True to You

by Jennifer Ryan

  “She took you in thinking you’re an ex-con and gave you a job.” Agent Bennett stated the truth, but the underlying message came through: Cara got to him.

  Flash couldn’t keep things all business.

  “Listen, King . . .”

  It had been a while since anyone called him by his real name. He wanted to go back to being King. Flash just didn’t sit right with him. Not the lying. Not the games.

  “Trigger didn’t like using innocent people either. It weighed on him. That’s why he always tried to turn someone involved. They got away with their part or reduced charges and Trigger got the goods on whoever we were taking down. So if you don’t think you can turn Cara completely against her father, then find another way.”

  Flash desperately wanted to do this without involving Cara.

  He’d been focused on Cara, her relationship with her father, and how to get close to her. Maybe he needed to expand his focus. If her father kept close tabs on her, that meant others in his organization funneled information to Iceman. Men from his crew came into the coffee shop all the time. He’d stop looking for ways Cara could bring down her father and start looking closer at the men directly involved with Iceman.

  If he found another route to Iceman’s demise, maybe he could live with himself when this was all done.

  Maybe Cara wouldn’t hate him when it was over.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Flash filled a bakery box with assorted donuts and pastries for Mrs. Brown’s weekly book club luncheon. Mrs. Brown wasn’t the only one who came to the outskirts of town for Cara’s sweet treats for one special occasion or another. Suzie, a five-year-old sweetheart with blond pigtails, came in with her mom the other day. She didn’t want a fancy cake for her birthday; she wanted her favorite cinnamon-sugar donut holes. Cara had spent half an hour laying them out and stacking them on a pan with vanilla icing into the shape of a 3-D teddy bear. He had to admit, the squeal Suzie let loose was well deserved. The bear looked as fantastic as the donuts tasted.

  “I know I shouldn’t, but would you add two extra chocolate croissants? Cara doesn’t make them often, but they’re so flaky and the chocolate just melts in your mouth. They’re so good with my morning coffee. I think I’ll save them for myself. Evelyn will be at the luncheon and she’s notorious for stuffing her bag full of treats. Says it’s too far to come all the way out here, but when the food’s this good, it’s worth the trip.”

  “The food isn’t the only good thing worth making the drive for.” Tandy sidled up to his side, ran her hand up his arm to his shoulder, pressed her body close, and winked at Mrs. Brown, whose cheeks flamed pink as her embarrassed gaze dipped away, even as a smile bloomed on her thin lips.

  “The scenery is gorgeous.” Mrs. Brown met his gaze.

  At first he thought she meant the pretty country drive out here, but quickly realized she meant him. The sixtyish bookworm had been here three or four times since Flash started. She always made a point to order from him. And smiled in her shy way. Like now.

  Tim stopped on his way to the kitchen with the bin of dirty dishes under one arm and slapped him on the back with his free hand. “Another Flash fanatic.”

  Holy hell, he’d never noticed it, but Mrs. Brown and Tandy shared wicked little smiles confirming he was much more desirable than the baked goods.

  Tim flashed him a knowing smirk and barely contained a laugh at Flash’s expense as he headed for the sink.

  “Flash, everything okay here?” Cara stepped up close but didn’t touch him. Not the way Tandy did with her hand on his arm, her breasts pressed against his bicep. Even with those lush curves so close, his focus remained on the woman beside him trying to look inquiring, but he caught a few daggers shoot out her blue eyes the second she locked Tandy in her sights before she turned a warm smile on Mrs. Brown. She played off the jealousy well, but he’d made a study of looking past what she showed others to the deeper truth she tried to keep hidden.

  Cara’s spurt of jealousy puffed up his ego way more than Tandy’s and Mrs. Brown’s flirting.

  Tandy let loose another of those conspiratorial smiles. “Mrs. Brown and I were just checking out the goods.”

  Tim dropped a mug on the counter and turned his smiling face away when Flash glanced over his shoulder and shot the nosy kid a death glare.

