“I can’t believe I was set up this whole time. I just want to hit something.”
Alex emerged from his back office. He set his feet wide and lifted his palms toward her like he was holding punch mitts. “Here.”
Her arms fell to her sides. She hadn’t even realized she’d been clenching her fists up by her face as if in guard position for boxing. A little bit of the fight drained out. “I’m not going to hit you.”
He turned one hand around to wave her forward. “Come on. You wanted to last time you were here.”
True. But now… “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me.”
Gah. There was that arrogance again. “Just because I’m a girl?”
He smiled that smile she’d once wanted to punch off his face. “Because you’re a lot smaller than me. If you were a big, burly, hairy girl, I’d be scared. But you’re not.”
She smacked one fist into her own palm. “You’re asking for it, buddy.”
“Really? I thought I’d just complimented you.” He shook his head. “Anyway I’m offering you an outlet for your anger. You’ll feel better if you punch me.”
She might actually. She stepped one foot forward and pulled her fists up again. Combat stance.
He winked. Yep, definitely asking for it.
She swung, making a smacking sound against his palm and stinging her knuckles. He didn’t even wince. Second punch. Third. Harder. Faster. She stepped forward. He retreated. It felt good to finally act powerful again. To remember what it was like to win a fight.
She twisted to hit with her left hand, using her whole body in the cross punch. Only his hand wasn’t there for her this time. Her fist whizzed through the air—past his face thank goodness—and propelling her into his arms. His hands locked onto her waist.
The fury dissipated, leaving only tingles of awareness. “Let me go.”
“Shh.” He wasn’t even looking at her. He looked past her.
Fear in the form of pinpricks tip-toed down her spine. This was no romantic gesture. This was the same desperation he’d expressed back at the mall, when he’d seen his daughter.
“The elevator is opening. Get in my office now. Duck down so they can’t see you through the window. Maybe even get under the desk.”
She took off in a crouch, still breathing hard from her one-sided boxing match. Who would be in the office building on a Saturday? Had they locked the office door? Thankfully they’d left the lights off as the sunshine had been bright enough. The computer remained on at the reception desk, but whoever was looking for them wouldn’t be at an angle to see it.
Alex joined her, squeezing next to her in the confined space. The warmth of his body did not help her breathing slow down.
“Who is it?” She pictured the Eighteenth Street Gang coming to take them out just for speaking their name.
“The police.”
She sat taller, hitting her crown on the bottom of the desk drawer. She held a hand to her head to soothe the sting. “Weren’t we planning to talk to them today anyway?”
He helped rub the top of her head. “Yes, but we were hoping to have some evidence by now. And we don’t yet.”
They knew a lot more than they’d known the day before. “It would be easier to investigate with the help of the police department than without it.”
A knock on the outer glass door broke the silence. Laney reached for the chair blocking her escape.
“Wait. Please.” Alex caught her hand. “For my daughter.”
What a manipulator. Sure, his story was tragic. But didn’t everyone have a tragic story? That didn’t mean she was going to keep hiding from the law. “Knock it off, Alex.”
He dropped his hand. “I’m sorry. We’re just so close. Can’t you give me until Monday?”
Laney leaned back against the inside of the desk drawers. The police wouldn’t have a warrant to search his office yet. They were just trying to locate Alex to ask questions. If she gave him a few more days, then he’d have better answers for them, right?
Colin would so not agree with her hiding under the desk with Alex. He’d made that pretty clear the night before. But he’d never been investigated for a crime before. She had, and it sucked to be presumed guilty when you weren’t.
Plus, proving Alex and herself innocent would also prove Mitch guilty. And that’s what she really wanted.
“Thanks.”
They sat staring at each other, waiting for the footsteps to fade and the elevator to ding again. What would her former self think of such a situation? Not once in her life had she ever imagined she’d be hiding out from the police with a bank robber. Even if he was reformed as he claimed, it was still Alex Pierce. The Alex Pierce.
A man who now looked at her with affection. No. It couldn’t be. That had to be some weird reflection in his blue eyes, making them sparkle like that. But they kept sparkling.
“Stop.” She looked away.
“Stop what?”
He was just a schemer who appreciated the fact she’d given him what he wanted. He was a lady charmer, and he was definitely single. She peeked again. Same sparkle.
“Stop looking at me like you think I’m pretty.”
“You are pretty.”
She glared. That was no excuse. And it wasn’t even true.
“But actually you looked prettier last night. I even told you I admired your dress. It didn’t bug you then.”
That was different. “You hated me last night.”
He tilted his head and studied her through narrowed eyes. “So you’d prefer it if I hated you and thought you were ugly?”
The police had to be gone by now. Even if they weren’t, she was going to crawl away from him as fast as she could. “Pretty much.”
He pushed the chair out of her way so she could stand and not have to keep crawling. Then he rose with her. Which was fine. They’d both get back to business. She’d head out to the receptionist’s desk again. Break time was over.
“Who hurt you?”
It would be easier to keep going. To pretend she hadn’t heard him. But if he had any idea about creating some romance between them, she might as well tell him the truth. That way they could keep working together without the awkward moments under desks and such.
