Falling for the P.I.

by Victoria James

  She shook her head, trying to deny where he was going and the assumptions he was making. It was too soon.

  “Let me finish, tough girl,” he said, his voice softening. “I just want to tell you that I’m not one of the bad guys. And yeah, I get that people say that, but I’m not. Your cause, the women, the kids, it hits home. The first twelve years of my life I grew up in a house where my dad beat my mom and me. And then she took us and left. See, she’s the best kick-ass woman I know. And we spent some time in one of those shelters, but it was crowded and in the city. My sister was two at the time. They helped my mom regain her confidence, helped her get a job, helped until we were able to move into our own apartment. I’m part of the white-ribbon campaign. I took an oath. As a police officer I took an oath. As a man, I took an oath. I will never, ever raise my hand in violence or use my words to belittle a woman. So you’re safe. Whatever it is you’re running from, you’re safe with me.”

  She knew he was staring at her, but she blinked back the moisture collecting in her eyes and kept her eyes trained on the sky above. Her chest was heavy with the weight of what he’d said. He’d been brutally honest and so beautifully sincere that she didn’t know what to say. How could she hide from that, even if she wanted to?

  “You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted you to know,” he said, in that low, gruff voice that turned off all her internal alarms. He shouldn’t have been able to. No one, no man, should have been able to do that, especially after one evening. But she knew liars, and he wasn’t one of them.

  “Tell me when you want me to drive you home.”

  She swallowed hard and managed a nod, not taking her eyes off the stars. She didn’t even hope to see a shooting star. Right now, she was happy and safe in this place. She didn’t even jump when she felt his large, warm hand envelope hers. As his fingers entwined with hers, she decided it was nice. It was nice to actually feel safe and protected. It was nice to trust someone.

  Chapter Five

  Matt leaned against the boardroom table and looked out at his employees. He’d finished his weekly check-in with everyone, and Liam was just wrapping up the items he’d wanted to address.

  In less than a decade, he and Liam had started up this business and turned it into one of the province’s leading resources for confidential, private investigation services. They were both former detective sergeants and had worked on the drug squad together. Their entire agency was only employed with handpicked former and retired police officers. Liam and Matt both loved their work. Matt knew it was his friend and this business that had motivated him to get his life back after the accident and the death of his marriage.

  “One last thing before everyone gets up,” Matt said. He pulled out the jar that was on the table behind him and held it up. “We’re collecting donations for a worthy cause. There’s a women’s shelter being constructed in Still Harbor and they need money. I’ve already made a sizeable donation and I’d appreciate you doing whatever you can. The jar will be on the reception desk. You can also help out by purchasing tickets to their fundraiser gala. K’ thanks everyone.”

  Everyone filed out and he pretended he didn’t notice the way Liam was grinning at him. It was a stupid grin.

  “Wow, that was fast,” his friend said. His voice had an annoying ring to it.

  Matt folded his arms across his chest and put on his best don’t-shit-with-me face.

  Liam smiled, clearly not giving a rat’s ass what Matt’s expression said. “One date and you’re already running some charity for her?”

  “I’m not running it. It’s a good cause. Why don’t you open your wallet and donate, you cheap-ass.”

  Liam snorted. “Yeah, will do, but first, I need to hear—”

  “I don’t discuss my personal life.”

  “Yeah, you do. I knew all the sordid details of your divorce.”

  “This is different. There’s nothing sordid going on. In fact, there’s nothing really going on.” That was kind of true. He had no idea what the hell had happened to him the other night. The moment he’d laid eyes on Kate at that bar, dodging that gross pickup attempt, he’d been attracted to her. When she’d danced with him, and he’d felt her body against his, some other feeling hit him. It had been fleeting. He hadn’t had time to place it before she’d gotten some scared look in her eyes.

