A touch of pink—sunset pink—highlighted Kelsey’s cheeks, and she dropped her gaze. “Not shoving, exactly. More like gently tossing.”
The waitress arrived with their food, breaking the moment and giving Connor a chance to refocus on what he wanted to say. “This is about more than disliking Dunworthy on sight. It’s about the way he treats people he thinks are beneath him.”
“Like who?”
“Like the valet he was pushing around after we left the restaurant.”
“What?”
“I was pulling out of the lot when I saw Todd grab the kid and shove his face an inch from the bumper to show where he’d dented the car.” Leaning forward, Connor added, “It was a rental, Kelsey. You can’t tell me he had any clue whether that scratch was there before or not. But he’s the type of guy who likes to intimidate people, especially people who can’t or won’t fight back.”
“What did you do?”
“Jumped out of my car and pulled him off.”
“And Todd actually grabbed this kid in front of Emily?”
Connor snorted. “No. She’d left her sweater in the restaurant and had gone back for it. By the time she came out, Todd was wearing a crocodile grin and the valet had pocketed a tip the size of his monthly paycheck.”
Something else Dunworthy had in common with the Wilsons—thinking money could make anything or anyone disappear. Not that he blamed the kid for taking the cash. How could he when he’d done the same thing ten years ago?
“You don’t think Todd would hurt Emily, do you?” Kelsey asked, disbelief and worry mingling in her expression.
“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is that he thinks he can do whatever he damn well wants as long as he pays for the privilege.”
“Kelsey! Where have you been all day?” Emily rose from the table in the middle of the Italian restaurant. “I’ve been calling you since first thing this morning.”
Kelsey braced herself against Emily’s exuberant greeting, hesitantly patting her cousin’s slender shoulder blades. First thing this morning, Emily had been with Connor. Kelsey seriously doubted she’d been on her cousin’s mind. “I’ve, um, been busy.”
“What have you been doing?” Emily demanded as Kelsey slipped into a seat next to her and across from Aileen and her husband.
“I was—” Kelsey’s mind blanked as she met her cousin’s curious gaze, and she couldn’t think of a single excuse.
I was with Connor. We spent the day spying on your fiancé, which was possibly the craziest thing I’ve ever done, right up to the time I thought Connor might kiss me.
“Kelsey!”
She jumped at the sound of her aunt’s voice, terrified for a split second that she’d said the unbelievable words out loud. “What?”
Charlene frowned with a question in her eyes. “You paid the florist, didn’t you?”
“Yes! Yes, I did.” As if the forty-minute errand explained her absence during most of the day.
“Good. I hope it wasn’t a mistake going with such a small shop. As worried as that woman sounded, you’d think she was down to her last dollar.”
Irritation buzzed like a rash under Kelsey’s skin. “Her name is Lisa Remming, and she’s an amazing florist. A deposit is standard policy. We signed a contract stating she could cancel the order if it wasn’t paid on time,” she added, knowing her friend would never have considered canceling such an important order.
“All right, Kelsey. You’ve made your point,” Charlene said. Kelsey thought she might have caught a hint of respect in her aunt’s expression.
But Emily’s eyes widened, and she grabbed Kelsey’s hand. “Lisa wouldn’t do that, would she?”
“No, of course not,” she reassured her cousin, feeling like a jerk for worrying her cousin just to make a point with Charlene. “The flowers are going to be beautiful.”
Emily smiled, relieved someone else had solved the problem. “Thank goodness. I can’t imagine getting married without the right bouquet.”
Kelsey, personally, couldn’t imagine getting married without the right groom. She wanted to believe Todd was that man for her cousin, but ever since Connor had rolled into town, doubts had swirled through her mind like a desert dust devil.
“Emily, darling!” a masculine voice called out. Dressed in designer slacks and a slate-blue silk shirt, Todd Dunworthy approached, his perfectly groomed blond hair glinting, and his teeth flashing in a blinding smile.
