Loch’s skin itched, and it was all he could do to keep from pulling Ainsley into his arms. He wanted to hold her, be with her, have her as his. He wanted to take her and Misty away from all of this crap. He’d done his best to never think about Ainsley in any way but as his friend, but now he couldn’t help but think of every glance and touch they’d ever shared.
But he couldn’t do anything about it.
Not with Riker in the wind, a murderer in Whiskey, and a possible connection between the two that could have disastrous consequences for everyone near him.
Loch passed Ainsley so he could get to the front door, his jaw clenching when he saw both of his brothers through the peephole.
“What do they want?” he mumbled.
“Who?” Ainsley asked from behind him. “And why are you armed?”
Shit. Loch had forgotten he had his gun on him. He had a concealed carry permit, and since Misty wasn’t in the house, he was wearing the gun. But, still, Ainsley didn’t need to see that shit.
“I need to put it in the safe. Just got back from the gun range.” A lie, but he didn’t look at her to see if she believed him. Instead, he opened the door, growling as Dare and Fox pushed past him, intense looks on their faces.
Apparently, today was the day to confront Loch. Too bad no one had told him about it.
“Loch,” Fox said with a raised brow as he slid past. “Ainsley.”
“Fox. Dare.”
“Ainsley.”
Loch closed the door behind them, locking it and throwing the deadbolt. He quickly put in his security code before the alarm went off and turned to glare at the people in his house. Those who needed to be far away from him while he figured all of this shit out. Loch’s hands still threatened to shake from his conversation with Ainsley. He’d known she would be at his doorstep soon, he just hadn’t planned on having her there tonight. He’d needed more time to figure out what to say to her, what he could say to her. And because he hadn’t been ready when she showed up—something very unlike him—he’d gone in circles just like she’d said. He’d lied, he’d said the wrong things more than once, and they still hadn’t gotten anywhere with what they needed to discuss.
And now he knew that he and Ainsley would end their night on the side of a virtual jagged cliff, their conversation left undone, their relationship still in tatters. The tatters he’d been the one to create.
All because his brothers were here.
Staring.
“You guys here for a reason?” Loch’s voice was a rough growl, and he didn’t really care. Whatever was making him edgy felt as if it were getting closer and, frankly, he needed to talk to Ainsley, not to the two other men in the room.
“You’re always so welcoming,” Dare drawled, glancing between him and Ainsley. “We interrupting something?”
“No,” Loch and Ainsley said at the same time, the tone biting.
Dare’s brows shot up, and Fox winced. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Say what you want to say since you didn’t show up with a six-pack. Meaning, you’re not here to relax. And I’m pretty sure you said you were working the bar tonight, Dare, so that means someone is watching it for you. And since Fox is here, too, I’m blanking on who it is.”
“Dad has the bar for a bit. I was just going to work an hour tonight anyway. Dad wanted to get some hours in so he doesn’t lose his touch.” Dare rolled his eyes. “You know him.”
Loch did, and he would bet anything that their parents were in on this, whatever this was. And if Dare and Fox failed in whatever they were about to do, then either Loch’s parents or the guys’ women would be in his face soon. He wasn’t really an asshole, far from it, even though his actions lately had proven the opposite and had made him question that. But right then, he wanted to be the asshole, kick everyone out, and be done with it.
It wasn’t going to be that easy, though. It never was.
“Okay, that explains the bar. Now, why are you here?”
“We want to know what the hell you’re hiding,” Dare answered. “You’ve always hidden things from us over the years. Your job. Marnie. All of it. I get it, I do. But something is different now, and I’m worried.”
“I’d like to know, as well,” Ainsley put in, and he turned to her. “What? I was asking you the same thing before, and you didn’t answer. Maybe you’ll tell them if you won’t tell me. But we’re worried about you.” She looked over at his brothers and shrugged. “I’m adding myself to this since I’m here. Sorry.”
Fox held up his hands. “If anyone’s going to get him to talk, it’s you.”
“Not so sure about that,” Ainsley muttered.
Before Loch could say anything about that, his doorbell rang, and his body tensed. “Now what?” he growled.
Dare frowned. “It’s not one of us, the family. We all decided it should be me and Fox first.”
Just like Loch had thought.
“Let me see who it is,” Loch said on a sigh then turned on his heel to look out the peephole. When he caught sight of Detective Renkle and Detective Shannon on the other side of the door, his whole body tensed. Shit, nothing good could come of this, not when he had a feeling he knew why they were there.
