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All he knew about love and family was the short time he’d lived with Miss Betty. Even though he’d been an angry and bitter teenager, trying to make everyone’s life around him as miserable as his own had been, she’d shown him kindness and loved him and had gradually managed to tear down the walls he’d erected around his heart.
And then she’d died. He’d been eighteen and finally able to escape the system. That was when he’d joined the army and eventually ended up with the FBI, where his partner Will Miller became his family, his brother, his friend. Until Will had died, too.
Pushing the memories away, he gulped down his dinner in record time. He’d probably end up having indigestion, but it was a whole lot better than doing something he knew he’d regret later.
Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he quickly got up. “Excuse me. Jason was going to find out about the shoe print under your window...” He swallowed the rest of his words, but it was too late. Oh, damn, he hadn’t wanted her to know about it.
Startled blue eyes looked up at him. She’d hardly eaten anything yet. “What shoe print?”
“On the ground under the window outside your studio.”
Slowly she got up, as well. “Why didn’t you tell me? And why ask Jason? Why not tell the police?”
“I...know Jason well. We’ve worked together before and I know he’ll go the extra mile. I trust him. I didn’t tell you because I was going to wait until I hear b—” Before he could finish, his phone rang. “It’s him.”
“Please put it on speaker,” she said firmly, and moved closer.
He pressed the speaker before he answered. “Jason. Lindsay is also listening.” Jason would get the message not to reveal anything that might upset her.
––––––––
Blake was holding thephone and had turned his hand so that Lindsay could also hear what Jason was saying. She’d seen the tall, lanky man around town, but she’d never actually met him. What kind of work had Blake and Jason done before? Would their previous job be the reason Blake had disappeared over the past few months?
“Okay, so it was a size twelve shoe, but we have to wait to hear from forensics if they can get anything else from the print,” Blake was saying. “What about the license plates?”
“Fake, of course,” Jason said.
Blake sighed. “Of course, they would be. Damn it.” Blake lifted a hand, rubbed the back of his neck. “Anything else?”
But Jason didn’t have any other news. The two men began to talk about the dojo. She should move away; there wasn’t any need for her to stay this close to Blake. But her feet felt heavy, ignoring all the messages from her brain as her eyes focused on Blake’s long fingers, moved up his forearm, and then even farther up to feast on his broad shoulders. And when she turned her head slightly, the outline of a perfectly muscled six-pack under the white T-shirt was right in front of her eyes. Would it feel as hard as it looked?
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Blake was saying, and she looked up. His eyes were on her. He ended the call.
“Go to bed, please?” His voice was low, sending shivers down her spine.
Why was she standing so close to him? Mortified, she turned away. “I’ll clean up.”
For a few minutes it was quiet.
“See you in the morning.” His smooth whiskey voice nearly made her turn around again. The next minute she heard footsteps leaving. Fast.
She sagged against the kitchen counter, feeling light-headed. That had been a very close call. If he’d stayed a second longer, she’d have flung herself into his arms. Her legs refused to keep her upright any longer and she pulled the chair out. She’d hardly touched her dinner. But food wasn’t going to help. The ache in her belly had nothing whatsoever to do with food.
Thank goodness she was leaving tomorrow. There was no way she could stay in the same house as Blake for another day and not do something very stupid.
Rubbing her temple, she exhaled slowly. Think. Be logical. Her reaction to Blake was quite understandable. He was ridiculously attractive and sexy, and she hadn’t been with anyone for a long time. Add the very stressful situation they were in at the moment and her intense emotions and wayward hormones could be explained.
Surely once Mark had been caught, she’d be able to forget about Blake within a day or so. Okay, she hadn’t forgotten about him while he’d been away for those three months, but there were all sorts of explanations for that. With Charlie getting married...
Which reminded her, she’d been meaning to let Charlie know about her plans to visit them, but this morning she’d been so flustered and this afternoon she’d been focused on finishing filling the jars.
With still unsteady fingers, she picked up her phone. Her sister answered after one ring.
“What happened?” Charlie asked, her voice immediately laced with concern.
“I’m fine. But we think Mark was around this afternoon while I was working in the studio.”
“What do you mean you ‘think’?”
