by Susan Meier
“Nothing else?”
Elaine smiled. “Honey, I know you’re upset. I know your daddy left you with bills. I even suspect that when you come in here you’d like to buy the Danish you used to get every morning, but you don’t have the money.”
When Rayne went to protest, Elaine stopped her. “You don’t have to admit or deny anything. I know the whole town thinks I’m a gossip—and I guess I am—but there are some things I consider sacred. A woman struggling to get past something she didn’t bring on herself is one of them.”
“Thanks.”
“So, I understand the dressing up. You’re keeping up your spirits. Or maybe you’re trying to impress a new advertiser. Whatever it is, honey, I’m behind you.”
Rayne smiled, pleased that Elaine had picked an explanation for her fancy clothes that made complete sense—even if it was wrong—because that was the tale Elaine would spread and most people would believe it.
“And if I thought you’d take the Danish, I’d give you one.”
Rayne shook her head. “Can’t do that.”
“Well, if the day comes when you think you could take the Danish,” Elaine said, squeezing Rayne’s arm, “you let me know.”
“Okay.”
Rayne left the diner and began the walk to her office almost cheering for joy. Not only did she have Elaine in her corner, but she hadn’t missed the way Jericho’s mouth had fallen open when he’d seen her. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Back in Baltimore, she’d been dressing for a specific man. He’d been calling the shots, virtually telling her what to do. She didn’t have a coach here, but she was a smart woman, and from Jericho’s reaction she had more than a sneaking suspicion she wasn’t doing so badly by simply winging it.
Rayne didn’t merely consider it a lucky break when she received two checks in Friday’s mail; Monday morning when she was able to withdraw cash without a hassle, she decided it was a sign. It bothered her that Jericho realized how broke she was. Given time to think through the situation, she recognized his bringing her food was another clue that he had a soft spot for her, but she also didn’t want him thinking she was weak. She didn’t want to get his help out of weakness. Eventually she would have money to pay his friend. And that was the real bottom line. She wasn’t asking for charity. She was asking for deferred payments. So tonight, she would show Jericho she didn’t need charity. Then, when she asked him to ask his friend to help her, he’d be confident she was good for the money.
Knowing that Jericho gave everybody Monday evening off because everyone worked extra shifts on the weekend, and would be in the borough building alone, Rayne made her plan.
Late that afternoon she had bought two sandwiches from Elaine, packed a picnic basket, and put on a pair of tight jeans with a torso-caressing blue lace top. She covered them with her big wool coat, but that wasn’t because she didn’t have a prettier coat. It was a strategy.
Entering the silent borough building, she saw the four gray metal desks that created a square of sorts in the center of the large main room. Bright overhead lights exaggerated the fact that all four were empty. The scent of overbrewed coffee wafted from the coffeemaker on the window ledge.
“Anybody here?” she called, feeling foolish. She knew Jericho gave his team Monday night off, but couldn’t believe he would leave the borough building unlocked when he was out on patrol. She gingerly made her way to the back office, just as he walked through the door.
“Rayne?”
“Hey,” she said, so nervous she was surprised her voice didn’t shiver. She held up the picnic basket. “I brought you supper since you brought me lunch last week.” She shrugged. “Turnabout is fair play.”
She hadn’t missed the fact that Jericho had taken a quick inventory of her face before his gaze had stalled on her hair, which she had curled but otherwise left in sexy disarray.
Knowing there was no time like the present, she set her basket on one of the desks and slipped off her coat, then watched his gaze fall to her bright blue U-necked top then tight, low-rise jeans.
He cleared his throat. “What did you bring?”
Thankful that he wasn’t going to make this difficult by asking for an explanation, she smiled. “I’m not very creative. Since I knew you liked roast beef, I had Elaine make the same sandwiches you brought me the other day.” Honesty and gratitude collided in her chest and forced her to add, “And I wanted to thank you again.”
He caught her gaze. “You didn’t have to.”
She shrugged. “I pay my debts.”
“It wasn’t a debt.”
“Okay, then, how about if we say that I just like to return favors?”
Enough time passed that Rayne thought he would refuse her. But he took a breath and shrugged. “I am hungry.”
“Good.” Deciding to move as quickly as possible before he changed his mind, Rayne picked up the basket again. “Is there an empty desk we can use out here, or do you want to go into your office?”
“I don’t like to use anybody else’s desk for anything. I like my people to have a sense of privacy and place.” He motioned to his office behind him. “So let’s go back here.”
She nodded and walked toward him, realizing that in his usual gentlemanly way he was waiting for her to precede him. But the minute she passed him she also realized that her short top provided him with a very clear view of her backside, and her face flared with color.
Jericho had never been more confused in his life. He understood Rayne wanting to pay him back for the food he had brought to her. He also understood that she would come right out and say it. Pride was something he knew well and he was comfortable dealing with it. What he didn’t understand was her change of dress, except that it was mighty suspicious that she dressed as the woman he remembered right after he told her he had seen her in Baltimore, admitted he’d found her attractive and kissed her.
For that reason he darned near took the sandwich and sent her packing. But understanding her pride, he couldn’t do that. Her dad had left her alone with a failing business and a bushel of debt and she needed to show everybody she was strong.
