Armed With Steele

by Kyra Jacobs

  “Miss Hartley, this is Molly Gillenwater. From Maxwell Office Solutions. It appears that Mr. Frankston was pleased with your interview. He requested I call this evening and offer you the position of administrative assistant for the marketing division. Do you accept?”

  I swallowed hard. Decision time—no more what ifs or if it happens, thens. One little word was all that stood between me and my undercover assignment. But was I really up to the task? And if I said yes, would I make it out alive?

  My gaze drifted to a picture of Grace and I at our graduation party, eyes bright with anticipation for all that lay ahead. And completely clueless that it would come to this.

  “Miss Hartley?”

  The Final Jeopardy tune began to play in my head. “Yes, I’m still here.”

  I clamped my eyes shut. Yes? Or, no? Strong for Grace? Or, safe for me?

  Of course, I knew the answer. Had known it all along. I had to be strong for Grace, because she’d have done the same for me.

  “Ms. Gillenwater?” I opened my eyes and focused on our graduation picture once more.

  “Yes?”

  “I accept.”

  * * * *

  Matt arrived shortly after my fateful decision, and drove us to my favorite Chinese restaurant. The rain showers that had soaked me so thoroughly the day prior had stalled out overhead. So Matt, ever the gentleman, dropped me off at the door. I got out and sighed as he pulled away. Grace was so lucky.

  Well, aside from the coma, that is.

  I pushed open the first set of double doors and stepped inside to wait for my dinner date. Okay, not date. Date was the wrong word to use. More like, dinner partner.

  Partner.

  Nate.

  Damn it, there he was again. I shook my head. This hopeless, pathetic crush I had on Officer Steele had to end. The faster we got this stupid case solved, the faster I could get over it.

  But could I get over it with my heart still intact?

  I reached into my purse and snuck a peek at my cell phone. No new messages.

  Damn.

  I’d texted Nate after Maxwell called and let him know I would start there on Monday. But instead of a call, or a long, congratulatory text, all I got was a one word response: Great.

  Great? What was that supposed to mean? Great, you’re on your own, so good luck with that, or great, now we can get down to business?

  The outside set of doors burst open, startling me. Matt hurried inside, bringing with him a gust of wind and a splattering of rain. “Man, if this rain doesn’t let up soon, we’re gonna have to build an ark!”

  I tucked my phone away. “I know. Our neighbor was outside earlier, carrying buckets of water up from their basement and cursing the sewer pipes.”

  Matt’s eyes widened. “Their basement flooded?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I pushed the second set of doors open and stepped out into the lobby. “Happens every time it rains. But it’s their pipes, not the city’s. The sewer department comes out every time and explains that to him, but old Mr. Cranston won’t listen. He’s convinced someone sabotaged his pipes so they’d have to move.”

  Matt chuckled. “Now there’s a conspiracy theory I haven’t heard before.”

  …I don’t want her cluttering your investigation with any of her quack conspiracy theories...

  Nate’s words echoed in my mind. Surely, her ideas were just that. I shook my head and tried to focus on Matt. “Um, yeah. That Mr. Cranston, he’s something else.”

  The hostess greeted us in broken English and led us to a table on the far side of the room. She got us settled in at our table and handed us each a menu. “Tea?”

  “Yes, please.”

  She vanished, and was quickly replaced by a busboy toting a large pitcher of ice water. He filled our empty water glasses and then disappeared as well.

  “So, you said business has been doing well?”

  “Actually, it’s been booming lately. I’ve been working like a dog trying to keep up.” The image of Brutus popped into my head. I reached for my drink to hide a grin.

  The hostess reappeared with a small kettle and two teacups. She set them on our table with a nod and then hurried back to her station in the lobby.

  “Well, maybe if you’d spent less time with Officer Steele, you wouldn’t be so behind.”

  I choked on my water. In earnest. Had tears rolling down my face before the coughing fit was over. “But…how…did…you…?”

