The Perfect Ten Boxed Set

by Dianna Love

  Seriously good timing.

  She hadn’t paid attention to Trish’s soft southern accent the first time they’d met, but caught it now.

  “Come on in, Sug, it’s too hot to sit out there. I don’t know how you and Zane stand the heat. The man loves his fresh air. Let’s close the door and enjoy the AC.”

  Trish’s ankle-length fuchsia dress dotted with yellow squiggles blared in stark contrast to Zane’s coffee brown and forest green décor. The dark-haired beauty circled the sofa carrying a glass full of cola-looking liquid, before sinking into the soft green leather.

  “Want something to drink, Sugar?”

  “No, I’m fine. Thanks for letting me in.”

  “No problem.” Trish eyed her curiously. “I hadn’t even heard of you before yesterday. So, where’d you meet my brother?”

  A reasonable question under any other circumstance, but not one Angel had anticipated. Telling Zane’s sister he’d helped her escape armed men didn’t strike her as a wise idea.

  “We met in North Carolina. I was in a hurry to leave, so he gave me a ride to Jacksonville.” Basically true.

  “You live here or just visiting?”

  Though Angel knew his sister’s intent was not to put her on the spot, it didn’t alleviate her discomfort. The fact that they’d never meet again didn’t change the way Angel felt about blatantly lying to her.

  Her father had lied as part of his plea bargain. Basically, he’d sacrificed her to save his own skin. Mason had lied when he hired her. Angel would stay as close to the truth as possible.

  That didn’t mean she couldn’t be a little creative.

  “Actually, I’m visiting. I plan to relocate in the future, but haven’t made up my mind where yet. How long have you been here?”

  “I moved here three years ago when Zane did. Before that I lived in Houston. We grew up just outside the city limits. Our parents died while Zane was in the Air Force so he opted out early. He didn’t feel any real tie to Houston, and I’d missed him terribly. When he picked Ft. Lauderdale, so did I.”

  Trish’s deep brown eyes softened every time she mentioned her brother.

  Angel envied the close sibling relationship. Zane’s love for his sister had been written all over his face when he’d hugged her the day before.

  Before Trish could ask her another question she’d have to dodge, Angel said, “Zane said you’re really good at appraising antiques.”

  Trish looked away, looking decidedly uncomfortable and mumbled, “He’s biased.”

  Sore topic. Angel changed direction to fix her mistake. “He also tells me you have a gift shop. Sounds like a fun business. Tell me about it.”

  That brought a smile to Trish’s face, but not her voice. “It’s an eclectic mix of doodads. Been open three months.”

  Zane was right. His sister’s heart wasn’t in the gift shop. But would moving her shop to this other Las Olas area make any difference? Angel wanted to do anything to help Zane and she liked Trish, but the best she could offer was encouragement. “Takes time to build a business, but Zane says you’re great with people.”

  Trish leaned back, kicking her crossed leg with a nervous bounce. “I told him things would pick up this winter when the snowbirds show up.”

  “That makes sense. So you’re partners?”

  “I couldn’t have done it without Zane’s help. I had no idea where to start with opening a business, but...” Trish shrugged, a version of Zane’s. “I’m getting the hang of it. He takes care of all the real business and I work with the customers.”

  Angel wondered where the tough breaks Zane had mentioned came in. His parents may not have doted on Trish, but she was bright and pleasant, obviously loved her brother and operated her own shop. Sometimes. His sister was sitting here again during business hours. Maybe Trish had someone covering for her when she showed up unannounced like this.

  Trish waved her hand from side to side. “Yo, Angel, back to earth.”

  “Sorry, what were you saying?”

  “I asked you where Zane is?”

  Oops. “He didn’t tell me where he was going, but he’ll probably be back before you know it.” Fair answer.

  “He doesn’t even have an answering machine. Can you believe that? I called earlier here to see what his plans were, but didn’t get him,” Trish said, jiggling her glass.

