She Walks the Line (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Fox, Roz Denny

  The Archer twins stumbled in from the rink, bringing a fog of icy air with them.

  Cullen leaped up, and Mei followed his lead.

  “Daddy, we’re pooped,” Belinda exclaimed. “But it was the most fun we’ve had in ages. Mom hates sitting at the rink, so she never lets us go to the one in Austin.”

  Bobby plopped down and began unlacing his skates. “Mom takes us plenty of places, Belinda.”

  Mei thought the boy sounded angry.

  “Yeah, right, Bobby,” his sister went on. “You really like visiting dumb old art museums.”

  Mei’s ears perked up at the girl’s remark. Here was yet another reference to Cullen’s ex that might fit the profile in this case. A woman who maxed out her credit cards on excesses and spent free time in enough art museums to cause an eight-year-old to complain. A woman like that would surely know which pieces collectors would pay for on the black market.

  Or… Mei had another thought and blurted, “Cullen, is your wife by chance an art dealer?”

  “She’s my ex-wife,” he muttered. “Jana’s not anything, except maybe the world’s most accomplished shopper. That’s coupled with the fact that she has parents who still indulge her every whim, even though she’s a grown woman.” Then, as if realizing Mei and his children were shocked by his outburst, Cullen massaged the back of his neck vigorously. Deliberately relaxing his jaw, he aimed a smile at the twins. “Hey, guys. I’ll bet you two are ready for a hot chocolate. Mei and I have already sampled some. We can definitely tell you how fantastic they taste. Can’t we, Mei Lu?”

  Bobby kicked off his skates. “I don’t want any old hot chocolate. I want to go home. Why is she horning in on our vacation? You were s’posed to watch us skate, Dad.” The boy’s stormy eyes were locked on the interloper in their midst.

  “Apologize for that, Bobby.” Cullen reached around Mei to clasp his son’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I am stealing time you should spend with them.”

  Cullen leaned toward his son. “Bobby, I explained yesterday at lunch that I can’t always clear my calendar when you come to Houston. Mei Lu and I are working on a case together. That’s the way it is. Now…she’s waiting for you to say something.”

  Bobby shook off his dad’s hand. “If you lived with us all the time, you wouldn’t have to take crummy old jobs when we don’t gotta go to school. Grandpa Vaughn said so. He said you could live in Austin with us if you wanted to and do investigator work for him. You just don’t wanna live with us.”

  “That’s not true.” Cullen suddenly saw how much interest this conversation was drawing from a room filled mostly with women. He also noticed that Mei had hurriedly removed her car keys and shut her notebook.

  “Belinda, do you want hot chocolate or not? Your brother has just forfeited his right to a treat.”

  The boy’s sister seemed to struggle with her conscience. She frowned indecisively, but only for a moment. Then she sank down and untied her skates. “That’s okay, Daddy, Freda can fix us something at home.”

  “No, hon, that’s not how punishment works. Your brother’s not going to get an afternoon snack at home, either. So if you want cocoa, I’ll give you the money and you can buy it while Bobby and I go outside for a chat. Mei Lu will wait for you, Belinda. Won’t you?” he asked, turning to the woman now trying to ease around him to head out the door.

  Caught, Mei Lu cast about for an escape. Finally, she said, “I think it’s better if I leave, Cullen. I have enough data to do some digging into this case on my own. There’s no need for you to cut your family time short. If I turn up anything, I can get in touch by phone.”

  Cullen’s eyes glittered. He dumped his notebook into a duffel, hooked it over his arm and lifted his son off the bench by the scruff of his collar, marching him to the door. He seemed impervious to the ruckus Bobby was making.

  Mei Lu turned in the children’s skates, and walked Belinda out into the afternoon sun.

  Already at his vehicle, Cullen unlocked both doors. “I’m done with this nonsense, Robert Madison Archer. You know what I want to hear. Spit it out. Belinda, climb into the back seat and buckle up. Your brother and I will be there after we finish our business with Mei Lu.”

  “S…s…orry,” Bobby choked out in a nearly inaudible tone. “Now can I get in the car?”

  For a second, Mei thought Cullen would make him repeat himself. In the end, he didn’t. He dipped his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans and sighed, giving the sullen boy permission with a jerk of his chin.