Sheep’s clothing, Kelsey thought suddenly. Expensive, designer-crafted sheep’s clothing…if she believed Connor. But that was the question. Did she believe him?
“Sorry I’m late,” Todd apologized without looking away from his fiancée. “My meeting ran late.”
“Your meeting?” Kelsey didn’t realize she’d spoken the words out loud until all eyes turned her way. Tempted to blurt out that he’d spent less than five minutes at the office, she choked back the words. She couldn’t say that without revealing her own presence. And, as she’d told Connor, Todd’s meeting could have changed locations. Hoping Todd would reveal that was the case, she pressed, “I mean, what meeting, Todd?”
He waved his hand carelessly, and his sleeve pulled back to show a hint of the gold watch he wore. “Just business. You wouldn’t be interested,” he said, flashing a wink that was more condescending than charming.
“Oh, but I am,” Kelsey interjected, when Todd would have changed the subject. He shot her a look clearly meant to back her down—to put her in her place—but Kelsey stood her ground. She could almost feel Connor at her back, giving her the strength to do the right thing. “You’ll be family soon, and I hardly know anything about what you do.”
“Honestly, Kelsey, enough about work,” Emily interrupted, despite the fact that Todd had remained completely—suspiciously?—silent. “We have more important things to discuss.”
Ever the peacemaker, Emily turned the conversation to the wedding and her honeymoon. She smoothed over the tension like a pro until, on the outside at least, everything looked perfect.
But as the conversation moved on to drinks and appetizers and who wanted to try the chef’s special, Kelsey couldn’t help noticing how her cousin’s gaze would occasionally drift off in the distance. And she wondered if maybe, just maybe, Emily was waiting for Connor—or anyone—to rescue her again.
Connor drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, his gaze locked on the Italian restaurant. Candlelight flickered in the antique sconces, illuminating the rustic red brick, aged pergola, and carved wooden doors.
After taking Kelsey back to the hotel and her car, Connor called Jake Cameron, eager to hear what the man had found. But the conversation hadn’t gone as he’d hoped.
“I told you this would take some time,” Jake had said, sounding more frustrated and less confident than during the last call.
“Yeah, I know. You also told me you had a date with Sophia Pirelli. You had to have found something.”
Silence filled the line, and Connor might have thought the call was disconnected, except he could still sense his friend’s tension coming across loud and clear. “Jake—”
“Look, I’m seeing her again. I’ll call you later.”
He’d hung up after that, leaving Connor to battle his own tension and frustration. Unwilling to sit in his hotel room and go over the same information on Dunworthy again, he’d headed for Todd’s condo, planning to talk with some of the man’s neighbors, when he spotted the familiar SUV leaving the parking garage.
As Connor followed Dunworthy from his Scottsdale loft, careful to stay two car lengths behind, he had plenty of time to make some calls, and discovered the studio-sized units cost well over two million dollars. Knowing the man would pay such an outrageous price for an exclusive address to call home, Connor should have expected what was to come.
He’d already trailed Emily’s fiancé from one expensive store to another, growing more and more disgusted as Dunworthy racked up a small fortune in purchases. Wine shops, jewel
ers, tailors. Connor had held back far enough to keep Dunworthy from spotting him, but not so far that he couldn’t see the dollar signs in the salespeople’s eyes.
The afternoon had proved a dud just like the meeting that morning, and Connor wished Kelsey had come along. He missed her company—an odd admission for a man who worked alone. He missed her wry comments and witty comebacks, not to mention the tempting thought of kissing her. It was no longer a question of if, but when…
He did have one lead, thanks to a call he’d overheard Todd make on his cell phone, but he would have to wait to follow up.
He sat up straight in the driver’s seat as the restaurant’s carved doors opened. “’Bout time,” he muttered as the elder Wilsons stepped outside along with Aileen and her husband. Todd and Emily followed, and even though Connor had his gaze locked on the other man, it didn’t take much to distract him. Just Kelsey.
