She Walks the Line (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Fox, Roz Denny

  “It’s fine. Anything’s fine. Passing those steaming platters of shrimp made me realize I’m starved.”

  “Me, too.” Cullen let the waiter place the menus on the table, then pulled out Mei Lu’s chair. After she sat, he wedged himself into the chair tucked in the corner. Their knees collided, and she moved hers aside.

  “Do you have enough room? Would you rather trade seats, Cullen?”

  “This is fine.” He grimaced slightly. “Either I’m feeling the effects of my round-trip drive to Austin, or I’m getting older. I’d forgotten how loud they play their music. But I remember they have good food. I haven’t been to a Joe’s in years. And don’t ask how many,” he cautioned with a playful grin.

  “It’s a great choice, Cullen. I don’t mind the noise. I like seeing everyone having a good time,” she said, looking around with a wistful expression.

  Cullen caught her expression. “I know you said you don’t date much. I dismissed the remark, because I find it hard to believe.” He studied her instead of his menu.

  Mei, who’d begun to peruse hers, glanced up. “Oh? Why? Goodness, do I strike you as the party-girl type? Is that how I come across?” she asked anxiously.

  “You’re not serious?” He paused as the waiter set down glasses of water and took their drink orders. “Let me say there’s definitely something wrong with the men you know if they allow you to spend your evenings alone at home. Now, there you go, blushing again. Stop. It’s true, I swear.”

  “I don’t sit home waiting for my phone to ring. More often than not, I’m busy.”

  “Is that so? All right, let’s take tomorrow night. What if I asked you to accompany me to a business engagement?”

  Mei Lu’s jaw sagged a little. “I, uh, would have to decline. I have something going on tomorrow night,” she said, purposely not saying it was another case.

  Cullen seemed a little skeptical. He also looked disappointed—enough for Mei Lu to wish the sergeant hadn’t phoned her.

  The waiter brought their drinks and took their food order, and Cullen dropped the subject of their going out again. Mei filled the silence. “Belinda must be much better or I doubt you’d leave her tonight and tomorrow night.”

  “I won’t claim a miraculous recovery. She’s improved enough that I’m comfortable going off.” He grinned. “She begged to come tonight. Both kids did. Belinda is such a little faker. Once she saw I wasn’t giving in, she tried telling me her ear hurt again.”

  Mei sipped her iced tea. “How do you know she was faking?”

  “Outside of the fact that she learned the art of manipulation early on from the world’s best—her mom? I called her bluff is how. I grabbed her jacket and said that meant she needed a second trip to the ER.”

  “I wouldn’t have known to do that,” Mei Lu lamented, rubbing at the condensation coating her glass.

  “Sure you would. You develop a sixth sense as a parent. Similar, I imagine, to the techniques required to be a good cop. You learn to cut through the bull.”

  This time it was Mei who laughed. But inside, a niggling voice made her wonder if she was a good cop. Instead of sitting here taking pleasure in Cullen’s company, she ought to be probing him regarding his absent wife. Specifically, why Jana had chosen now to travel in Asia. As well, Mei should contact someone in Hong Kong to check Stephen’s recent buying trip to Manchuria. She would, she told herself. First thing in the morning.

  Two heaping, sizzling platters of seafood were delivered to the table, causing Mei to put her concerns aside once again.

  Cullen had ordered crab. He cracked it out like a pro and ate with gusto. Mei nibbled on her grilled shrimp, unsure when she’d ever taken such pleasure in watching another person eat. Mealtimes at her parents’ home were silent affairs. It had taken a long time out of that environment for Mei to accept that it was okay to talk during a meal. She still tended to eat quietly and listen.

  Catching Mei staring, Cullen set down his crab leg and pick. “Is something wrong with your shrimp?” He wiped his hands on a wet towelette sitting in a bowl.

  She lowered her eyes quickly. “Uh, no. Everything’s fine. I’m letting mine cool, that’s all.”

  “Good.” Satisfied, Cullen swiped a napkin across his lips, then dove into his pile of crab again. Juice flew as he broke off a claw.

  Giggling at his look of surprise, Mei wiped her cheek and reached across the table to do the same to his chin. “You’re a wild man.”

