Ian poured another cup of coffee. Bella was sound asleep in his bed. Like a crazy person, he’d watched her sleep most of the night. He was worried that he wouldn’t wake up to check her, so he’d stayed up all night with his arms around her and a painful boner.

His phone chimed on the counter. Officer Anders had messaged him to let him know he was at the station. Ian enjoyed another sip of caffeine then padded down the hall toward his room. Bella’s blond hair covered his pillow. He didn’t want to wake her—she looked so peaceful.

Slowly, he ran his hand down the side of her face and watched her crystal-blue eyes open. “Good morning, Bella. How do you feel?”

She stretched her arms above her head, causing the T-shirt to ride up. The creamy-white skin of her stomach showed. Ian wanted to run his tongue over her body.

“I feel like a Mack truck ran me over. You don’t happen to have coffee, do you?”

Ian leaned down and lightly brushed her lips. He hadn’t planned to do it. Bella stiffened under his lips for a second, but when he went to pull back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in tighter. When he swiped his tongue across her lips, she gave him entrance. He ran his hand up and down the side of her body. If he didn’t pull back soon, he would take her right there, and he wanted to wine and dine her first. Bella also had suffered an injury the day before.

When Ian pulled back, she whined. “You need to get ready,” he said. “Officer Anders is waiting for us.” He leaned down one more time and kissed the top of her nose.

He watched as she headed toward the bathroom and groaned when she put an extra sway in her hips. She let out a giggle, knowing what she did to him.

A cold shower called his name. He used the guest bathroom. Being around Bella for the past twelve hours had his dick permanently hard. Ian leaned against the shower wall as the cold water rained down on him. It did nothing to relieve the pressure. He wrapped his hands around his cock, seeing images of Bella spread out across his bed. Her plump breasts called to him. He gripped himself harder as he imagined her hands running over his body. Ian exploded within a minute. He hadn’t come that fast since he was a teenager.

After quickly drying off, he headed to the kitchen to make Bella breakfast. He had one pancake left to flip when she walked into the kitchen with only a towel wrapped around her body and another towel around her hair. It didn’t matter that he’d jacked off ten minutes earlier—his dick sprang back to life.

He’d put her clothes in the washer the night before. She had nothing to wear. Ian rushed to the laundry room to retrieve her clothes. If she didn’t get dressed soon, she would end up on the counter.

When he came back into the kitchen, Bella had taken the last pancake off the grill. She looked so perfect in his kitchen. He would make it his mission to have her in his house permanently one day.

“I washed these for you last night.”

She reached for the clothes in his hands. “Thank you.” She turned to walk down the hallway and dropped the towel. Her perfect ass was on display. Ian let out a groan. He knew what he would jack off to that night.

“There’s a dead body in my chimney?” Bella screeched at Officer Anders. How the hell would she sell a house with a dead body? Fuck. Who would remove the dead body?

“There was a dead body. A team removed it from the chimney, along with a million dollars.”

Bella was happy that she’d decided not to remodel the chimney herself. She’d thought about asking Ian for help because he seemed interested in it. She would have had a heart attack if the body had come out when he was working on it.

Ian squeezed her hand. “Do you know who the dead person is?”

“Yes, it was the previous owner’s daughter. The man who broke into the house was the previous owner's son. His sister caught him trying to put the money in the chimney, and when she said she would tell their parents about it, he got pissed and hit her too hard. He said he hadn’t meant to kill her. After that, he stuck her body in the chimney along with the money.”

Chills came over her. “Why did he wait until now?”

“The day after he killed his sister, SAPD picked him up for having a hundred grams of cocaine with the intent to sell. He got sentenced to ten years in jail, but with the overcrowding, he got out early and wanted his money. You won’t have to worry about him anymore. With the attempted murder and breaking his parole, he’s looking at thirty years in jail.”

Bella told Officer Anders her account of what had happened. The officer said she might need to show up to his trial, but he had a feeling they would cut a deal if the guy told them who the money belonged to and who’d helped him steal it. The judge could cut his sentence to twenty-five years. Either way, the guy was out of Bella’s life for good.