She stood apart from the rest of the group—not so far she couldn’t hear the conversation, just far enough she couldn’t be easily drawn in. He’d noticed her do that at the hotel when he’d crashed their little reception planning session. She’d trailed a step or two behind her aunt and cousin, hiding behind the copious notes she took in her day planner. Observing, but not really joining.
Just the way he did. He never would have thought his job as a private eye and Kelsey’s job as a wedding coordinator would give them something else in common, but there it was. Still, the Wilsons were more than Kelsey’s clients; they were her family. So what was the reason for that distance?
Now wasn’t the time to worry about it. Connor jerked his gaze away from Kelsey. He didn’t let his attention stray back to her, not even once, surprised by how hard that was.
Todd slapped his future father-in-law on the back, then kissed Charlene’s cheek and said something to make the older woman laugh.
I’ll be damned, Connor thought, his respect for Dunworthy as an adversary rising a few notches. He’d never seen the woman crack a smile, yet Todd had Emily’s mother eating out of his hand.
The group, a silent film of family togetherness, said their goodbyes amid hugs and kisses, with Kelsey drifting just outside the happy circle. They broke into pairs, the elder Wilsons off to the left with Aileen and her husband, Emily and Dunworthy to his car—illegally parked, Connor noted—alongside the restaurant. Kelsey, the odd woman out, headed toward the back of the restaurant, crossing the parking lot…alone.
Todd’s SUV engine roared. He should follow, Connor knew. His hand went to the ignition, but he didn’t turn the key. A gut feeling, the kind Kelsey had sardonically discounted, held him in place even as Todd backed his vehicle away from the restaurant.
He had to go now if he had any hope of following. Instead, he leaned forward. Kelsey had nearly disappeared around the building. That side of the restaurant wasn’t as well lit. Her hair looked brown in the meager light, the shadows dousing its fiery color. Dressed in a denim skirt and lace-trimmed green T-shirt, she looked smaller than usual…younger and more vulnerable.
Connor had already pushed the car door open before he caught sight of the dark shape of a man cutting across the parking lot and heading her way. Surprise drew Kelsey up short. Connor was still too far away to hear what she said, but he was close enough to see the guy reach out to grab her.
It was his nightmare brought to life. Close enough to see, too far away to help…For a split second, Connor froze until he realized this was no dream and the woman in danger wasn’t Cara Mitchell. It was Kelsey.
Adrenaline pounded through his veins. A short burst of speed, the rhythmic thumping of feet against pavement, and he was there. Muscles flexing, he had the guy’s arm twisted behind his back, his face shoved against the side of the restaurant.
“You okay?” he demanded of Kelsey, surprised by the breathless gasp fueling the words. His heart pounded like he’d run half a mile instead of thirty yards. Trying to outrun the past…
“Kelsey?” He could feel her behind him but didn’t risk looking over his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Connor, what—” Too stunned by his sudden appearance to get the words out, Kelsey pressed a hand to her pounding heart, surprised the organ was still where it was supposed to be. For a second, she thought it had jumped right out of her chest.
“Did he hurt you?”
She blinked, the question not quite registering, and stared at her ex-boyfriend, who was pressed like a pancake against the restaurant’s brick wall. Matt Moran had hurt her. He’d wounded her pride, trashed her self-confidence, hitting her where she was most vulnerable with the reminder she could never compare to her oh-so-beautiful cousin.
Matt made a strangled, high-pitched sound that might have been her name. “Kelsey! Tell him I wouldn’t hurt you.”
Connor shot her a quick glance. “You know this guy?”
The tension eased from his shoulders, but Kelsey knew he could be back in battle mode in a split second. The masculine display shouldn’t have impressed her. She’d never advocated violence as a way to problem-solve. But seeing her former boyfriend pinned to a wall, well, it did her heart some good.
“Yes. You can let him go. He just wanted to talk to me.”
Only, Kelsey hadn’t wanted to hear anything Matt had to say. She’d already heard it all, ironically enough, from Connor.