Alex stepped in front of her.
“I’ve been hurt before, too, Laney. You know my story. I think it’s only fair I hear yours.”
He was good. Made it sound like he was better at sharing secrets, when really he’d been hiding things from her and only confessed when truth presented itself in the form of a smoothie-sipping preschooler.
Laney splayed her hands to convey the idea that she was an open book, but before the words came out she was crossing her arms under her chest.
He kept his distance, only caressing her with his gaze. But it was more than enough.
“My fiancé left me. Back when I had a great life. Back before I got kicked off the force, started drinking, and had to move in with my grandmother.” She tried to shrug it off, but her shrug turned into a shiver. “If I couldn’t keep a man back then, then what chance do I have now?”
Alex’s eyes softened. “Maybe he wasn’t the right man.”
A laugh burst out. Josh had been everything she’d wanted. She even had the list to prove it. He fit her flawless fellow down to a muscle tee.
The lines in Alex’s forehead deepened. “Did he cheat on you?”
“He was honorable.”
“Did he stop loving you?”
“He cared about me more than anybody I’ve ever met.”
“Did he move away?”
“He still works at the fire station down the street.”
Alex threw up his hands. “Then why did he leave you? Why would this honorable, caring, fireman ever leave you?”
She opened her mouth, but her heart snagged the words before they could come out. She clutched her chest as if the action could help hold the truth inside. She hadn’t put it together until this
very moment, hadn’t made the connection between her breakup and the man who stood in front of her.
Her toes curled. Her head spun. She reached for a wall to keep herself upright.
She held her free hand to her warm cheek. Was it possible she’d just contracted influenza at that very moment?
“Are you okay?” Alex’s voice faded in and out.
Laney stared at the man she’d sacrificed a marriage to pursue. She had to say something to try and brush off her behavior as heartbreak the way Alex had that morning. How else did she explain it? “He…um…he was jealous of my job. He said I didn’t give him my whole heart, because it was so wrapped up in chasing down a…um…certain criminal.”
He read her expression. He knew. “Me?”
He wasn’t supposed to figure out that part. For goodness sake, she’d just figured it out. But it wasn’t how it sounded; it wasn’t an obsession with Alex. It’d been an obsession with making right her mistake. He’d slipped through her fingers one too many times, and she hated the fact she’d bought his lies from the beginning. She’d hated not being a good judge of character.
But look where she was now. Still trying to find justice for another man she’d misjudged.
She pushed off the wall. She’d go back to the front desk. She’d wave him away. “Yes, you. But don’t let it go to your head.” He reached for her, warm skin brushing her arm, but Laney stepped away from his touch. “There you have it, Alex Pierce. I let you ruin my career and my love life. Happy?”
He blocked her exit, though not touching her with anything except the heat radiating from his eyes. “I had no idea, Laney. I’m trying to help you get your career back, but maybe you can let me do more than that for you.”
What? A kiss? A date? Marriage? That was a joke. She was nothing compared to the beautiful woman he’d once called wife.
“Again, Alex. I’m not even enough for a man when I’m on the top of my game. So don’t pretend—”
“I’m not pretending.” He stepped toward her.
It would be too easy to melt into his arms, to let him soothe all her fears. To wrongly trust a man who had already proven himself so untrustworthy. That had to be her biggest flaw—one that only led to bigger and bigger heartache.
She wouldn’t even give it a chance.
Laney blocked his advance like he was a mugger. Thrusting her hips back, she knocked him off balance. She only got one step away before he regained his balance with a quick spin and blocked her path.
Now she was even closer to him than before. But she couldn’t back up. She couldn’t retreat. She’d push him out of her way.
He pinned her arm to the wall before she made contact.
If her goal had been to avoid romance, she’d succeeded like only she could. The man who, a few seconds before, had tried to hold her in his arms was now holding her down like she was the criminal.
Her heart hammered as hard as it had after she’d chased him down and arrested him. But she erased any trace of the feeling from her face and forced herself to look at him directly.
“Laney.” His warm breath came out ragged from exertion. It had to be adrenaline. She’d blame their physical reactions to each other on adrenaline. “I realize we both have some serious issues that we would have to overcome if we ever wanted to make this work.”
“Understatement.” She’d have to overcome her mistrust. But only after he proved he was trustworthy.
He snorted. “Fine. But you need to accept your fiancé didn’t leave you because you don’t have what it takes. You just didn’t have it to give to him.”
She averted her eyes from his way-to-close scrutiny. Besides, if she looked into his eyes, all his words faded into the distance. What was he saying again? That she had what it took?
“If you ever want to make a relationship work, you have to give the man your whole heart. And I would suggest finding a man who thinks you’re pretty and…you know…doesn’t hate you.”
Chapter Seven
Alex had fallen hard despite his determination not to. Then his landing made a giant mess. Laney wouldn’t even let him stop for dinner on the silent drive back to her house. And she really wasn’t going to like what lead he was planning to follow up on tomorrow.
Alex dropped his keys on his entryway table and ran fingers through disheveled hair. A shower might help. Physically and emotionally. He headed toward the bathroom and cranked on the water.
