There was a lot of things Seth was planning on doing now that he had arrived in this town. There were old articles to be read, people to interview, a story to be dug out in the open. Scrubbing the floor at the local Starbucks hadn't been in his plans but that was exactly what happened. He had been too busy running the information around in his brain that he didn't notice how close he had walked to the woman getting her coffee at the counter.
"Thank you," she said.
She turned around and slammed directly into Seth. Her iced coffee fell to the floor and made quite the mess. They both looked at the mess, then up at each other and started laughing. Something about her made Seth smile. Her long, golden blonde, wavy hair and her light grey eyes just did something to him.
"Sorry," he said.
"Shit happens," she said.
"What were you having?" He asked.
"Iced white chocolate mocha with oat milk," she answered.
"And no whipped cream, I see," he said.
He turned to the barista.
"Make me two of those, and hand us a bucket of water and two cloths," Seth said.
"You don't need to clean that up," the barista said.
"It's fine. This was our mess. Let us clean it up while you make our coffee," Seth said.
The barista handed Seth a bucket of water and two cloths. Seth and the woman squatted down and quickly cleaned the floor together. He kept stealing glances at her, and smiled when he caught her stealing glances back. They were done at the same time as the barista.
"On the house since you were so kind to clean," the barista said.
"Thank you," Seth looked at the woman. "Care to join me?"
"Sure," she said.
They found a corner table and sat down.
"I'm Seth," he introduced himself.
"Marigold," she said.
"Cute. It fits your hair. You got that gold look down," he said.
"So I've been told," she smiled. "What brings you to our town, Seth?"
"How do you know I'm new here?" He asked.
"I know everything going around here," she held a dramatic pause. "Or the fact that you look like a lost cause out on a job with a way too big briefcase attached to your hip."
He looked down at his briefcase. He had his laptop and a lot of papers in that.
"I work for Investigation Discovery," he said.
"I didn't hear about any big crime being committed here recently," she said.
"Not recently," he smirked. "It's an old case I'm looking into."
"Alone?" She asked.
"At first. I always follow my gut instinct. Usually I'm right. If I'm right and find a lead, I'll call in my team and we'll make a program out of it. We've cracked many cases that weren't as straight forward as people were led to believe," he said.
She watched him curiously while sipping coffee from her straw.
"How old are you?" He asked.
"29," she answered.
"You would have been 9 then. You probably don't remember the case," he said.
"Try me," she said.
"There was a house that burned down. Both parents died in the fire but their daughter survived. Her room was in the basement and their room was on the first floor. She survived by crawling out of the window. Her parents didn't get a chance. The fire started close to the staircase. They said it was a short circuit that caused the fire and closed the case. Of course I don't believe that or I wouldn't be here," he said.
She kept sipping on her coffee while listening to him. She finally let go off the straw, licked her lips and put the coffee down.
"So you think someone started it?" She asked.
"I do," he answered.
"Why?" She asked.
"That's what I'd like to find out," he chuckled. "Come to think about it, she was 9 too. Her name was being kept out of the medias for protection. I heard she was adopted somewhere. Did you happen to go to school with someone that suddenly disappeared around that time?"
"No," she said.
"It was a long time ago. You probably don't remember," he said.
"No, I remember just fine. Everyone remembers that fire. It was the biggest tragedy of our town. Two people burned alive and leaving a girl an orphan. It was a sad story," she said.
He smiled and sipped on his own coffee. She might not have known the daughter of the house but she did remember the fire. Maybe she knew who he could talk to about this.
"Would you like to help me with this case?" He asked.
"What do you need?" She asked.
"I'm not sure yet. Names, probably. People I can talk to on or off the record," he said. "Something about this case doesn't add up. Like, why was her room in the basement? I looked at the drawing of that house. Kitchen and living room in the middle. Two rooms and a bathroom on top. The basement wasn't meant for anyone to be living in but she was down there. Why wasn't she in the other room up on the first floor next to her parents?"
She leaned back with an amused smile on her face. He stopped talking and smiled back.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I tend to get caught up in my own head when I smell a rat."
"Do you have a room at the hotel?" She asked.
"No, I rented a small vacation house where I can be without being disturbed. I rented it for a month so far. I might leave earlier, I might stay longer. That depends on if I get anything on this story," he said.
