“Maybe.” He turned his attention back to the road. She was exactly right, and it annoyed him.
“See, I knew that, because Heather was always so concerned about fitting in and never standing out. She’d want a house built by the same builder as her friends, one in the right neighborhood, with the right neighbors and the right schools. So what if the house was built entirely of spit and toilet paper with granite countertops thrown in? Just that it was the trendy new place to live.”
Dani had pegged his ex-wife perfectly. He said, “I forgot. You and Heather were in drama together in high school, weren’t you? What happened between you guys? Heather would never talk about it when I’d ask.”
“Girl stuff.” Dani crossed her arms tightly against her chest and frowned. “You know, the usual. Jealousy, talking behind each other’s backs, being in love with the same boys—you don’t want to know.”
The miserable look on her face told she wasn’t telling him everything, but he probably didn’t want to know. “Okay. So I suppose now that you’ve placated me and shown me my poor choices, you’d like to show me what I’d really like? Even though I have no idea what that is?”
“Yep. I’d like to show you some older homes, completely remodeled, so you can still have your granite, but the lot sizes will be twice as large, you’ll have huge trees, spacious floor plans with big bedrooms, and there’ll even be room for horses. We used to go riding almost every afternoon, remember? Your girls would love that.”
He grinned at the memory. Horseback riding was the only sport Dani had been better at than him, and yet he never minded because they’d always had fun. His girls probably would love riding as much as he and Dani had. They were too young now. But later, it might be something he and the girls could do together. “Yeah, that sounds good, but I still need to be close to Heather so it’ll be easier on the girls to go back and forth to school and visits.”
“I’ve got that covered, too. Come on, Michael, you need to bust out. Take a walk on the wild side for a change.”
He scowled for form’s sake, but Dani was right. The homes they’d seen were a little vanilla. There really wasn’t anything special about them.
“Okay, I’ll have a look at some tomorrow. I’m starving. Want to grab some dinner?” When she gnawed her lower lip, as she always did when she was thinking, he added, “I’ll even buy.”
She narrowed her eyes again. “Why?”
He loved that she was suspicious of his motives. They’d always had a fun, teasing relationship, so why stop now? “Because when I’m hungry, I can’t think straight. Like right now, I’m feeling a strange sense of remorse over my earlier remark about you bumping up your commission. I’m hoping it’ll go away after I’ve had dinner. Otherwise, I’d have made you pay for dinner with your most important client. Me. That’s how you should make them all feel, by the way. Like they are your only client.”
Her face lit with a false enthusiasm that meant she was about to give it to him with both barrels.
He looked forward to the battle.
She said, “This must be my lucky day. Another helpful hint all rolled up in a dinner invitation?” She reached out and gave his arm a viselike squeeze, her touch sending a blow to his already shaky defenses against her. “Then I should probably return the favor by ordering the most expensive thing on the menu. That way you’ll be able to forgive yourself a whole lot easier.”
Typical Dani logic.
He had to hold back the chuckle that threatened to escape, while tamping down the heat her hand on his arm ignited within him. “I’d forgotten how considerate you are. Where would you like to go?”
“Anything’s fine with me.” Her grin turned mischievous. “But the Skyline Club is always a safe bet.”
And it was one of the most expensive restaurants in town, but he loved the food there, and as much as he hated to admit it, it could be fun. “Then it’s a date.”
A sudden and familiar sadness settled over him as it had so many times since his divorce. Had he asked Dani to dinner because it was better than going home to his quiet apartment alone and nuking something? He hated to acknowledge that he was lonely.
The women he’d dated since the breakup of his marriage seemed more interested in his time in the NFL rather than hearing about his kids. At least he could share a meal with Dani and know she couldn’t care less about his past. She wasn’t interested in fame or notoriety. She hated that, having grown up the daughter of a famous actress.
She was the only one who ever truly seemed to understand him.
At the same time, Dani could annoy the hell out of him, but he got the most perverse satisfaction out of sparring with her.
He should probably see a shrink.
As Michael headed for her favorite restaurant, a quiet chime sounded from Dani’s phone, so she dug it out of her purse and studied the screen.
“Jake forwarded an e-mail that says my car is ready. They want it off the lot by six. He’ll try to meet us there, but he might be a little late. That’s nothing new. Jake was late for our wedding and hasn’t been on time since. It’s at a place called Gabe’s Garage.” Like she’d know where that was. She quickly google-mapped it.
Man, she loved her new phone with superfast Internet.
Michael said, “It’s five forty now. Where’s it at?”
“Downtown.” She gave him directions, and they were off.
At two minutes to six, they rolled up in front of a graffiti-covered body shop in the sketchiest part of town. A chain-link fence with barbed wire on the top surrounded a bunch of cars, and hers, with a shiny new windshield, stood just inside the fence. The “Die Bitx” was still there, so the department must not have had the budget for a new hood. She’d have to figure something out later.
The sign in the office window said they were closed already, and the hours on the door said they closed at five. Maybe someone was inside waiting for them?
