Riley considered herself a strong woman and felt she could handle just about anything. She was finding she didn’t have nerves of steel.
So many questions filtered through the haze that had settled in her brain. Who was the woman Liza had been arguing with? Was it the same woman who had ransacked her apartment? Why would she leave in the middle of the night? Who were the men from Boston?
In all their phone conversations, Riley couldn’t recall one in which Liza had sounded scared. She certainly hadn’t mentioned Stefano Moretti or anyone who was giving her trouble.
Riley wondered if the client Liza had met with the day before was the same one she’d been arguing with in her apartment. Because Liza had given no indication that she would leave Riley hanging at the airport or that she might have to work while Riley was visiting. In fact, she’d been as overly excited as Riley was to spend time together.
The wind whipped around as a wave crashed along the shore. Riley jumped out of the way but not fast enough. Water splashed high, catching the edge of her capris.
On top of everything else, she had kissed Josh. She’d actually kissed the man, and boy, did she enjoy that. His lips were smooth, albeit she could feel him tense. She had no idea what had come over her. It had felt as though she’d had someone behind her, pushing her into him. She wasn’t usually forward with men. Yet Josh was breaking that mold.
Riley’s phone rang as she was heading back to the inn. “Hey, Ross.”
“Are you okay? You sound like something happened.”
Her brother knew her well.
“We can’t find Liza. We think her apartment was broken into. I’m worried out of my mind.”
“I’m getting on a plane,” he said without hesitation.
Riley pushed her hair out of her face. “You can’t just take off from your job.” Ross worked for a private boarding school where the elite sent their kids to live and study for the school year. Ross was in charge of the boys’ dorm, and it was time for kids to start returning for the fall semester.
“You let me worry about that.”
She stopped on the deserted beach and dug her toes in the sand as she looked at the inn in the distance. “Josh is here with me. He’ll protect me.” She knew that was what her brother wanted to hear, and it was true. She trusted Josh implicitly.
“Where are you staying?” Ross asked.
Riley hadn’t told him she was actually sleeping in one of the bedrooms in Josh’s house, or rather Josh’s father’s house. Not that she was keeping it from him. When she’d spoken to Ross yesterday, she’d thought she would be staying at the inn or a hotel close by. But she didn’t lie to her brother. He would know if she did anyway.
“The Redwood Cove Inn is booked as are all the hotels around here. So Josh’s dad had an extra room for me at his house not far from the inn.”
“I don’t like any of this.” Ross sounded as nervous as her stomach was feeling.
“Me staying with Josh’s father, or Liza?”
“You out there all by yourself with a stranger.”
“Josh is the ex-Navy SEAL you’re so enamored with. Don’t worry.”
Silence stretched over the line. Riley started for the inn again.
“You like him. Don’t you?” Ross asked as she heard boys shouting in the background.
“Where did that come from?” He was spot on, but Riley didn’t necessarily want him to know it.
“Sis, I heard it in your voice when you said he would protect you.”
“Sue me, then,” she teased. “He’s a nice guy, but I only just met him.”
So what? asked the little voice in the back of her head.
“The dorms are filling up, it sounds like.”
Ross didn’t need to hear how she was attracted to Josh or that she’d already seen the man in his boxers, with sleepy eyes, bedhead, and a naked chest. Riley blushed. She’d gotten all excited, and her mind had drifted to other things she wouldn’t dare say out loud.
“Don’t change the subject,” Ross said. “Look, it’s nice that you’re taking time off. But be careful not to fall for someone when you know that long-distance relationships never work.”
My brother, ever the realist. She laughed. “Says the relationship guru who can’t seem to hold down a girlfriend.”
“Call me tonight. I got to go.” He didn’t give her a chance to say another word.
That was probably a good thing. They would only get into an argument about relationships. He would tell her he needed to approve of the man she married. In turn, Riley would say the same thing about the woman he settled down with.
Josh was waiting for her with a grin the size of California when Riley climbed the porch steps to the back of the inn.