  Mei hadn’t realized before this moment that Cullen was dressed so casually. Worn blue jeans over scuffed cowboy boots. Not the same pair he’d worn at their first meeting. Those were dressier. She ought to leave, but something held her in place. Since Bobby had met Cullen’s demand, she could just take off.

  Cullen, though, held her with his eyes as he stripped off the leather jacket he’d been wearing to ward off the cold inside the rink.

  Mei watched in fascination as his biceps flexed and the muscles rippled below the sleeves of a knit shirt that clung to his wide chest. Her stomach tightened when Cullen casually slung the leather jacket over his shoulder. Honestly, did she have to be so in tune with every move the man made?

  “Let me apologize for that entire scene.”

  “No need.” She passed her tongue over suddenly dry lips.

  “There is a need. Bobby’s been testing me a lot this trip. It’s not the first mention he’s made of Jana’s father undermining me. I can see I’ll have to have another talk with Hal Vaughn. He’s a semi-retired lawyer, a former state senator. Quite used to throwing his weight around. But Hal knows it doesn’t work with me. I won’t have him putting the twins in the middle of a family feud.”

  “It’s all right, Cullen. You don’t owe me any explanations. So, we’ll cancel our visit to the club tonight? I’ll plan on dropping by after they open tomorrow.”

  “Absolutely not. What’s changed? I love my kids, Mei, but they don’t rule my life. I’m still picking you up at eight forty-five. You did put your address on my notepad, didn’t you?”

  “No.” Mei darted a sidelong glance toward the Archer twins. “I don’t mind, Cullen. Really.”

  “I mind. So humor me. Please. Otherwise you’ll wreck what’s left of my ego.”

  The chagrin on Cullen’s face did more to change Mei’s mind than any argument he might have presented. She kicked a loose rock aimlessly and capitulated. “Give me your notebook. I’ll write down my address. It’s not in the phone book for obvious reasons. So, if you give it to anyone else, I’ll have to kill you.”

  He liked her response; Mei could tell from the way he laughed. She scribbled her address on the page he extended. Then she did a swift about-face and walked over to where she’d parked.

  She suspected she’d just made a huge mistake.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  FOO MANCHU did his usual doggie dance around Mei Lu’s feet when she entered her duplex. His tail beat against her legs and he jumped. So high, she felt his warm tongue against the back of her hand. “You are the best greeter a girl could have,” Mei crooned. She dumped her mail, notebook, keys and suit jacket on the kitchen table, and gave him her full attention before doing anything else. They played a game that involved her hiding the ball and the dog finding it. Afterward, he romped around the courtyard, tossing his favorite squeaky toy into the ivy.

  Mei had discovered that if she lavished love on Foo first thing, he was content to flop down somewhere and let her read mail, fix dinner or do whatever else needed to be done. This afternoon, that entailed figuring out what to wear on her non-date with Cullen Archer.

  “Tell me why I stupidly agreed to get all fancied up tonight,” she lamented to the dog a couple of hours later.

  He sat on the end of her bed, his fuzzy ears flicking forward and back in sync with the rise and fall of her voice. His interest was punctuated by sharp yips. Apparently eager to help her locate something in
her closet, whose deep dark corners he loved to sniff, Foo jumped from the bed and nosed his way inside.

  Laughing, she rubbed his head. “I’ve never been to any of the Asian nightclubs and have no idea what other women wear. When in doubt, black is always good—right, Foo?” Scooping him up, Mei fondled his ears. He shut his eyes and tucked his head under her chin as she contemplated various dresses stored in plastic because they got so little use. After pulling out and returning two possibilities, she settled on a black silk. Her shoes underwent the same scrutiny. She had black, red or white. So she picked black and added a matching wrap in case the brisk wind, which had kicked up on her drive home, turned into a squall. Satisfied with her selection, she closed the closet door.

  Mei Lu didn’t spend much time in the shower or with makeup. Drying her thick hair took the longest. But when she made a last inspection in her mirror, sticking out her tongue at what she saw, Mei realized she was fifty minutes early. And she had a bad case of nerves; transferring a few items into a small dress handbag, she kept dropping things on the floor.

  “Now what, Foo? Men expect women to be late, not early. He’ll think I’m eager, won’t he? Darn.” She sank down on her bed, and her eyes lit on the note reminding her to phone Abby. Snatching up the receiver, she punched in the numbers.