  But the other night he’d gotten to know her on an entirely different level, one that played with the feelings in his past. She had lured him in. The woman was tough, but so damn vulnerable it had taken everything in him not to ask her what had made her that way. He knew he’d never see her again if he pushed. So instead, he’d kissed her, because he couldn’t resist. He’d wanted to kiss her at the bar too, but at his house, sitting next to him, drinking beer and insulting him…well, that had been an intoxicating combination he couldn’t resist. And he’d pulled back much sooner than he wanted. It had taken everything in him to pull away from her, especially since she had kissed him back with the same desire he’d felt. But he knew again that if he demanded too much she’d walk. So he’d played it safe and kept it very PG.

  Then he’d revealed shit about his childhood that he made a policy not to discuss with people. Not because he was emotional about it. He was over it, but he didn’t like to be reminded of a time when the women in his life were defenseless. It reminded him of a time when he wasn’t in control, when he couldn’t defend them. But he had wanted her to know. He’d taken the first shot at breaking down the wall between them in the hopes it would allow her to trust him.

  His phone vibrated on the desk. His mother’s picture came on the screen. He stifled his groan. Not that he minded talking to his mother, but he knew exactly what this was about. His little sister had already blabbed about his date. It rang and rang.

  “You’re avoiding phone calls from Barb?”

  Matt frowned at him. “No.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” Liam said, trying to snatch his phone. Matt beat him to it and shot him a dirty look.

  Liam shrugged. “Hey, that woman makes the best chocolate chips cookies in the damn country. I will gladly sell you out anytime.”

  “Go away,” Matt said, taking the call.

  “Matthew Eric Lane, I have been trying to reach you all day.”

  “Hi, Mom.” Matt resisted the urge to groan out loud. It was exactly what he’d suspected.

  “I have it on good authority—”

  “Sabrina is an authority on nothing.”

  “That you have gone out on a date with a wonderful woman. I am very pleased to hear this, Matthew. It’s about time. I’m sure you remembered your manners.”

  “I’m not five.”

  “Now, don’t go getting embarrassed, dear, I’m just trying to help. So. How did it go?”

  Matt banged his fist repeatedly on his forehead and shut his eyes.

  “I hope you’re not banging your fist on your forehead. I still think that can cause brain damage.”

  He stuffed his hand into his pocket. “Mom, everything went well, and that’s it.”

  “Well, are you going out again?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Ask her, Matthew. Don’t let a good one go.”

  “Yeah. I will. I don’t want to push. She, uh, has a kid.” Liam stopped at the door and made a strangling motion with his hands. Matt flipped him the finger and turned his back on him.

  “Oh, your sister didn’t tell me that.” There was a long pause, and then whispering.

  “Mom, is Sabrina there?” he asked, ready to hang up the phone. Honestly, his sister could drive him to drink with all her antics.

  “She’s busy with homework. I brought her a snack and she was catching me up on the latest. So, like I was saying, I know what it’s like to be a single mom, and when I was all on my own, I wish I would have met a man like you, Matthew. You’re honest—”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down. “All right, I think we’re done here. Love you, gotta get back to wor
k.”

  “And modest.”

  “Bye Mom.”

  “Don’t forget about Thanksgiving dinner! Invite her to our house.”

  “I’m getting another call. Love you.”

  He drew a deep breath, and then tried to decompress. He loved his mother dearly, they were close. In some ways, he’d been the other parent in the house and he’d been his mom’s defender. He knew how tough she’d had to be in order to take herself out of the situation she’d been in. He had a lot of respect for single mothers, which was why he usually stayed away from those sorts of situations. The single mom thing was the other reason he hadn’t pressed or called Kate back this week. Single moms were different. The rules were all different. He frowned, thinking about how this was getting more complicated.

  “Man, why are you staring out that window like some teenager who can’t get a date to prom?”

  Matt flipped his friend the finger, and was about to verbalize what an idiot Liam was, when there was a knock at the door. He turned around to find Derek standing there.

  “Matt, can I speak to you for a moment, please?”