“Hold onto your butts,” he whispered the old line from Jurassic Park and one he knew his brothers and Ainsley would know, causing them to tighten ranks. Loch opened the door, rolling his shoulders back but not rising to his full height. He didn’t want to look the big man, even in his own home when it came to the authorities who seemed too interested in him on this case.
“Loch? Mind if we come in?” Detective Shannon asked, his voice calm. Renkle just glared.
“What is this about?” Loch wouldn’t resist, but he didn’t want anyone in his home unless he knew why they were there. Because as soon as he let them into his house, who knew what might happen. He was fully aware that Riker was probably out there, most likely watching—or at least somewhere close if the letter were anything to go by. The other man had to be if he’d gone underground like Loch thought. Because even if Riker had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation with Dennis, he would want what Loch now owned. That was one thing Loch could truly be sure of.
“We can take this down to the station,” Renkle added.
Since his brothers were watching and Ainsley was far too close, Loch said, “Fine with me.”
Shannon shook his head. “We just have a few questions. No need to go down to the station. It is cold out here, though, so if we could at least come in, that would be helpful. We don’t have a warrant if that’s what you’re worried about. This isn’t that kind of visit.”
Loch knew enough about procedure to let them into the house then. If things got worse, he’d have Fox call the family lawyer again, just to be careful. Loch took a step back and let them in, then met Fox’s gaze. “Can you take Ainsley home?”
Fox raised a brow, but Ainsley spoke first. “I’m not going anywhere. What’s going on, Loch?”
“We need to talk to Loch,” Shannon said calmly. Loch figured the two detectives had talked about how to handle the situation beforehand since Renkle wasn’t as loud as usual. Either that or Shannon had talked to the other man, making sure he didn’t get into Loch’s face too early like he had a habit of doing.
“About?” Dare asked.
Shannon sighed and looked at Loch. “We need to know where you were on the night Dennis died.” The detective rattled off the exact date and timeframe, and Loch froze.
Ainsley didn’t freeze, however. She moved to his side, sliding her hand into his as his brothers came in to flank him. He shouldn’t have been surprised that just the feel of Ainsley next to him calmed him, or the idea that his brothers stood by his side to help. But he was shocked, just a little.
“He was with me that night. With me,” Ainsley blurted, and Loch held back a curse. If Riker were watching the investigation, there was no way Loch would be able to push her far enough away now. No matter what he did, Riker would know that Ainsley was important to him. Though it wasn’t as if he could truly get away with the lie. She was in every part of his life, just like they’d fought about before. Pushing her away had been idiotic, and just because he’d gotten scared as hell when it came to Ainsley, that didn’t mean he had to keep making the wrong choices when it came to her.
Fox cursed under his breath, pulling Loch out of his thoughts. “Ainsley. You don’t need to lie. He didn’t do it.”
Loch was truly close to thrashing his brother at that moment. Ainsley’s cheeks went bright red, and he squeezed her hand, giving her a look that promised he’d kick Fox’s ass later for those words. They were in front of the cops for fuck’s sake, Loch would have thought his brilliant brother wouldn’t keep putting his foot in his mouth. Apparently, he was wrong.
Ainsley turned on Fox. “I’m not lying. I’m not an idiot.”
“She’s not lying,” Loch put in, aware that Shannon and Renkle were listening to everything he said. “We were together at the bar with the rest of the family during the first part of the evening, then here together, alone, until right before I showed up at the gym and talked with the authorities when I found out what happened. You don’t need to know the exact details, do you? Because that’s between Ainsley and me. I can give you the names of the people who saw me at the bar that night, as well as the info from my security system of when I turned it on and off when we got to my place.”
“A security system you put in from a company you own,” Renkle added.
Shannon glanced at his partner before looking back at Loch and Ainsley. “No details about what went on during that night after the security system was turned on are needed. But the details you said you’d offer would be helpful.”
“No problem.” It wasn’t, but that didn’t mean any of this would be easy. Riker was setting Loch up, he knew it. But he didn’t know what he could legally do about it except cooperate with the police. However, telling them his theories wouldn’t help, it would only make him look like a madman who didn’t want a target on his back.
“Convenient timing, though,” Renkle said quietly, his gaze darting between Ainsley and Loch.
