Butterflies danced in her stomach, even though she was certain Reed wasn’t trying to put the moves on her.
“How do you keep it so soft?” he asked.
“Product and treatments.” She inched away. “And I try to eat well and drink a ton of water. My face is my advertisement to the world.”
“You can’t be hurting for business, then.” He sat up, snatching another fry. “One more?”
“I can’t resist.” She popped one last fried potato in her mouth. “I don’t think I mentioned it, but I’m officially signing up for the cooking classes I was telling you about.”
“No kidding.”
“Yup. I’ve decided I’m taking the plunge. I can’t decide if I want to do the block of four or six lessons.”
“Is it a daytime thing?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s on Tuesday nights for the four or six weeks. The first one starts this week. It’s a dessert workshop.”
“Sounds great.”
“Mmm.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m pretty excited. I’m going to see if one of my friends wants to sign up with me.”
He perked up. “Are you looking for a partner?”
She frowned. “You want to take a cooking class?”
He shrugged. “Guys can cook.”
“Of course they can. I just didn’t realize you had any interest.”
“I’m willing to try it out—broaden my horizons, especially since it’s on my night off.” He stood. “Want to walk?”
“Sure.” They started down the beach, and she took his hand, loving how easy it was to be around him.
He hesitated a step, then held her hand more firmly in his.
“Are you serious about the classes?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.” She nibbled her lip as she thought of the course offerings she’d perused last night.
“What?”
“We could—we could save twenty-five percent if we sign up for the couples’ classes. No one needs to know we’re just neighbors.”
“I’m all for bending the rules a little—especially for a twenty-five percent discount.”
She smiled. “It’s dishonest…”
“I don’t think they’ll be pulling us aside and quizzing us on which side of the bed you sleep on.”
She laughed. “I have the paperwork at home—or I can download it, anyway. I think this could be seriously fun.”
“We get to eat everything we make?”
“Yup,” she said with a definitive nod.
“I don’t see how it couldn’t be.”
They moved closer to the water, getting their toes wet in the surf.
“Describe your perfect day,” she blurted out, wanting to know him better.
He looked at her. “My perfect day?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh, waking up late and maybe hitting the gym.”
She sent him a pained look. “That’s your perfect day?”
“It sounds pretty good to me.”
Shaking her head, she chuckled. “To each his own.”
He smiled. “What’s wrong with that? What’s yours?”
“I liked your idea about waking up late, but instead of punching someone in the face, I would have a lazy breakfast and spend the afternoon at the beach. I missed the lazy breakfast today, but lunch was good—and spending time with you. You’re a good guy, Reed.” She bumped his arm and smiled. “I’m glad you’re my buddy.”
“Thanks.” He bumped her back.
She breathed deep as she stared out at the endless shades of blue, savoring the beauty. “Right about now I feel wonderfully happy. I love embracing these little miracle moments because they’re so rare.”
“Life’s pretty complicated.”
She thought of her dad and the confusing emotions she’d struggled with since she knocked on his door. “It can be.”
The water rushed up and soaked them to their ankles. Reed pulled her back with him as he stepped clear of the surf. “I think the tide’s starting to come in.”
“Looks like it.” She expelled a long breath, realizing her perfect moment was over. “As much as I hate to say it, I need to head home. Lucy’s probably lonely.”
“Let’s get our stuff.” He started back toward the blanket.
“Wait.” She stopped him with a tug on his hand.
“What’s up?”
“I wanted to— Thanks for today. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun.”
“Me neither.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “We’ll have to take a look at the cooking class stuff when we get home.”
She nodded. “We can fill it out online and make sure we get our spot. Tuesday, we’re making molten lava cake.”
“Definitely a good plan if we want to eat molten lava cake.”
They walked back and grabbed their stuff, then headed home.
~~~~
Reed typed up the details and his impressions after his afternoon at the beach with Bella, adding them to the new folder he’d created for the Nicoli Caparelli investigation. Their bike ride along the coast and fried clam picnic had turned into a shrimp dinner at her place while they filled out the forms for their Tuesday night cooking classes. For the next six weeks, he was guaranteed a three-hour block of Bella’s time.
Sighing his satisfaction, he sat back in his chair. His first official day of Operation Caparelli Takedown was in the books and it didn’t appear that his neighbor suspected a thing. If all went well, she never would. Despite who she was and the secrets she kept, he couldn’t help but like her. She was easy on the eyes and fun to be around, which worked to his advantage. The more real he could be with her, the better all of this would play out. Bella wanted his friendship, and for the time being, he could get on board with befriending a mafia daughter. He and Joey were down to mere months. He planned to make every second count.
Chapter Nine
Reed was pulling on a clean pair of jeans when he heard the knock on his front door. Muttering a curse, he grabbed a shirt from his drawer and snagged his favorite sneakers off the floor, then hurried downstairs. “Just a sec,” he called as he yanked the dark gray T-shirt over his head and opened the door. “Hey.”