She lowered her gaze and tucked hair behind her ear.
“I love when you blush,” he said. “It’s so darn cute.”
Hmm. Cute. When Riley thought of cute, she thought of Liza’s cat, a pixie, or a puppy. She had a barb or two on her tongue but decided that a compliment was a compliment no matter the semantics. After all, cute by definition did mean attractive, gorgeous, and pretty.
Instead of shouting out any reply, she went up to him, rose on her tiptoes, and whispered in his right ear. “Thank you.” His manly scent created waves of goose bumps up and down her arms.
He visibly quivered.
Riley edged back and found hunger—strong, raw, and powerful—living deep in his green eyes. He blinked once, shook his head, then sighed. Strands of his hair fell forward.
In that moment, images of them entwined in each other’s arms played like a Nicholas Sparks movie in Riley’s mind.
He raked his gaze over her, slowly and tentatively. It felt as if he were dragging his fingertips over her skin ever so lightly.
Something was happening between them, and whether it was lust or a strong like for one another, Riley could see them walking down the aisle in a church with their friends and family around them.
Stop analyzing your life and future, she shouted in her head. You just met him.
That might have been true, but Riley felt as if she’d known Josh for a long time. Maybe because Liza had talked about him in many of the conversations they’d had.
But Riley was getting ahead of herself, and she shouldn’t since she was only in California for a few days. Ross was right. Long-distance relationships didn’t work. She’d seen it firsthand with her mom. After Mom’s bitter divorce, she’d met a guy who lived in St. Louis. They had dated for six months before they’d called it quits. She hadn’t wanted to leave Boston, and he’d had kids in St. Louis. They’d parted ways on good terms, although she’d pined for him for months afterward.
Riley wasn’t tied to Boston, but she couldn’t imagine leaving her brother or her mom and not seeing them for months or only on holidays.
If you don’t find Liza, then you might be here longer, which would be a good thing for you and Josh.
Excitement bubbled to the surface at the idea of Josh and her, but fear pushed it down. No matter how attracted Josh and she were to one another, they couldn’t pursue a relationship of any kind until they found Liza.
“Are you ready to do some detective work?” Riley asked.
Voices trickled out of the restaurant.
One side of Josh’s mouth turned upward. “Let’s head into the city. We should talk to Taylor again and see if she’s heard from Liza. Then we can swing by her apartment one more time.”
Riley didn’t care what they did as long as they were doing something to find Liza. “I know it hasn’t been twenty-four hours, but in a matter of hours, it will be.” Her tone was higher than normal just in case he wasn’t getting all that by reading her lips. “So let’s try filing a missing person report anyway. Oh, and if Grayson heard arguing, then maybe some of the other residents saw something or heard something. We should go door to door.”
He lifted a muscled shoulder that was covered in a dark-blue T-shirt with the words “Honor, Courage, Bravery”
and a Navy SEAL insignia on the front. “Sounds good. Have you tried calling Liza again?”
Riley had dialed Liza’s number repeatedly on their way out of the city, and the line had gone to voice mail each time. Frustration was becoming madness the more time passed.
“I’ll try calling her again in the car,” Riley said. “Is your dad going to be okay?” She didn’t want Josh leaving if his dad needed him. She knew ALS was a terrible disease. The dad of one of her clients had ALS, and the bride had wanted to get married before her dad lost his ability to walk.
Josh held out his hand. “Yes.”
When Riley’s palm met his, all tension, fear, despair, and panic faded, at least for the moment.
Chapter Eight
Josh had to call the in-home health care company to see if he could hire another caretaker to help his dad. Guilt rode him hard at leaving his father with someone else, but he explained about Liza and that she could be in trouble, and Dad didn’t mind being left with a stranger. He would probably talk the guy’s ear off anyway.
Josh also had Drake on standby in case the nurse who’d shown up an hour ago had to leave early for some reason.
