Page 174 of Too Close To Home

Harrison stood, then grabbed one of Jake’s arms and held it down. “Because of those movements, because of the way Andy was placed within the timeline, because you came to me, we could justify a more thorough search of his property.”

Jake’s chest rose. Harrison didn’t let go of his arm. “And?”

“We found material. Hidden. In his walls. Scrapbooks. Photographs. Cuttings. All relating to Robyn.”

Jake’s fists clenched. “So he did—”

“It’s not that simple.” Harrison stroked his thumb absently over Jake’s arm, dropping his gaze as he chose his words. “At this stage, it points to fixation. Obsession. Not proof. He still has an alibi for the night she disappeared, and he’s holding to it.” Then he looked back up, breath warm against Jake’s cheek. “But it’s enough for me to put your sister’s case to the cold case review and ask for it be reopened.”

Jake couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

Hope hit him too fast. Too fucking hard. It tore straight through everything else and left him with no idea what to do with it. He didn’t have the words for this. Never had. Anything that big usually got shoved down, laughed off or beaten into submission behind a drum kit.

So Jake did the only thing that made any sense.

He caught Harrison’s face between his hands and kissed him.

It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than that. One quick press of his mouth to Harrison’s. A thank you. An I trust you. An I don’t know what the fuck you’ve just done to me, but it matters. All the things Jake couldn’t have said without making a complete tit of himself.

Except Harrison didn’t pull away.

He brought his hands up instead, sliding them around Jake’s neck to hold him in place.

And fuck.

That changed everything.

Jake kissed him again. Properly. He tilted his head, opened his mouth against Harrison’s and felt Harrison meet him there, warm and willing. Jake stepped closer, letting the kiss deepen without rushing it, letting Harrison feel exactly how much he’d wanted to do this from the second he’d walked through the door.

And fuck it was nice. Really fucking nice.

But reality caught Harrison almost as quickly as it had before. He broke the kiss, though he didn’t go far. He dropped his forehead against Jake’s, breath warm and uneven between them. “Sorry.”

Jake huffed a quiet laugh and slid his fingers into the short hair at the back of Harrison’s head, keeping him there. Not dragging him back. But not letting him disappear behind all those walls again quite yet.

“For kissing me, or for stopping?”

Harrison lifted his eyes to Jake’s. “Probably both.”

“Right.”

For a moment, neither of them moved. The air was thick and charged, as if one wrong move would either fix everything or fuck it up completely. Then Harrison leaned in. Kissed him again. Then again, slower. As if allowing himself to feel it. Taste the shape of it. And when he pulled back, his lips parted, his breath close enough to ghost Jake’s skin.

“Okay…” Harrison said, meeting his gaze fully.

Jake furrowed his brow. “Okay what?”

“You were right.”

“That narrows it down to most things. What specifically?”

“There’s something here.”

Jake’s heart gave one enormous fucking thump. “Oh, aye.” He tickled his fingers through Harrison’s hair on the nape of his neck. “I know there is.”

“But that doesn’t make this easy.”

Jake’s smile faded.