  He waggled both eyebrows. “And do you like your men wild?”

  She recognized his sexual innuendo and froze. Was she reading too much into mere playful flirting? While happy to be here with him, Mei wasn’t ready for more. She had tons of reasons. After gulping a bracing swallow of watered-down tea, she broached one of them.

  “Cullen, what kind of relationship do you maintain with your ex-wife?”

  His eyes narrowed appreciably. There were several tense moments as Mei Lu kept her gaze trained on him, and she thought he wouldn’t answer her. But he did.

  “It crossed my mind to ask why you think that’s any of your concern. But, given the impression I left you with last night, I suppose you have every right to bring it up.”

  “I don’t mind stating my reasons. You’re divorced, yet you admit to having a key to her house. Plus, I was there, remember, when she phoned you from halfway around the world to say she’d run short of cash.” Mei toyed with a shrimp. “From what I’ve observed of other people who are divorced, they can’t stand the thought of being on the same planet together. Do you and your ex share business dealings?”

  Sitting back, Cullen picked up his glass. Time stretched as he carefully weighed his answer. “I don’t hate Jana. I try to have a cordial relationship with her for the sake of Belinda and Bobby. I don’t always have an easy time of it, but…I married her, after all. Living together is an adjustment, and I don’t claim to be without faults. I’d never have stayed at her home in Austin overnight if she’d been there. You have my word on that, Mei Lu.”

  She nodded solemnly, noting, however, that he’d skirted the issue of his covering Jana’s maxed-out credit cards. “You were right in your first assessment, Cullen. Your private life is none of my concern. Only if it affects our case. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be so nosy. I believe, though, that you have a few suspicions regarding my father. As I have mine about your wife. Ex-wife.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Cullen had dipped into the vegetables on his side plate. He stiffened and a spear of broccoli tumbled off his fork.

  “Jana,” Mei said, “is in Thailand. Last time I checked an atlas, Thailand was a stone’s throw from China. Someone in that part of the world is directing artifact-smuggling operations into Houston. You, Cullen, live very well, and you own high-end art. I heard you authorize your bank to cover a substantial overdraft for a woman you claim you don’t care for. That doesn’t add up.” Mei Lu picked up a fat shrimp and popped it in her mouth.

  Cullen’s chin nearly hit the table at the same time his fork fell with a clatter. “You believe I—that I—that Jana…”

  His well-tanned, sculpted cheekbones turned so florid, Mei Lu thought he might self-destruct. He teetered in that state only seconds, though, before throwing back his head and roaring with full-throated laughter. It went on long enough for Mei to grow nervous. People around them had stopped eating to stare their direction.

  “Cullen, shh,” she hissed. “Don’t.”

  He did, mopping tears from his eyes with his napkin. “Mei, why didn’t you mention this earlier? I am well-off. I explained that my estate’s maintained through a trust fueled by oil leases set up by my great-grandparents. I also figured I’d bitched quite enough about my ex the day you and I met at the skating rink. I try not to say things that might influence the twins against her. I tell myself that if I teach them properly and keep their feet on the ground, one day they’ll look at their mom and understand being selfish and spoiled is no way to live.” He shook his head. “Fa
mily court judges don’t see spoiled moms as an issue, especially when the children’s maternal grandparents wield the power Jana’s folks do. To be blunt, Mei Lu, Jana’s too narcissistic to organize or operate a smuggling ring. It’d be more her style to pout and cry until Daddy shelled out the bucks for a black market artifact she coveted. But as disgusted as I get with Hal and Sue, I don’t question their honesty. They’d draw the line if Jana asked them to fork over for anything illegal.”

  Mei Lu pushed back her plate. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to sit here and say those things about someone you once loved. Really, I’ll understand if you call Chief Tanner and ask to have me taken off the case. But I feel I’d overheard enough at your home to warrant some suspicion.”

  “I agree. Why would you think I’d want you removed from the case?” When she shrugged, he said, “As you pointed out, I considered Ling Limited a possible gallery of interest, even though Michael didn’t appear on the list Brett at Interpol sent me. I, uh, find it difficult to talk about my failed marriage. On the other hand, it resulted in one of the best things I can point to in my life. The twins. I love them, and for that I owe Jana.”

