by Jillian Hart
“Oh, I don’t—”
Marcus piped in. “Did you eat yet?”
“Well, no I—”
“Then you should come with us.” The kid grinned into the rearview mirror, as if he thought himself pretty smart. “The lady gets to pick the pizza toppings.”
“You don’t have to say yes, Brianna.” Max snapped his seat belt into place. “You might have something better to do with your sister.”
“Actually, I’m hanging out until she’s done working to get a ride home.” She twisted in the seat, peering over the headrest at him.
“You aren’t saying no?” He wanted to be sure he got that right.
“I’m not saying no. It’s tempting.” She settled back against the seat as the truck ambled through the intersection. “But I have a fondness for pepperoni.”
Now he had to like her. He had a weakness for pepperoni—and nothing else. “How much longer do you have to go car-less?”
“The insurance company says they will issue a check next week, but you know how that goes.”
“Do I.” He buckled in but couldn’t relax. He felt on edge, but not in a bad way. Brianna was the reason. Everything about her drew him in, from the melting snow glistening like diamonds in her golden hair, to her sweet lilac scent, to the sound of her whispering sigh as she held her hands up to the heater vent, as if grateful.
Still that innocent storybook princess.
Anything that appeared too good to be true, had to be. That was his experience. That was the way the world worked. But so help him, when he looked at her he never wanted anything to be truer. He wanted Brianna to be everything she seemed to be and more.
Sad, but there it was. He didn’t like that she had been out biking in the snow. “It isn’t as if you are the only biker out there tonight.” He tapped on the window for emphasis when they came across another one, although this biker was a man who looked hard core, as if he biked year-round regardless of the weather. “It’s the best you could do for transportation?”
“Yes, for tonight, at least. My sisters are working, my friends are all occupied elsewhere for one reason or another, so the bike was the last resort.” She ran her fingers through her hair, combing out the melting diamonds. “I was supposed to be at the bookstore an hour ago, that’s where Colbie works—”
“Colbie is the one who set you up with the nose-ring guy.”
“Right. Anyway, I got stuck talking to a professor after class, there was a line ahead of me and I thought, this won’t take that long. I’ll be fine. Wrong. Then I saw someone I knew on campus. I figured it wouldn’t take long to stop and say hi. Wrong. When I finally got on my way, I got caught behind the bus. Five red lights and four bus stops. It all adds up to me riding home in the dark in the snow.”
“Perfect timing for us, though.” Max rapped his knuckles against his brother’s shoulder and pointed left. “Use the turn signal.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Marcus rolled his eyes, but the kid was grinning. He obviously enjoyed giving his older brother guff.
“Here we are.” Max seemed relieved his brother had delivered them all safely. “You need to call that sister of yours?”
“No, I texted her to say I was running late when I was stuck behind the bus for two of the five red lights.”
“So, you’ve got two sisters?”
“No. Besides, Brandi and Colbie, I also have a sister and two brothers from my dad’s first marriage.”
“I have a family like that. Halves and wholes, scattered all over the place. My dad was a cop. Being a cop is tough on a marriage. Very tough.” That hurt, but it was only the truth. It wasn’t as if he had a chance with her. It wasn’t as if he wanted to, right? At least, that’s the way it had to be. “It’s why I haven’t shackled myself in holy bonds.”
“Then why were you on a blind date?”
“I guess some hopes spring eternal, however small.” That was only the truth. Good thing the truck rolled to a stop in a prime spot next to the curb, and Marcus killed the engine. Max didn’t want to think too hard on the coincidence of running into her again. He couldn’t say he hadn’t been tempted to drop by the bakery on the chance that she would be working there. Just like he couldn’t deny he hadn’t been thinking about the backdoor burglar case and what she’d been through, the valor she had shown under fire.
He hopped out, got her door and took her gloved hand to help her down. Nice, being near her. Cozy. He couldn’t say he didn’t notice when she smiled at him, her big violet-blue eyes captivating.