He caught a glimpse of her bottom as she walked into his office and because he was behind her he lifted his eyes to the heavens. Being in the same room with her dressed like his fantasy girl was not going to be easy, and he genuinely wished he wasn’t so understanding. But he wasn’t in emotional overload tonight. He didn’t have to worry that his base instincts would get the better of him. He didn’t have to worry that he’d have to kiss her to prove a point. Things would be fine.
“I’m surprised you’re not hard at work.” That was the first thing that had come to his mind and also a topic he felt safe discussing.
“The paper has to be at the printer first thing Monday morning,” she said, setting her picnic basket on his desk. “Technically this is my only night off.”
“Right.” Jericho glanced around the room, feeling awkward, but also recognizing that taking the time to be nice to her was a good thing for both of them. They might not ever be able to be real friends, but they didn’t have to be enemies, either.
Rayne pulled a thermos from the basket. “I hope you like cocoa.”
“Cocoa,” he said, shaking his head, surprised because he considered cocoa a drink for kids. “I haven’t had cocoa in years.”
“Then I’ve got perfect timing,” she said, taking two mugs from the basket.
With nothing to do but watch her, Jericho could see that her hands were small and tonight her fingernails were painted a pretty pale pink. Tonight, everything about her looked soft and feminine, and he felt himself slipping again, but he saw the small can of cocoa she pulled from the basket and he laughed.
“You use real cocoa,” he said, amazed.
She turned and smiled. “The stuff that you make by adding hot water is good in a pinch but I like real cocoa.”
Jericho stared at her, his heart pumping. He could swear she was flirting with him and, without warning,
he was back at the party, looking at the girl in the tight red dress, remembering how she smiled, how she laughed, how she flirted.
The room became unbearably warm. Rayne might claim that woman wasn’t the real her, but either she had only been kidding herself or his imagination was pretty damned good. To him she seemed perfectly at home in these clothes, making cocoa and casual conversation, and he suddenly realized it wasn’t wise for him to be so close to her no matter how good his intentions.
He glanced at the door. “You know what? Maybe I should just save the sandwich for later.”
“Why?” she asked, laughing, continuing to sound like the woman at the party, and everything inside Jericho responded. He wanted to know her. He wanted to laugh with her. He wanted to figure out why this Rayne could be happy and the other one couldn’t be anything but serious.
She smiled prettily. “Our families aren’t exactly friends, but nobody has to know that we eat sandwiches together.”
Desperate to keep his perspective, he reminded himself that his dad had been recovering from a heart attack when her dad had raked him over hot coals in the paper.
“Nobody needs to told, but somebody always finds out.”
She walked over to him and smiled up at him. “Afraid?”
Jericho could smell her soft, floral scent and his brain froze.
“There’s something between us and though you’re probably right, we can’t pursue that, we can at least be friends.”
“I’m just supposed to forget what your dad did to mine?”
“You read my dad’s note. He was trapped. He thought he had no choice but to make the only deal being offered.”
Jericho hadn’t forgotten or downplayed that part of the note. He had considered it sleazy and manipulative that Mark had used the newspaper to undermine his dad’s bid for reelection as a way to save himself. But though he could picture Mark Fegan cheating, and he could even picture teenage Rayne, the adolescent who adored her dad, following his every order, he couldn’t picture this Rayne, the one who was soft-spoken, intelligent and educated, manipulating the truth or using the newspaper for personal gain. And that was really why he couldn’t easily turn her away. Those actions didn’t fit with the woman he’d seen in Baltimore any more than they fit the smart, determined Rayne he’d seen glimpses of since her father’s disappearance. Reminding himself of her part in things didn’t diminish his attraction because it didn’t make sense. This Rayne wouldn’t be so easily taken in my her dad and Jericho needed to understand why she had helped him.
“So why did you want Auggie Malloy in?”
“I didn’t. But when I came back from Baltimore, I was devastated and I didn’t have the mental energy to think through the things my dad was asking me to research.” She caught his gaze and Jericho had to fight not to swallow hard. She was so beautiful.
“Your father had also had his heart attack. He was sick and because I was vulnerable it wasn’t difficult for my dad to convince me that it was time for new leadership, if only because your dad wasn’t healthy enough to be mayor anymore.” She looked down as if ashamed, but returned her gaze to his before she added, “It wasn’t my job to question my dad. He was my boss. I was an employee. And your dad was sick. Maybe too sick to run an entire town.”
Jericho swallowed. It seemed that every time she held his gaze for more than three seconds he saw the woman he perceived to be the real Rayne, and he simply wanted to enjoy her. But even with her part in the election explained, there were a million other reasons not to pursue their attraction.
First, Rayne was the same age as his baby sister, which made her too much younger than he was. Second, her dad’s name wasn’t a good word in his parents’ household. Third, she didn’t believe she was the girl he kept seeing. She’d even told him she didn’t want to be that girl. Fourth, he did not want another relationship. Living with Laura Beth had turned him into somebody who couldn’t handle a simple breakup without spending two years in a bottle. He didn’t want to go back to being that person. He was chief of police in this town. He had to be strong.