  Cara’s gaze narrowed with suspicion, but her voice remained kind and coaxing. “You should try the new apple coffee cake. It’s an old recipe I found in my grandmother’s recipe box.”

  Mrs. Brown smiled softly at Cara, then stared up at him. “I was hoping for something much heartier to satisfy my appetite.”

  Flash stared for a good ten seconds, shocked by her outrageous statement. He handed the bakery box over to Tandy. “Mind ringing her up?” He didn’t wait for her answer. He grabbed Cara’s hand and pulled her away from the pair of giggling women he left at his back.

  He practically dragged Cara into the kitchen behind him past Tim and Ray, who faked a cough to cover his laughter. Flash didn’t have a particular place in mind to go, just away from the two women who seriously looked like they wanted to eat him up.

  Cara ignored Tim and Ray’s juvenile behavior, dug in her heels, tugged on his hand, and brought him to a stop. “Flash. Are you okay?”

  He turned and stared down at her. “Uh.” That’s all he could get out. Women flirted with him all the time. He usually had no trouble flirting back. He enjoyed the game. But that had been something altogether different. He didn’t like feeling like an object. He didn’t want to flirt back for the fun of it. It didn’t seem fun when . . . when Cara caught him with them and gave him that look. It hurt her to see him with Tandy, who flirted, and more, but didn’t care about anyone but herself. Or how her flirting with him upset Cara.

  Flash stared past Cara. Tandy had already moved on to her next conquest.

  “She does that.” Cara stared at Tandy, who had one hand on the table, leaning down so the guy got a good look at her goods spilling out her top. She leaned in close to the guy, said something that made him smile, then she leaned back and laughed. “She does it with you all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  Flash focused on the woman beside him, who without doing anything sent a bolt of heat through his system and made him want things he shouldn’t want with her.

  He gave in to need and reached out and softly touched her face, sweeping his thumb over her cheek, drawing her dark gaze from Tandy and up to him. Her eyes softened, but anger still filled the blue depths. “I don’t care what Tandy says or does.”

  The skepticism in her eyes said Cara didn’t quite believe him. “I’m pretty sure Mrs. Brown wanted to take you home instead of her baked goods.”

  He tried to tease her out of her jealousy. “The only woman I’m going home with is you.” Sometimes the truth worked better than anything, even if the meaning of what he said wasn’t the truth of what he really wanted with Cara. Yes, he’d go home with her, but they weren’t together. She wasn’t his. He needed to steer clear and find another way to do his job.

  But none of that made him take a step back from Cara. He remained close enough to feel her even though they didn’t touch.

  Cara’s eyes filled with confusion. “You didn’t like their flirting with you, but you’re flirting with me?”

  He winked at her. “I like flirting with you.”

  “Yet, you can’t stop staring at Tandy.”

  Something caught his eye and wiggled free in his mind. The guy with Tandy had a scorpion tattoo on his middle finger. He’d been in the shop several times. He came in, sat at Tandy’s table, ordered a coffee to go, and then left.

  Same as today. And every time Tandy called out, “I’m taking my break.” Just like today.

  Cara waved Tandy off, then stared back up at him. “I’m making myself some lunch. Do you want anything?”

  “Whatever you’re having,” he responded, watching Tandy grab her purse from the office and head out.

  “What
you want just walked out the door.” The hurt in Cara’s quiet words sank into his heart and made it throb.

  She tried to walk away, but he snagged her hand and held her still. He wanted to ease her mind but something else stole his attention. “That guy at Tandy’s table.”

  “What about him?”

  “He works for your dad.”

  Cara’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah. So?”

  “So he comes in here every couple of days, flirts with Tandy, gets a coffee to go, then leaves.”

  “Dastardly!” The eye roll emphasized how little she cared about the guy, or what Tandy was doing with him. While letting her think he had a thing for Tandy kept things between them from getting too personal, he didn’t really want her to believe it. He wanted her to see that he really had it bad for her, even though he tried damn hard to hide it from her.

