by Herron, Rita
“What are you going to do?”
“Call Ray and tell him where Izzy is.” Levi watched Izzy close the door to the store. “If I get the two of them together, we’ll find out the truth.”
“I’ll follow him to Georgia,” Elsa said.
“Good. Then we can set a trap.”
Levi disconnected and punched Ray’s number. He had to find out if Izzy was a crook before he completely fell in love with her himself.
Ray hung up with that PI he’d hired, barely able to contain a hoot of pleasure. The bastard had found Izzy.
Things would be all right now. Once he got his money back and paid off his debt, he’d lay low for a while.
He had to. One of the widows from the club told him some nosy female cop was still asking questions.
A car engine sounded outside, and he checked the window. Blue lights swirled around the yard. Shit. The cops were here now.
Stomach churning, he ducked out the sliding glass doors to avoid having to answer the front door.
Damn that white-haired battle-ax Beatrice for talking to them. He had a bad feeling when he’d left her at her husband’s funeral that she was too nosy to let things slide.
His phone buzzed just as he climbed over the metal fence. The neighbor’s yappy little dog barked and raced toward him, chomping at his pant leg as he dove between the bushes.
He quickly silenced the phone, afraid the neighbor would shoot him for trespassing. Some people were too damn paranoid for their own good. Just because the bastard, knee-walking drunk on brown whiskey, had caught Ray watching his wife over the hedges one day when she was sunbathing, he’d declared war on Ray.
Like he needed another problem.
The phone started up again. Loudon.
He pressed answer. “Listen, I’ll have your money to you day after tomorrow.”
Loudon grunted. “You’d better or you’re dead.”
“No worries,” Ray said, although the police cruiser rolled by and he ducked low again.
Finally when it passed, he slipped from behind the hedges and hurried down the street to Patty Jane Watkin’s house. She might be in her seventies, but she was spry and could still drive herself, and would give him a ride to the airport.
Then he’d collect what Izzy owed him and disappear for a while. Izzy just better not have spent a dime of that money.
If she had, he’d kill her.
CHAPTER NINE
Izzy fretted the rest of the day. Caroline took the kitten home before it could tear into the dresses, while Izzy tried to arrange a window display of a mannequin in a bridal gown.
But she dropped the dummy and its head fell off just as a family with three children walked by.
The kids screamed and ran as if they thought she’d killed someone right in front of their eyes. They’d probably be in therapy for the rest of their lives.
As if that weren’t bad enough, she splattered her café mocha all over a display of white linens.
Daisy looked up from her computer where she was searching want ads. Apparently she couldn’t wait to leave town and start a new job.
Guilt suffused Izzy. Daisy had witnessed her mishap in that kiss.
Daisy probably thought she was always chasing other women’s men.
Rule number nine: Ladies don’t chase men who are already attached.
She should have learned her lesson with Caroline and Blake.
She couldn’t make the same mistake with Levi and Elsa.
Levi spread everything he knew about Izzy and Ray LaPone on the desk in the cabin. Maybe if he studied them long enough he could figure out the truth.
A knock sounded at the door, and he jerked his head up. The only person who knew his location was Elsa.
“Levi, it’s me, Izzy.” The knock came again. “Are you in there?”
God, just the sound of her voice made his blood run hot. “Just a minute.”
He scrambled to shove the case notes into the top desk drawer. Steeling himself against the effect Izzy had on him, he rushed to the door and opened it.
“Izzy, what are you doing here?”
“I . . . felt bad about earlier and wanted to apologize again.”
A sliver of guilt needled him. “I told you to forget it.”
Her gaze flew past him into the cabin. “These are kind of rustic, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. But I like it.” He took her elbow, following her outside. The scent of her feminine body wash would haunt him all night if she came inside.
“Let’s take a walk.”
“All right.”
He yanked on his jacket and tried to banish the memory of their earlier kiss as they walked down to the creek. But it was damn hard with moonlight casting a golden glow on Izzy’s face.
“You said you like it here?”
“The woods, the quiet, the creek. It reminds me of my ranch back home.”
“I bet it’s beautiful.”
He shrugged.
“Who’s taking care of it while you’re gone?”
“My brothers.”
She tugged her scarf around her neck. “I thought you said you didn’t have family.”
Shit. He’d forgotten his lies. “I . . . meant no family that would attend the ceremony. That’s because we don’t always get along, and I didn’t invite them to the wedding.”
“I understand siblings fighting,” she said in a self-deprecating voice.
“But you and your sisters seem to be working together now.”
A hesitant smile tugged at her mouth. “For now. Because of Aunt Dottie.” The wind tossed her hair around her face, making him itch to touch it. “We kind of owe her. She took us in after we lost our parents.”
She’d just given him an opening. “What happened to them?”
Izzy turned her face into the wind and inhaled the fresh air. “You’ve probably already heard. My mother’s in jail for killing my father.”
She let the statement stand, but pain resonated in the lines on her face.
“I’m sorry, Izzy. That must have been horrible.”
“It was tough, especially with everyone in town knowing about it. I can’t tell you how many times kids at school referred to us as the jailbird kids.”
