It Had to Be You (16 page)

“Then you need to hurry up,” Edward said. “Figure this shit out now. You getting anywhere?”

“Yes, but too slowly,” Luke said, sounding frustrated. “This town, for all the rumors, likes its secrets.”

“Positive thinking, boy-o,” Edward said. “It’s all about positive thinking.”

“Yeah? Since when?”

“Things change,” Edward said, so quietly that Ali almost missed it. “People change. It’s never too late to get to the bottom of all the secrets.”

“You sound like a fortune cookie,” Luke said.

“This isn’t a game, Luke. This is every bit as important as any of your big, fancy city cases.”

“Hell, I know that. How could you think I don’t know that?”

“Because you’re taking your sweet-ass time getting to the bottom of it. You’re the hotshot. Make it look like Mr. Fancy Town Clerk
gave
her that money.”

There was a stunned beat of silence.

“She didn’t steal the money,” Luke finally said.

Ali didn’t know which shocked her more, the fact that Edward thought she’d stolen the money…or that Edward would suggest that Luke frame Teddy.

“Okay,” Edward said, “of course not.” He paused. “But seriously, if you go with the angle that Marshall
gave
it to her—”

“How about the angle that she’s
innocent
,” Luke said.

“Well, sure, but that’s going to be a challenge, isn’t it? I mean she was caught red-handed with that money band in the pot.”

“She was framed.”

Ali couldn’t breathe. She simply couldn’t drag air into her chest. She brought her hand up and pressed it against her rib cage but it didn’t help.

“You think she was framed,” Edward said.

“Yes,” Luke said.

“You think she’s innocent.”

“Yes.”

Edward’s voice filled with relief. “Good. Then you’ll help her. Even after you leave, you won’t be able to stop yourself. It’s what you do.”

“You haven’t read the papers lately, I take it,” Luke said dryly.

“It’s what you do,” Edward repeated firmly. “Stop reading your own press. And also, Eddie Kitzsky needs your help. He thinks his guys are stealing from the till at the bowling alley.”

“So why doesn’t he fire them?”

“Because they’re his nephews, and his wife’ll kick his ass. He wants you to catch them at it and then kick their asses for him so he can stay married.”

Luke bit into yet another pastry and let out a heartfelt moan—a sound that did something unspeakable to Ali’s good parts.

“So good,” Luke said, licking sugar off his lower lip. “Pastries should always be for dinner.”

“Might want to slow down a little,” Edward said. “That’s your fifth or sixth one.”

“So?”

“I used to be able to eat like that,” Edward said wistfully. “The night of the auction I ate a ton, and then sat on the pot whole next day because of it.”

Luke went still. “You were at the auction?”

“Everyone was at the auction. I drove the seniors, who were like a bunch of drunken sailors on a four-day leave. I’m telling you, you get old and suddenly you can’t hold your liquor anymore. Or your bladder.”

“You were at the auction,” Luke repeated.

“Just said so, didn’t I?”

“There’s been some problem with the surveillance cameras on the building,” Luke said. “Apparently they’ve been down for several weeks, but it’s not in the budget to fix until next quarter. You see anyone come out with a big bag?”

“Like a purse?” Edward asked. “Only every woman in the place.”

“No, this would’ve been bigger than a regular evening bag,” Luke said. “Something the size of a large briefcase or duffle bag.”

“I see where you’re going with this,” Edward said, “but I wasn’t looking. I was playing Angry Birds on my cell phone while the crowd dispersed. What about the gas station across the street from Town Hall? Maybe their cameras caught some action.”

“I’ll check with Sawyer. Thanks.”

“I gotta go take my pill.” Edward started to walk away and then stopped. “As for you, get to it already. And by get to it, I don’t mean
get to it
. Not with Ali. She’s too sweet for you.”

Luke frowned. “Why do people keep telling me that?”

“Because it’s true.” Edward walked away, around the side of the house and out of sight.

Ali had to hustle to look busy. Ears burning, she began making breakfast for dinner.