After speaking with Officer Anders, Bella and Ian stopped by the diner to pick up food for Cole. Bella didn’t want her time with Ian to end. They’d originally set a date for that night, but she didn’t know whether he still planned on taking her out or if he’d decided she was too much to deal with.

Ian was quiet after leaving the diner, and Bella didn’t know what he was thinking. He finally broke the tension in the cab. “What has you so lost in thought?”

“Are we still going out tonight? I know what happened last night was a lot, but I still wanted to go out with you. I totally understand if you don’t. My life seems to be a little crazy at the moment—”

Ian put a hand on her thigh and squeezed. “That was a lot of information at once. Yes, we are still going out tonight. Your life seems exciting, and it didn’t scare me away. I did almost have a heart attack when I saw your lifeless body. But none of it has scared me away.”

“Okay.” Bella wanted to jump up and down, but she played it cool instead.

When they arrived at her house, Cole's truck sat in the driveway. They walked into the living room and saw Cole halfway up the chimney.

“Hey, Cole, it’s Bella and me. We brought you food.”

He came out from the chimney, covered in dirt and grime. His blond hair was black, and his white shirt was full of soot.

Bella rushed to the garage and brought back a wet cloth for him to run over his face.

“Thank you, Bella. The fireplace should work now. After the detectives left with the body, I worked to remove the remaining debris and cleaned the chimney. It’s back in working order.”

“Thank you.” She ran up and gave him a hug and heard Ian growl behind her. Cole wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tighter.

Ian came up and pulled her from Cole’s embrace. “Fucker. Find your own woman.”

Cole winked at her. “I like yours.”

Over the next hour, as they ate lunch, the banter continued between Cole and Ian. Bella hadn’t laughed so hard in years. When they were done eating, Cole excused himself and headed home. After he left, the sexual tension between Ian and Bella filled the house. Ian helped her clean up the remaining mess from the chimney, and they kept accidentally touching.

When they finished, Ian wrapped her in his arms. “Why don’t you go get ready? I’ll be back in an hour, and we can have our date.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. Wear a skirt.”

Bella couldn’t hold her excitement as Ian turned into the parking lot at Travis Park. The far end of the park had a huge movie screen. She would get to experience an outdoor movie. She’d always wanted to do something like that.

Ian turned off the car and told her to stay put. He hurried to the other side, helped her down from the truck, and grabbed a picnic basket from the back. They picked a spot close to the back, and he laid out a blanket on the grass.

She didn’t care what movie was on. As long as Ian put his arms around her, she was happy. Her date pulled out her favorite movie snacks—Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and popcorn. The best way to her heart was with chocolate and salt.

The movie started at dusk. Bella wrapped herself around Ian. She felt so comfortable in his arms. Halfway through the movie, he pulled her head back and pressed his lips to hers. He tossed the corner of the blanket over her lower body.

Ian worked his hand up her leg and traced the outside of her thong. He deepened the kiss to capture the moans coming from her mouth. He slipped his hands under her thong. When he pressed his fingers to her clit, she was close to coming. Ian dipped his fingers lower, and when he went inside her, she couldn’t hold back the moan. He worked his fingers inside her and brushed her clit, and she had the most powerful orgasm.

Bella blushed hotly. She couldn’t believe she’d come in public. When she looked around, no one appeared to be watching them.

“Don’t worry, Bella. Nobody saw you come on my hand.”

She cuddled in closer for the rest of the movie.

Later, when he escorted her to her door, she thought he would come in. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “Good night, Bella.”

“You don’t want to come in?”

“Oh, I want to come in, but if I do, you’ll end up naked. I want a few more dates before that.”

He leaned in one more time and kissed her before heading toward his truck.

When Bella closed the door, she heard her phone chime. It was a message from Ian: When you touch yourself tonight, think about me. I will be thinking about you and how you came apart in my hands.