Drake was as distraught as Riley and Josh were that Liza could be missing. Josh was holding out hope, even though he had an eerie feeling coursing through him. It was so unlike his cousin not to answer her phone or at least let someone know what was going on. She wouldn’t have ditched Riley either. She had planned every activity for her and Riley, and she wouldn’t have just fallen off the face of earth.
Regardless, Josh’s brain was having a hard time comprehending that someone would hurt his sweet cousin.
“I should call my brother,” Dad had said. “He’ll want to know about his daughter.”
“Please don’t until I can find out more,” Josh had said.
Liza’s father didn’t give her the time of day, but Josh agreed with Dad that Uncle Ted should know more about his daughter. Josh doubted the man would rush to the Bay Area from Sacramento, but he could hear the argument now.
“You knew my daughter was missing and didn’t bother to tell me?” Uncle Ted would ask. Unless he was drunk, he would brush off his daughter like a piece of lint on a dark suit.
Riley waved a hand in Josh’s face. “Earth to Josh.”
Rubbing a temple, he braked in traffic.
Riley reached over the console and squeezed his thigh.
Instantly, the blood rushed through him, almost kick-starting his heart. The woman was no doubt bringing out feelings in him that he hadn’t experienced in years. While it felt good to have someone comforting him, Josh took a breath. Part of him wanted to capitalize on her actions and kiss her, as in really and truly kiss her. They’d been interrupted when he had attempted to earlier that day.
But he was driving, and they had more pressing matters in front of them too. Josh needed to take a step back and reel in his feelings. Otherwise, he would ask her to marry him before she even left the state.
So he covered her hand with his and grinned. “It’s great to have you here. I wish the situation was better, though.”
She withdrew her hand and dragged her soft fingers down his rough jaw. Josh wasn’t one to grow in a beard quickly, but he had the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow.
“I try to look on the bright side of things. Maybe we were destined to be in this position.” Her voice sounded as silky as her skin felt.
Charlie perked up in the back seat as though he were alerting Josh to her voice. But Riley was on Josh’s right, and they were confined in a small space. So he had no problem with hearing. It felt as though he would be tuned in to her even if he couldn’t hear her.
Riley abandoned Josh for Charlie. “We’re almost there, boy.”
He licked her hand. Suddenly, Josh wanted to be Charlie. He wanted Riley to run her hands through his hair like that. Then a laugh broke out in Josh’s head. He was jealous of his dog.
Traffic crawled.
“I’m praying Liza is cleaning up her apartment,” Josh said more to himself and to break the spell Riley had him under. Despite that, he’d been praying all day that Liza would return his call since he’d left about a hundred messages. He wasn’t exaggerating either. Among Drake, Riley, and Josh, they’d called her repeatedly.
Riley flopped back against the passenger seat of her rental car that had the lingering new-leather scent. A stray black hair came undone from the updo she was sporting. Her pink-colored blush makeup was swept across her cheeks perfectly, giving her a soft glow. She had the perfect profile—round chin, small nose, and high cheekbones.
Traffic started moving faster as they approached the Golden Gate Bridge.
Riley tapped on her phone. “I’m calling Taylor.” After a second, Riley said, “Taylor, please.” Another beat of silence followed. “The line goes straight to her voice mail. I think Taylor isn’t telling us something.”
“What makes you think that?” Josh had known Taylor since Liza hired her about six months ago. She seemed like a good person—honest, dedicated, and professional.
“During our conversation with her, I found it odd when she said, ‘I shouldn’t be telling you this.’ Then she proceeded to tell us about the two men. Why would that be a secret? Did those men threaten Liza or Taylor or both of them? And she looked around as though someone was watching her. I think Liza was in a meeting with those men and not an important client like she had Taylor tell me. And remember, those men were from Boston. They have to be Moretti’s men.”
Josh leaned his elbow on the middle console. “So you think Liza lied to us? And if you’re right about Moretti’s men, then Taylor could be in danger too.” Josh didn’t know a whole lot about the mafia world. What he did know was that eliminating a person was their way of dealing with anyone who threatened or compromised their organization.