  Matt nodded, waving his friend inside the room. Derek had officially joined their team this week. Liam sat behind the table, face hunched over his Blackberry.

  “How are things going, Derek?”

  The older man ran his hands along his wide jaw and gave a slight frown. “Well, everything here is great. Good people. Looking forward to my first case. But I’m coming to you about a personal matter.”

  Matt crossed his arms. “Okay. Go ahead.”

  “The charity, the woman who runs it. You said her name was Kate Abbott?”

  Matt paused for a moment, studied his friend’s weathered face, noting the tension, the pronounced lines around his mouth. “Actually, I didn’t say what her name was.”

  Derek gave a brief nod. “Right. I think I must’ve read about it in the paper. Are you involved with her…personally?”

  Matt didn’t take his eyes off him. “Define personally.”

  “Friends? Lovers?”

  He forced his muscles to remain calm. He didn’t like where this was going. He’d never been the type to respond to orders or demands. “Why?”

  “I know her, from a long time ago, and you should be warned that she’s not who she appears to be. Watch your back is all I’m saying,” Derek said, his eyes taking on a hard appearance before he started walking toward the door. Liam was no longer looking at his Blackberry.

  “Hey, man, wait. What the hell is that supposed to mean? You got something to say about her, say it.” Matt didn’t like games and he knew Derek didn’t either. He didn’t know what his friend was talking about, but he found himself getting defensive.

  Derek turned around. “I’m looking out for you, son. I know that ex of yours betrayed you, and I’d hate to see you have to go through some bullshit because of a woman all over again.”

  Derek walked out of the room before Matt could say another thing. He leaned against the desk, not knowing what had just happened. Tension pulled at all his muscles. What the hell could Kate have done? And how the hell did Derek know her? Matt knew people; he knew how to read them. He could sniff out liars a mile away. But neither Derek nor Kate were liars. Derek was like family to him. He had been more of a father to him than his biological one.

  “What the hell was that?” Liam asked.

  Matt shrugged. He was pissed off. “I have no idea.”

  “What’s the deal with this Kate woman?”

  Matt mentally scrolled through their time together, all the little telltale signs that she was lying. Sure, he knew she was hiding something, but his instincts told him it was hurt. He knew why Liam was looking at him like he’d lost his mind. His buddy had been there every step of the way through his divorce. Hell, if it hadn’t been for his idea to start up the firm, he didn’t know what would’ve happened to him. The idea to start their PI firm had given him the motivation to get his leg back into shape and to put his wife’s cheating behind him. But the scorching sting of betrayal wasn’t something he’d soon forget and, obviously, Liam hadn’t either. “There is no deal with her. She’s just a single mom. She’s Sabrina’s teacher. I don’t know what the hell that doom-and-gloom warning was all about. It’s not like him.”

  “Do you want me to run a background—”

  “No,” he said. “I don’t. I’m not going down that road. If she’s got something in her past then she’ll tell me. That’s assuming this is going anywhere. I may never see her again anyway.” Okay, so that part might have been a bit of a stretch, because he damn well intended on seeing Kate again, but he wouldn’t do a background check on her. No way. He didn’t need to rifle through her past, no matter what Derek had said about her.

  “What the hell would that do anyway? It’s not like if we did a check on Michelle before I met her, it would’ve told me she would eventually cheat on me with my partner.”

  “If you change your mind, let me know. It sounds like Derek really didn’t like her.”

  Matt stared at his friend’s concerned face. Yeah, it hadn’t sounded good, but he was determined to not invade her privacy. Nonetheless, he would get some answers about her and Derek. He’d ask Kate about Derek Stinson.

  …

  Kate stared at the young barista with what felt like bloodshot eyes. All the girls had come down with a nasty cold this week, and she, Alex, and Cara had taken turns with the nighttime wake-ups. This was a week from hell. All the fundraiser stuff was happening, too, on top of her already heavy work schedule, including the debate team she led at Still Harbor High. They were gearing up for their first debate next month, which meant extra sessions after school. Their house was trashed and at this point she was ready to yell at the poor, unsuspecting barista to hurry the hell up and hand her the grande double-shot latte.