Don’t get to it…

Too late, she could have told Edward. And anyway, sleeping with Luke—again—was the
last
thing on her mind.

Except it wasn’t. Not even close. Right now, it was the
only
thing on her mind. He might have honed his instincts by being a detective on the hard, tough streets, but he knew how to apply them to making love. He could read her body and know what she needed before
she
knew. He loved to touch. He loved to kiss, loved to taste.

He was magic.

But that was beside the point. The point was her life was out of control.

And Luke’s life? Also out of control.

Around her, the house was quiet. Too quiet. Had Luke left too? Gone out on the water on his paddleboard? Begun another renovation project? Gone around the front to come in and then gone to bed? If she’d eaten an entire plate of pastries for dinner, she’d need to go to sleep too.

She turned back to the stove. When the phone rang a minute later, she jumped, and then answered breathlessly.

“I’m looking for Luke Hanover,” a cool female voice said.

Another reporter. “
How are you people getting this number?
”

“This is Angelina Montclair from the
Chronicle
. Tell him I’ll give him a fair interview, facts only. Tell him—”

Ali hung up.

The phone immediately rang again, and she snatched it up, getting angry. “Stop calling here or I’ll—”

“He
needs
to give this interview,” the reporter said, tone firm. “If he doesn’t, his career’s going to be in the toilet. If he wants to save it, he needs to—”

Ali hung up again, and then on second thought, pulled the phone from the wall. And even though she’d been expecting Luke to walk in any minute, she still nearly leapt out of her skin when he came up behind her. He crowded her so that she could feel the heat of him at her back. Her eyes drifted shut to better savor the experience.

“Protecting my honor?” he asked, voice low enough that she couldn’t gauge his mood.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “And it’s turning into a full-time job.”

“Except for when you’re eavesdropping,” he said.

Well, crap.
She turned to face him and winced. “Okay, yes, I was eavesdropping. Some people turn to alcohol or chocolate. I eavesdrop.” Her face was heated. “It used to be the only way I could learn stuff from my mom, not that
that’s
an excuse. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said quietly, something in his voice making her chest tighten. “You don’t have to eavesdrop with me, Ali. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know—always.”

She searched his gaze for a clue to his thoughts, but got nothing. “I wanted to tell you I was there, but you two were talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt. Are you going to help Mr. Kitzsky?”

“Yeah. His nephews are idiots, but not completely moronic. They know where their bread’s buttered. I’ll clunk their heads together, and that’ll be it.” He looked over her shoulder into the pan. “Smells great.”

What smelled great was him. It was all she could do not to turn her head and bury her face in the crook of his neck and inhale him.

“I’m guessing that omelets are your specialty,” he said, sounding a little amused. She hoped.

“Yep.” She flipped the omelet, but then had to admit the truth. “Actually…omelets are the
only
thing I can cook.”

He tipped back his head and laughed, and the sight was so innately sexy that he took her breath. “Do you really think the gas station might have footage of the thief walking out of Town Hall with the money?” she asked.

He stole a slice of cheese and popped it in his mouth. “So you did hear everything.”

“Including the part where your grandpa thought I stole the money? Yeah.” She tried to sound neutral, but was pretty sure she failed.

Luke let out a breath and reached around her to turn off the burners. “If you were listening, then you heard exactly how much he cares about you.”

She didn’t say anything to that. She couldn’t. There’d been a lot of people in her life who’d claimed to care about her. It didn’t always mean much. “He tried to bribe you with pastries to help me.”

“I can’t be bribed.” He met her gaze. “You know I never do anything I don’t want to do.”

Her heart gave a little treacherous leap. He was in board shorts again, as sky blue as his eyes, with a drawstring that was loose. One little tug, she thought. His muscles were taut, his skin damp. He’d been paddleboarding.

She had no idea why the sight of him, a little wet and a lot hot, made her both of those things as well. “I don’t either…” she whispered, “do things I don’t want to do.”

“Liar.” He stroked a finger along her cheekbone and then tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, lingering at the sensitive skin there.

She shivered, and his eyes heated. “You’re a pleaser,” he said.

