“I need to get out of here,” Liv breathed, and Jack caught her hand with his, giving it a warm squeeze.
“Me, too. Let’s get some fresh air.”
Jack tugged her along, and they edged past some chatting guests. Someone called a hello to Liv, and she raised a hand in blind greeting but plunged on. He was no longer tugging her with him; she was pushing ahead toward the door.
And then they were outside, the crisp October air enveloping them in a welcome embrace. Jack heaved a sigh and looked over at Liv.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“Evan wants to buy me out.” She met his gaze, then shook her head. “And he’s lowballing me.”
“Yeah, I saw that coming.” Jack rubbed his hands over his face. “What did you tell him?”
“I said no. He didn’t much like it. That’s when you showed up.”
“Gotcha.” Jack slipped his arms around Liv’s shoulders and pulled her against him. “You okay?”
She relaxed into his arms and nodded against his shoulder, and he smoothed her hair away from her face. It felt good to just hold her, a strange relief to be alone with her again.
“Jack...”
“Hmm?”
Liv pulled back, looking up at him. “When Evan said that you’d had a thing for me—”
She paused, licked her lips.
“I mentioned it before. I was attracted to you. Obviously I didn’t hide it as well as I thought.”
“Evan can be a jerk,” she said.
“But he was right about one thing—I’m crazy about you now. Before, it was a crush, and now—” He swallowed. “Liv, I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Liv froze, her gaze searching his. “You...”
“What can I say? You’re amazing—smart, sweet, gorgeous, funny. The last couple of weeks... I was supposed to keep my distance. That didn’t work.”
“Jack...” She shook her head slowly.
“Hey—” Jack touched her cheek with the back of his finger. “It’s not your problem. I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, and I’m not throwing myself at your feet, either. I’m just acknowledging it.”
Liv blinked, and her lips parted as if to say something, but no words came out. So Jack did what felt most natural and dipped his head down, catching those lips with his. She sucked in a quick breath through her nose, then her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into his kiss. He loved the feel of her in his arms—the softness of her body, the warmth of her skin. She pulled back, and she put her fingers to her lips.
“I wasn’t supposed to do this, either,” she whispered.
“Kiss me?” he asked.
“Love you back,” she admitted miserably.
Jack bent to kiss her again, and she leaned back. “No, Jack. It doesn’t matter, does it? You love me, and I love you, and—” Tears misted her eyes. “I can’t do this, Jack! I’ve been married to a cop, so I know the life. There are priorities, and I’d never make the top three!”
“Not true,” he growled. Even as another man’s wife, she could have made him jump for her. “I’m not Evan. I’m nothing like him.”
“And what about your precious Internal Affairs?” she asked with a shake of her head. “I’m the ex-wife of a dirty cop. How long will it take you to catch him? Who knows, right? And even once I clear my name, that’s a legality. It would cling to you. You know what it’s like—if you want to work in Internal Affairs, you’ve got to be beyond reproach, and I’m a stain.”
“You’re not a stain!” He wouldn’t let her describe herself that way. She might be misunderstood, but she was far from a stain. She was right, though. Not everyone looked into those green eyes and saw what he did. There would be questions, rumors...and his career track into Internal Affairs would be over. Justice for guys like Berto...well, he wouldn’t be the one dishing it out.
“I have to make a difference, Liv,” he said quietly, his heart breaking inside him. “You understand that, right?”
Liv nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “I know. I told you before—I know cops, and you’re a cop to the bone.”
“So what do you want?” Jack asked miserably.
“I want to get over you—” Her voice trembled. “I want to stop feeling...all of this! I want to find some boring, everyday guy who won’t break my heart, and I want a regular civilian life. That’s what I want.”
“And I want you,” he whispered.
“Not enough.” She licked her lips, her chin trembling. “You don’t want me enough, Jack.”
“I can’t change who I am,” he said huskily. “I can’t change what drove me to become a cop in the first place.”
“Any more than I can change who I am.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Jack. It was supposed to be fake...”
But it was far from fake. What Jack felt sank down into the very deepest parts of him. He loved her, and she loved him back—which was a miracle unto itself! But it wasn’t enough. That flimsy, impossible coincidence that she should love him, too, as rare and beautiful as it might be, couldn’t make up for who he was.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“You need to go.” Liv took a step away from him.
“I need to protect you,” he countered.
“I have my family, Jack!” She shook her head. “Call someone else. You need to go.”
She sucked in a wavering breath, and he could tell that she was holding back tears. Then she turned and headed back for the hall. She stopped in the doorway, cast him one indecipherable look, and disappeared inside.
It took all of his strength to keep from following her, because she was right. She was with her family, and she belonged here. He was the outsider. He pulled out his phone and dialed the station.
He’d call for a replacement, and when the officer arrived, he’d go back to the hotel. Whatever he’d come here to do, it wasn’t to fall for the suspect. She was right—being a cop went right down to the bone. And someone had to get some justice for kids like him, like Berto, who grew up in the projects. He’d known this for some time—it was her or Internal Affairs. This wasn’t just a job, it was a chance to make a difference, to help fix a broken system.
