by Tami Lund
“Yep, we’re sisters.”
“Um, on that note, I’m going to head on upstairs,” Phoebe said, and she beat a hasty retreat, once again leaving Margot alone with RJ.
He pointed at the door. “Can we go outside and talk?”
Oh God. “Um, I guess.” She reluctantly followed him out onto the front porch.
“I’m getting some pretty weird vibes here. Like this strange combination of interest and fear,” he started. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Wow, you can seriously tell that?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been in law enforcement for fifteen years. Lots of training associated with reading people. So, you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Not really. “Um…”
“Because I’m interested in you, too, Margot. But it feels like you’re afraid of something. Is it because I’m a cop?”
Actually, yes. “No, it’s just…It’s not you, it’s me.”
Hu chuckled. “Don’t usually get that until I’ve been dating a girl for a while. Certainly not before I’ve even asked her out on the first date.”
Margot wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her shorts. She needed to scare him off. But how?
Wait. Tell him the truth. Not all of it, of course, but there were certainly plenty of tidbits to choose from that wouldn’t lead him to the biggest and scariest truth of them all: that she had once been married to the mob. She just needed something to convince him that asking her out was a bad idea.
Especially since she was afraid she might say yes if he did.
She cleared her throat. “Nina was kidnapped two years ago. It was a very harrowing experience, as you can well imagine.”
“Holy shit,” RJ said, his eyes widening. “I’m glad you got her back safe and sound.”
“Me too.” She toyed with her necklace. “So I have lots of trust issues.”
“Not surprising. I take it the cops didn’t handle the case the way you wanted them to?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because your trust issues are directed at me, the person in the profession that’s supposed to protect kids from the experience you and Nina went through.”
Sort of. “I mean, at least we got her back, right?”
On Friday afternoon, Margot left the house with her hair styled, her face made up, and wearing a cute yellow sundress. She’d considered the red one, but it had felt a tad too sexy for something as basic as picking up her daughter after school.
“Where are you off to?” Phoebe asked from her perch in the flowerbed next to the front porch.
“School. To get Nina.”
Phoebe glanced at her watch. “School doesn’t let out for another thirty minutes.”
“Oh. Ah…” She smoothed the front of her dress.
Phoebe canted her head. “You’re hoping RJ will be there early too.”
“N-no.” Her shoulders slumped. “What the hell am I doing? Last night I tried to scare him off by telling him about Nina’s kidnapping, and now I’m dressing up to go pick her up from school because I know he’ll be there.”
“You told him about the kidnapping? About Gino?”
“I was vague on details. Didn’t mention Gino or how it happened, just that it did. I thought RJ would run away from someone with that sort of emotional baggage.”
“Wow, you’ve got scaring off guys down to an art form.”
“Clearly, I don’t, since it didn’t sway him. And now I’m all giddy about seeing him again when I should be avoiding him at all costs.”
“I don’t get why you’re trying to talk yourself out of this little crush you’ve developed. He seems like a nice guy.”
“A nice guy who happens to be a detective. And in case you forgot, we’re kind of sort of fugitives who illegally changed our identities so we could hide from the mob.”
“Well, when you put it that way… Or, you could just go with the flow and see what happens. It might not even go anywhere. After all, assuming he asks and you accept, this would be your first date in how long?”
Margot didn’t want to think about it. “Since the night before Gino kidnapped Nina. And that guy was a total loser. Not even worth all the stress Gino put me through.”
“See? You have a terrible track record. Why not let it run its course, since it probably won’t go anywhere?”
“Gee, thanks.”
Phoebe shrugged. “I’m not the best person to dole out advice anyway. After all, I married a mafia moneyman.”
Phoebe returned to tending to the flowers, and Margot hurried down the slate pavers toward the sidewalk. She could see the gray Charger parked in the pickup lane from a block away. Had RJ arrived early in hopes of having a little extra time to talk to her?
“Wow,” he said when she arrived at the school. He clamored out of his car and hurried to the curb. “You look great.”
She glanced down at her frock and willed her cheeks not to darken. “Thanks. You know, yesterday when the girls made their plans, I should have told you that I could walk them both home and you didn’t need to make the trip up here to pick Hillary up.”
“I’m definitely glad we didn’t think of that.”
She caught his eye and smiled, and then lowered her lashes. The blush was definitely a full force now. Her face probably resembled a tomato.
“So this is going to sound weird, maybe, or, I don’t know, forward, or…” She watched as he struggled to formulate words that actually made sense. “Listen, are you single? Because Nina said her dad wasn’t in the picture and you aren’t wearing a wedding ring and you asked me if I was married yesterday and I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
She chuckled, her cheeks still warm, even as she glanced at the ring finger that had been bare for four years now. “Maybe a little. And you’re correct that Nina’s father is not in the picture.”
“That’s good. No, I mean, it isn’t. I don’t think. Does he have visitation?”
She shook her head. Don’t stress, Margot. He’s just making conversation. He’s a single parent, too. “No. He doesn’t see her at all.”