They’d made some headway with the investigation on Sterling. That was really what he should focus on. Laney had gotten a couple of ex-cons she’d dealt with in the past to agree to testify her partner had taken bribes to hide evidence. Sterling had pretty much been sabotaging Laney’s career all along without her knowing. Which hadn’t helped her mood any.
Alex sighed. He needed to stop thinking about her. Apparently the old adage wasn’t true. You couldn’t wash a woman right out of your hair. He let the hot water rain down his face anyway.
What was it about her that attracted him? Was it just that he’d been in prison so long he fell for the first woman he spent time with? No. He’d been working with his sweet secretary for a couple of weeks now and there was absolutely nothing between them. Did his loneliness simply kick into high gear because he’d seen Elise with her new husband? No. He wished her the best. His evasive maneuvers at the mall had been all about his daughter. He couldn’t very well clear their names if he was arrested for violating the restraining order.
It was Laney’s spunk, her passion for justice, her honesty. It was her heart to help him despite her doubts. And the fear in her eyes that turned her into a frightened kitten backed into a corner and ready to attack—even if the person she attacked simply wanted to care for her.
Definitely Cat Woman.
She could be good for him…if she’d let down her defenses long enough to see that he could be good for her, as well. Though body slamming her against the wall probably wasn’t the best way to convey such an idea.
“Now what, Lord?”
Alex honestly didn’t know if she’d even keep working with him. She might go straight to the police in the morning. She might already be there.
He should probably get out of the shower and get some clothes on in case the cops came and knocked his door down to arrest him. He could also call his buddy in prison to let him know they might be hanging out again soon. Jonathan would have some wisdom to share. Wisdom he’d be the first to admit he’d learned the hard way.
Alex toweled off and pulled on a clean pair of jeans in case he decided to run out for the dinner he’d skipped. Could be his last meal as a free man.
His cell phone buzzed from the table in the hallway. Laney?
Nope. Jonathan. Probably for the best. He’d pretend he wasn’t disappointed.
He dropped back onto his soft, lime green sofa to prepare for soaking in all the older man’s sage advice.
“Alex? What happened last night? I’ve been praying like crazy.”
Oh, that’s right. Alex had hung up in the middle of their previous conversation. Maybe it was a good thing. He’d probably needed every one of those prayers. “Sterling tried to poison Laney.”
“No…Is she in the hospital? Is she okay?”
Alex stretched his aching limbs. They may have avoided the hospital last night, but his body was starting to feel like it had been hit by a truck. “She didn’t drink it; the busboy did. He’s in the hospital. I should go check on him.”
“You’re kidding. Well, I’ll be praying for the busboy, too. Did they arrest Sterling?”
Alex ran his hand through wet strands of hair while he explained the whole mess. He ended with, “There’s nothing worse than a dirty cop.”
No response. Probably because Jonathan had once been a dirty cop.
Alex rolled his eyes at his own thoughtless judgment. “I didn’t mean it personally, Jon. I don’t think of you that way at all. You’re basically the prison chaplain now.”
“It’s okay, Alex.” The man’s d
eep voice throbbed with grief. “I agree with you. I used my power to hurt people, rather than help. It was incredibly selfish, and only through God’s grace was I able to climb out of that dark pit. I still have a lot of regrets, but I know God is bigger than them.”
“That’s a lesson I’m learning, too.” Alex sighed and closed his eyes. “I saw my daughter for the first time today.”
“I bet she was beautiful.”
With those golden ringlets and chubby cheeks? She’d been the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He lived every day with the hope of being able to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her until she giggled with glee. But if too much time passed before he was able to prove himself trustworthy to Elise again, then Daisy would become a jaded teenager. One who wouldn’t want anything to do with him except to tell him how abandoned he’d made her feel.
His heart hurt for the older Daisy. The one who would get angrier and angrier every time she had to explain to friends that her father went to prison for robbing banks and that she’d never even met him, because he’d lied about shooting a cop, so her mom had to protect her from him. There were enough kids in the world without fathers. His daughter shouldn’t have to be one of them.
“I miss her, Jonathan. I miss her, and I’ve never even met her.”
“I know, son. It’s tough.”
Alex wiped at his eyes. Man, what an emotional day.
“Did Laney see your daughter, too?”
Alex gave a wry laugh. “Yeah, that was a memorable moment.” Maybe his body ached because of all the times Laney had hit him—no truck needed. “I think she only stayed to help me, because she realized why proving my innocence is so important.”
“That’s good then. That’s good.”
Alex stared at his ceiling. It was good. He’d been afraid Laney wouldn’t care, but she had. Maybe she cared about him more than she realized.
“You planning to keep working with her?”
Alex rubbed his jaw. If he had a choice, he’d keep working with her. They made a good team. Except…“I might have scared her off today.”
“Why? What’d you do?”
Alex lifted his eyebrows. Jonathan was supposed to be on his side, but the man suddenly sounded as protective as Elise’s father had been. “I’m starting to fall for her.”
Team Love on the Run Box-Set #1 Page 6