He couldn’t make his heart, his own desires, the priority. No matter how much it hurt to walk away.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE NEXT MORNING, Liv stood in the mystery section of her store, scanning the titles. She was irritable and heartbroken. Everything inside her was in a jumble, and she hated feeling so out of control. Outside, the sun was shining, and dried leaves blew and scraped down the sidewalk. It was the kind of day that went with the smell of new books.
But Liv’s heart ached, and even a fresh box of books delivered from a favorite publishing house did nothing to ease that pain.
Last night, Liv had stayed at the wedding, watching the other couples dance. She’d declined any more offers to dance with friends and cousins. She was tired, and her heart was so heavy in her chest that she felt like she could drown. And when she got home that night, she’d lain in her bed and sobbed her heart out. She’d cried until she was dry, and still her heart ached.
She loved him. That was the problem. Liv had fallen in love with Jack. And she knew better than to take a chance like that! She’d done this before...she’d thrown her heart into a marriage hoping that if she just loved her husband hard enough, everything would be okay. It hadn’t worked.
For the moment, Hylton Books was empty, and Liv looked around herself, taking in the shelves of books, the straight spines, the red armchair off to the side, her trusty little stepladder for reaching top shelves.
This was hers—she’d built this herself. And yes, Evan might have arranged the purchase, but the land was not the store. Hylton Books was more than real estate—it was sweat, tears and a whole fresh start for a woman whose
heart had taken enough.
This was the life she’d dreamed of for years, and when she’d realized her marriage was over, this was the dream that had kept one foot going in front of the other. And yet anything connected to Evan seemed to get tainted, and her store was no exception.
Someone wanted her out of town—well, they could forget it! She was giving up a man she loved, but she wasn’t giving up this dream. This store was all she had left, and Liv wasn’t going anywhere. And if Evan had done something illegal, she wasn’t going down with him, either. She’d been a good wife, a good citizen, and damn it, she wasn’t going to cave in and back that man up in his lies. Nor was she going to give up on the life she’d just begun to build.
So what could she do? Her mind ticked through the facts, lining them up like pieces on a board. There were options, some easier than others...
Liv picked up her cell phone and looked down at it. Evan had never lost gracefully to Liv, even in chess. But that was the problem. If you didn’t win, you lost. And she was tired of stepping back for that man, being less for him, losing for him.
Liv had her name on her business, and she needed to clear that name. Two could play this game. She dialed Evan’s cell phone number and let it ring.
“Liv?” Evan sounded tired.
“Hi, Evan.” She tried to sound pleasant. “So I’ve been thinking. Do you want to know what about?”
“Uh—” There was a rustling sound. “This isn’t really a good time, Liv.”
“Tell Tanya to hold on,” Liv replied with an eye roll, imagining exactly what was occupying her ex-husband’s time. “This is worth it.”
“Fine...” Evan sounded annoyed now. She must have nailed that one. “What?”
“I want in.”
There was a pause, more rustling. He was probably moving away from the bed now. He lowered his voice. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, Evan. Here’s the thing. You’re offering to buy me out because this land is about to be worth a fortune. And I want in. You used my name to buy this property to begin with, so I figure you owe me. If you want me to play along and back up the story about this place, then I want a cut.”
“What kind of a cut?”
“That depends on how many people have a slice of the pie, doesn’t it?” she said. “But at the very least, I’m keeping this property, and I’ll sell it to the mining company myself. But if you want to buy my parents’ property by the lake, or if you want a chance at Marie and Gerard’s summer house, you’re going to need me to nudge them into it.”
“Are you trying to set me up?” Evan asked. “Is Talbott with you?”
“And if he were, would I say?” She laughed lightly. “Evan, I’m serious. I want in. And if you don’t let me in, I’ll start making things up. Talbott is eating out of my hand right now. I’m sure I could feed him enough stories to keep Internal Affairs after you for a decade.”
“Blackmail?” he asked incredulously.
“Business.” Her tone hardened. “I’m a single woman now, and I have a bottom line to worry about. Come by the store tonight. I want to talk. There will be no cops, I promise. Well, besides you. If you want my cooperation, there’s a price.”
There was silence on the other end.
“Nine tonight,” she said. And when there still hadn’t been an answer, Liv hung up without a farewell. Evan was used to having the upper hand, and he wouldn’t risk her ruining everything he’d worked so hard to put together.
She had been a good wife, a good citizen, but she was an excellent chess player, and she was tired of waiting on men. Jack would work his fingers to the bone to prove her innocence, but it was very likely that there was no concrete proof to be found. Evan was good at this, too, and he wouldn’t have left that kind of thing to chance. Besides, given half a chance, he’d pin the whole thing on her...and likely had most of that lined up already.
If she was going to clear her name, then she’d have to do it herself. Here was hoping she didn’t get herself killed in the process. Pretty, pretty Liv. Forget that. She might be attractive, but she was also smart—and innocent!