“I think Liza didn’t want to worry us,” Riley said.
Or maybe she’d had a gun to her head when she’d called. She hadn’t sounded like herself when Josh had talked to her.
By the time they arrived at Stitches, Inc., it was almost the end of the workday. Then again, Liza had been known to work late.
A short woman with fiery-red hair pushed in her chair at the reception desk. “I’m sorry. We’re closing.”
She wasn’t the same lady Riley and Josh had met earlier that day. This woman was much younger and seemed to have a chip on her shoulder.
Josh held on to Charlie’s leash. “We’re here to see Taylor or Liza.” Please let Liza be here.
She hiked her bag on her shoulder, circled the desk, and ushered them toward the elevator. “Taylor left at lunch and hasn’t returned. Liza hasn’t been in all day.” She stabbed the elevator button.
“You’re not the same lady from earlier today.” Riley sounded suspicious. “How many receptionists work here?”
“We have a few,” the redhead said.
That was probably true. Josh had seen a couple of different ladies at the desk when he’d visited Liza in the past.
The elevator doors opened.
Riley blocked the woman from getting in the elevator. “We need Taylor’s home address.”
Josh held in a grin at how Riley wasn’t leaving the building without getting what she wanted. And he really enjoyed that her deep New England accent was coming out in full force.
The redhead studied Riley as if she had four heads. “Seriously. I can’t give you that information.”
The doors closed.
“Even if it’s life or death?” Josh asked.
The petite lady nodded. “I could lose my job.”
Riley pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes. “How would you feel if something happened to Taylor, and we could’ve prevented it—but in the end couldn’t because you wouldn’t help us?”
The two women were in somewhat of a standoff, giving each other the stink eye.
Josh was about to appeal to the receptionist when she slumped her shoulders and stomped back to her desk. “I
need your names and addresses.”
Riley and Josh swapped perplexed looks.
As if the lady knew what they were thinking, she said, “If I lose my job, I’m coming to find both of you.”
The woman was hilarious. She was a tiny thing who couldn’t hurt a fly. Despite that, Josh gave her the address to the Redwood Cove Inn. “That’s where you can find us.” She didn’t need to know much more than that or that Riley lived in Boston.
While the redhead was searching her computer, Riley leaned into Josh’s right ear. “Do you know where Liza’s office is? Maybe we should snoop around.”
Her breath on his ear was energizing, and that magic spell she’d had him under in Liza’s apartment started to cloud his senses. The urge to pull her to him and feel her against him was overpowering. But this wasn’t the time or place. Man, he was falling hard and fast. Mom had always believed in love at first sight. The minute she’d laid eyes on Dad, she’d known he was the one.
Josh’s hand snaked around Riley’s waist to settle on her lower back. It was his turn to whisper in her ear. “Hold Charlie. I know where Liza’s office is. Keep Red occupied.” Josh wanted to stay in that position so he could nibble on her earlobe and explore more of her.
Later, his brain shouted.
She dipped her head just as he was pulling away, and Josh’s lips brushed against her ear.
She spewed a noise or a moan.
Man, he was in trouble.
Josh shook off the lust-filled bubble she had him in and strutted up to Red. He glanced down both hallways, but all seemed quiet. He was beginning to wonder if anyone actually worked on that floor. Sure, he’d been in Liza’s office a time or two, but even then, he hadn’t seen many people on the floor.
“I need to use the restroom.” Josh started heading down the hall where Liza’s office was located, as was a men’s room if he remembered correctly. “I know where it is,” he tossed over his shoulder.
“Make it quick,” Red said rather loudly.
Adrenaline spiked through him as though he were on a mission, and Josh couldn’t help but grin. He missed everything about being a SEAL—the camaraderie, the planning, the anticipation before they shipped out, and the mission itself.
Rescuing Riley: The Gold Coast Retrievers, Book 2 Page 5