Good thing he was immune to captivating. Or a tough guy like him was supposed to be. He stayed at her side, protecting her from the wind and snow the best he could. He began to think stopping to pick her up had been a bad idea. Especially when she slipped through the door ahead of him, as dainty as royalty, yet as down to earth as could be in her winter jacket and worn jeans. Her suede boots padded on the tile floor ahead of him. Snow had caught in her hair again, dappling her as if with precious gems.
“Look. It’s buffet night. My favorite.” She tossed a smile over her shoulder, a simple gesture, innocent, as if wholly unaware of her power at that moment.
One glance, one smile, one word from her, his chest tightened and it was as if she’d looped a noose around his heart and had pulled it tight. How it happened, Max didn’t know. The bright lights of the pizza parlor seemed tacky compared to her gentle grace as she stepped into line at the counter, drawing him along by the strings of his heart.
Boy, he was in trouble. Big-time.
Chapter Five
She was in trouble. Big-time. Bree knew it the moment she felt her phone vibrate in her coat pocket and chose to ignore it. She had sent Colbie a text message when she’d been standing in the long line at the counter, so it wasn’t her big sister worrying over her. Whoever was calling her would have to wait—a first for her. But then, she had never been out with Max before. Not that you could call loading up on pizza, salad and cheese sticks an official date or anything.
You wish, Bree. She mentally rolled her eyes, because it was the truth. She wished this was a date. She wished Max would like her that way. But did she have a chance of that? Hardly. It wasn’t as if he spent most of the time gazing into her eyes, making her feel as if she were the only person in the restaurant. It wasn’t as if their talk had turned personal, like the way dates usually went.
He’s years older than you, for one. She took a bite of pizza and savored the greasy-cheesy-pepperoni taste. He’s really different from you, for another. She glanced through her lashes at Max, seated across the table, as he dug through his pockets for change.
“I’ll take the nickels and dimes, too.” Marcus cupped his hands. “How many dollar bills have ya got?”
“You’re not getting my ones.” Max shook his head, acting gruff but his eyes said otherwise. He had amazing eyes. Dark and deep and warm. Caring. “That’s all I got. Now go play. Get out of my hair.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Marcus grinned, pocketed his change and grabbed his plastic soda cup. “A guy gets thirsty playing video games. See you two later.”
The teenager loped away, his pockets rattling with money.
“That kid. Nothing but trouble.” Max appeared disgruntled, but she knew better. It wasn’t hard to see how deeply he cared.
She liked that about him. “You spend a lot of time with your little brother.”
“Some.” He gathered up a slice of pizza from his plate. “Family. What else are you going to do with them? You can give in and spend time with them or take your phone off the hook. Keep your doors locked. Never answer your e-mail.”
Only the wry grin at the corners of his mouth gave him away. She liked that he was tough on the outside and a good-hearted man inside. She sipped her soda thoughtfully. “I know what you mean. There goes my phone, ringing again. Family.”
“Are they mostly here in Bozeman?”
“Or nearby.” She thought of the small town to the east where she and Brandi had grown up. Her m
other had moved many times since and now lived only thirty minutes away, but it might as well have been a light-year.
“Must be nice having everyone close.” He glanced past her, just like he had been doing through the entire meal, and stared at something beyond her shoulder. Probably his brother in the games corner. “I’ve got a sister in Fresno, a half sister in Florida, a sister by marriage in Anchorage and another half brother in Boston.”
“My family may be here in Montana, but we’re not as close as you might think.”
“They live all over the state, huh?”
“No, that’s not the close I meant.” She thought of the yawning gulf that divided her family, the years and hardships. It was complicated. “When Brandi and I moved to Bozeman to go to school, Lil heard about it and invited us to Sunday dinner. That’s when we got to know Colbie and Lil better. But my brothers and Brooke, we’re trying. We didn’t grow up together.”