  He was trying to help her, damn it.

  “My father probably sends him in here to check up on me. I don’t like it, but I’m not turning down business. So long as he doesn’t do anything worse than hit on Tandy, fine by me. She knows I’ll fire her if I find out she’s dating one of his guys. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  Cara spun on her heel, her bright blond ponytail swinging around, tugged her hand free of his, and walked away, fed up with his fascination with Tandy. Which actually had more to do with the guy than Tandy. He wanted to know what the hell those two were really up to, because something didn’t seem right.

  As much as he wanted to go after Cara and prove to her she was the only woman he wanted, he walked out the back door to find out exactly what Tandy was up to, because it had to be no good if she was with one of Iceman’s men.

  And if whatever they were doing hurt Cara, Tandy would wish she’d never met him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Flash grabbed the bag of garbage on his way out the back door. If Tandy spotted him, he’d cover by tossing the trash in the bin. He stepped out into the bright sunlight and stopped for a moment to let his eyes adjust. No one and nothing but the cool breeze greeted him. Tandy wasn’t sitting in her car parked next to his and Cara’s trucks. Ray’s Bronco sat alone by the covered Dumpster bins. He walked to the right and tossed the garbage in the nearly full bin, checking out that side of the building. Nothing but a couple getting into their Jeep in the parking lot.

  He headed back to the kitchen, but took a wide arc to see if Tandy was on the other side of the building where she’d be relatively cloaked in privacy with nothing but a patchy field dotted with tall grass and wildflowers. Truckers from the truck stop across the street had worn a path through the trees and field bypassing the sidewalk along the street to get to the coffee shop. Maybe Flash had it all wrong and the guy was a truck driver and stopped here to see Tandy on his route.

  Flash covertly approached the side of the building.

  Tandy’s voice carried on the wind, but he wasn’t quite close enough to make out her words. Sounded close to something like, “I need more than this.”

  Flash pressed his back to the side of the building and peeked around the corner. Tandy stood next the guy, their backs to him. The guy handed over several small plastic bags filled with a white substance, probably coke or meth, then another set filled with pills.

  Tandy handed over a wad of bills. “Tell Iceman I want to renegotiate our terms. I’m moving a hell of a lot more product.”

  “You got your cut, you’ll get a bigger piece tonight if you keep the driver busy for us.”

  Flash had no idea what they were talking about, but his gut wrenched tight with anger. Tandy worked for Iceman behind Cara’s back. He’d never seen her selling drugs in the coffee shop, but he hadn’t been looking for it either. He’d been too focused on Cara and whether or not she was helping Iceman. He never suspected Tandy. He wondered if Tim and Ray were in on it, too.

  No way Cara turned a blind eye to them using her place to sell drugs. If she knew about Tandy, she’d fire her. And another piece of Cara’s heart would break because she hated the lies and betrayal that came with her father’s world.

  She tried to stay out of that world. Yet Tandy brought it right into her business and jeopardized Cara and her livelihood.

  “I’ll hold up my end of the deal, but you better work fast. Those guys have short fuses, no matter how hard I try to stall.”

  “I’m ready to go off just looking at you, chica.”

  Tandy bumped her hip into the man’s and giggled. “You want to meet up after the job tonight, I’m all yours, sugar.”

  The guy smacked his hand over Tandy’s ass and squeezed hard. “Once you’re done with the driver, meet me in the truck stop. We’ll have some fun.” He nodded to the drugs in Tandy’s hand.

  Tandy didn’t show signs of a habitual drug user, but he imagined she liked to party once in a while—with an eager and willing partner.

  “Flash.”

  He ducked out of sight of the guy and Tandy a split second before they turned at Cara’s voice and saw him. He needed to cover up why he was out here spying on Tandy. He couldn’t let Tandy catch him watching her.