  Matt grinned. “I saw him on your porch yesterday, looking like a drowned rat.”

  “Oh?” Was there anyone in Fort Wayne not watching my house?

  “Yeah, I was gonna stop by and pick up a few things I’d left over at your place. But when I saw you let him in, I decided to keep driving. Didn’t want to, you know, interrupt anything.”

  I clenched my hands into fists beneath the table, but tried to maintain a look of disinterest from the shoulders up. So much for his promise not to give me a hard time about Nate.

  “There was nothing to interrupt.” Except that argument we had. Which was all Katie’s fault. Damn her.

  Matt leaned back in his seat and stretched an arm out along the back of his booth. “So, are you guys seeing each other or what?”

  Once again, I’d left the house to escape from my worries, and found myself smack dab in the middle of a discussion about them. “No. He’s just been…keeping me in the loop about the accident investigation.”

  There. Finally an explanation that wasn’t a complete lie.

  “Uh-huh. He’s seeing someone else already, isn’t he?”

  “How should I know?” I answered too quickly.

  Matt’s right eyebrow twitched. “A little defensive, aren’t we? You know what I think? I think someone’s crushing on Officer Steele.” He took in the scowl I threw him and chuckled. “Wow, Jess. I haven’t seen you get flustered over anyone since—”

  “Don’t…say his name. That’s ancient history now. He’s gone, and I’m not looking back.”

  Matt leaned toward me and rested his forearms on the table. “But you’re not looking forward, either. You can’t stay hung up on him forever,” he said, his voice soft. “You’ve built a wall up around your heart, trying to keep it safe. But safe can be a lonely place. Trust me, I know.”

  “You do?”

  He lifted his own water glass and took a drink. “Before Grace, there was Jill.”

  “Jill?” I leaned in, eager to hear someone else’s story for a change.

  “She was my high school sweetheart. We dated for years.” His index finger trailed along the base of his glass. “Then one day she walked in and told me it was over. She was transferring to a college out east, and didn’t want a long distance relationship. I tried to convince her to stay, to not break it off, but she wouldn’t listen.” He shook his head. “Caught me completely off guard. Hell, I had a deposit on a ring.”

  “Oh, Matt. How awful!”

  His gaze shifted to meet mine. “At the time, I would have agreed with you. But a few months later I met Grace.” His face softened.

  “And the rest was history.” I laughed. “So, have you put any other deposits down recently?”

  He grinned. “Maaaayyybe.”

  “Great. I guess her being gone now is good practice for when you steal her from me for good.” We exchanged a grin, and I reached to put my hand on his. “But I can’t think of a better guy to lose her to than you, Matt.”

  “Thanks, Jess.”

  A movement by the lobby caught my attention. I glanced over and froze at the sight. It was none other than Katie, in the midst of an animated seating discussion with the hostess. But what shocked me even more was the person standing beside her, hands intertwined, and whose eyes were locked on me.

  Apparently Brutus wasn’t the only traitor in the Steele family.

  “Seems like you might still have a chance with him.”

  I ripped my gaze away from Nate and retrieved my hand. “Why do you say that?”

  Ma
tt chuckled softly. “Because I’m a guy. And trust me when I say, it was written all over his face.”

  Seeing Nate there with Katie felt like a sucker punch to the stomach. She’d threatened to break my nose, and now he was standing there, hand in hand with her? “Well his face appears to be accompanying someone else tonight. Which is just fine—I have plenty of work to keep me busy.”

  Matt frowned. “Yeah, but what kind of life is that when all you’re doing is trying to stay busy?”

  I glanced back over to see the hostess lead Nate and Katie to a table behind the partition. “A safe one.”

  * * * *

  Matt and I stayed at the restaurant well past our entrees, taking turns exchanging our favorite Grace stories. He was a funny guy, and had me in stitches over several of them. It felt so good to be out. To be laughing again.

  And without the added pressure of worrying whether or not our time together would lead to anything else.