  Her friend’s phone rang so many times, Mei almost hung up. At the last minute she heard Abby’s breathless, “Hello.”

  “Ab? It’s Mei Lu. No, nothing bad’s happened here. There’s no special reason for my call, other than to catch you up on news, and see how you’re doing.”

  “I’m doing great!”

  “You okay? You sound out of breath.”

  “I just got back from grocery shopping. I’ve been unloading the car, which is why I’m out of breath. So, hurry up, tell me what’s new.”

  “Maybe the biggest news flash to date—I ran into Lucy at the station today. She and Jackson have set a wedding date. They’re planning a very small wedding, she said. Lucy practically glowed, Abby. Anyhow, your name came up. I decided it was high time I quit procrastinating and phoned you.”

  Laughing, Abby proceeded to rattle off a laundry list of questions concerning the friends she’d left behind in Houston.

  “Whoa. Hold everything.” Mei propped a pillow behind her head. “You’re the one who moved half a continent away. We all want to know about you. I haven’t actually spoken with Risa, so I don’t have the scoop on her,” Mei murmured, unsure about discussing Risa, because Mei felt she’d let her friend down. “Oh, another thing…at the gym this week, Crista flipped Sergeant Denholm on his back. Knocked the wind right out of him. It was fabulous.”

  “Oh, wow, Mei. I’ll bet it shut him up. Sorry I missed that.”

  “Yeah. I wish you’d been there, too.” A dejected note had crept into her voice. “Crista and I went for coffee afterward. It wasn’t like it used to be, though. Nothing’s the same,” Mei said, then curtailed the longing even she heard. “Hey, I made lieutenant.”

  “Mei, that’s fantastic! I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me.” Abby chided. “So what gossip haven’t you spilled?”

  “I’ve hardly been in the station break room at all. Catherine has me out on special assignment.”

  “That’s interesting.”

  Mei shrugged. “Not so far. Smugglers. Asian art. The guy working the case for Interpol needed an interpreter. That’s me.”

  “But…it’s international. Could get exciting. And Interpol! I don’t suppose your contact is a James Bond type? I’m envisioning Pierce Brosnan here.”

  Mei hesitated, giving the image some serious consideration.

  “The guy’s hot, isn’t he. You’re holding back, Mei Lu. I can feel it. Come on, give.”

  “His name is Cullen Archer. I’m afraid I can’t compare him to James Bond. No accent. Comes from old money—oil. Lives in the family mansion. He’s got eight-year-old twins.” Mei knew how all of that would sound to Abby.

  “Married, huh? Well, darn. Maybe he has a single buddy. You’re too much a loner, my friend.”

  “From that remark, can I assume all’s well in your love life?”

  Abby paused only briefly. “Thomas and I are talking marriage, Mei Lu. This time around is all I’ve ever dreamed of and more.”

  Mei felt another tiny stab of melancholy as she reflected that Abby had been willing and able to risk her heart not once, but twice. Mei doubted she could ever be that certain of her destiny. She hoped that Abby was right, that Thomas was the one. Mei cleared her throat to make sure her perceptive friend didn’t pick up on her doubts. “You sound…I don’t know, more relaxed than you used to. Serene may be the word I’m looking for.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but I am. Thomas is who I want. It’s that simple. And he finally sees we belong together.”

  “I’m happy for you, Abby.” It gave Mei’s heart a lift to know that was true. Before she could say more, she heard her doorbell ring. Foo leaped off the bed in a frenzy of barking and raced out of the bedroom. When Mei glanced at her bedside clock, she realized they’d been chatting half an hour.

  But if it was Cullen at her door, he was early.

  “Something set off your dog? How’s the pooch working out for you, Mei Lu?”

  “He’s the best. We get along fine. Abby, I thought I’d have more time to talk, but someone’s at my door.”

  “Do you want to see who it is? I’ll hang on. I still have a million questions to ask you. We haven’t even mentioned Catherine or her daughter, Kelsey, yet. How are they?”

  “Catherine’s fine. Busy, busy. I’m afraid I haven’t seen Kelsey in a while. I feel bad about that, too. It’s another friendship lost in the fallout from Risa’s Internal Affairs investigation. We all pulled back, and if Risa felt abandoned, Kelsey probably did, too—or worse. There goes my doorbell again. Abby…I’ll have to call again another night. I’m, uh, going out. To a nightclub.”