  Mei reached across the table and covered Cullen’s drumming fingers. “Say no more. I’ll take your word that it’s pure coincidence Jana chose Thailand for a vacation. I hope my cynicism didn’t ruin your dinner.”

  “Mine? What about yours? I polished off three-fourths of my meal. You ate practically nothing.”

  She’d been honest with him about her father. She hadn’t been so forthcoming about her brother. Cullen had never mentioned Stephen by name, though. Mei supposed she should voice her nagging worries—and she would…the minute she could rule Stephen out. Or if she uncovered greater reason to suspect him.

  The waiter appeared at her elbow. “May I take your plate? Would either of you like a take-out box? Did anyone save room for dessert?”

  “No box for me. I’d like coffee. Mei Lu?”

  “Nothing for me, thank you.”

  “You don’t want him to box your shrimp for Foo?” At the shake of her head, Cullen turned to the waiter. “Bring her the dessert menu. I’m going to tempt her so that I don’t have to sit here drinking coffee alone.”

  “Absolutely.” The young man with the crooked bow tie and spiky blond hair zipped off.

  Mei sat back, frowning faintly at Cullen. “I’ll stay if we’re going to discuss the case. But I’m not ordering a dessert I don’t want, just to make you happy. And…Foo only gets dog food.” She adjusted her watch, which had turned around on her narrow wrist. “I should probably go, Cullen. I have work waiting at the station. Will you let me pay my portion of the bill?”

  “In a word, no. Out of curiosity, why do you have work waiting at the station? I thought Chief Tanner assigned you exclusively to this case.”

  “Apparently not. My captain cleared this new assignment with her. Maybe she knows we’re not making much headway. I feel a little like I’m goofing off. I mean, I met you at your home, at the ice rink, a nightclub and here. What have we got to show for our time?”

  “We’ve gotten to know each other better. I’ve enjoyed that. Haven’t you? Particularly at the nightclub and tonight. Wait, don’t bruise my ego. At least not before I point out that those trips weren’t on company time. Unless you aren’t allowed any nights off for pleasure.”

  His somewhat self-conscious smile pierced Mei’s armor as perhaps nothing else could have. The tension that had plagued her all through the meal seemed to ooze out through her toes—toes that suddenly tingled in anticipation of imagined pleasure. “The city doesn’t own me twenty-four-seven except in extreme emergencies.” Mei pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and looped it over one ear. “I’ve always had difficulty mixing business with pleasure, Cullen. I tend to be single-minded when I’m working.”

  The waiter brought Cullen’s coffee and dropped off a dessert menu for Mei Lu, saying he’d be right back to take her order. Smiling lazily, Cullen held the single page in front of Mei Lu’s eyes. “Pick the richest, most sinful item on the list. Guaranteed to help what ails you.”

  She hesitated, but all at once felt like throwing caution to the wind. Why not? It wasn’t every night she sat in a dimly lit restaurant across a table from a man who could make her toes curl with his lopsided smile. “If you promise to help me eat it, I’ll try this one called Death by Chocolate. We could say it’s appropriate to our case.”

  He screwed up his face. “Mei Lu, that’s sick humor.” Even as he said it, Cullen hailed the waiter and placed the order.

  When it came, they both sat and stared at the huge brownie, bulging with chocolate chips, topped with a mountain of chocolate ice cream and drowning in dark chocolate syrup.

  Between them, and amid a lot of laughter, they polished it off.

  Smacking her lips after swiping them with her napkin, Mei Lu fell back in her chair with a groan. “I can’t believe we ate that. Ate the whole thing. I’ll probably be up all night with a stomachache. If you are, darn it, I want to know.”

  “I happen to have a cast-iron stomach, but even if I got sick, the joy of seeing you dig into that gastronomic phenomenon would more than make up for any discomfort. See, it’s okay to relax, Mei Lu. You should do it more often.” Cullen dug out his wallet and signaled for the bill.

  “You’re right,” she said. Mei was never coy. Scooping up her purse, she murmured, “I wish you’d let me split the check.”