  But eventually our conversation dwindled, and Matt took me home.

  “Thanks, buddy.” I stepped out of his SUV and onto the curb in front of my house. “I needed this. More than you know.”

  “Glad I could help. You know you can call me any time, right?”

  “Yeah, I know. Thanks again.”

  I walked to the front door, put my key in the lock, and then offered an all-clear wave. As soon as his vehicle was around the turn at the end of the street, I retrieved my key and walked around to the back door. There was a certain pooch I didn’t want Matt to see who would surely need to use the little boy’s room by now.

  While Brutus did his thing, I sat on the back porch, lost in thought. What if Matt was right about the look on Nate’s face? What if he did have feelings for me? The thought thrilled me and scared me, both.

  I heard the snap of a twig and looked up in time to see a figure step out of the shadows by the garage. Brutus bolted forward, and yanked me up off my seat. Instead of protecting me, my guard dog dragged me toward the intruder. “Stop, Brutus, stop!”

  The figure didn’t run, and didn’t charge forward, either. Instead, it knelt down, and freely accepted the kisses his dog lavished upon him.

  I threw the leash down, my heart hammering in my chest. “Damn it, Nate. You could call before you show up sometime. Or learn to use the front freaking door.”

  A low chuckle greeted my ears. “Where would the fun be in that?”

  “What, you didn’t get your fill of fun on your date tonight?” I turned and walked back to the porch, embarrassed by the jealous tone in my voice.

  “Probably not nearly as much fun as you did. I’m gonna have to tell Charlie, you know. He’ll be devastated.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny. Charlie will get over it. Besides, it wasn’t a date. Just dinner with a friend.” Not that you care. You’ve got Katie to keep you warm at night.

  “Grace’s boyfriend, Matt?”

  “See, right there you know it wasn’t a real date.”

  Nate picked up Brutus’ leash and walked over to stand before me. “Well, I would hope your moral compass hadn’t gone that awry since the last time we spoke. But hey, desperate times call for—”

  “Did you just call me desperate?” My temper began to stir.

  “You?” He shook his head. “Lonely? Maybe. But desperate? Nah, I just don’t see it.”

  “You, on the other hand…”

  Nate lowered himself onto the deck beside me. “I’m not desperate.”

  “Uh-huh. You just took Katie out to dinner.”

  “Seems like I remember you saying something not too long ago about how that was none of your business—you’d agreed to be my partner, not my date.”

  His words, though true, slashed at my heart. “I did. But of all the women in town you could have chosen from, you pick the one who threatened to do bodily harm to your partner the day before?” I looked down at my feet. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

  “Did seeing us together tonight really bother you?”

  “You’re damn right it did.”

  He reached out and turned my face gently toward his. I searched his eyes for an explanation. For any hint of what he was feeling, thinking. Then, without warning, he kissed me.

  The kiss was tender, yet strong; sweet, yet persistent. It was everything I’d imagined and more. But as the kiss persisted, alarms began to go off in my head. Reminders of a certain threat to my nose…

  Nate reached out to draw me closer, but I stretched my hand out to resist. I pulled back and studied his face. “W-what are you doing?”

  His toothy white grin glowed in the dark night. “Wow, Jess. Has it really been that long?”

  “No. No! I mean, what are you doing?”

  Though I hated to move away from him, that intoxicating scent of his cologne, and the warmth emanating from his body—which, by the way, was causing heat to radiate from mine in all sorts of new places—it had to be done. There were questions that needed asked and answers to be given. I pushed myself up off the deck and put a few feet of the chilly night air between us.

  Nate’s brows furrowed. “I am, or rather, was, kissing you. Don’t tell me you didn’t want me to.”

  I definitely couldn’t tell him that—it would have been the biggest lie I’d told in years. “No, I’m not saying that. It’s just…”

  He grinned, his ego saved by my admission. “It’s just what?”