“There’s nothing convenient about this. And if you’re done, why don’t you go find out who killed Dennis, because you’re not going to find that person here. Oh, and you could have asked me this before when you were talking to me, but you didn’t. You didn’t ask for an alibi or even touch on where I was before, so I don’t know what’s going on now or why you’re asking all these questions, but if you need anything else from me, you can talk to my lawyer.”
Shannon just nodded, while Renkle glared.
“Good to know. We’ll be in touch,” Shannon said. “Ainsley.” The man nodded at her before doing the same to Loch’s brothers and then turning to leave.
“Stay in Whiskey, Loch. You know the drill.” Renkle moved out of the door first, sliding past Shannon, who let out a sigh Loch didn’t think he was supposed to hear.
Loch quickly locked the door behind the two, dealing with the alarm while Dare looked out the window, watching the detectives leave.
“Renkle gives cops a bad name,” his former-cop brother said with a frown. “I was never like that.”
“You’re not an asshole.” Loch turned to look at his family, at Ainsley, and wondered what the hell had happened and why it had happened so fast. He was just glad that Misty hadn’t been there to witness any of that. If she had been, he’d have found a way to keep her out of hearing range, or his brothers would have. Because there was no way Loch would let his daughter get close to this. As it was, he sent a quick text to Marnie’s parents to check in, and they replied back that everything was well but that Misty might be on cake overload.
His lips quirked into a smile for an instant before the reality of the rest of the situation washed the expression from his face.
“Misty?” Ainsley asked, her voice shaky.
“Yeah. Apparently, she had too much cake.”
“Not a thing,” Fox put in.
“You won’t think that once your kid is older,” Dare said quickly. “What the hell is going on, Loch? Why are the cops questioning you like they are?”
“Because they think I have something to do with Dennis’s death.”
“Are they that hard up for hits?” Fox asked. “And before you say anything, this isn’t going in the paper. I don’t care if I’m supposed to look for breaking news, I’m not going to be the brother who puts lies in the paper just to get reads.”
Loch pinched the bridge of his nose. “It honestly didn’t cross my mind.”
“Just making sure. Because Whiskey is a small town, and I don’t like that they’re questioning you like they are. It doesn’t make any sense.”
It did if Riker were somehow behind it. Or… “They’re out of options and don’t have a lead, so they’re going after the guy who owns the place where the body was found and who knew the man. I had nothing to do with it, though. I was with Ainsley when it happened. They have nothing on me, and when they start looking in another direction, they’ll realize that.”
“They’ll lay off you soon. You’ve done everything right. They have nothing on you. But keep with the lawyer just in case. This is the ex-cop talking,” Dare said.
“It’ll be fine.” Loch met Ainsley’s gaze, aware that she was staring at him, her eyes wide, but there was no fear there. Just anger.
That was his Ainsley.
“It’ll be fine,” he repeated, and she gave him a tight nod. That gesture let them both relax, at least from the way her shoulders dropped a fraction.
“So…” Fox’s voice trailed off, and Loch had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the words coming out of his brother’s mouth. “Are we not going to talk about the whole sex thing? Because I think we should talk about the whole sex thing.”
Dare cleared his throat, raising his hand. “I know we have other serious things…far, far more serious things to talk about, but I would also like to know about the whole sex thing. And I would venture to guess, so would our women."
Ainsley blushed even harder, and Loch growled.
“Get out. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He paused, then looked at his best friend. “Not you, Ainsley. You, stay.” He needed to talk to her, but he had no idea what he was actually going to say.
His brothers shared a look but left, giving him hard hugs on their way out. No doubt they’d acquiesced so quickly because they wanted to tell their women what they’d learned—and not just about Ainsley. Loch’s life was already complicated, but he had a feeling it was going to get worse.
When his brothers were gone, that left his best friend standing in front of him, her face pale, her hands shaking. “Ainsley…”
“I…I think I need…actually, I don’t know what I need. Because, that…I have no idea what just happened.”
He held open his arms, needing her close and not knowing what else to do. “Come here.” She practically ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her warm weight was a comfort he didn’t know he needed. He remembered that she was his everything, even if he didn’t want her to be, at least not then, not when everything could break. “Stay.” He looked down at her. “In the guest room,” he clarified. “Where you usually sleep. We’ll figure out the rest later. But, stay.”
He needed her safe, needed her under his care until he figured out the next step. And when she nodded, his heart sped up, but his shoulders relaxed. Tonight, she would be safe. Tonight, he could think.
He’d figure out tomorrow when it came.
He hoped.