Angie swallowed hard. “Thank you.” She felt the tension whipping through him. He wanted her. He wanted to drag her against his body. She could tell he was restraining himself from touching her. Keeping a safe distance, as if he didn’t trust himself. “So, what are we looking for? At the strip club?”
“I want to see where Heidi got hurt and decide if it was an accident or a crime. Maybe even come up with a possible weapon,” he murmured, distracted by her high hem and bare, toned legs. “Put together a timeline.”
“Okay.” Angie resisted the urge to tug her dress down. “I still think Robin did it.”
He nodded absently and then jerked to a stop as if he remembered something. “I also got Heidi’s blood results.”
“How did you do that?”
“My clients told me,” he said as his gaze lingered on her scooped neckline. “They’re taking her back home.”
Her breasts felt full and heavy under his gaze. Angie couldn’t decide if she wanted to preen or turn away. “That’s good, right?”
“It is.”
He didn’t say anything else. “So what’s the problem?” Angie prompted.
He shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind. “She hadn’t been drinking,” he said, not looking at her. “Apparently she’s been sober and clean for years.”
“I wonder if Robin or Brittany knew that. I don’t think they’d seen her for a while.”
“I bet they still view Heidi as a troubled sorority sister,” Cole said as he opened the door and gestured for her to go first. “One of them could have tried to make it look like a drunken fall.”
“Let’s go test our theory.” She turned and her heel snagged on the carpet. Angie reached out and grabbed Cole’s arm. His muscle went rigid under her touch. “Sorry.”
“Are you going to be okay in those heels?”
“Probably not,” she admitted. She held on to his arm. Cole was solid and strong. She felt safe next to him. “I’ll just hold on to you, okay?”
“Sure.” He reached for her hand and held it against his arm. “I don’t mind. Hold on as long as you want.”
* * *
COLE DIDN’T THINK he would last much longer. The music pulsed a primitive beat. Colorful lights streamed through the dark club. Well-endowed men wearing sequined thongs pranced on the stage and the crowd of women kept screaming for more.
But none of that mattered. All he noticed was Angie. She sat at the bar on a high stool. Her dress had inched up and revealed more of her thighs.
This was a test. He was sure of it.
“What were we thinking?” Cole asked Angie as he stood protectively behind her. He had given every stripper a warning look when they tried to approach. They backed off but he knew it wouldn’t last much longer. “This is crazier than the bachelorette party.”
Angie swiveled in the chair and her foot bumped against him. “Don’t worry, Cole. I’ll protect you.”
“Very funny,” he said as he watched her cross her legs. He was mesmerized by the sensual and fluid motion. His body hardened and his heart pumped harder. Cole gritted his teeth when her skirt drew higher on her thighs.
Angie tilted her head back and smiled. “We’ll see how funny it is when these women take one look at you and expect a lap dance.”
“They will be disappointed. I dance exclusively for you,” he teased. Cole saw her smile dim. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s consider the timeline. I remember Heidi coming up to us because she wanted a lap dance. She must have gone to the bar after that.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She had come over when you were giving me a lap dance.” She blushed and looked away. “Heidi had money in her hand but no drink.”
“But when we found her there was a drink on the ground next to her.”
“It was a Britini. I’m told it’s the drink of the wedding. Would Heidi have ordered one to please Brittany?”
“If so, she would want Brittany to see it.” He looked around the room. “Brittany wasn’t on stage the whole time. The attention was on the dancers. It would have been easy for Brittany to lose herself in the crowd.”
“She wore a tiara and a bright red dress. Brittany would have been noticed,” Angie said. “And why do you think it was Brittany? It doesn’t make sense.”
“They could have had a fight,” Cole said. “Or Brittany could have seen an opportunity and jumped on it.”