  I threw my hands into the air. “You were with another woman all evening,” I said, my voice low and harsh. “On a date. Holding hands, for crying out loud! And then you come over here and start kissing me like that? Humph. And I thought Charlie was the dog.”

  Even in the darkness, I could see color cloud his face. “It wasn’t a date. And it wasn’t my idea.”

  I remained in place, arms crossed.

  Nate looked away and sighed. “Katie called earlier and asked me to come over. She wanted to talk, said she’d been doing some thinking and would I please hear her out. I knew damn well what she was going to say, after the conversation you and I had last night.”

  “Oh yeah, that was a fun one.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I also knew what my answer was going to be before she’d gotten a single word in. But I knew that if I didn’t let her have her say, she’d bug me to no end. So I agreed to meet if we did it on neutral ground. Rather ironic that we’d end up at the same restaurant as you and Matt.”

  “Ironic?”

  “Yeah. I go out with the woman who’s begging to take me back, and see the one I want across the room with someone else.”

  He stood and walked over to me. Reached out to cup my face in his hands. This time I didn’t push him away.

  “But we shouldn’t—”

  “I don’t care if we should or shouldn’t. All I know is I want to. I’ve struggled to resist you since the day I met you, Jessica Hartley. And you’ve given me mixed signals every step of the way. Even last night, I still couldn’t tell how you truly felt. But when I saw you sitting there with another man tonight, I knew it was time to lay it on the line.” He traced both thumbs along my jaw line. “Of course, I had to get in at least one kiss before I gave you the chance to tell me no.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

  He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “So what’s it gonna be, Miss Hartley? Must we keep things strictly business, or are you finally going let me in?”

  I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The war raged on, battle axes of concern flying from the right lobe to the left. But no matter what attack the right side launched, the left side found a way to deflect it.

  My eyes opened and locked with his. “Can I ask you something?”

  His brilliant blues bore into mine. “Anything.”

  “Do you like my nose?”

  He tipped his head to the side. “Why, I love your perfect, little—”

  “Good, commit it to memory. Because when Katie hears about this…” I reached up and pulled his face back down to mine. �
��She’s gonna be pissed.”

  Chapter 18

  “Okay, let’s go over this one more time. Name?”

  “Jessica Hartley.”

  “Age?”

  I sighed. “Twenty-five.”

  “Where did you grow up?”

  “Here, in town.” So much for my end to lying.

  “And where did you go to school?”

  “IPFW. Seriously, Nate, we’ve been over this half a dozen times. When is enough, enough?”

  It was Sunday afternoon, and we were sitting at my kitchen table. The sun streamed in through the room’s lone window, giving the space around us a warm, autumn glow.

  He reached across the table and patted my hand. “When the answers are ingrained in your mind. You don’t want to make them suspicious on your first day, do you?”

  “But I won’t! You’ve got me answering questions I wouldn’t answer even if it really was my job I was starting tomorrow. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly the most outgoing person in the world. I like to keep my life a little more…private.”

  Nate moved his hands from mine back to the plate of gooey chocolate brownies in front of him. “You do like to keep us outsiders guessing,” he said with a wink. “But someone is bound to ask questions. Like the gal you said had been close to Grace.”

  “You mean Vanessa?” I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that’s possible.”

  I stood, and took my empty plate over to the kitchen sink. The leaves on the trees that lined the alley behind our house had gotten a bit more serious about their annual plunge the past few days. I stood at the window and watched several more make their descent, lost in thought.

  “Nervous?” Nate’s warm, strong arms wrapped around my waist.

  I leaned back into him with a sigh, my eyes still on the canvas of yellow, orange and red outside.

  “Sorry if I’ve been pushing you too hard.”

  “No.” I wrapped my arms around his. “It’s not that. I’m…I’m just nervous. About seeing her office, sitting at her desk, typing on her computer. It’s hard enough to stay here, night after night, haunted by the room full of her memories just across the hall.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “You’re stronger than you think.”