by Liz Lee
She trusted him. Not just about the food, or making her mother feel at home, or about helping when she called. She trusted him completely. In everything.
“Wine, mother?” She stood, worked a crick out of her shoulder. “We’ve got Reunite or Manischewitz.”
Her mother paled at the names of the screw cap wines and Lil laughed. “Just joking.” She walked into the kitchen and David followed her hips with his eyes. Those jeans sure fit. She looked at his wine rack and smiled back at them both. “I’m sure we’ve got something with a cork. Nothing too fancy, but a step up from Boone’s Farm.”
Scamp decided he liked Lil’s mom and that made David want to laugh.
In a strange way it looked like maybe Lil’s mom liked Scamp back. Like maybe she wanted to pet the dog. Of course that could be a trick of the light.
“He doesn’t bite.” David strolled into the kitchen and Lil’s mom looked up in time to catch him smacking Lil’s butt.
Her face said she didn’t like what she saw. What she said was “Excuse me.”
David pointed at Scamp. “The dog, Scamp. He won’t bite. He’s a big baby.”
Lil handed her mother a glass of deep red wine. “He likes his ears scratched and he likes to play ball. He’s a good dog.”
Her mother accepted the wine graciously and David started dicing onions. He threw them in a skillet with some olive oil and garlic. Added carrots. Heard Lil’s mother’s disapproval. “He looks big.”
“Nah. He’s just a baby.” Lil reached down, kicked the ball and laughed when he brought it back.
“I’m worried about you, Lil,” her mother said and then sipped her wine.
Lil tossed the ball again. “Don’t be. I’m fine. Seriously. It’s okay now.”
Her mother looked for a place to set her glass and Lil pulled the Sports Illustrated off the top of the pile of magazines. “Here. David doesn’t believe in coasters.”
Which wasn’t true. He had several sets of coasters, including two made by his sisters in grade school. Lil was goading her mother on purpose.
As her mother set the cup on the face of a baseball player, he saw it was working.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said, and David seared the Italian sausage so he missed what it was she’d been thinking. Judging by the look on Lil’s face she’d been thinking something along the lines of Lil leaving.
He turned the fire to low in time to hear Lil say, “I love these kids, Mother. Love them.”
Her mother waved away the words as if the emotion meant nothing. “Good. Love them. Set up a nice scholarship fund for them. Send that boy, Manuel or Michael or whatever his name is, send him to college for free. You can do that. You don’t have to be here. You don’t have to teach.”
If he’d only heard the words, he’d think Lil’s mother the coldest, hardest woman he’d ever met. But he saw her face. Heard the plea. Understood it was fear that drove it. Nothing else. Just fear for her daughter.
Lil couldn’t believe it. Her mother had been finding fault from the moment she’d walked in the door. Now this. She wanted to scream. Instead she closed her eyes and brushed frustrated hands through her hair. “I’m not discussing this mother. Not at all. Not ever again.”
She didn’t know why she even tried. Her mother would never understand why she needed to be here. Never.
David stepped into the living room, sat on the arm of the couch and ran a hand across the back of her neck. She leaned into him, happy for his support, and wished she hadn’t offered her mother a chance to taste his food. She didn’t deserve it.
Her mother looked at David and frowned. “If you care for my daughter at all, I know you’ll agree. Tell her it’s dangerous. Tell her.”
He better not. He better not agree with her mother. If he did she was walking out and never coming back. Never.
“Mrs. Palmer,” David said sounding very serious, very intense, “I tried to get your daughter to leave. I even used your same arguments.”
Dead. He was dead. She was going to kill him.
“But,” okay, maybe he could fix this, “she refused to listen to me. She bravely faced a killer to save one of her students and my sister. She helped police capture a man responsible for unspeakable crimes. I think we should be proud of what she’s done and let her make her own choices.”
He left it open on purpose. If she wanted to leave she could. If not, he’d be happy. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck.
“Of course I’m proud of her. I just….” She looked down at Scamp, rubbed his head with her killer shoes and Lil wondered how she’d finish this one. I just want her to live in a nicer place. I just want her to marry a rich man. I just want her to play her days away. She could fill in the blanks a million different ways.
David leaned forward, shot her mother his million-watt smile. The one movie stars paid big bucks for. The one that curled her toes.
He took her mother’s hand in his and she knew the minute her mother decided maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “You just,” he said and paused, raised her hand, dropped it, “are afraid Lil’s going to get hurt. And you’ll do anything to keep that from happening. It’s an admirable wish Mrs. Palmer. One I share with you.”
What? Lil looked at her mother. Saw the tears there in the sides of her eyes as she looked from her to David, as she changed her mind completely about the man her daughter loved.
“I’m glad,” she cleared her throat and started again. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. I hope you’ll keep her safe.”
Lil started to tell her mother David wasn’t her keeper, but he spoke first. “I hope she’ll let me,” he said as he met her eyes, and her knees melted because that look said they weren’t done with this conversation and she couldn’t bear to hope.
A few hours later David and Lil sat alone in their apartment. She wanted to talk to him about his conversation with his mother. But she wanted to talk about his hopes for now even more.