Levi grimaced. “Do you ever visit your mother?”
She shook her head. “I’ve thought about it, but . . . I don’t know what I’d say.”
Another strained heartbeat passed, then she turned toward him, her expression softening. “What about your parents?”
Sorrow tightened his chest. “Mine are the oddity, I guess. They loved each other till the day they died.”
She touched his arm, and he couldn’t help but look into her eyes. The heat simmering between them made him ache to pull her up against him.
“You were lucky,” she said in a raw whisper. “Most of us go through life never seeing that kind of devotion.”
“Well, I’ve seen the other side, too. Both my brothers’ marriages ended in disaster.”
“I can relate to that.” A sad wistfulness tinged her voice, and he couldn’t resist. He feathered her hair from her cheek with his fingers.
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you.” God, he wanted to soothe that pained look from her eyes.
“But you . . . you and Elsa are going to have a wonderful life together, just like your parents.”
Her voice faded as hunger struck him. His heart pounded. His breath caught.
Her sweet scent suffused him, destroying all rational thought, and he cupped her face in his hands and closed his mouth over hers.
At the sound of her acquiescence, need overcame him, and he deepened the kiss, probing her lips apart with his tongue.
Izzy sighed into him, a contented purr that made his body go rock hard, then she threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. Their bodies fit together, her curves sliding against the hard planes of his body.
Se
conds later, he was tearing at her blouse and she pulled at his shirt, popping buttons in her haste to touch him. Her skin felt so soft that he had to taste it.
He lowered his head and dropped kisses down her jaw and along her throat. She threw her head back and rubbed her foot against his calf, silently pleading for more.
One touch as his fingers brushed her breasts, and he nearly lost control. She dug her fingers into his chest as if she needed his strength to stand, and he trailed his hands over her hips, lowering his head to tease her nipples through the fabric of her blouse.
Just then his cell phone buzzed.
The sound startled him back to reality, and he loosened his grip and glanced at the number. Elsa.
Dammit.
Izzy’s eyes fluttered, the passion in them so raw he almost kissed her again. But Elsa was calling, so he pulled away.
Still, his body protested, begging for more.
Begging to be inside Izzy.
Izzy’s breathing was so erratic she thought she might have a heart attack. Levi was the strongest, most virile man she’d ever known. But it was the tender understanding in the way he listened to her and held her that made her throw her good sense out the window.
She looked down at his buzzing phone and saw Elsa’s name, though, and regret slammed into her.
Lordy, lordy. What was she doing? Didn’t she have any willpower?
“I’d better go.” Without waiting on a response, she turned and ran up the hill toward her car.
The fact that Levi answered the phone instead of coming after her told her all she needed to know.
Elsa was the woman he loved. She was just the girl who kept throwing herself at men who didn’t want her.
Well, he had wanted her. At least physically.
But she deserved more than that, so she jumped in her car and raced toward her aunt’s house. But first she drove by One Stop Weddings to remind herself what was at stake.
Nothing would stop her from helping Levi marry his true love—Elsa.
The next afternoon, Levi paced by the creek, his agitation mounting. He’d made a mistake last night in kissing Izzy.
He just hoped he hadn’t made a mistake by calling Ray.
But he needed to discern the truth and so far, Izzy hadn’t admitted any wrongdoing. In fact, she’d nearly convinced him that Ray was a crook and philanderer. That she’d been as much a victim as the people he’d conned.
Levi checked his watch. Five p.m. Ray wouldn’t be here for another couple hours.
Izzy had texted him to meet her at One Stop Weddings to select music. Apparently she’d drawn sketches of the church and reception area complete with decorations and table decor for his approval.
His stomach clenched.
Maybe he should meet her and question her about Ray before Ray arrived in town. If he could persuade her to spill the goods on Ray, and she agreed to testify against him, Elsa might be able to convince the DA to cut Izzy a deal and keep her from serving time in prison.
But every time he saw her, he forgot about the case and kissed her.
His phone dinged indicating a text.
LaPone caught an earlier flight than we thought. More info on him—he may be dangerous. Will explain when I arrive.
Levi cursed and sent Elsa a text telling her to meet him at One Stop Weddings.
Agitated, he jogged up the hill toward his SUV. If Ray was dangerous, Levi had to stop him before he found Izzy.
If Ray hurt her, he’d never forgive himself.
Izzy put the last-minute touches on the sketches she’d drawn for Levi. She’d decorated three tables to demonstrate examples of how they would look the night of the wedding, added poinsettias and candlelight, then photographed them to show Levi. Aunt Dottie was busy crocheting vintage ornaments, and Izzy had ordered silver wedding bells to hang on the tree to mix with the vintage look.
A basket by the door held tiny champagne bottles of bubbles for the guests to celebrate as the bride and groom left the church.
In just a few days, Levi would marry Elsa.
She had to make it the most special day of his life.
Even if she wished she was walking down the aisle with him instead of Elsa.
Been there, done that, she reminded herself. And look how it had worked out.
