Like he’d have done that. And damn it, he knew his fear seemed unfounded to others. But it wasn’t to him. He’d been attacked by a cat. Had umpteen stitches thanks to that damn feline. Cats could hurt you. Just because no one else seemed to know it, or believed it could happen, it didn’t change the facts.
His gaze fell on Leah, looking perfectly content, looking… real and beautiful.
Tell me you haven’t even thought about sleeping with her and I’ll feel a hell of a lot better. Tyler’s words played across his mind like a warning.
He should finish securing the locks and be on his way.
“What?” she asked, as if questioning his stare.
“You like grilled cheese?”
“Huh?”
“I make a killer grilled cheese. To be fair, it’s sort of grilled bacon and cheese on sourdough bread. But it’s good. Really good. And while it wouldn’t seem like it, it goes great with a good Cab.” When she frowned, he said, “One glass. Come on. You’ve had a hard day.”
He saw her spot the bag from the hardware store, and she stood up. “How much did this cost me?”
“I told you, I broke yours, so I’m replacing it.”
“I don’t think so. And besides, I didn’t have those bolt locks.”
“But you need them,” he said.
She frowned. “Is the receipt in the bag?” She took a step, and he went into action. He dove for the bag as she rushed forward.
He got to it first. Once he had it in his hands, he rolled over and then sat up. Waving the bag at her as if tempting her to come and get it. She was on her knees and she frowned at him.
“Give it to me.” She held out her hand.
“I broke it, I replace it. That’s the rules. Besides, I found it on clearance.”
She knee-walked closer and reached for the bag. He caught her hand. “You are one difficult woman.” Albeit a predictable one. He’d already planned for this.
“You are one pushy man,” she said. Both on her living room floor, they were close, but not nearly as close as he would have liked.
He smiled and she returned the favor. Her eyes twinkled. Her dimples winked. Damn, it was fun being with her, but the humor twinkling in her eyes faded too quickly.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Why am I doing what?”
“All of this. You’re too nice. I don’t trust nice people,” she said.
He laughed. “I thought I was pushy?”
“You’re pushy nice,” she answered. “So answer my question. Why are you doing this?”
“Because you seem like a nice person and because I want to help you.” And it was the truth.
“I don’t need help, Austin. I can take care of myself. I know I called you today and I shouldn’t have, I…” She stopped talking. “Give me the receipt.”
Still holding her hand in his, he ran his thumb over her wrist. Her gaze met his. Her tongue came out and swept across her bottom lip. She leaned in. Her sweet mouth came closer as if to kiss him. And damn if he was going to stop it.
But before her lips touched his, she snagged the bag from him and bolted up.
“That was dirty,” he said. “You tricked me.”
She grinned, a little victory in her step. Then she plopped down and pulled out the receipt.
She stared at it and then looked at him. “That’s all it cost? The doorknob and the extra locks?”
“Yeah, it’s all there. I told you they were on clearance.” In truth, the piece of junk knob and lock she’d bought with that receipt were hidden under the seat in the truck.
“I can handle this,” she said. “I thought it was going to be five times this.”
“Fine.” He frowned at her. “Be difficult.” He got to his feet and went back to the lock to finish tightening the last screws.
He felt her staring at him.
“So you’re a handyman on top of being a one-time bouncer, and you cook, and you’re a stock investor/financial planner?” she asked.
“I’m multitalented,” he said.
“I bet you change your own oil in your truck, too?”
“I do,” he said. “Although, I don’t do plumbing. I can’t even unstop a toilet.” He suddenly remembered the cats and swerved around to see where they were. One was on the chair stationed beside the sofa, one sat on the coffee table, and the two others sat in dining room chairs. All staring at him.
His gaze found Leah again. She picked up the water gun that he’d brought here yesterday to protect himself from the cats and turned it in her hand as if needing something to do. “Where did you learn to do all this… stuff? Did you have a foster dad who taught you?”
He started tightening the screws again. Even having told her about his childhood, his first instinct was to back away from the conversation. “No. I pretty much taught myself.” He pulled at the bolt to see if it was solid. It was.
“What was it like?” she asked. “Being in foster care? Was it… terrible?”
“I imagine it’s not much worse than losing your mom.”
“It hurts worse when… people just walk away.” There was so much emotion in her voice that he knew she wasn’t just talking about him.
He looked back, expecting to see the emotion in her expression, but it still punched him in the gut.
She kept turning the gun in her hand. “I know because my father didn’t die until I was eighteen. He came to my mom’s funeral, then… then he left and I never saw him again. And that hurt, it hurt more than losing my mom.” She paused. “And it shouldn’t have. Because I didn’t love him and I knew he didn’t love me and Luis. But it still hurt.”
“I’m sorry.” He stood, then walked to where she sat and eased down beside her.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry for you. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if Luis and I hadn’t had my aunt.”
He brushed a long strand of hair from her cheek. “You would have survived. We’re survivors.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “We are, aren’t we?”
He inhaled and he knew it wasn’t smart, but he leaned in for a kiss. Just a kiss. He wouldn’t sleep with her, but how bad was a kiss?