“Jessica and I share custody. Fifty-fifty.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good. An amicable divorce is always a good thing when kids are involved.”
“Oh, trust me, it wasn’t amicable. But we’re trying to be civil, for Hill’s sake. One of these days it might actually happen, too.”
She giggled—dear God, she actually giggled—and then pretended to focus on pulling her phone out of her pocket to check the time.
“So I don’t suppose you’d be interested in maybe getting together sometime? Outside of the pickup line here at school, I mean.”
Crap. Her ploy hadn’t frightened him away. Of course, she’d countered with her flirty outfit, coy smiles, and deep blushes. The man clearly liked complicated women.
And damn, he was good looking. And she was lonely.
He was charming. And she deserved to go out on a date or two.
He was funny. And those eyes were practically begging her to say yes.
What was the harm in one date? Like Phoebe said, it probably wouldn’t go anywhere. What could she possibly have in common with a small town cop? It would probably be dinner, a few cocktails, nice conversation, and they’d part ways and go back to their respective lives. But at least she could say she’d finally gotten back into the dating game.
It was time. Past time.
“Sure. I’d love that.”
3
Back In The Saddle
If laughter was the best medicine, he and Margot were healthy as horses after this dinner. She’d giggled so much she’d wiped all the makeup from under her eyes as she’d swiped at uncontrollable tears.
It didn’t detract from her beauty. If anything, the fresh-faced look enhanced it.
The woman was gorgeous. Funny. Smart. Did he mention beautiful?
She was damn near perfect. Damn near…
He’d caved earlier today at the station and done a
quick Google search, looking for information on the kidnapping one of Nina Swanson. Something like that would definitely be in the news, even if it were just a local paper.
But he’d found nothing. He wanted to ask Margot, but it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it, and he couldn’t blame her. Hell, he couldn’t even fathom something like that happening to Hill. Thank Christ Nina had been returned safely.
How strange that he couldn’t find anything about it online.
“Your family seems pretty close,” he remarked, lifting his bottle and taking a swig. She was drinking white wine, a compliment to the all-you-can-eat crab dinner they’d shared. This mom-and-pop place had been one of his favorite eateries since he was a kid. And Margot couldn’t stop gushing about how delicious the food was, how cute the interior was, how wonderful the staff was.
Another check in the positive column.
She nodded. “None of us has anyone else to lean on. And we’ve been through some rough times together. Plus, it helps that we all actually get along.” She grinned.
“Do you all live together?” Each time he’d been to her house, either Antonio or Phoebe or both had been there. And Antonio had taken Nina upstairs to get her bath started. That was a tad overly comfortable for a visiting uncle.
“Yes. It’s a huge house. Plenty of room for all of us.”
He nodded. He had a pretty big extended family himself. Some he liked better than others, and he’d even shared an apartment with one of his cousins for the first couple of years he’d worked for the feds, before he’d quit to take the detective position here in Sleepyville. Of course, he’d been traveling more often than not back then, so it’d been easy to deal with having a family member as a roommate. But at this point in his life, he didn’t think he’d have any desire to share a home with any of them.
“So Phoebe’s your sister and Antonio is her husband, right?” Phoebe had acted surprised when Margot mentioned their relationship to him, like they didn’t usually tell people they were sisters. Why not?
She swirled her fork in the small bowl of melted butter next to her plate. “Um, yes.”
“You know what’s funny? I’d almost swear Nina looks more like Antonio than Phoebe. She has his coloring.”
Her hand trembled as she picked up her wineglass and took a generous drink. “Her father, um, he’s Italian.” She waved the glass and liquid sloshed up to the rim. “That’s where her complexion comes from.”
Talking about her ex obviously made her uncomfortable. Time for a subject change.
“You mentioned earlier that you guys moved here about two years ago.” And she said Nina had been kidnapped two years ago. Definitely not a coincidence. Which meant he probably should have found a different topic of conversation. Damn it, he was lousy at dating.
“It will be two years in August,” Margot said. “We moved here right before Nina started school that year. It’s hard to believe she’s about to finish third grade already.”
“Tell me about it,” he said, swiping his hand over his face. Kids grew up so damn fast. “So where are you guys from?”
Her gaze shifted to the side, her hand jerked as she reached for her wineglass, and her complexion paled. If he weren’t a cop and used to paying attention to signs like that, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. But he did. And it made him even more curious.
“Um, the Midwest,” she finally said haltingly.
He nodded. “Beautiful area, although the falls don’t compare to ours.”
She smiled, clearly relieved that he wasn’t prying. But he wanted to. Her short answers only led to more questions.
But this was a date, and frankly, he was having a damn good time. He didn’t want to make it uncomfortable. Actually, what he wanted was to shut down the cop inside.
Glancing at his watch, he said, “Hey, if you’re interested, we can take a walk down to the park. I think there’s a concert tonight.”
She tipped the wineglass to her lips, emptying the contents, and said, “That sounds wonderful.”