“Was,” she corrected. “
Was
a people pleaser. No more. I’ve turned over a new leaf. I only please myself now.”

A very small smile curved his mouth, and he lowered his head so that they shared their next breath. “There’s an image,” he murmured. “You pleasing yourself.”

She let out a low, nervous laugh, and he bent to nip her lower lip.

“I’d want to watch,” he said.

Oh, Lord.
“I think we’re getting off the subject here,” she managed.

Eyes on hers, he slowly ran his hands up her arms and then back to grip her hips. Okay, the hell with getting off subject, she thought, as his mouth brushed hers with just the lightest pressure. She heard a moan,
hers
, and at the sound, Luke got more serious about the kiss, taking it deep and hot until she swayed toward him.

A long, delicious moment later, he pulled back a fraction and looked down at her. She realized her fingers were curled into his biceps and that she was actually trying to tug him closer. But he wrapped his fingers around her wrists and pulled her hands away, taking them down to her sides. “We said we weren’t going to do this,” he said.

Aroused from head to toe, she nodded. “Right.” And then shook her head. “Why is that again? Is it because the first time was so awful, or because people keep telling you not to sleep with me?”

“If I can’t be bribed, I sure as hell don’t give a shit what people think.” His voice was low and incredibly sexy, and he tightened his grip on her wrists, still restraining her from touching him.

Which was suddenly all she wanted to do.

“As for it being awful,” he said, “we both know it was the polar opposite of awful.”

“So…?”

“So we said we weren’t going there,” he repeated, and she wasn’t sure if it was disappointment or relief when he let her go and turned away.

“Actually,” she said to his back. His bare back. Tanned. Sleek. Ripped with strength. “
You
said that we weren’t going to go there. Because even though you’re leaving and it was so awful, I still want to. Go there, that is.”

With a half laugh, half groan, he faced her again. “Ali. We can’t.”

“I know.” His board shorts were low, revealing gorgeous abs, cut obliques, and a most impressive erection. At the direction of her gaze, he let out another tortured-sounding laugh and then walked out of the kitchen, vanishing into the depths of the house.

A few seconds later, she heard a shower go on.

It was several minutes before she could breathe or swallow. Still shaky, she divided the omelet, leaving half on a plate for him.

She ate, listening to the water run, noting that he stayed in there a
long
time, during which she did her best not to imagine what he was doing.

Or how she’d rather be doing it for him.

T
he next day on her lunch break at the flower shop, Ali called her mom to check in.

“I just set up your sister with a guy from the security office at the casino,” Mimi said. “He wears a gun and everything.”

Harper and a guy with a gun—seemed like a nightmare waiting to happen. “Mom, maybe she wants to meet her own guys.”

“Honey, we all need a little help here and there. You still seeing that very good-looking Luke?”

“We’re not seeing each other, not like that,” Ali said.

“Well why not?”

Yeah, Ali, why not?
“Because I don’t need a boyfriend,” Ali said.

“Well of course you do, Ali-gator. Every woman needs a man to make her smile, to make her feel pretty, to buy her clothes…Don’t you like him?”

Ali sighed. “To tell you the truth, it’s a little confusing just how much I do.”

“Aw, love’s not really all that confusing, not when you get right down to it,” Mimi said. “You either feel it or you don’t.”

Said the woman who’d felt it more than most.

But Ali thought about that as she arranged and delivered flowers all afternoon. Did she feel it for Luke?
Could
she feel it for Luke? And given that love had never done a damn thing for her, why would she want to?

Lucille came in to buy some flowers for Mr. Wykowski. “He’s under the weather with hemorrhoids,” she said. “I wanted to cheer him up with my stripper-pole jazzercise moves, but I threw out my lower back in class last week, so dancing’s out.”

Ali did her best not to picture Lucille in a stripper-pole class.

“Looking for new Intel,” Lucille said. “You didn’t confess, did you?”

“No.”

“Good. Make ’em sweat.”

“I didn’t steal the money,” Ali said, beginning to feel like a broken record and getting a little pissed about it too.