He let go of the other man’s arm and spun him around. “I take it you don’t want to talk to him,” Connor said. “Can’t blame you there.” He gave the other man a hard, intense look, then seemed to sum up Matt’s entire character with a single shake of his head. Too bad Connor hadn’t been around when Kelsey first met Matt.
Oh, who are you kidding? a mocking inner voice asked. She would never have noticed Matt if Connor had been around. But for all their differences, Connor and Matt had one glaring similarity.
“Kelsey, please,” her ex-boyfriend practically whimpered. “You’ve gotta talk to Emily and tell her she can’t marry that guy!”
Even without glancing in Connor’s direction, she could feel his gaze. Heat rose to her face. She wanted to ignore both men at the moment, but she focused on Matt who was suddenly, oddly enough, the lesser of two humiliations.
“Emily’s in love with Todd, and their wedding is going to be perfect.” Determination rang in her voice, but Kelsey wondered who she was hoping to convince.
“You don’t understand!” Matt took a single step in her direction, but froze when Connor uncrossed his arms. Keeping a nervous eye on the other man, Matt weakly finished, “I love her.”
“Believe me. That is one thing I do understand.”
He’d offered the same pitiful excuse as an explanation for using her, for taking advantage of her feelings, for making love to her and imagining Emily in her place.
Her ex-boyfriend had the grace to hang his head in shame but not enough sense to know when to give up. “Maybe if I could talk to her—” Matt pressed.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, get over it!”
His eyes widened in surprise, but Kelsey felt a shock when the words sank into her soul, and she realized the real object of her anger. She was tired of feeling like a fool for believing his lies. Of accepting his unacceptable behavior. Of shouldering the blame for the failure of their relationship when Matt was at fault.
“Let it go, Matt, and move on. I have.”
Maybe that wasn’t entirely true. As far as love was concerned, she certainly wasn’t ready to take the plunge again, but might it be worthwhile to test the water?
“The lady asked you to leave.” Connor crossed his arms over his broad chest, suddenly seeming to take up twice as much space and ready to literally enforce her advice for Matt to move on.
With a single, pitiful glance at Kelsey, Matt shrank back into the shadows. She didn’t know if he’d heard a single word she said, but it didn’t matter. She’d listened.
“Man, you’ve had your work cut out for you, haven’t you?” Connor asked, once Matt had left. “How many of Emily’s exes have yo
u had to deal with?”
Emily’s exes. Kelsey crossed her arms over her stomach, some of her earlier pleasure fading. The toe she’d stuck in the deep end felt chilled by frigid water. “So far, you’re the only one. Matt isn’t one of Emily’s ex-boyfriends. He’s mine.”
Kelsey didn’t know why she spilled that bit of information. It wasn’t as if she wanted Connor to feel sorry for her. She didn’t know what she wanted from him.
He kicked at the asphalt and glanced in the direction the other man had disappeared. “Hell, Kelsey, you shoulda told me that before. I wouldn’t have been so gentle.”
The unexpected comment startled a laugh from her. It bubbled inside, shaky at first but growing stronger until she felt lighter, buoyed by the emotion and perhaps the chance to let go of the past. “How exactly do you throw a man gently against a wall?”
“Gently means he gets to slink off under his own power. Not so gently requires an ambulance.”
“I guess Matt doesn’t know how lucky he was.”
“You’re right, Kelsey. Something tells me he has no idea.”
Certainty filled Connor’s deep voice. Just listening to him made her feel free from the shame and embarrassment that had held her down for so long. Stepping closer, he crooked a finger beneath her chin. “You okay?”
She nodded, feeling his finger slide along the sensitive skin beneath her jaw. “Yes.”
Concern gave way to relief and then anger. “You should have had someone walk you to your car. You have no idea what could happen—”
“Connor, I’m okay,” Kelsey interrupted, worried by the tension that was evident in the set of his shoulders. A tension that seemed rooted in a different incident from a different time. “I wasn’t in any danger.”
Exhaling a breath, Connor seemed to release the pressure building inside and shake off whatever memories had caught him in their grasp. “You still need to be more careful.”
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