They strolled past the storefronts that made up the town square. Other than a few restaurants, the bar, and a coffee shop, the rest were closed at this time of night. This town was definitely one of those “roll up the carpet at six” places.
“So what’s your story?” she asked.
“I’ve lived here for most of my life,” he said, waving at an elderly couple as they passed. “Graduated high school and moved a whopping hour and a half away to go to college at Northeastern in Boston.”
“What did you major in?”
“Finance.”
She arched her brows. “How did that lead to joining the police force?”
He chuckled. “Funny story, that. I didn’t really intend to end up doing this job. I was an FBI agent until ten years ago.”
She stopped and stared up at him. “You were an FBI agent?”
He couldn’t help puffing out his chest. Civilians always thought the feds were badasses. And for the most part, they were right. “Yep.”
“But now you’re a detective with the local police force.”
He sighed. “Yeah, life sort of screwed with my plans.”
“What do you mean?”
“I met Jessica. We started dating on and off. Basically, whenever I had a little time off, I’d come home and we’d hang out. After a year or so, she started bitching about my traveling so much. Said she wanted a real relationship and we couldn’t have that if I was never here. She’s the one who actually pointed it out when this position came open. I applied to appease her and then when they offered it to me, I suddenly had to make a decision I didn’t really want to make.”
“You obviously took it.”
He nodded. “Yeah. And Jessica was so excited, she asked me to marry her.”
Margot giggled. He grimaced.
“So we got married, had Hillary, and then the bitching started up all over again.”
“Why?”
“She hated that my job wasn’t nine-to-five. Never believed that was really what I was doing when I had to leave in the middle of the night to deal with a call. She started accusing me of cheating, and in front of Hillary. I mean, she was only a baby, but still. Jessica has a nasty temper and she doesn’t try to hide it from her child. Four years in, I decided it would be better for all of us if we weren’t married. And here we are.”
“How come you didn’t try to go back to the FBI?”
He shrugged. “I like what I do. And now that I have Hillary, all that travel isn’t nearly as appealing. I want to be here for her, be involved in her life, watch her grow up.”
They started walking again. Her hand brushed his, and he twined his fingers with hers. He smiled when she didn’t pull away.
“I admit, I don’t miss all the crazy a big city offers,” he remarked.
“It’s definitely different,” Margot said. “I never even realized places like this existed. I’d never been to the Northeast until I moved here.”
“What was the catalyst, if you’ve never been here and didn’t know it existed?”
He felt her tension in the slight tightening of her hand in his. “The same reasons you stay, I suppose. We were looking for a slower pace, someplace where Nina could walk home from school and we didn’t have to worry about whether she’d make it.”
“Bad things happen everywhere, you know.”
She nodded. “I know. But we strategically attempted to enhance our odds. So far, it’s been a good decision.” She glanced up at him through her lashes. He was pretty sure she wasn’t referring to the town.
He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he guided her to the left, toward the park and the sound of fifties music, the kind that made you wish your girl was wearing a poodle skirt while you twirled her around the dance floor.
She wasn’t, though, which was fine, too, since the one she was wearing was short and flouncy, showing off her long, lean legs. Those red, high-heeled sandals were hot, too. He’d admitt
edly racked up a few fantasies involving those shoes that he planned to call up later, when he was alone. Unless he got lucky, of course, and she decided she wasn’t quite ready to end their date with only a kiss.
Because there would definitely be a kiss.
As they walked under the sprawling branches of an oak tree, he stopped, leaned back against the trunk, and pulled her to him, turning her so she faced the band playing a few feet away in the outdoor amphitheater designed precisely for nights like these. Her rounded ass nestled against his cock, stirring it to life. She shifted a couple times, rubbing against him, and then glanced over her shoulder and smiled. He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers.
Her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parted on a small gasp, and then the tip of her tongue darted out and touched his. He groaned and she turned around so that she faced him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, melding each of her curves to the sharp planes of his own body. She twined her arms around his neck and canted her head, leaning forward into another kiss.
While they explored one another’s mouths with the frenzied actions of horny teenagers, he slipped one hand lower and lower until he cupped her ass, pressing her against his aching hardness. Breaking the kiss, he nipped at her cheek, her neck, and up to her ear, sucking on the lobe for a moment before whispering, “My apartment isn’t too far from here.”
“Is Hillary with her mom?”
“Yep.”
“Nina is with Antonio and Phoebe.”
“And you’re with me. I’d love to extend this date.”
She gnawed on her lower lip while her hands toyed with the hair curled over the back of his neck. “Me too,” she finally said.
He caught himself before fist pumping. Barely.
“Let’s go.” She stepped away, and he quickly adjusted his package before grasping her hand and leading her back to his car.
“You drive this car everywhere,” she said when he held the door so she could slide into the passenger seat.
He shrugged and hurried around to the other side. “Small-town cops don’t make much, and the budget doesn’t allow for decent raises, either. I’m the only detective on the force, so I’m pretty much on-call twenty-four-seven. Since they can’t pay me for being on call, the city counsel voted to let me use the car for personal use as well as work. Saves me a car payment.”