“I’m sorry my mother was so rude.”
David fed her a spoon of mousse and she moaned as the spicy chocolate slid down her throat. Man he could cook. She was going to have to join the exercise classes the cheerleaders ran after school in the gym.
“She’s protective of her daughter. I understand.”
Lil wished. “She wants to control me.”
“She loves you in her own way,” he said.
And she wished her way of love was more like his, like his mother’s, like his sister’s.
“Your dad…”
Lil shrugged. It didn’t matter. It hurt, but it didn’t matter. “He’s in Rome on business.”
It sounded stupid to even say, but she couldn’t make up anything. That’s what her mother had said.
He took her hand, turned it over, kissed her palm. “I would never do that to you.”
“What?”
“Leave you alone at the important times of your life. Try to make you something you’re not.”
She leaned her head back against his chest and smiled. Content.
Somehow they’d both made peace. “You’re a good man, David.”
“I love you Lil.”
She knew that. Knew it and wished it meant more.
“I love you, too.”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
She laughed, tried not to focus on the sweat ring her mother’s glass had made on David’s magazine. “I’m not going anywhere, David. I thought I made that clear.”
He took her face in his hands, turned her toward him. “No. Not leave town. I don’t want you to leave here.”
She closed her eyes, the taste of chocolate still on her tongue. I would be so easy to stay. To give him what he wanted. But she wanted more.
“I know David.” She did. She really did. “But Scrabble and good food and great sex, amazing sex, they’re not enough.”
“Shhh.” He slid his thumb over her lips, told her to be quiet and she was so shocked she did exactly as he asked. “I’ve screwed this up ro
yally, but let me try again. I don’t want you to leave period. I want to be the first person you call when you run into trouble. I want to be the last thing you think about as you drift to sleep. I love you, and I want you to marry me. To be my wife. To take my family as your own. To spend the rest of your life with me. Here, or wherever you want.”
She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She’d known, but she hadn’t. Words weren’t enough. She smiled up at him, and threw her arms around his neck. “Did you just propose to me?”
He laughed, shook his head. “I must’ve done a lousy job if you have to ask.”
She threw her head back then and laughed as relief poured through her. “I just wanted to be sure. I love you too. Yes, I’ll marry you. Absolutely. When?”
He kissed her then and she kissed him back and he said, “We have a lifetime, mi vida. We have a lifetime.”
Books by Liz Lee
Texas Gold: Contemporary Romance
He’s a millionaire developer looking for the next small town to turn into the perfect getaway for Metroplex movers and shakers. Serendipity, Texas is just the spot.
She’s the small town rancher’s daughter determined to get in his way.
When they get together sparks fly.
Amazon link: http://amzn.com/B009N44LIG
If You Dare: Steamy Contemporary Romance
Fantasy meets reality when Cordelia Lewis takes her sister up on a dare and decides to live life on the wild side for a week. Escaping from the expectations of her small town life, Cordelia flies to Las Vegas. She’s still the same small town girl she’s always been, she’s just vamped up her life with a bad girl attitude.
Corporate lawyer Joe Sterling is on the road to riches with a junior partnership in his law firm right around the corner. A small town escapee, big city life is perfect for him. And when his neighbor asks him to show her sister how much fun big city life can be, he’s all for it.
Amazon link: http://amzn.com/B009N90N74
Nobody’s Hero: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Dangerous Lies. Delicious Memories.
After her high profile divorce, Callah Crenshaw left Hollywood for home on a quest to find herself. Only reporter and past lover Riley Sorenson won’t leave her alone. When he shows up at her doorstep with what looks like proof that nothing about her life is what she thinks it is, she tells him to leave. But when a dangerous man knocks on her door, she realizes Riley could be telling her the truth. When bullets start flying, she does the only thing she can. She runs…straight into Riley’s arms.
Is he there for a story or there for her? Callah doesn’t know. Finding the answer means risking her heart.
Sometimes the risk is worth it.
Amazon link: http://amzn.com/B00A19ZWEO
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Nobody’s Hero Preview
Nobody’s Hero: Contemporary Romantic Suspense by Liz Lee
Chapter One
Riley Sorenson was tired of chasing dead end leads.
Tired of hearing his boss tell him he was losing his touch.
Tired of watching breaking news on twenty-four hour networks that pretended what they reported made any kind of difference.
Good investigative reporters studied life and death. They knew the questions to ask and where to get answers. But those answers didn’t amount to a hell of a lot of anything.
Yet here he was still sitting in this newsroom, surrounded by people who wanted to change the world. Pretending to be one of them.
Pretending he cared about the unmarked package sitting on his desk precariously close to his coffee cup. The cup his sister had brought him from Disneyland. God bless America and Mickey Mouse.
Back in the olden days his pulse would’ve thrummed in triple time at the secrecy, the unknown contents, the possible danger of what might lie inside a brown packing envelope sent to him with his own address typed on a plain white label and affixed to the top corner.
No tracing this source. Someone knew what he was doing. He picked up his coffee, took a sip and winced at the grainy, lukewarm mixture. He thought about nuking it, changed his mind and grabbed the package instead.