  She glanced at her watch. Janie was at speech therapy next door, which meant she had enough time to grab a coffee and then go back in and do some marking. Two hours of speech therapy would give her the opportunity to get something done, while still being able to look through the one-sided glass and make sure Janie was doing okay. Easy. That’s all she had to do. Oh, and not sit there thinking about Matt, or their date, or what had made her feel so comfortable with him. And kiss him. He had called twice this week, and she, being the coward that she was, had texted him saying it was a crazy week.

  Finally, her drink order was ready. She snapped a lid on and spun around, crashing into the hard, tall wall, of…Matt. How was it possible to literally crash into the same human being repeatedly? And why was it always her doing the crashing? He looked down at her with a busted expression on his face. Of course she was busted, because they both knew she had been avoiding him. So, his smile, of pure male smugness should irritate her. It should not be making her think how good he looked when he smiled. Nope. Not thinking about any of that.

  “In a rush?”

  She started shaking her head, but then nodded. “I’m so behind. All three girls were down with some nasty cold this week. I’ve got a pile of essays to mark, paperwork I’m behind on for the fundraiser, debate team practices to set up, and I’ve got less than two hours to do it.” She took a deep breath. “While Janie’s next door at speech therapy.”

  He leaned against the counter, folding his arms across his chest. “Well, it’s your lucky day then. I’m at your service.”

  It was wrong to think of all the ways this man could be of service—none of them included any of the items she’d just mentioned. He disarmed her. “I really need to get back to the therapist’s and get started.” She swung her bag around in an attempt to move away quickly and make her point, but instead, the Frozen backpack got caught on the Thanksgiving Day Blend coffee display, knocking the entire thing over. She closed her eyes for the briefest moment, hoping that maybe it was all a dream. She opened them again to see Matt, crouched down, picking up the packs of coffee. She kneeled down beside him.

  “I think you need
a break,” he said with a warm smile.

  She started stacking the coffees in the display. “Or less caffeine.”

  “Why don’t I come with you? There’s got to be something I can help you with.”

  “I’m sure you have work to do. It’s only four thirty.”

  “I’m done early. I needed to be somewhere at four this morning. I’ve done my time for the day,” he said, standing and holding out his hand for her. She accepted it and rose, quickly pulling her hand back and reaching for her coffee. “C’mon, I promise, it’ll be strictly work.”

  Ten minutes later they were settled at the small table outside Janie’s room and she was unloading the backpack, Elsa’s smirk taunting her. Their coffees were perched on the window ledge and Matt was staring through the window with a soft expression on his face. She didn’t want to acknowledge she thought that was sweet.

  “How’s Janie doing?”

  She divided her marking into two piles and then glanced up at him. “Really well. She’s making huge progress.” She abruptly stopped talking. She had been about to tell him that when she’d first met Janie, she hadn’t been able to speak one word. That she hadn’t started walking yet. That she had been delayed on almost every developmental milestone and that, while that was acceptable for children with Down’s, with a little extra effort, she would be capable of achieving them. But she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she looked away from the flicker of disappointment in Matt’s eyes, and then down at her papers. She couldn’t let him in. Yes, he’d opened up to her on their date, but that didn’t mean she could do the same. She had known him for what, a week?

  He stretched his long legs out to the side, crossed them at the ankles, and took a sip of his coffee. “Use me.”

  She tore her gaze from his great fitting jeans to meet his eyes. Even worse. They never showed irritation with her, even when she was irritated with herself, and the corner of his mouth was tilted up, like he was imagining all the naughty implications of his two words. She cleared her throat and picked up a stack of papers, tapping them on the desk until they were shuffled into a neat pile.