CHAPTER TWENTY
AUSTIN’S LIPS ALMOST touched hers, when she shot him. Right in the face with the water gun. Then she laughed and bolted up.
“Real funny.” He wiped the water from his face.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” she said. “I’ll try your bacon grilled cheese sandwich, and I’ll have one”—she held up her index finger—“ one glass of wine. But no… no hanky-panky.”
“Hanky-panky?” He smiled. “Is that another of your aunt’s sayings?”
She nodded. “She was quite colorful with her language and had this witty sense of humor that could have sent the pope into a fit of giggles.”
“Then you take after her,” he said.
Leah smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant as one.” He wiped his face again of the remaining water droplets and stood up. “Okay, I’ll go to my place and start slaving over a hot stove to cook you dinner.”
“You do that. I’ve got to feed my pack, change the litter box, and freshen up. I’ll be over with the wine in about forty-five minutes.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He stared at her and the moment just felt so right. “I like you, Leah Reece.”
She bit down on her lip and aimed the water gun at him, looking playful, looking happy, and looking so damn adorable it almost hurt to watch her.
“Behave.” She tilted up the pistol and blew on the barrel.
“That’s not hanky-panky. It’s just the truth.” He walked to the door. She followed him. When he walked out, he turned around to look at her standing in the doorway.
“Oh, here. Your new key for the door.” He’d kept one for himself. He pulled it out of his pocket and dropped it in her hand, and as his fingers brushed her palm he was zapped by the sweetness of that brief touch.
> “See you.” But he didn’t step back. He wanted to kiss her so badly his chest hurt.
She nodded. “Go.”
He turned, opened his apartment door, and had one foot inside when he felt the spray of water hit the back of his head.
Laughing, he turned to give her a little playful hell, but her door slammed shut. He heard her laughter from the other side. And damn if it wasn’t a beautiful sound.
He stood there a few seconds, his chest swelling with something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Happiness. Just plain ol’ happiness. As if things in life were better than they’d been in… in forever.
She—Leah Reece—made him happy.
But one question hit and hit hard. Why the hell did she have to be DeLuna’s sister?
Austin took a quick shower and was frying the bacon when his cell rang. He flipped the strip of meat and went to grab the phone. His gut feared it was Leah canceling. She’d let down her guard more than ever before, and he worried she’d realize it and try to rein herself back in.
He didn’t want the reined-in Leah, he wanted the real one.
He checked the number and smiled when he saw it was Tyler.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“I ran a search on anything and everything about Luis Reece. There’s nothing. The kid’s clean. Hell, I even had a professor friend who works at the college he attends look into him, and he’s a good student.”
“Okay. Did Nance deliver the package?”
“He dropped it straight off at Logan’s lab.”
“Good.” Austin moved back into the kitchen to watch the bacon. “Have you heard from Roberto?”
“No, and I left a message this afternoon. Dallas wants me to come out and ask him about the Austin and San Antonio deals getting busted. See if he’ll come clean.”
“Shit! That’s it.” Austin set his fork down.
“What’s it?”
“Luis Reece. He lives in Austin and he just took a trip to San Antonio. And I’m pretty damn sure he was there when the deal went down.”
Tyler paused. “You think the kid is involved with the drug deals?”
“Yeah.” And that’s what Leah thought. He knew it.
“I don’t know,” Tyler said. “The kid reads clean.”
“Or maybe he just hasn’t been caught yet.” The realization of how Leah would feel if her brother got caught up in something illegal had him hoping he was wrong. But wasn’t it too much of a coincidence?
“So you’re thinking that the break-in to her apartment and the bloody shoe box are also related to DeLuna?”
“It would seem that way.” He listened to bacon sizzle and pop. “Oh, hell, I don’t know. I’m just trying to put the pieces together.”
“Well, keep trying; generally they fall together sooner or later.”
“Yeah.” He paused. “See if you can find out if there’s anyone who has ever worked for DeLuna named Cruz. It could be a last name or a nickname. I don’t know.”
“And this is the guy you think tried to rape Leah Reece?”
“Yeah.” Austin frowned, realizing he liked it better when he felt Leah’s issues weren’t DeLuna related.
“What’s your gut say? Do you think she knows where DeLuna is?”
“I don’t think so. But… she’s secretive.” Austin recalled her confession about her father. He also recalled that he hadn’t pressed her to get more information. If he’d prodded her, she might have told him about DeLuna.
Why the hell hadn’t he tried? The answer rolled over him. Because he’d wanted to console her, not interrogate her. But now to get her back to talking about that could be difficult.
“Shit!” he muttered, realizing he’d screwed up.
“Shit what?” Tyler asked.
“Just shit,” Austin said.
“Well, if you’re in a bad mood now, I’m about to make it a lot worse.”
“What?” he snapped.
“Don’t be mad at Ellen. It wasn’t her fault.”
“What wasn’t her fault?” Austin couldn’t think of one thing Ellen could have done to make him mad. He liked their receptionist. And if he had a problem with her, he’d probably have to go through Rick, her new husband, who worshipped the floor the woman walked on.