There was so much a guy as solid as Max might not want to hear. Things that reminded her of the disadvantaged girl she’d been. She could still hear the neighbors talking at church, not realizing she’d been nearby. What chance do those girls have, with parents like that? They’ll be alcoholics before their tenth birthday.
Ashamed, she pushed those memories away. “When I woke up in I.C.U., the nurses told me that all my sisters and brothers had spent the night in the waiting room praying for me. It was the first time we were all together in the same place. We’re not exactly the perfect family.”
“Don’t worry. Neither was mine. My dad was always working. He was a detective with the L.A.P.D.” His voice grew rougher with emotion and sorrow he did not explain. “It was a tough job. It changed him. Made him rough and bitter. I can’t say the same thing hasn’t happened to me, but I’m trying not to make his mistakes.”
“I know how hard fighting bitterness can be. What were his mistakes?”
“Depression, post-traumatic stress. His marriage failed, so he got married again and that failed.”
“Failed marriages are a tradition in my family, too.” She could have said more, she wanted to say more, but she didn’t. Max’s integrity and strength made her hold back. She didn’t know how he would react if she told him about her father. The truth was, she didn’t want Max to know that about her dad. She did not come from a line of policemen. Her dad was a felon. Her mom drank too much and liked men who did the same. That was her legacy. “How old were you when your parents divorced?”
“Ten. It was tough.” He stared down at his soda, seizing the cup with both hands. “He died in the line of duty when I was in the academy. Complications from a gunshot wound. A blood clot took him, when some of the toughest criminals in L.A. couldn’t.”
“I’m sorry. That had to be very hard for you.”
“For Marcus more than me. He was a little kid. That was a long time ago.” He swiped his face, obviously fighting emotion. “To answer your first question, yes, I spend a lot of time with him. He lives with me.”
“You’re raising him?”
“Shocking, I know. What do I know about a kid?” He shook his head, a smile hooking the left corner of his mouth and sadness making his eyes fathomless. “He got to be a handful for his mom. She had enough problems of her own, so I took him. The problems continued, so I scouted around for jobs outside of L.A. Got lucky when there was an opening here.”
“Let me guess. You moved here last summer?”
“That would be an affirmative.”
“That was why you came in on the tail end of my case.” She understood now. He’d been new to the area. She considered him, this man who raised his younger half brother, who had moved away from everything he’d known for the boy’s sake. Hard to disguise the sigh of respect rising through her. “Do you like Montana?”
“It has its high points.” He polished off his soda. “What about you?”
“Me? I’ve never been out of the state. Maybe one day, but when I finish my degree, I want to teach in the area.”
“Oh, so that’s what you want to be.” He took another bite of pizza. “A teacher?”
“One more semester and then it’s student teaching. I’m nervous about that.”
“You’ll be fine.” He was sure. He could see her in a classroom. “Are you talking high school, or do you want to teach the little tykes?”
“The little guys. I’m getting my degree in elementary education.” She took a dainty sip of soda. “I’m not sure about a job, though. Openings aren’t that easy to find these days.”
“Tell me about it. I looked for over a year until this one popped up. Even then, there were a lot of other guys applying.” He took his cup and stood. “I have a good feeling about you, and I’m always right. You aren’t going to have any trouble finding the right job.”
“Your words to God’s ears.”
He had to believe that God was keeping special watch over her. The images of the crime scene flashed across his vision, the carnage and destruction. The lives forever lost. She had survived that and she sat before him looking untouched by it.
There had to be more to her story. She wasn’t what she seemed. She couldn’t be. He held out his hand for her cup. “Want another root beer?”
“Please.”
“Thought I would snag a few slices of dessert pizza, too. Interested?”
“Always. I have a fondness for the cherry kind.”
“Roger that.” He took her cup, and his fingers bumped against hers. A shock jittered through his system with enough force to knock out his knees. No emotion had ever hit him like that before. He walked away on unsteady legs. He wasn’t going to let himself feel the tenderness gathering within him. He wasn’t going to believe in what might never be.