  “You are? See, I knew you were holding out. Well, have fun. Oh, I have other news. We’ll talk soon. And I want to hear every last detail about tonight. Promise?”

  “It’s not that kind of going out. Tonight is job-related.” Mei grimaced as she deliberately misled her absent friend.

  “A job? Jeez, okay. I should’ve known. I’ll let you go, then. Honestly, Mei Lu, you’ll wake up one day and find you’ve worked your life away. Then where will you be? Not rich, my friend. Not even on a lieutenant’s salary.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. But I’ve got to run. I will definitely call again. Or you phone and tell me when you two get married. I want us to keep in touch. Let’s make every effort to talk often.” Mei listened to Abby’s murmured agreement. Then they said goodbye to the accompaniment of the dog’s frantic barking.

  Hanging up, Mei slid off the bed, tugging down the short skirt fluttering about her thighs. She told Foo to hush and hurried past him to check her peephole. Cullen Archer stood on her porch. All she could see was his chin and his tanned throat. Hauling in a deep breath, Mei opened her door.

  “Hi,” he said. “I only just noticed I’m fifteen minutes ahead of schedule….” If he’d been going to say more, the words stuck in his throat. Instead, Cullen ended his statement with a fairly recognizable wolf whistle.

  Mei, who already hung onto the door for dear life, felt like slamming it and running in the opposite direction. In casually elegant clothes, her “colleague” on this case exuded a sexual chemistry that shot Mei’s heart straight into high gear.

  He wore charcoal slacks low on his hips. A dove-colored silk shirt was partially hidden by a black linen jacket, which without doubt had been tailored to fit his wide shoulders. And yet…his nervousness showed in the way he buried both hands in his pants pockets, and he rocked to and fro in his shiny black dress shoes.

  “All I can say, Lieutenant—well, I can’t seem to say anything. You leave me speechless.” Cullen wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to wear for this outing she�
��d been so reluctant to attend with him. She had just plain knocked him off balance when he’d first glimpsed all that pale amber skin wrapped in a tiny swath of black fabric.

  “Speechless good, or speechless bad?” Mei queried, worriedly yanking on her skirt.

  “Good. Definitely good.” Cullen ran his gaze down her long legs. But instead of lingering on her high, strappy sandals, his eyes stopped on the bared teeth of a comical-looking dog who gave every indication of protecting Mei Lu’s shoes at any cost.

  “Ah…I’ll step inside to wait while you finish up, if you guarantee I’ll be leaving with all my appendages intact.”

  “Sorry,” she said, bending to pick up her pet. “Foo is acting weird. Normally he’s glad to see neighbors drop by. I’ve always said he’d bring a burglar in and show him my silver.” She laughed a throaty laugh. “Not that I have any silver. Please, do come in.” Moving, she opened the door wider.

  Cullen didn’t enter immediately, but reached out a hand to let the dog, now safely ensconced in Mei’s arms, sniff his fingers. “The twins want a dog. So far I’ve managed to resist their badgering, even when they double-team me.” By not making any sudden moves, he was soon able to scratch Foo behind his ears.

  “I’d think a dog would be a better companion for them than a rabbit.”

  “You saw Mopsy?” He heaved a long-suffering sigh. “She’s just one in a series of inappropriate gifts my in-laws lavish on my kids. Believe me, if Jana’s mother wasn’t allergic to dogs, they’d have a dozen. The fact that Jana’s parents buy the twins every single thing they want is a big reason I’m resisting a dog.”

  “In that case, I understand.” Mei closed the door before she set Foo down again. “Kids have to learn they can’t have everything they ask for.”

  Cullen stepped in and swept the living area with a thorough glance. “This isn’t the part of town where I pictured you living, Mei Lu. But this house, this room, they’re you. Clean lines. Nothing fussy.” Shoving both hands in his pockets again, Cullen moved to a wall to examine a painting. A beach scene—the silhouette of a surfer cresting a wave at sunset. Below the picture, the lamp sitting on an end table’s base was a ship’s wheel. Around the room were other models. “Considering the business your family is in, I’m surprised at your preference for maritime decor.”