She emptied her coffee and smiled at him again. He could get used to seeing her smile. He wouldn't mind if she stayed around for all the time he was in this town. Something about her just made him want more. More talking, more smiles, more everything.
"Can we go to your place?" She asked.
"I guess," he answered. "I was thinking about starting at the library and looking at old articles."
"And I was thinking that you'll feed me lunch," she smirked.
"Oh," he started grinning. "Sure thing, goldie. Or do you prefer Marigold?"
"I don't care, to be honest," she said.
"I like goldie," he smiled. "Like you're made of gold and worth way more than any other woman."
"Are you hitting on me?" She asked.
"Maybe," he smirked.
They left Starbucks and walked to where he had parked his car. They got in, and he drove them to his vacation house. It was a small house. Bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room, and a small garden. He didn't need anything else. He just needed a place where he could sleep and work.
"I just arrived this morning. I haven't bought any food yet. We should have bought some sandwiches or something. This was stupid on my part. I'm sorry," he said.
"Seth," she smirked. "I didn't come here for food."
"What did you come for?" He asked.
She placed her arms around his neck.
"What do you think?" She asked.
She pulled him down and kissed him. As soon as he felt her tongue brush against his, he let out a low growl, wrapped his arms around her and started dragging her through the living room. They didn't even make it to the bedroom. They tumbled down on the couch where they tore each other's clothes off and wasted no time in exploring each other's bodies.
"Wait," he stopped her.
He reached for his wallet in his jeans and fished out a condom. She smiled and nodded her approval. At least he had brain cells enough to think clearly in the heated moment. He quickly rolled the condom on, sat back against the back rest and pulled her up on his lap.
"Now where were we?" He smirked.
She kissed him again and fumbled between them. She grabbed his dick and sank down on it. He hissed into the kiss and grabbed her hips. He helped her move up and down while she rode him to perfection. She broke the kiss and tilted her head back in a soft cry. He was mesmerized as he watched her come undone. He squeezed her hips tight and came too. She collapsed forward and rested her head on his shoulder. His hands moved up and down her back, caressing her sweaty skin while he listened to her heavy breathing.
"We can still drive back to town and get lunch," he offered.
She let out a laugh and raised her head. She shook her head no, pecked his lips and crawled off him. While he removed the condom, she already started the process of getting dressed. She was fast back in her clothes while he still remained naked.
"This was fun," she smiled at him. "I'll see you around."
"Wait, you're leaving?" He asked.
He had not expected that. He stood up, grabbed his briefs and quickly pulled them on in case he had to run after her. He didn't want her to leave without at least agreeing to meet him again.
"You came for a case. Not to get laid. I'll be in your way," she said.
"You said you'd help me," he crossed his arms and smirked. "Backing down on your promise? Because I'm down for punishing a bad girl if you wanna play that game."
She giggled and shook her head. The next words out of his mouth left him stunned for a second.
"My room was in the basement because my father used the other room upstairs as his office," she said.
His jaw dropped and he stared at her for a few seconds.
"Your room?" He asked. "You're the daughter that survived?"
"I am," she sighed. "I wasn't adopted but I was taken in by two brothers. Mark and Kane. I live with Mark. Kane lives next door."
"Mark Calaway? The sherif?" He asked shocked. "And Kane is a firefighter, right? I remember their names from some of the articles."
"They won't talk to you. They won't dig into that old case. In their world ripping up old wounds will only cause more pain," she said.
"And in your world?" He asked.
She walked up to him, grabbed him behind the neck and pulled him down for a short kiss.
"I'm very protected in my world," she said.
"Really?" He smirked. "Because I'm sure wannabe daddy 1 and 2 have no idea what you're up to running off with a stranger like me."
"They know what they need to know," she smirked back. "I'll be seeing you around, Seth."
"You bet your ass, you will," he promised. "I'll find you. It's my job to find people and things that want to be hidden."
"I can't wait," she grinned.
He let her walk out of the house without chasing after her and demanding a phone number or anything. He was sure he would find her. If anything else failed, the sheriff was known by a lot of people. He could always find out where Mark Calaway lived. For now she could leave.
He needed a shower and then he would head back to town for lunch and a visit to the library. He couldn't lose track of why he was there. She might be involved in this but he still had a case to look into. It wasn't like he had deceived her. She knew before going back with him who he was and what he was doing there.