He took a step back, away from her. “I’ve got to make a patrol.” He nodded in the direction of his desk, said, “Thanks for the sandwich,” then turned and walked out of his office.
Chapter Six
Pain exploded through Rayne when Jericho walked away from his office, and she knew why. She might have fooled herself into thinking this picnic had only been a way to befriend him to get his help. She might have really only intended it that way. But she’d had a crush on Jericho Capriotti forever. In the past few days he’d shown her a mature, responsible side that was nearly irresistible and she’d been falling for him again.
Not only was that wrong, but being head over heels crazy about him made her plan to befriend him to get his help impossible. She couldn’t ever be friends with this guy. There was simply too much history and too much attraction between them.
Repacking her picnic, she resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to “persuade” Jericho to help her. But she had his skip tracer friend’s phone number. She also knew his price. Saving until she could afford to pay the tracer up front was far less humbling than trying to befriend a man who didn’t want to have to be nice to her. No matter how difficult it was not knowing her father’s status, she could wait the time it would take to save enough money.
Humiliated by Jericho’s rejection, Rayne wouldn’t have dressed in her former clothes again the next morning, but Elaine believed Rayne was wearing bright outfits to cheer herself up. If she went back to jeans and oversize T-shirts, Elaine would ask why and Rayne didn’t think she could come up with something creative enough to explain it away.
So, after her shower Tuesday morning, she put on a raspberry-colored sweater and low-riding jeans, fluffed out her hair and even put in her contacts. To her surprise, she didn’t feel foolish walking down the street to the post office and then to the diner. The only people who stopped and stared were men, so she knew the women had grown accustomed to seeing her dressed a little better and the men would soon follow suit.
But the reaction of the men also told her she looked pretty damned good, and that lifted her spirits. Jericho Capriotti didn’t want her, but she wasn’t a complete washout as a woman. She straightened her shoulders and fluffed out her hair a bit before walking into the diner.
“I’ll have that Danish today,” she called to Elaine who turned from the counter with a laugh.
“Not worried about your figure anymore?” Elaine teased, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“With so many men watching it lately, I don’t think I have to.”
Elaine shook her head and chuckled as she wrapped a cherry Danish in waxed paper and slid it into a brown bag. “Coffee?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You sound very chipper today.”
“I am chipper,” she said, just as the diner door opened. To keep her next comment private, she leaned forward and whispered, “I got a few more checks in this morning’s mail.”
“Oh, Rayne! That’s great,” Elaine said, setting Rayne’s coffee on the counter so she could take her money. Reaching for the button on the cash register, Elaine said, “Good morning, Jericho.”
Because her back was to him, Rayne squeezed her eyes shut. She’d made a complete fool of herself the night before and the disgrace of that was enough to keep her hiding in her office for weeks. But she knew hiding would only make matters worse. Jericho didn’t want her and she shouldn’t want him. It wasn’t the first time they’ve been through this, but it would be the last. She had gotten the “no thanks” message the night before, and she respected it. Now, it was time to move on.
With a quick breath for courage, she turned with a smile. “Good morning, Chief.”
Already on his way to a booth, he stopped and faced her, and though Rayne didn’t want to react, her breath quivered. He looked so goshed darned sexy in his uniform, but more than that, she now knew there was more to him
than a handsome face, piercing eyes and broad shoulders. In the past week, she had learned he was kind, had compassion, and was a man of substance. Integrity.
Which was exactly why he hadn’t wanted anything to do with her the night before. He wouldn’t indulge in a flirtation. He wasn’t a fake or a phony. He was everything a smart woman looked for in a man, and she couldn’t have him.
He quietly said, “Good morning, Rayne,” and though his greeting was perfectly normal, something in his voice caught Rayne’s attention and her gaze jumped to his. She could have handled a bit of regret in his voice or his eyes, if only because of her sweater. Instead, she saw longing. The same feelings currently tightening her chest and making her breath quiver were in his eyes. He did want her. Maybe not as much as she wanted him, but he wanted her. Yet they had to walk away.
He didn’t say anything else, only turned and strode back to the booth in the far corner. She watched him for a few seconds more and when she turned it was to find Elaine staring at her.
“That’s kind of like reaching for the stars, don’t you think?”
Rayne swallowed. “Yeah.”
“Especially after what your daddy did to his daddy.”
Rayne smiled slightly and nodded. She said, “Yeah,” again, then quickly made her way out of the diner, not about to get into a full-scale discussion about this because there was no “this.”
But she couldn’t stop thinking about her dad and Jericho’s dad and her own part in things. She tried to tell herself that Jericho ignoring the attraction between them was the equivalent to her siding with her dad during the election, but now that she knew the real reason her father had wanted Ben Capriotti out of office, the excuse rang hollow. The two things were nothing alike. The real problem had been that Rayne had come home devastated and vulnerable, and if she took her thoughts to their logical conclusion she’d also have to admit that her dad might have taken advantage of her.
She acknowledged the possibility, but she also told herself that her father was in dire straits. He might have taken advantage of her vulnerability but it was because he wasn’t thinking clearly, either.