She reached for the door handle, but Michael’s warm hand covered hers and stopped her. “I’ll get it. Stay in the car and lock the doors after me.”
She wasn’t going to argue with that.
As soon as Michael’s door closed, she popped down all the locks. She peered through the windshield, admiring Michael’s big, broad shoulders and fine ass in his expensive suit. But it wasn’t only his nice build that she enjoyed. She’d forgotten how his smile could make her feel all warm and gooey inside. And how cute his face was when it lit with excitement whenever he spoke of his girls. They’d had a fun day even while giving each other a hard time. She’d missed having fun with Michael.
He reached for the shop’s door just as a loud explosion sounded from inside. The big glass window blew out, and a fiery ball lit up the sky.
Her teeth rattled, along with all the windows and doors, while the force of the explosion hit Michael square in the chest. With his arms and legs extended out in front of him, his body flew backward against the hood of his car, slamming into it with a sickening thud. Debris poured down like an out-of-control hailstorm as Michael’s body limply rolled off the hood and onto the hard pavement below.
Michael was hurt. She had to help him.
The fear for Michael and adrenaline racing up Dani’s spine spurred her into action. She fumbled with the locks and then finally threw her door open. She jumped out, then heard someone down the street shouting to call 9-1-1 as she made her way to the other side of the car. The heat from the flames warmed the right side of her body as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. The office was closed. Was it an explosion from chemicals inside the shop? Or a setup? Was that a bomb meant for her? All she knew for sure was that she was afraid for Michael. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being injured. He had two little girls to raise who needed their father.
Glass crunched under her stilettos as she rounded the hood. When she spotted Michael lying on the pavement with blood seeping from his forehead, tears filled her eyes.
Please don’t let Michael be dead.
Thank goodness.
“Don’t move, Michael.” She checked his head wound. It didn’t appear too deep, but there was a lot of blood. They needed something to stop the steady flow from his forehead. She wrenched the driver’s door open and dived across the seats, hopeful he’d have something in the glove box she could use. She grabbed a handful of napkins, then dabbed his wound as the blare of sirens grew louder.
Michael’s eyes focused on hers as she put light pressure on his forehead. Warm blood seeped along the edges of the paper, staining her fingers.
He blinked a few times before he said, “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know. But what else hurts?” She ran her hand through his hair, checking for other head wounds. His suit was a bit dirty, but he seemed intact otherwise. Her heart ached at the thought of what might have happened to him if they’d arrived just a minute earlier and he’d made it all the way inside the office.
Michael winced as he sat up. “I’m fine, Dani. I took harder sacks than that in the NFL.” He took control of the napkins, then leaned against the tire. “Come here. You’re shaking.”
Firemen spilled out of a hook and ladder while the screams of multiple approaching sirens became deafening.
Michael tugged her onto his lap and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, holding her tight while hoses sprayed water over the fiery building. “We’re fine, Dani.”
After the adrenaline settled down a fraction, she heard people talking about a bomb, and the shaking started right back up again.
She wrapped her arms around Michael and whispered, “I’m glad you’re okay. I was so afraid that you’d—”
“What?” Michael put a finger under her chin and tilted it up. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you still care about me.”
In that split second, when she didn’t know if Michael was dead or alive, it had become crystal clear she still cared. A lot.
“I never stopped caring about you, Michael. And I miss you.” She hadn’t meant to say that—it must’ve been the shock—but there was no taking it back once it was out there.
He blinked at her, clearly confused by what she was saying.
She quickly added, “I was a hormonal teenage girl when we parted ways before. I made a big mistake. And I’m sorry.” All true. She couldn’t tell him the most important reason: that she was a freak who could see into his future.
A fireman approached them and looked Michael up and down. “How are you feeling, sir?”
Michael lifted the napkin from his forehead. “Just a cut. I’m fine.”
The fireman leaned closer to examine the wound and nodded, then turned his gaze toward her. “Ma’am, that’s a nasty bruise. How’d that happen?”
“Oh, this?” Dani lifted her hand to her face. “I’m fine. That happened yesterday.” She’d thought she’d done a better job of covering the bruise with makeup earlier.
When the fireman’s eyes cut to Michael, glaring with unsaid accusations about her handprint bruise, she quickly added, “The guy who hit me is in jail.”
“Good.” The fireman nodded. “Paramedics are on the way. Hang tight.” He stepped back to give them some privacy.
Michael whispered, “Last night you said you didn’t want to be involved with anyone right now.”
“That’s how I honestly felt . . . until you kissed me. I still don’t want anything serious—my life is a mess at the moment.” And there was the dream guy and his scar that she was still uncertain about. Was he the one for her or not?
Maybe it was time to live in the moment for a change, rather than worrying about the future so much. Could she be more like her mom and sister and have a casual fling with a man who made her toes curl when he kissed her? A guy who she honestly enjoyed spending time with? She’d just be careful to make sure her heart didn’t get attached. “Maybe we can start by being friends again?” She sent him a weak smile. “With maybe some occasional benefits thrown in?”