  Angel started to ask why Trish didn’t call Zane’s cell phone, but changed her mind. The more she let Trish talk, the less she had to say.

  “So anyhow, I jumped the bus and took a chance he was here. But it’s just as well. I’m getting to know you instead. Can’t say that I’ve met any female friends of Zane’s since he moved here.”

  Interesting. “Why not?” Angel asked.

  Trish’s thick black lashes met when she smiled. She shoved her shoulders up in another shrug. “He’s never had a problem meeting women. They fall all over him. But a twit in Texas burned him years ago. They were pretty intense for two months, until he found out she was engaged to somebody else.”

  What a bitch.

  Trish continued swishing the cubes around in her glass and rambled on. “I don’t think he ever got over it. These days he sees everything in a hard line, right or wrong. If there’s one thing my brother hates, it’s being deceived. Personally, I was glad to see the gold digger gone. My brother’s generous to a fault and I can’t stand anyone taking advantage of him.”

  Trish glanced at Angel and her eyes narrowed for just a second, then lit with a smile again.

  In spite of all Trish’s flighty mannerisms, she had a solid core of strength where Zane’s welfare was concerned. A strength that maybe even Zane didn’t realize.

  The smile of a charming young woman replaced Trish’s vexed reaction over the gold digger. She glanced at her jangling bracelet watch.

  “I can’t stay long. My friend, Heidi, is picking me up after she gets off work.” Trish bounced up holding her glass out for examination. “Looks like I’m empty. Hang on. I’ll be right back. You need a water or drink or anything?”

  “I’m fine.” Shoot. It wasn’t bad enough that Angel was becoming attached to a man she’d never see again. Now she wanted to get to know his sister better.

  Some people fantasized about winning the lottery and living a life of leisure.

  She fantasized about having friends. A respectable job and a real home. Nothing elaborate, but with a man who loved her, and who would give her children.

  Now that she’d met Trish, she wished she’d had a sister.

  Because of the less-than-ideal household Angel had grown up in, she’d had few friends. She’d never brought guests home to be around her mother’s drinking. Once news of Angel’s arrest hit the papers, everyone had deserted her. She’d shunned all female relationships after the twelve months and three days she’d spent in a cell trying to survive among women who’d trade a life for a pack of cigarettes without blinking.

  Now, after years of bitter disappointments, she’d met a man dreams were made of, with a sister she’d genuinely like to know better. Creating space in her life for either one was an indulgence she couldn’t afford.

  Her timing stank. Life continued to wave her heart’s desire in front of her then snatch it away any time her fingers touched the golden ring.

  Trish hummed as she passed in front of Angel’s chair, then she bumped the coffee table and lost her balance.

  Angel leapt up to grab Trish’s drink before it hit the glass surface, but missed. When the now-full drink hit the floor, ice and cola splattered across the carpet.

  “Hang on, I’ll get some towels.”

  With a rag from the laundry room, Angel scrubbed the soft beige carpet. She sniffed a sweet whiskey scent, but kept her thoughts to herself. With the ice picked up, the damp area was hardly noticeable. Amazingly, the drink had left no stain.

  “Hey, thanks,” Trish said, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “You should move here. Maybe Zane would stay home more often.”
>
  Angel smiled at her. “Well, that would be nice, but I’ve got a small problem I need to take care of before I can figure out where to live.”

  Wavy black hair bounced around Trish’s flawless complexion when she checked her watch. “Heidi must be running late. I better go catch the next bus before I miss it.”

  Angel didn’t want her to go, but neither did she want Trish to miss her bus.

  “I hope you two keep seeing each other. I really like you and my brother is the best. We’re a lot alike you know.” Trish grinned and winked.

  His sister clearly didn’t want to leave yet.

  Angel decided to sit back and see what else Trish would tell her about Zane. Smiling at Trish, Angel said, “I’ll admit you two can’t deny being brother and sister.”

  “Well, yeah, that too, but he’s restless like me,” Trish noted.

  “Really? What do you mean?”