Bella sent him a small smile. “Hi.”
“Sorry I’m running a little behind.” He sank his feet into his Nikes. “The traffic sucked, but I wanted to grab a quick shower before we left.”
“That’s okay. We should still make it with plenty of time.”
He breathed in her familiar scent as he tracked his gaze down her white and black polka-dot shirt, snug navy-blue pants, and black heels. Not exactly relaxed. “Are you wearing that to class?”
“Sure. It’s a simple wrap blouse and ankle pants.” She glanced down at herself. “I’m just coming from work myself. Do you think I should change?”
“No. You look good.” And she did—beautiful with some of her hair clipped back in a barrette and the ends curled.
“I like wearing heels so I’m taller, but maybe I should do something with sneakers instead.”
He shook his head. “You’re fine like that.”
“You think?”
“I’m positive.” He snagged his keys and sunglasses off the counter and shut the door. “Should we go cook?”
She gave him a decisive nod. “Absolutely.”
He locked up, ready to get their evening started. Bella would be in her element—relaxed, happy, and distracted: the perfect time to slip in a question here and there while keeping things casual. “How about the truck?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
As they headed to the driveway, he looked at the downstairs lights on in Bella’s place despite the sun still making its way toward the horizon. “Is Lucy upset that you’re leaving her?”
“She’s fine. We stopped off on the way home and got her a cookie at Paws.”
He shrugged, shaking his head. “I’m not sure what that is.”
“It’s the pet bakery on Suns
et. Everyone loves when she comes in for a visit.”
He raised his brow. “A pet bakery?”
“Yes, a pet bakery. There’s nothing wrong with pampering your pets.”
He scratched his head, certain he’d never heard of anything so foolish. But this was the same woman who painted her dog’s nails. “I guess that’s what the owners at Paws are counting on.”
She frowned. “Lucy’s my family. She’s all I have.”
He reached for her door handle. “What about your dad?”
“I mean, locally she’s all the family I have.”
He nodded, but there was something here—as if it hadn’t crossed her mind to include or consider her father. He would have to dig around until she told him about it. Luckily, they had the next three hours to get the ball rolling. “You said he’s in California?”
“Reseda—about an hour away.”
“That’s not too far.”
She got in. “No. It makes it easy to spend time together.”
That’s what he was hoping for. He shut her door and hustled around to his side, getting in and buckling up. “Ready?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
A smile ghosted her mouth as she studied him. “You’re excited.”
“Of course I am. Who doesn’t like cake?”
Chuckling, she shook her head. “We’ll have a good time.”
“I don’t see how we couldn’t.” He turned over the ignition and drove through the neighborhood to the main road, pulling into traffic with the green light. As one mile turned into two, he glanced Bella’s way. Usually she was bubbly and chatty, but tonight she stared out her window with her arms crossed at her chest. He frowned, realizing she didn’t seem excited about their plans at all, and she was the one who’d been gung-ho about the cooking classes in the first place. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”
He narrowed his eyes beneath his shades when she didn’t bother to look at him. Something was definitely up. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head, blinking rapidly as she bit her bottom lip.
His frown returned when he recognized that she was trying not to cry. “Hey, what’s up?”
She swallowed and cleared her throat, crossing her arms tighter. “I, um, I lost a patient today.”
He stopped for a red light. “Someone died?”
She nodded as she finally met his gaze. “Yes.”
“At your office?”
“No. One of the girls I work with at the children’s hospital lost her battle with cancer.” Her eyes welled again as she pressed her trembling lips together.
He started to reach for her hand but stopped himself, leaving it on the steering wheel instead, never quite sure what to do with women and their tears. “I’m sorry.”
A tear spilled over as she closed her eyes. “She was only eight.”
Death was nothing new to him. For years, he’d witnessed the ugliness and brutality human beings inflicted on one another. Long ago, he’d learned to turn off the sorrow and focus on the hows and whys of an investigation, but any time a kid died, it was rough. “That’s tough.”
“I saw her a couple weeks ago. She was doing so well, getting ready to go home. Her doctors thought she was going to beat it. We were all so hopeful.” She wiped at her cheeks as she expelled a shaky breath. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be very good company tonight.”
“That’s okay.” He pulled into the Culinary Arts Center parking lot and took a spot, killing the engine. “We can go home if you want.”
She shook her head. “We paid for the class and you’re looking forward to it.” Another tear slid down her cheek. “I just need a minute and I’ll be all right.”
Clenching his jaw, he stared at her sagging shoulders and hands white-knuckled in her lap, watching her battle to shore herself up. He turned toward the window, trying to ignore her hitching breaths as he reminded himself that this wasn’t his problem. There was nothing he could do for her. He wasn’t a damn counselor. His gaze slid her way again and he got out, swearing under his breath as he walked around to her side, opening her door.