“The benefits are tempting.” The corners of his mouth tilted. “But I don’t think you’re over Jake.”
“He’s the one who can’t let go. I’m definitely over Jake.”
“I don’t know, Dani. We’re obviously still attracted to each other, but—”
Fear that he was about to say no to her offer made her kiss him. To show him how much she’d missed him. And how much she cared for him.
When he groaned and slid a hand to the back of her head, tilting her mouth to just where he wanted it, taking the kiss to a deeper level, she sighed with relief and sank into the kiss.
She snuggled closer and gingerly ran her hands through his thick hair, in case he was more hurt than she knew. Their bodies fit together as if they were custom-made, just for each other.
Whenever they kissed, it filled her with a kind of elation in a way no one else ever had. Even better then shopping sprees on Rodeo Drive. Or driving her Porsche over a hundred miles an hour.
And that was saying a lot.
The firefighter who stood nearby must’ve had enough, because he cleared his throat—loudly—reminding them that they were in the parking lot, not her bedroom. He said, “The paramedics are here.”
Michael broke the kiss and helped her stand. “As nice as that was, let’s take this one step at a time. Friends?”
“Yes. Friends.” It was a step in the right direction, and she’d take it.
Chapter Five
After the fire was put out, and the paramedics had finished up with Michael, Dani studied her car sitting behind the chain-link fence. It was still ugly, even with a new windshield, but she couldn’t get to it behind the locked gate. “This bites. The last thing I want to do is come back here to crazy land to get my car.”
Michael’s arm tightened around her waist, and he moved her out of the way of a busy bomb squad worker. “Ask Jake to pick up the car. There’s nothing more we can do now, so let’s go.”
She looked up at Michael’s bandaged forehead, and her gut lurched again at how close a call that had been. “Okay.”
Michael took her hand and was tugging her toward his car when Jake showed up and stepped in front of them.
Jake wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. “God, I’m so sorry, babe. Are you okay?” After he was done hugging her, he held her at arm’s length and checked her out from head to toe. “This was my fault. That was meant for me. Your car was checked in under my name. I’ve been having some problems with an ex-con who got out last month. Luckily, it was an amateur job or it could have been worse.”
Jake had put more people behind bars than any other detective in his squad. Thanks in part to her woo-woo abilities. “Are you sure it wasn’t Carlos?”
“Yeah. Carlos is right where he’s supposed to be, with no Internet or phone access. Until Friday, anyway.”
She blew out a long breath. “Okay. Can we go, then?”
Jake nodded and pulled her away from Michael. “I’ll clean up here.” When they were out of Michael’s earshot, Jake laid a soft kiss on her cheek and whispered, “Don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d been hurt because of me, Dani. I’d never forgive myself.”
When he actually showed her compassion, it always made her heart go soft for him. She stared into his eyes, wishing Jake could have been the right one for her, but sadly, he just wasn’t.
“But why the hell were you with him?” Jake asked, ruining their tender moment.
She sighed and crossed her arms. “We were on our way to dinner.”
“Like a date?” His jaw clenched.
She didn’t want to hurt him, so she laid a hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze. “It’s none of your business anymore, Jake, but no. It wasn’t a date. We’d been out looking at houses and got hungry.” She’d keep the part about wanting to be Michael’s friend with benies to herself for the moment.
“Whatever.” Jake scowl
ed in Michael’s direction. “I didn’t get those bullets you asked for earlier because usually you and bullets don’t mix. But it’s time to get armed, babe.” He held his hand out in the direction of the smoldering building. “That’s what can happen when someone hates your guts. Carlos told me today he hates yours and mine. I’ll talk to your mom about beefing up the security at home by Friday.”
“’Kay.” But if she saw Carlos anywhere near her home, she’d shoot first and ask questions later. Probably better not to mention that to her law-abiding almost ex-husband, though.
Jake walked her back to Michael’s car. When they got close, both Jake and Michael reached to open the car door for her, but Michael was quicker. When Jake’s eyes narrowed, she quickly slipped between them and into her seat. “Thanks, Jake. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Jake glanced at Michael and then back at her. “Be careful, babe.” Then he backed away so Michael could close her door. She wasn’t sure if Jake’s warning was about Michael, Carlos Watts, or both.
As they headed out of slumsville toward the freeway, Michael’s hand slipped over hers. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She glanced at his forehead. “Are you?”
Michael’s phone rang before he could answer. His warm hand left hers to pull his cell out from his suit coat. “It’s Ron. He’s called three times. I’d better take this.”
While Michael talked to his stepfather, Dani stared out the window, reliving the scary moment when she wondered if Michael was dead or alive. It was her punishment for helping Jake with his damned cases. She needed to remember the terror that filled her when Michael went flying through the air and just say no the next time Jake asked for her help. It was the only way she’d be able to start living a normal life.
Well, a little more normal anyway. No one could ever accuse her of having a normal life. Being Annalisa’s daughter had guaranteed that from moment one.
Seeing Double (A Heartbreaker Novel Book 1) Page 8
