Melting Point. Debra Cowan

both grabbed for the can, their combined grips crushing the tin and spewing soda all over her front and down her arm.

      Collier quickly reached behind her and tossed her a towel. “Sorry.”

      “No problem. I was in the way.” She blotted the front of her sweater then the sleeve and her hand. Facing the sink, she set down the towel and her drink, then turned on the faucet and put her sticky hands under the water.

      “You missed some.”

      “Where—” She broke off, jolted by the sudden feel of his big hand settling hotly on her hip. He reached toward her with the towel. With one knuckle, he angled her head and dabbed at the underside of her jaw.

      She froze. They hadn’t been this close since the FOP Christmas party. She could feel the heat of his body and his subtle woodsy scent drift into her lungs. His lean thigh brushed hers, but it was the hand on her hip that shocked all her nerve endings. His fingers splayed low on her back, right where her hip curved into her bottom. He’d held her the same way while they danced. The memory was so vivid she could almost feel the provocative friction of his body moving against hers.

      “Got it.” His voice curled around her with just an edge of seduction.

      The low, sexy drawl was the same she’d heard that night, too. And her body did that same melt-in-the-center thing. The realization forced some energy through her dazed limbs. She turned off the faucet and plucked the towel out of his hand, drying her hands as she walked away. “Thanks.”

      No way was she going all soft around him. She didn’t care how good he sounded. Or looked. Or felt.

      Just then the phone rang. Collier crossed to the wall and picked it up. His side of the conversation consisted of “oh” and “yeah” and “okay.” She tried to read his face and determine if he was talking about the case.

      In a few moments he hung up, his features tight and grim. “That was Jack Spencer, Terra’s husband. She’s in the hospital.”

      Apprehension started a low drumbeat inside her. “Don’t tell me.”

      “She’s having her baby.”

      “Now?” Kiley squeaked.

      “Now.”

      She saw the realization in his eyes the same time it hit her. Now only the two of them would be working this investigation.

      “Oh, great,” they said in unison.