“I’m sorry about this,” she choked out, staring straight ahead. “I found out a couple of hours ago. I thought I was handling it. The call was so unexpected…”
He sighed, reaching out to her, then pushed his glasses on top of his head instead, craving to touch and comfort, knowing he was on the verge of crossing the forbidden line into emotional involvement. “Come on out.”
She shook her head. “I’m not quite ready.”
He leaned in and released her seat belt. “Come on out, Bella. Get some fresh air.”
She stepped onto the blacktop, meeting his gaze with devastated eyes, then looked down as the dam broke and she started crying quietly.
Gritting his teeth, he tugged her against him.
She cushioned her forehead in the crook of his neck and gripped the sides of his shirt, sniffling as her shoulders shook.
Closing his eyes, aching for her, he wrapped his arms around her, tightening his hold when she settled her cheek against his chest and returned his embrace. “I’m sorry for your loss, that you’ve had a tough day,” he said quietly next to her ear.
“She was such a sweet girl. I’ve worked with her for about five months. I wanted her to be okay. I want all of them to be okay. They’re children—little boys and girls who should be playing with their friends instead of lying in hospital beds.”
Before he knew what was doing, he found his palm pressed to her back, gently stroking up and down her blouse. “How about we do dessert another night?”
“But your chocolate lava cake.”
He eased her slightly away, startled by the effect her big brown eyes had on him, by how much he needed to make this better for her. “We can have that anytime. Let’s go home and get Lucy. We’ll take a walk on the beach.”
Her face crumpled again.
“Or not,” he said quickly. “We don’t have to.”
“That sounds wonderful.” She sniffled. “Actually, pretty perfect.” She smiled even as her eyes still radiated with sorrow. “Sweet and kind.”
He didn’t know he could be sweet and kind, wasn’t sure when the last time was that he’d tried. “Here.” He lifted the hem of his shirt and dabbed at her cheeks. “Let’s go.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“That’s what friends are for.” That’s all this was, he assured himself as she got in. Friends for now, doing whatever needed to be done, playing whatever angle was necessary for the investigation. “Go ahead and buckle up.”
She nodded again.
He shut her inside and started around to his side, wondering what in the hell his problem was. He’d never done anything like this before, but as he opened his door and met Bella’s teary-eyed gaze, his instincts told him that this was right, so he went along with it, letting his gut lead the way. Reaching out, he took her hand. “Maybe we can grab an ice cream too.”
“Okay.”
He gave her fingers a squeeze, then put the truck in reverse. “Let’s go get your girl.”
~~~~
Bella held Reed’s hand as they walked in the sand, eating ice cream cones under the stars. The warmth of his palm pressed to hers and the pounding waves rushing the beach soothed her after such a horrible day.
“How’s the ice cream?”
She swiped another taste, enjoying the melding of sweet vanilla and salty ribbons of caramel. “Really good. I’ll definitely be ordering caramel chunk again.”
“I could take your word for it, but I like to judge for myself.”
She stopped and held the cone up to his lips.
He gripped her wrist, bringing the treat closer, and pulled a healthy sample into his mouth. “Mmm. That is good.”
Her eyes widened as he helped himself to more. “You just ate the whole thing.”
He smiled through his mouthful, his gaze mischievous as he held hers. “You’r
e such an exaggerator. There’s plenty left.”
She examined the deep dip in her enormous scoop of ice cream. “I didn’t realize you had such a big mouth.”
He laughed, sliding some of her blowing hair away from her cheek. “Here. Have some of mine.”
“I know what chocolate swirl tastes like,” she said with a lift of her chin, feigning insult, as she started turning away.
He laughed again, pulling on her hand until she faced him. “Have some anyway.”
She sampled far more politely than he had.
“So?”
“It tastes like chocolate swirl.” Her serious expression dissolved into a smile.
He chuckled, giving her fingers a squeeze as they started walking again with Lucy leading the way. “You have some of your spunk back.”
“Thanks to you.” She leaned against him, resting her head on his strong arm, enjoying their easy connection.
“Do you know when they’re having the funeral?”
“Sunday.” She sighed as the dread of having to say good-bye to someone so young hurt her heart. “The whole family is wonderful—just so kind. I hate that this is happening to them.”
“It’s nice that you offer your time to the hospital.”
“I love it. I wanted to be a doctor—a pediatrician, but it didn’t work out.”
“How come?”
Shrugging, she thought of the two backbreaking years when she’d worked forty hours a week to make ends meet while trying to keep up with a full load of pre-med courses. “Sometimes life chooses another path for you. Doing what I do now is mine.”
“It sounds like you’re good at it.”
“I want to be the best at everything I try.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She jerked her shoulders. “I guess so people will know I was worth the investment, that I wasn’t a waste of their time.”
Reed made a sound in his throat as he finished off his cone. “Do you think you’ll still make it to the wedding on Saturday?”
“I wouldn’t miss it—Julie and Chase’s special day.”
“Do you want to drive over together?”
She stopped. “You’re going?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series Page 10