“Of course you didn’t, honey. You’re far too sweet. Don’t pay attention to anyone who says otherwise. Keep your chin up.” Lucille patted her hand, paid her for the flowers, and left.

Just before closing, Zach called to check in. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“Holding my breath,” Ali said. “I think I’m about to be arrested any second. I’m not crazy about wearing stripes, Zach.”

“Actually,” he said, “the jumpsuits are orange in your county.”

Ali laughed and then covered her mouth. “It’s not funny. Oh my God, Zach. This is so not funny.”

“You won’t get arrested,” he said.

“Because there’s not enough evidence?”

“No, because your sister said if I got you out of this mess without an arrest, she’d consider sleeping with me.”

Ali choked out another laugh, this one with more real amusement, and hung up. She was closing up when Russell poked his head out of his office. “Hey, cookie, thinking about cutting out Thursday for Vegas.”

Ali did her best not to show her dismay.
More
days off wasn’t in the plan; she needed the money. “But Thursdays are good business days.”

“I know, but Paul’s making the big bucks doing the stars’ makeup and hair. He bought us tickets to Celine.”

“I don’t think Celine’s still playing.”

“She’s a drag queen. Great reviews.”

Russell was absolutely glowing—though that might have been his spray-on tan, hard to tell. Ali didn’t have the heart to tell him how badly she couldn’t afford this. “How about I run the shop for you while you’re gone?” she asked.

His smile froze a little; it was the expression of a man who didn’t know how to tell his beloved little floral designer that though he was fond of her, he didn’t trust her to run his shop.

“I can do it, Russell,” she said earnestly. “I want to do it so badly, to stay here in Lucky Harbor and make something of this place. Let me show you.”

He inhaled dramatically, then blew it out. “I don’t know. You have an awful lot going on.”

“Which is why I need this.” She paused. “Unless…you don’t trust me with your money—”

“It’s not that,” he said quickly.
Too
quickly. “It’s just that I’m a control freak. You know that. I can’t let anyone else run the show. It’s all me.”

“I understand.” But she didn’t, not really. Nursing the invisible wounds that only a pastry of some kind could cure, she headed next door to the bakery. The closed sign was up, but the door hadn’t been locked yet. The bakery was empty except for the big guy leaning negligently against the glass display counter dressed head to toe in his firefighter gear.

Jack.

“Hey,” she said, surprised to see him, “where’s Leah?”

“Boxing up some goodies for the fire station.”

Leah came out of the back holding a pink box, looking flushed and irritated. “Next time,” she said to Jack, smacking the box up against his broad chest, “don’t show up at the last minute. Not everyone is moved by your pretty face and the way that uniform somehow manages to show off your ass.”

Jack grinned. “And that’s not even my best part.”

Leah rolled her eyes.

Jack leaned on the counter, all tough, male grace as he worked at charming Leah. “I’ll be sure to tell all the fires to put themselves out so that we don’t piss off the best pastry chef this side of the Continental Divide.”

Leah blew a stray strand of hair from her face and narrowed her eyes. “Only on
this
side of the Continental Divide?”

“In all the land,” he corrected.

“Hmmm,” Leah said.

Jack studied her face. “You’re still mad about the other day.”

“You think?”

He laughed. “Hey, you’re the one who left your computer signed into your Pinterest account. I merely pinned a pic of you from last Halloween wearing an eighties leotard and leg warmers.”

“Yes, with the tagline that read ‘“Keep On Loving You” by REO Speedwagon is the theme of my life!’” she said.

Ali snorted, but swallowed it when Leah sent her a look.

“On second thought, give me those pastries back,” Leah said to Jack. “You don’t deserve them.”

He held the box above her head and pulled out his wallet, presumably to pay, but Leah sighed, shook her head, and pushed him out the door. “Go. Get out before I do something regrettable to you with those pastries.”

“Promises, promises,” Jack said, playfully tugging on a strand of her hair as he left the shop.

Ali was grinning. Leah pointed at her. “Stop that. I don’t want to talk about it. He thinks he’s funny.”