* * *
WORK WAS THE great comforter when emotions got too strong. Jack had always been that way—a workaholic, some said. Yeah, well, it was a whole lot better than facing his feelings for Liv. He’d fallen in love with her all over again. He’d thought he could stay aloof, keep his emotions in check, but she was the one woman who could topple his defenses without even trying.
Hell, she didn’t even want him.
Jack hadn’t slept that night—not much, at least. And the next morning, he decided to do what he did best and start chasing down some clues. Nate Lipton had had a few run-ins with Evan Kornekewsky, hadn’t he? Maybe that was another place to dig.
After a day of fruitless investigating, and after the sun sank behind the mountains, Jack found the old man’s address—a little apartment building at the edge of downtown Eagle’s Rest. But when he buzzed, no one answered.
“Who are you looking for?” An older woman came out the front door with a little dog.
“Nate Lipton. Do you know him?”
“Oh, Nate. You won’t find him home at this time of night,” she said with a wave of her hand. “He’ll be at dinner—that café on the corner.”
A little late to eat, but to each his own.
“Thanks.” Jack looked the way she’d pointed, at a striped awning poking out onto the street, aglow in the yellow light of a streetlamp. He shrugged his coat higher up on his neck and headed in that direction.
The café itself was small and quaint. At this time of year, there weren’t many tourists, and Jack spotted Nate at a table near the window. He was with another man and what looked like a teenager, but Jack couldn’t see either face until he pushed inside and angled past the tables. Then he saw him—Brent Villeneuve was the adult. The teenager wasn’t anyone Jack knew. Next to three empty plates there was a little travel chessboard. That was a friendship he hadn’t guessed!
“Good evening,” Jack said, and both men looked up.
“Hello, Officer,” Brent said. “What can I do for you?”
“Actually, I was looking for Nate,” Jack replied, pulling up a chair and straddling it. “Who’s winning?”
“Hard to tell,” Nate replied.
“He’s winning.” Brent chuckled. “It’s just a matter of how long he toys with me.”
“Ah.” Jack glanced toward the kid. “Friend of yours?”
“We’re teaching him the game,” Nate replied. “Gotta pass these skills on to the next generation somehow. So what do you want, Officer?”
“I’m looking into a police officer,” Jack said. “Evan Kornekewsky.”
“That idiot,” Nate said, not taking his eyes from the board. “What’d he do now?”
“I’m trying to find out.”
“Get evidence, you mean,” Nate replied with a bitter laugh. “We all know what he’s done.”
“I hear he pressured you into selling,” Jack said.
“I reported that,” Nate replied, and he move his castle forward five spaces, then looked up. “He didn’t have as much to hold against me as he did my neighbor, Ruth Kripke.”
“What did he have against Ruth?” Jack asked.
“Her son was dabbling in drugs, and Ruth was a single mom. She’d scraped to buy that house. Officer Kornekewsky had arrested her son on some misdemeanor in the city, and he said he’d drop the charges against her boy if she sold to Mayor Nelson. So she did. You’ll never get her to say anything, though. She’s too afraid of her son seeing the inside of a jail.”
Of course. The mayor was as dirty as the cops he used for muscle. If Jack had to guess, those golf games between Evan and the mayor were less about the sport and more about their plans to swindle the community. Brent made a move, and Jack
silently watched the men play for a couple of moves. It would be a slow process of putting together the bits and pieces of evidence. On their own, it was all pretty circumstantial, but maybe this Ruth Kripke would be willing to testify. Maybe. Hopefully... He made a note in his pad.
An image of Liv rose in his mind, and his heart clenched. He was doing this for the sake of justice—for all the kids who had been pushed around by dirty cops, for all the moms who’d been willing to do anything to save their boys from jail. And he was doing it for Liv, for her chance at a new life away from Evan. Cops like Kornekewsky had ruined the lives of too many people, and even if it took him years, he’d never stop trailing after these monsters.
And yet there was a very tantalizing life here in Eagle’s Rest—one that wasn’t available to him, regardless. Liv knew what she wanted, and it wasn’t the likes of him. Even if she had fallen in love with him. Not much of a victory when the woman could love him and still know she was better off without him.
“Don’t make that move,” Nate said, his voice monotone.
Brent took the move back. “Why?”
“I’ll win in three moves,” Nate replied. “No, not that one, either.”
Brent took another move back. Jack chuckled softly.
“I know that feeling. I played Liv Hylton, and she kept making me take moves back, too.”
Even romantically, it was the same. Don’t make that move... Hearts didn’t matter as much as Jack used to think.
“Brent’s too defensive,” Nate said, glancing over at the teenager. “He’s always trying to close the holes, stop my attacks. But you can’t win on defense. You can only prolong the game a little bit. The only way to win is to make a positive move—do something. Attack.”
Brent shot Jack a wry smile. “He’s always right.”
But constant offense didn’t win, either. Sometimes a man had to defend what was most important to him at home instead of endlessly attacking...like he was trying to do for Berto—for the kids who kept getting tilled under by a handful of selfish authority figures.
Her Lawman Protector Page 22