She hurried to the back storage room to retrieve a group of antique frames to display by the bride’s book, mentally making a note to tell Levi to send photographs of him and Elsa to showcase on their wedding day.
The bell dinged, signaling the front door had opened, and she steeled herself to face Levi.
But her lungs strained for air when Ray loped in, looking cocky and arrogant. “Hello there, Izzy.”
For a second, Izzy considered trying to escape, but Ray had found her here, and he would find her again.
Besides, she had to deal with him to get her divorce. And she wanted that final so she’d never have to worry about him again.
She set the antique frames on the table by the bridal book along with a white feathered pen. Desperate to get rid of Ray before her sisters or aunt showed up, she confronted him. “What are you doing here, Ray?”
Ray drew the shades on the front window and flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED. “I’m here for you, honey.”
“Don’t honey me,” Izzy said in a no-nonsense voice. “You don’t love me, Ray. I don’t think you ever did.” She lifted her chin. “And I don’t love you either.”
Ray gave a wry laugh. “That’s not what you said on our wedding night.”
“I was a fool,” Izzy said. “I fell for all that smooth talking and those promises you made. But none of it was real. Not the love or the promises.”
He gestured around the shop. “So you left me to do this?”
Izzy shrugged. “I’m starting a new life.”
Ray inched closer to her. “I really don’t care what you do. I just want my money.”
“First off, Ray, you stole the money I saved from my flea-market sales. The rest of what I took should be compensation for the pain and suffering you put me through with your lying and whoring around.” She poked him in the chest with one finger. “Now, give me a divorce and we’ll call it even.”
“The women at the club are not whores.” Ray’s eyes narrowed to slits, but Izzy didn’t back down.
“Shut up, Ray. I really don’t care anymore. You don’t want me back. Let’s just cut our losses.”
“You’re right,” Ray said. “I don’t want you back.”
Izzy thought he was reaching for his phone, but he lifted a gun from his back pocket and aimed it at her chest. “Now give me my cash and we’re done.”
Levi noticed the drawn shades on the front windows of One Stop Weddings as soon as he parked, and an uneasy feeling ripped through his gut.
Had Izzy closed the shop to set up for the presentation she’d prepared for him and his fake wedding?
He walked up to the store and tried to look through the shades, but he couldn’t see the interior of the shop.
Voices reverberated, though, indicating Izzy was inside. Nellie Needlemyer and Uner Pinkerton strolled by and peered at him as if they thought he was a peeping tom.
He waved to them with a smile. “Izzy’s planning to surprise me with the wedding plans today.”
Nellie shot him a disapproving scowl while Uner kept her hand on her purse as if she thought she might have to whack him with it any minute. No wonder she walked stoop shouldered—the damn thing was so big she could hide a body in there.
At his sinister look, they hurried past, Uner leaning on her cane.
He rapped on the door, desperate to talk to Izzy before Ray arrived. If she was innocent, he had to warn her that the cops were investigating Ray.
The voices died inside, and he leaned up to the glass. A hushed sound. Footsteps.
He knocked again. “Izzy, it’s me, Levi. We need to talk.”
Finally the door sque
aked open just enough for Izzy’s face to appear. Her eyes looked wide . . . panicked?
Because of the wedding plans? Because of that kiss?
“Levi, this is not a good time. Can you come back later?”
He clutched the doorknob. “No. It’s important, Izzy.”
She pushed one hand through the crack in the door and shoved him back. “Please. I’m busy. Go away.”
The tone of her voice sounded odd. Frightened?
Levi wedged the door open with his foot so she couldn’t close it. “It’s important. Please let me in.”
“I can’t.” A note of desperation tinged her voice.
Had Ray beaten him here?
Instincts alert, Levi shouldered his way inside the store.
Izzy stumbled backward. “Levi, get out. I’m trying to protect you!”
“Aren’t you noble, Izzy?” Ray said sarcastically.
Levi’s pulse hammered as he spotted LaPone pointing a gun at the back of Izzy’s head.
“Levi, why didn’t you listen?” Izzy turned to Ray. “Please, Ray, let him go. Levi has nothing to do with this. He’s just a client—I’m helping him plan his wedding.”
Ray’s wry laugh boomeranged through the room. “You think he’s a client for your ridiculous wedding shop? And you’re protecting him? You really are stupider than I thought.”
Izzy’s face paled. “What?”
Ray smirked. “Honey, he’s not here to get married. He’s the man I hired to find you.”
CHAPTER TEN
“No . . .” Izzy staggered against the wall. “What is he talking about, Levi?”
Levi reached out to steady her, but she pushed his hands away.
“Listen, Izzy,” Levi said in a gruff voice. “I can explain.”
Ray waved the gun at them. “Explain? Tell her how I gave you five thousand dollars to find her, and last night you called and told me she was here.”
Izzy gasped, nausea rising to her throat. Levi was working for Ray? He’d called Ray to come here?
The door opened, and her sisters rushed in, bringing a gust of wind with them. “Izzy—” Daisy started to say something, but she and Caroline saw Ray and the gun and halted.