Blood shot from his head to his cock.

“You’re staring, Neil.”

He swallowed and took a step toward her. The shoes brought her closer to his height, but he still had to look down at her by several inches. Gwen stood perfectly still as he reached out and unbuttoned the shirt until the creamy expanse of her br**sts were clearly visible.

He licked his lips and ignored the feel of her soft skin as it grazed the backs of his fingers. He then gathered the edges of the bottom of the shirt, undid another button so only two were fastened, and tied the ends in a knot, tucking it under her ample br**sts. With her midriff exposed, he stepped back and examined his creation.

“Perfect.”

“For what? A twenty-dollar romp from the streets?”

A slow smile took over the muscles in his face.

“Oh, no, Neil you don’t expect me to act like a…”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Princess?”

“I left it, along with my dignity, in the bathroom.”

“I’m not asking that you parade around town like this. We just need to make walking into a hotel as believable as possible.”

“I feel naked.”

Almost. “We can sleep in the car again.”

She dropped one hand to her hip. “That was mean.”

“Your choice.”

“Fine!” She walked toward him, stopped at his side, and pressed her br**sts into his arm. “Black leather pants,” she whispered in his ear. “Maybe a studded collar.”

His temperature shot up ten degrees. You’re in trouble, Mac. Serious trouble.

Chapter Sixteen

Eliza met Karen and Michael at the airport. Their “honeymoon” had been cut short by two days.

Michael suggested they return to France later between movies to make up for the interruption.

Karen ran into Eliza’s embrace. “We came back as soon as possible.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry we had to interrupt your vacation,” Eliza said to both of them.

“Dead neighbors and missing people sounds more like something I’d find in a movie script than real life,” Michael pointed out.

Eliza nodded. “I’m sorry. We haven’t met,” she said pushing her hand in front of his to shake.

“Oh…my bad. Michael, this is Eliza Billings.” Karen introduced them, watched them shake hands. “Eliza, Michael Wolfe…my temporary husband,” she whispered so only the three of them heard.

Michael winked at her. “No introduction needed for the First Lady of the state.”

“Back at ya, movie star.”

Michael smiled, already at ease in Eliza’s presence.

They moved to a waiting limousine, with a security detail following them. Karen waited until they were in the back, the window between the passenger and driver sealed before she spoke.

“What happened?”

“I don’t think any of us really know. That’s why we need you to share any information you know to help us figure it out.”

“I was in France. How can I know anything?”

“You’ve been living with Gwen…knew all about the neighbors’ hot tub habits…you know plenty.”

“All I know is Gwen and Neil have disappeared and the neighbors are dead. Michael and I laughed about the hairy naked neighbor throughout France. God, I feel bad now.”

“How were you to know?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t. The first time they were out there, I was all come quick, Gwen. Look.” She shook the once joyful memory from her head. “They’re dead?”

Eliza’s gaze moved from Michael to Karen. “Electrocuted.”

“And it wasn’t an accident?”

“No…or at least, we don’t think so.”

There was a hesitation in Eliza’s voice. “You don’t think so?”

“Neil phoned Blake shortly after it happened. Gwen called me. Neil sounded lethal.”

“Lethal?” Karen interrupted. “Neil is never anything other than painfully silent.”

“In Carter’s words, ‘I’ve never heard a more deadly voice in my life.’ He had Carter call in a favor so he could investigate the neighbors’ backyard after the police arrived. According to Dean, they found a bunch of dead birds in the Jacuzzi and Neil freaked.”

Karen’s body chilled. “Birds?”

“Yeah, ravens. We don’t even have ravens in this part of Southern California.”

Karen ran her hands up her suddenly chilled arms.

“Karen?” Michael asked…looking at her. “You OK?”

No! She was anything but OK. The memory of the dead bird, a bird she assumed was a crow but could have been a raven, on the sill and again at the door of the car at the restaurant. Now two people were dead.

“Karen?”

“Are you sure it was a raven?”

“A couple actually…why?”

“I think they were murdered. Neil needed to get her out of there.” And there was no guarantee she was safe either.

“Chew this.” Neil shoved a stick of gum in her mouth.

They were sitting on a dark road on the outskirts of town. From the looks of the lights in the distance, it was a small town with only a half dozen hotels at best.

“Why?” she asked, accepting the gum and making quick work of bringing the stiff substance into submission.

“Chew with your mouth open?”

She opened her mouth and tried. Then started to laugh.

“Sleeping in the backseat sound good to you, Gwendolyn?”

She tried harder. But chewing with her mouth open went against every grain in her body.

“Better?”

He nodded. “Now slouch.”

She pushed her shoulders forward and thought of a hot shower.

“Good,” Neil praised.

She sat, hunched in the passenger seat chewing her gum like a cow in a field.

“OK…good.” Neil rubbed his hands on his jeans before gripping the wheel. “I’m going to go in and book the room. I’ll use the name of Rex Smith.”

“Sounds generic.”

“It is. All you need to do is step out of the car and lean over the hood. If I look out at you, smile and think of every  p**n  movie you’ve ever watched.”

She gasped. “I’ve never—”

He stopped her denial with a look. “Do I need to remind you who’s been listening to your conversations over the last year?”

“That is not fair! I simply said, once by the way, that I’ve yet to see an attractive man in any of those films.” And it was a conversation on the eve of Eliza’s wedding during which she was quite intoxicated.