“Yo Sorenson. You get that story yet?”
Riley knew which story his editor was talking about. “Nah. The Princess isn’t talking. But I filed a great piece on the city council voting to arrest citizens with library fines over a year old. You ought to go front page with that one.”
Mack laughed and poured himself a cup of the same nasty coffee Riley was drinking. In the olden days he’d have offered Riley a shot of the whiskey he poured in his own. Riley’s mouth watered and his throat ached at the memory. Two years and he still craved the smooth, sweet burn.
“CNN, FOX, MSNBC. They’ve all got her. ET did a two and a half minute clip of the divorce and the ex’s funeral.”
Yeah. He’d seen the stories. “And did you notice, she never talked to the reporters? She never even looked at them? She’s not taking my calls, and I’m not turning into some sort of paparazzi.”
“She lives here. You knew her back in the day. There was a time you’d do anything for a story. Don’t go soft on me now. Use that killer charm you used to be known for.”
Riley thought about reminding Mack of all the other things he used to be known for, too. But it didn’t matter because Mack wanted the story. Callah Crenshaw was hot news and for some reason she’d come back to Burkette, Texas. No one knew why, but everyone sure was wondering.
“I’ve tried calling every day, Mack. You want me to ambush her in the damn grocery store?”
His boss laughed. “I want you to do whatever it takes. If it’s no comment, fine. I can live with that and a few pictures.”
Nice. But he couldn’t live with that. A couple years ago, hell, six months ago, maybe he could’ve. But not now.
“You got some sort of new lead?” Mack pointed to the brown package on Riley’s desk.
“I guess we’ll see. If it’s bigger than Callah Crenshaw maybe you’ll cut me some slack.”
“Bigger than Callah Crenshaw. Right. Like anything’s going to be bigger since NTSB said the plane crash that killed her ex-husband might not have been an accident.”
“Operative words being might and ex.”
“She’s Hollywood and Hollywood means readers. Get me the story.” Mack pointed to the package on the desk again. “If that’s any good, hand it off to Jackson. She’s looking for something big. Better yet, you don’t get me something soon, I’ll toss Crenshaw to her.”
He didn’t have to say what they both knew. Jackson was new and hungry and she didn’t have a problem ambushing people at home or in the grocery store or even at a funeral.
As Mack walked away, Riley pinched the skin between his eyes. He knew his boss was right. Local readers deserved something. The reason Mack was trusting him with the story was because Callah Crenshaw was a hometown girl. And he was a hometown boy. His boss was giving this a chance to be about the person Callah Crenshaw really was and not about the Hollywood headlines making the media rounds.
Maybe he should toss it to Amber Jackson on his own. Say go for it and then walk away. Disappear somewhere for a few months. Prove everyone right who’d said he was a good for nothing son of a bitch all those years ago. Who cared?
Across the newsroom Jackson followed Mack into the editor’s office and closed the door. It didn’t take finely honed investigative skills to figure that one out. Ol’ Amber had one fine ass in those jeans she wore and Mack had always been a T&A kind of guy. Jackson was smart enough to know how to use her assets to her advantage.
She’d crucify Callah Crenshaw in a heartbeat if she was given the chance.
Damn.
He picked up the phone and dialed the number he knew by heart. And once a
gain, Callah’s answering machine clicked on. Her low, smooth voice sounded the same as it had yesterday and the day before and the one before that.
The machine beeped and he left the same message he had untold times before. “Callah, it’s Riley Sorenson again. I’ll try back later.”
He hung up the phone and looked back at Mack’s closed door. His boss was going to force this issue soon. For now there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot he could do. He took a sip of his now cold coffee and grabbed the brown envelope from his desk. Might as well see what some enterprising person with secrets to share had sent.
He dumped the contents on his desk. Two sealed photo packets and a plain manila folder. Someone liked mysteries. Someone who knew once upon a time, he’d lived to solve them. Back when he’d tried to believe in something.
He flicked the packet open, dumped the contents on his desk and then sat back in surprise. Dead ex, Hollywood runaway, hometown hermit Callah Crenshaw. Her blonde hair glistened just like it had when they were teenagers. She smiled and the world smiled back. All these years and she still looked like an innocent kid afraid of what she really wanted.
So why was the police cruiser across from her in the first photo circled in red?
He picked up the second photo. In this one she walked side by side with her father, the good retired Colonel now working some Pentagon job, away from her mother’s funeral. Even in grief she appeared too good to be true. Too perfect.
Anonymous sources didn’t generally send photos to a reporter if there wasn’t some bit of nastiness lurking. Sweet ol’ Callah Crenshaw must have a slew of secrets. Something a little more serious than the ones he knew about. He shook off those memories and focused on the photo. It had been taken outside her front door. And in the background, a man with a dog stood watching.
A guy simply out walking his pet? Riley wondered as he took in the outline of the man’s jacket.
A jacket in the middle of a Burkette summer. Right. Definitely packing. Bodyguard? No one local, that was for sure. Riley’d never seen him before. And Burkette was no metropolis. A man like that stood out in a crowd. This man wasn’t simply admiring Callah’s ample curves.