At the soda dispenser, he glanced over his shoulder at the woman. She bent over her phone, thumbs flying as she texted, looking like his most secret, deepest dream. God sure had a sense of humor bringing her into his path. A fresh-faced, golden girl-next-door type.
She wasn’t right for him, either. He thought of his dad and his unhappy marriages. He thought of all the ways his long hours and tougher personality would disappoint a woman like her. Every day he felt tainted by his job, saw more despair, touched evil. It was bound to rub off. To change a man.
This wasn’t a date. He shouldn’t forget that. He could make a list a mile long with all the reasons why he’d be better off not seeing her again. The kid had invited her. She was simply tagging along. That’s how he had to think of this. He wanted to make sure she had a warm ride to her sister, that was all. That’s as far as he could afford to let himself care.
But the lasso around his heart tugged a notch tighter.
He’s looking for someone much different from me. Brianna continued her list as the truck rolled through the snowy streets with Max behind the wheel. He might not have said it, but he didn’t have to. An image of the woman in the bakery that night came to her—polished, put together.
That’s definitely the last thing I am. Sitting in the passenger seat with snowflakes batting at the windshield, she felt every flaw sharply, as if a spotlight were shining down on each one. It was simple reality. She was too short, too clueless, too burdened and with too many problems—the post-traumatic stress was a biggie. No wonder she was still single. She wouldn’t date herself, either, if she was a guy.
But did that mean love only happened when you were tall enough, had enough sophistication and savvy or had worked out every problem with years of psychotherapy? That didn’t make any sense, either.
“Is this the place?” Max bit out into the silence.
Bree took a look around, realizing they were in the parking lot where Colbie worked. “Yes. Thanks. You can just let me off at the front door.”
“Just let you off, huh? As in dump you out?” Trouble, that’s what it was, twinkling in his dark blue eyes. “Sorry. I’m not that kind of guy.”
“Sweet,” came Marcus’s voice from the backseat. “A bookstore. There’s this book I want
to get….”
“No one is talking to you right now.” Max glanced into the rearview, but his smile hooked his dimples, and the teenager laughed. “You keep quiet, kid.”
“Sure. I get it. I didn’t know, bro.” Marcus sounded amused.
Must be an inside joke. Whatever the two brothers were talking about, she hoped her own little secret wasn’t about to be exposed. She unhooked her seat belt, hoping she wasn’t blushing again. So, she liked Max. Really liked him. What girl wouldn’t? It wasn’t as if this was a date or anything. Her being with him was simply happenstance. Just one of those coincidences in life.
Her passenger door swung open. Max stood in the storm, hand out, to help her down. Could she help it if those tiny wishes glimmered to life when her hand met his? It was as if her heart whispered, this is The One.
Time stilled, and she felt weightless as she slipped off the seat. Snow tumbled from the heavens, sifting through the fall of light from the storefront and each flake shimmered. It fell over them both like grace, like a moment of pure blessing. Her doubts vanished, her worries fell away. There was only Max’s riveting gaze and his strength radiating through her hand. Her feet hit the ground and although he moved away, the connection remained.
“Where do you want your bike?” Max asked as he shut the truck door.
“Oh, I’ll go ahead and take it around back. I—”
“That wasn’t what I asked.” Firmly spoken, but his words resonated with kindness. “Go in where it’s warm. I’ll take the bike around back. Is there a rack there? Do you want it locked?”
“No, you can just lean it up against the side of the building. I’ll load it later.”
“Load it where?”
“On my sister’s car. Do you have to know everything, Mr. Detective?”
“Yes. Yes I do.” His dimples dug deep as he swung open the front door and held it for her.
Triple wow. He had that charisma thing going for him, and combined with the world-weary-hero thing, she felt completely overwhelmed. She slipped past him, aware of his height and his character. He was a total twenty on a scale of ten. A complete Mr. Dreamy. More so now that she’d gotten to know him better, the devoted cop, the loyal brother, one of the good guys.