  Trish warmed to the new topic. “He can’t stay still for long. He’s always planning something and sometimes he flies without a load, without saying where he goes. I guess just to be flying. I think he just gets bored without the adrenaline rush of flying fighter jets, but he’s always off doing stuff and won’t talk about his work. I call him the mystery man.”

  Now they were getting somewhere.

  Angel leaned forward but before she could ask what Trish meant there was a knock at the door. Trish rocketed up from her chair. She rushed to the door and swung it wide open with no consideration for who stood on the other side.

  Angel jumped from the couch, ready to fight for herself and for Trish if a threat came through the door, but that didn’t happen.

  Two arms decorated in bangles and rings wrapped around Trish’s back, then a head of spiked blond hair appeared over her shoulder when this new person hugged Trish.

  Turning to Angel, Trish announced, “This is my friend, Heidi and Heidi, this is my friend, Angel.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Angel walked over to shake hands.

  “Same here. Wow, you’re even taller than Trish. I’m living in the land of giants.”

  An understandable observation from someone who only reached Angel’s shoulder.

  Trish’s uninhibited grin radiated happiness. Angel swallowed a lump of jealousy over the noticeably close friendship.

  No brother, no sister, no girlfriends, no man in Angel’s life. Why couldn’t she have one person in her life who cared for her?

  Was she destined to spend her life alone?

  Heidi told Trish, “Ready to go home?”

  “Sure thing.” Trish turned to Angel. “Tell Zane I had to go, but I’ll see him later.” She gave Angel a big hug and whispered, “Thanks. I owe you.”

  “What for?”

  “Not lecturing me about drinking and helping me clean up the floor, which means you don’t plan to tell Zane.”

  The unrestrained hug warmed Angel’s heart. She didn’t want to lecture Trish, but she would like to help the young woman. “I won’t say a word, but take care of yourself.”

  Trish nodded then snatched up her purse from the kitchen, and waved as she left in a flurry of chattering as Heidi closed the door behind them.

  Leaving Zane and Trish would be hard, but never seeing either one again was going to hurt. Once she went into a witness protection program, no way could she have contact with either.

  She smacked her head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. I cannot believe I didn’t ask her about the damn boat curtains. Next time I need to keep my nose stuck in my own business,” she complained to the empty room. Shaking her head, she dropped onto the dark green leather chair, wishing she really lived here and had Trish as a friend.

  Trish would probably say, “Just do it, Sug. Take care of that small problem and hang around.”

  Angel had stretched the truth with that adjective.

  A small problem would be if no one showed up in a week to pay the rent on her tiny house back in Raleigh. Playing keep-away with Mason and his goons ranked up with a nightmare-level crisis.

  What few worldly possessions she owned would soon be set on the street, including a used racing bike and her acceptance notice to compete in the Tamarind Triathlon.

  All the hard work she’d invested to compete in the high-profile event was wiped away.

  Angel glanced at the door. Should she duck out the back and head for the marina to search for the coins?

  After all it took to get back here without being seen?

  At least she hoped she hadn’t been seen.

  Patience, she reminded herself.

  With no idea where Zane had gone, or when he’d return, she pondered Trish’s comment about Zane being a mystery man. Trish might have said more if Heidi hadn’t shown up.

  Zane might be a mystery to his sister, but he’d been nothing short of a lifesaver since Angel had met him. As if it hadn’t been enough to rescue her the night she’d escaped, he’d shown up in the abandoned gas station out of thin air after someone had taken a shot at her.

  Questionable timing? Yes, but she’d been damned glad to see him.

  The man chiseled at the barriers she’d built around her emotions. His first kiss had surprised her, but now that she’d tasted Zane Black’s kisses, she wanted more. She licked her lips, savoring the memory of his taste.

  Years of debilitating setbacks had hardened her soul. She knew better than to trust a man with her life, but trusting one with her heart? Now that was a real stretch.

  Dreams are for other women. Her throat tightened. She didn’t have a future and not a chance of one with him. Nice guys didn’t want a convicted criminal for a girlfriend.

