I had to transfer out of homicide because I could no longer do my job effectively. Damn reporters and photographers were following me wherever I went, with a hard-on to see who I’d arrest next. And, if it isn’t bad enough that my work life is ruined, my personal life is crap, too. I can’t even get dates because, once the guy finds out I’m not only a cop, but
that
cop, I become some kind of strange trophy.’
‘You were never a trophy to me.’
‘This is my life, Ryan. This isn’t a game.’ She slammed her fist on the bed, making the pictures jump. ‘These murders are not a game.’
‘You really think that I would hurt you on purpose. You think so little of me, even after this last week, after all –’
‘All the sex?’ she interrupted.
‘Wow.’ The word was dead, flat. He looked like she’d slapped him. ‘That was all you felt between us, wasn’t it? I guess I knew, but I didn’t want to believe it.’
‘Did you feel there was more?’ An unfamiliar shiver worked over her, as she studied him. She knew his interest in her was to fulfil a need for a family. Loneliness did strange things to people – even made them fake an engagement to an NYPD detective.
‘Apparently not.’ Ryan went to the dresser and began pulling out his clothes. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be gone by this evening. Hopefully Zoe will let me return her rental for her.’
Megan blinked in surprise. He was leaving? Just like that? He schemed and blackmailed his way into her life and now he just gave up after one small fight? She opened her mouth, only to shut it. Though she had the urge to say something, she couldn’t force herself to stop him from going.
Once his bag was packed, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out a credit card and his driver’s licence before throwing the wallet into the bag. ‘I already paid your mother back for the flight. I’ll call the airport and see if they can transfer my ticket.’
‘But,’ she started. It was too late, he was out the door and heading downstairs, still wearing his clothes from the evening before. Megan took a deep breath, saying to herself, ‘But, I didn’t mean you had to leave this second.’
‘You’re leaving early?’ Kat demanded, hands on hips. ‘Why?’
Ryan didn’t meet her searching gaze as he flipped through the phonebook. ‘It’s over, Kat. I am clearly not meant to be with your sister. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking pining over her this last year. Stupid, right?’ He snorted. His hands shook with anger – anger that she could think so very little of him. ‘I’m such a fucking idiot.’
‘You are not an idiot,’ Kat argued, her voice low. ‘Whatever Megan said to you, I’m sure she was out of line. I don’t know what’s wrong with her lately, but someone has got to call her on her attitude.’
‘Well.’ Ryan gave a derisive laugh. ‘Luckily it doesn’t have to be me. I’m sorry, Kat. You know I care for you and we’ll always be friends. I hope this doesn’t change anything, but I can’t do it any more. I can’t hold myself for a woman who doesn’t want me. I need this to be over. I need her to be out of my life. I’m going back to the city and I’m going to get a new job. I can’t see her.’