  “Don’t spoil the fun we just shared.” He carelessly thumbed out a sheaf of twenties, tucked them under the bill, then rounded the table and slid his hand under Mei Lu’s arm. “What about tomorrow?”

  “What about it?” She blinked up into his warm eyes, feeling her point of gravity shift dangerously.

  “Our agenda. What’s next?”

  “Oh. I don’t know. We didn’t discuss that tonight,” she said, knowing she sounded piqued.

  “We’re discussing it now. I propose we meet at eight. My office.”

  “Did you forget I’m headed for work? They may have plans for me.” She knew Sergeant Marshall had said they needed her to cover an evening function. But she felt dizzy whenever Cullen touched her. She needed to establish some control.

  “I had forgotten. After that big meal, I’ll be up reading or going over old ground on this case. Call me tonight after you get your assignment. If you’re tied up tomorrow, and if Belinda feels better, I might take the kids to the zoo.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “Hey, if your time allows, come with us. I’ve been there so many times, just me and the kids, I’ve got to admit I’d welcome the company of someone over three-and-a-half feet tall.”

  Mei smiled at that image as they walked out to the parking lot. She knew if she worked tomorrow night, it meant her afternoon would be free. “I’ll phone you, and we’ll see. You have to promise me one thing, though. If I go with you, I need your word that we’ll work on our case.”

  “I promise.” When she stopped beside her car, he said, “How about if we shake hands on it?”

  She eased out of his grip, stepped back and extended her hand.

  Clasping it in both of his, Cullen gave a sharp tug, drawing her toward him just enough so that he checked her forward motion with his lips, locking them tight against hers.

  Mei didn’t fight it. She gave him an A for ingenuity. Besides, ever since last night, her thoughts had lingered on what it would be like to kiss him again. Now she knew. Terrific was the word that thundered through her brain. Terrific!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  MEI LU LET CULLEN LEAD her to her car and unlock it and open the door. She said something about calling him as soon as she found out if she’d be available to go with him to the zoo tomorrow, but her brain wasn’t exactly focused. She was all thumbs when she went to start the Toyota. It took three tries.

  She had kissed both of the other men she’d dated. One didn’t move her. The other was more like a friendly, “we’re friend
s” kiss. Both times Cullen kissed her, she’d felt her feet leave the ground. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might fly out of her chest. And her mind—well, it spun faster than a top and didn’t work right for an hour afterward.

  Dragging her cell phone from her purse, Mei drove out of the lot at Joe’s, aimed in the general direction of her office. She punched speed dial for Homicide, Chicano Unit. “This is Lieutenant Ling. Is Detective Santiago—Crista Santiago—on duty tonight?” Pulling up at a stoplight, Mei tapped her fingers to the low throb of a tune playing on her car radio as she waited for the dispatcher to check. “She is? Oh, she’s out on a call?” Mei said, making a left turn behind the car directly in front of her. “No, don’t patch me through to her car. I’m on my way to headquarters. I’ll pop in when I get there to see if she’s reported back. It’s not urgent. Thanks.” Mei pressed the End button. She needed to talk to someone about these riotous feelings Cullen evoked in her. Crista was the friend Mei trusted most, even though they’d had a difference of opinion as to how they should proceed at the time Risa was accused of shooting her partner. Up to then, the friendships among the six women had been solid. Mei fully understood that Catherine had to be excluded from any discussions about Risa. The chief had to remain absolutely impartial. But it was as if they all got touchy when Risa’s name surfaced. Worse, they went from being touchy to outright disagreeable. Rather than fight openly, some of them stopped speaking. That was slow to change, even after Risa had been cleared.

  Although they all spoke in passing, the friendships weren’t like they’d been before. Mei realized she’d just phoned Crista as she might have in the old days—to discuss the reactions she was having to Cullen. But…what if Crista laughed, or told her to take off her rose-colored glasses and step into the real world, as she’d done at dinner the evening that four of the friends met for what had turned out to be their final girls’ night out.

  Mei backed off on her plan to confide in Crista. She dropped the whole idea several blocks ahead of pulling into the HPD parking garage.