  Nothing could change the past.

  Angel never indulged in self-pity, but her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall.

  She was falling in love with Zane.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

  Must be your lot in life to want only what you can’t have.

  Of all the things she’d lost in her life, losing him would be the hardest.

  Chapter 25

  Zane dialed Ben’s lab number as he whipped his truck around the marina parking lot to head for the exit.

  After ten rings he hung up and dialed the cell Ben carried for work.

  “This is Ben.”

  “Hey, buddy, it’s Zane. Where are you?”

  “I’m at the hospital. Kerry went into labor. I just stepped out to call her parents.”

  Zane was torn between being thrilled for Ben and disheartened he couldn’t ask his friend to run the prints. “Don’t let me keep you.”

  “The doctor says it’s going to be a while, so I’m good.”

  What kind of friend didn’t go to be with his buddy for the birth of his first baby? Shit. Ben might not want anyone there now anyhow, but Zane had to go once the baby was born. “Congrats, man. I’ll pick up some bubbly so we can toast when Little Ben pops out.”

  “Kerry will kick your ass if you bring in champagne and she can’t have any yet. So what’s up, Zane? You called for a reason.”

  “It’ll wait.”

  “Don’t tell me you finally got prints?” Ben razzed.

  “Yeah. I’ve got some data to run, too.”

  “You don’t sound thrilled. Why do I get the impression something’s not right?” Ben asked, no longer in teasing mode.

  “You could say things have gotten ... involved,” Zane said.

  “I don’t like the direction this is going. Why don’t you turn this over to somebody else? You’ve got a lot on the line, which reminds me. I have news.”

  “What?” Mac came by to see me on his way out of town.” Mac was Dan MacPherson, the SAC or Special Agent in Charge of the DEA task force that used the information Zane uncovered. “He wants to talk to you. The stuff you’ve been handing us is great, and I think they’re wanting to do something permanent or maybe bring you in to work more closely with a team.”

  “No way. I’m not flying a desk for anything. Not even part of the time.” Zane hated bureaucrac
y. Yeah, he knew how to work the politics, had done it for years in the Air Force, but that was the one part of flying fighter jets he’d been glad to give up. Besides. The informant gig he had was too sweet to let go.

  “Hold your fuckin’ horses, Luke Skywalker. You don’t know what they’re gonna offer.”

  Zane’s response came out as an irritated growl. He couldn’t stay in one spot long enough to organize his own package tracking system. He just held everything in his brain. No way could he play their game.

  Besides, he’d take a pay cut he couldn’t afford.

  Desk jockey was out.

  Ben’s heavy, weary sigh came through loud and clear on the phone. “Listen, I’m guessing you’re holding back about this woman because you two are doin’ the mattress dance.”

  “I’m – ”

  Ben bulldozed right over him. “If you blow your cover – and this gig – because of her, I’m gonna kick your butt into next year.”

  Zane couldn’t argue that point with Ben. He was supposed to be helping catch criminals. If he was caught hiding one, he’d face more than watching a reputation and a business crash and burn.

  Still, he couldn’t stop trying until he knew for sure. That’s why he trusted no one but Ben to check out the prints. Even Vance didn’t need to know because it would put him in a tight spot, and that wasn’t fair to their friend who played the third musketeer alongside him and Ben in his small cadre of buddies.

  One thing Zane had learned from flying. He had to go with his gut. He could no more turn his back on Angel at this point than he could his sister.

  Angel needed him. She was too stubborn to accept his help willingly. Tough. She was getting it anyhow.

  “It’s complicated, Ben. I have to find out this woman’s background.”

  Ben made a noisy sound of blowing out air. “I finished taking apart that chopped-up silver band you brought me. It did have a tracking device inside.”

  “Agency model?”

  “No. Latest technology. Expensive stuff from the private sector, which does not make this better. What if she is a criminal?”

  “Then I’ll deal with it,” Zane stated emphatically.