Sleeping Beauty Suspect. Dani Sinclair

everyone. My mother would nail my hide to the wall if I wasn’t. She’s a little thing like you, but she’s got a core of granite.”

      “I’m not little.”

      He measured her with his eyes as he came around the corner. “Five-three?”

      “Four and a half.”

      Flynn grinned. “I’m six-one and a quarter. Everything under five-ten is little to me. Water okay with you? Given the circumstances I don’t figure you want a beer and I don’t have any wine or sodas.”

      She shuddered. “Water’s fine.”

      “Figured as much. Let’s eat while it’s hot.”

      He added more water to her glass and waited for her to take a seat. She neatened her already straight silverware beside her plate, unfolded her paper napkin and settled it on her lap just so. His mother had raised her sons to have manners, but there were manners and then there were manners.

      “You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

      She paused in the act of adjusting her salad bowl. “Yes, why?”

      “No reason.”

      Her head tilted in puzzlement. “What made you ask that?”

      Flynn forked up a bite of steak, chewed and swallowed before he answered. “You’re so self-contained.”

      He watched her think about that as she speared a piece of lettuce with dainty precision. “Do you consider that a bad thing?”

      “Nope. I wish someone would contain my brothers at times. Meals at Mom’s house are noisy affairs. There’re four of us boys and we learned to speak up and eat fast or lose out on seconds.”

      Whitney brushed hair back from her face. Flynn found himself noticing a light, womanly fragrance that wasn’t perfume and wasn’t shampoo. Whatever it was, he liked it, but he told himself to get a grip. Of course he was attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be? But this woman had some serious issues going on.

      Like the fact that someone wanted her dead bad enough to burn a house to the ground around her.

      “Those pictures in the other room are of your family?”

      Flynn nodded at her question and cut off more steak. “Yep. Ever since Neil and his wife had their first child, I’ve been inundated with pictures of my nephew, Devin. Phyllis is convinced no child was ever that perfect. I can’t wait to see what happens when the next one is born. She’s pregnant again,” he added.

      Whitney took a tentative bite of her eggs and began eating with more enthusiasm. “There was a second woman in one of the pictures.”

      “Ronan’s wife, Sally. She’s interning at Community Hospital. My brother’s a pilot for Sky Air. Their schedules hardly ever mesh, but it seems to work for them.”

      “No wife for you?”

      Flynn grinned impishly. “I know how to run faster than my brothers.”

      “Smart.”

      That surprised him. “Not a fan of marriage?”

      “Too restrictive. Why would anyone want to give up control to another person?”

      He wondered at the shadows in her eyes. There was a story here, he was certain, but this wasn’t the time to ask. He kept things light. “I don’t think marriage is supposed to be about control, but on the other hand, I can hardly believe the perfect woman is sitting here having dinner with me.”

      Her tendency to blush fascinated him. He couldn’t remember any other woman ever blushing around him.

      “What do your other brothers do?” she asked quickly.

      “Neil’s a lawyer and Lucan’s a cop.”

      She stilled. Very carefully, she set down her fork. “I should go.”

      He covered her hand with his.

      “Why are you afraid of the police?”

      “I’m not.” She pulled her hand free.

      “Yeah, you are.” Flynn leaned back to give her space. “The minute I said my brother was a cop you turned to stone.”

      “I need to—”

      “Finish your meal.”

      He thought she’d bolt anyhow. It was touch-and-go. After a second she picked up her fork again, but he knew it wouldn’t take much to send her running for the front door.

      “Look, Whitney, you came here for answers. I wish I had some for you, but I don’t. We got a call to respond to a house fire with a victim trapped inside. When we got there I found you crumpled on an old mattress, unconscious. I barely saw you through all the smoke. The fire was spreading so fast my partner and I barely made it out. That’s the sum total of what I know about the situation.”

      The fork in her hand quivered slightly as she raised her eyes to meet his.

      “How did anyone know there was a victim trapped inside?”