“Your… Ms. Adams—”
“Candy Adams?” His stomach knotted. Damn. He wasn’t used to that name coming up in conversations. He worked too hard all his friggin’ life to forget it.
“Yeah, she’s been dropping by the office every day looking for you.”
“Call the friggin’ police. I told her to get lost.”
“Look, she hasn’t done anything wrong. Just asked for you. She’s been polite and seems harmless. But this afternoon, she dropped by again. Ellen came back to ask me what to do. When she went back out there to nicely ask her to leave, Ms. Adams was sitting at Ellen’s computer. Ellen had the address book open on her computer because she was going to call you and let you know that Logan at Lab, Inc. and… Look, there’s a good chance she got your phone number and address.”
“Oh, that’s just fucking great!” Austin bellowed.
“Ellen feels terrible.”
“Fuck,” he gritted out again.
Leah grabbed the wine and stood at her unopened door with all the new, fancy clearance-priced locks that her sexy neighbor had put on. It was crazy. She must be losing it. Here she was going to his apartment for dinner, feeling plumb giddy about it, and yet, yet… she had so many problems that she had no right to be giddy about anything.
Something was going on with Rafael and Luis. Even if Luis was telling the truth and nothing had gone down, Rafael was up to no good. And his no good was bad.
She went back to the sofa, dropped the wine on the coffee table, and reached for the phone in her pocket to call Austin and beg off. She had her finger on the call button and… paused.
Was there anything she could do tonight besides worry? She could call Luis and beg him to come clean… again. But their last conversation convinced her he wasn’t lying. That made the situation feel even worse. How could she fix something that was nothing more than a fabrication in Rafael’s mind?
She sighed. Calling Luis wouldn’t do any good. He’d promised to stay with his girlfriend and not go home. Sunday when he came to visit, they’d have a long talk and maybe figure out what was really happening. But tonight…?
Staying home, fretting, wouldn’t solve anything. She might as well go eat a grilled sandwich, drink one glass of wine, and let herself forget she had so many problems. Not that she could forget to the point that she might… do something she would regret.
Okay, she was going to dinner, going to enjoy dinner, but she had rules. No kissing. No more spilling her guts to him. No more… She recalled the electrical feeling she’d gotten when he’d passed her the key. No more touching. And absolutely no sex.
She snagged the bottle of wine, started out, then swung back. Smiling, she grabbed the water gun. She might need it.
Austin paused before answering the knock. He pushed a palm over his face hoping to wipe the scowl from his expression.
He opened the door. “Come in. The sandwiches are almost done.”
She glanced at his face, and he worried he hadn’t chased away his scowl. She walked past him, and he got a sniff of waffle cones again.
“It smells good.”
“So do you,” he said, not thinking.
She quirked an eyebrow at him as if to remind him of the no hanky-panky rule. Little did she know, she didn’t have to remind him. He’d already given himself a good swift kick in the ass.
“I brought the wine.” She held up the bottle.
“Great.” He took the wine and saw the water gun in her other hand. And just like that, he remembered he hadn’t put away his Glock. Shit! That could cause questions.
As he walked past the dining room table, adjacent to the kitchen, he saw the gun on the table.
He looked back at her following him. “Can you turn th
e sandwiches? While I open this?”
“You bet.” The kitchen, nothing more than a nook, hardly held two people.
“Spatula’s there.” He pointed to the counter.
She grabbed the spatula and set her water gun down on the counter. “These look good.”
“They are.” He snagged the wine opener and then went to the table to open it, hoping to snag the gun and hide it.
With his back to her and praying she wasn’t looking, he reached for the gun.
“I hope you’re licensed to carry that.”
Busted.
“Of course I am. Sorry. I meant to put it away earlier.” He walked in the bedroom and put it in a drawer. He got a glimpse of himself in the dresser mirror, frowning. Inhaling, he went in to face the music.
He went straight to the wine and waited to see if this was going to cause a wrinkle. He didn’t need any more wrinkles tonight.
“Why do you have a gun?” she asked. “Do you consider your job dangerous?”
“No,” he lied. “But when traveling, I feel a little safer.” He removed the cork and stepped into the kitchen to grab the glasses.
“I guess I should be fortunate you didn’t have it on you when you found the guy robbing my place.”
He pulled the glasses down. “If I’d had it, I’d been able to detain him and he’d be in jail.” Moving to stand beside her, he said, “For a girl who doesn’t like guns, you sure do like to use one.” He tried to make his tone sound teasing, but he wasn’t sure he’d pulled it off.
She looked down at the sandwiches, still cooking. “I think these are done.”
“Perfect.” And she was. She’d changed clothes. She wore a pair of light-colored jeans and a gray long-sleeve T-shirt with hearts printed on it. Her hair was the only thing he would change. She wore it up in a ponytail. He liked it loose.
“Do you want some water?” he asked.
“Sounds good. Where are your glasses?”
He motioned to the top cabinet. While she filled the glasses with ice and water, he set the table.
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