  He went on pure impulse, closed the distance to Cara in three long strides, wrapped his arms around her, lifted her right off her feet, planted his mouth over hers, and kissed her like he’d wanted to do since the second he saw her. Her surprised gasp gave him the opening he needed to take the kiss deeper. He slid his tongue along hers. Lost in her taste and the feel of her pressed against his chest, he held her tight and gave himself over to her and his one and only chance to ever have her in his arms.

  To his surprise, Cara wrapped her arms around his neck; her fingers dug into his hair, and her mouth moved over his like she’d been craving this as much as him. Her tongue swept along his and he growled out his need, pulled her silky hair so her head tipped back and he got a better angle to kiss her deeper.

  He wanted to brand her so she’d never forget this kiss. The one and only thing they’d ever share. He’d have his fill, in this moment, and pull out the memory of her and the way he felt right now after he left.

  After this job ended and she wanted nothing to do with him ever again.

  “Well, well, well. You guys might set the place on fire you keep going at each other like that.”

  Cara startled in his arms. Lost in him and the kiss they shared, she didn’t know they weren’t alone. She leaned back and stared at him, her eyes wide. Those all-seeing blue eyes shot from him to Tandy and back and narrowed with suspicions, anger, and hurt that made him ache because she had to know he couldn’t kiss her like that if he wanted anyone else. He’d never kissed anyone the way he kissed her. He’d never felt anything like the way he felt right now with her in his arms.

  He sank his fingers deep into her soft hair and pulled her mouth back to his. He kissed her one last time, pouring everything he felt into the kiss, letting her know that it was real. What he felt was real.

  This was no lie.

  He reluctantly broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to Cara’s. He looked her right in the eye and said, “I thought we were alone out here.”

  Cara knew it for a lie, but Tandy got the message.

  “The way you two look at each other, I knew there had to be something between you.”

  Yeah, because Tandy couldn’t fathom any man turning her down for any other reason than he had someone else. As much as he wanted Cara to be his, that would never happen.

  Flash waited for the back door to the shop to close. The second the door slammed shut, Cara put her hands on his shoulders and pushed away from him. He did the hardest thing ever and let her loose, gently setting her back on her feet in front of him. He stared down into her outraged eyes and hated himself for the tremble of hurt that came out with her ridiculous question.

  “Did you kiss me to make her jealous?”

  “Not only no, but hell no. You know better.”

  “Do I?”

  “Want me to prove it to you again?” He’d like nothing better than to kiss her every
second of the rest of his life.

  “What the hell is going on? Why were you spying on her? Why did you kiss me?”

  He answered her questions in order. “I don’t know. To find out what the hell she’s up to with your father’s man. Because I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I met you, but I shouldn’t because . . . it’s not a good idea.”

  He tried to come up with any one reason that justified why it wasn’t a good idea to kiss her, but his mind and body wanted her with a desperation he had a hard time controlling at the moment.

  Cara’s eyes filled with disbelief and confusion and a glimpse of the hunger he’d seen in her eyes when he kissed her and she held him tight. Without her arms around him, he felt empty all over again. It had become a part of him that was there but he ignored. Now its aching presence throbbed through his whole body.

  Jail made him see just how alone a person could be. Especially when he had all that time to think about what he left on the other side of those bars and he realized just how empty his life had become and how many people he cared about but let slip away as time between visits and calls stretched because everyone was just too busy living their lives while his stood still.

  He vowed to change that now that he had his freedom back and his priorities clear.

  One of the things he wanted in his life was a woman. A partner. Someone to share his life with. A wife.

  Figures the woman he wanted he couldn’t have.

  He couldn’t give her everything she wanted, but he’d give her the truth. “Tandy is working with your father’s guy.”

  “Doing what?”

  “I’m not quite sure yet, but they’ve got something going.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “They’re probably sleeping together. She’s feeding him information about me, so he can tell my father.”

  He shook his head before she ever finished. “It’s more than that.”