He was. Very funny. “It was nice of you,” Ali said, “not charging him.”

Leah sighed. “All the firefighters have been fighting that bush fire out in Desolation Flats, and he’s coming off three long, hard, hot days. They need a pick-me-up.”

“Or like you said,
pretty face in a hot uniform
.”

“We’re just friends, have been forever. We went to high school together.”

The door opened, and the bell jingled again. Both women turned to watch Luke walk in. He was in long cargo shorts, a surf shop T-shirt, and an opened button down, the very picture of a guy on vacay—except for his watchful, alert gaze. He smiled at Leah and then gave Ali the “come here” gesture.

Ali moved toward him, brushing against him as he held the door open for her. Outside, she blinked at the bright sun. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

She wanted to ask if this was a social or business visit, but his face gave her the answer even before he spoke.

“Talked to Sawyer,” he said. “He’s still working on getting the surveillance video from the gas station. Apparently the owner’s been on vacation, and the son—who was supposed to run the place in his absence—closed the place down and went fishing for a few days.”

Ali wasn’t surprised. This was, after all, Lucky Harbor. Lucky Harbor had its own sense of time, and it rarely ticked along with the real world. “In the meantime,” Luke said, “I’ve got something else.” He pulled out his cell phone and brought up a photo. “You recognize this?”

It was a close-up of the Silver Pine pencil pot she’d taken from Ted’s office. It’d been confiscated as evidence when the police had come to the house. “Yes,” she said, “of course.”

“Do you have a signature for your pottery, something that identifies it as yours?”

“I carve my initials into each piece.”

“And then you add a star to the glaze?”

“A star? No,” she said, confused. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Sawyer let me take a look at the evidence. Professional courtesy.” He zoomed in on the little pot. “See that?” he asked. “You’ve got a crack on the inside.”

“Well, I made that pot months ago. It’s been manhandled and—”

“I’m not questioning the quality of the pot, Ali. Look closer.” He zoomed in even further. “See it?”

“Yeah, there’s something in the crack…” She squinted. It was a sliver of something blue with a tiny white star on it. “Huh.”

“Odd, right?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Very. What’s a nail tip doing stuck in the crack of my ceramic pot?”

Luke stared at her. “Nail tip?”

“Looks like the tip of an acrylic fingernail to me. But I don’t have fake nails, and I never use fingernail polish because it chips so easily with the work I do.”

Luke shook his head, and then shocked the hell out of her by leaning in and giving her a quick, hard kiss on the mouth. “Hot
and
smart.”

She felt the glow from her toes to the roots of her hair, and in some very interesting spots in between. “You think whoever this nail tip belongs to was the one who put the bill wrapper in the jar?”

“I think it’s possible.”

“I don’t know anyone with blue fingernails with white stars,” she said.

“How many people live in this town?”

She shrugged. “We’ve grown to five thousand-ish, I think.”

“And half of them are female…”

“There’s only one beauty salon in town,” Ali said. “And it’s just two buildings down.” She went still. “Melissa runs it.”

He nodded. “But her nails are green-and-white stripes right now.”

She didn’t want to know how he knew that. Okay, so she did. She totally wanted to know. In fact, her immediate reaction was nearly to blurt out, “How do you know this?” but her brain reminded her that they weren’t “involved.” Which meant she had no business in his business, even though he had just kissed her in public outside the bakery. And given that she’d thought she and Teddy had been a thing when they obviously hadn’t been, she clearly wasn’t all that up on the rules of Defining Relationships 101. “Can you text me this pic?” she finally asked. “I want to send it to Zach.”

“I’ll send it to him.”

“Okay, but I still want it.” She wanted to go see Melissa herself.

Evening was coming. Dusk at the base of the Olympic Mountains was fickle as hell. Though the day had been warm, with the drop of the sun came a drop in temperature, and Ali wrapped her arms around herself.

Luke pulled off his outer shirt and held it out for her. She gratefully slid her arms into the soft cotton and hugged it close to hold in his lingering body heat.

“I’ll send you the pic,” Luke said quietly, “but I don’t want you showing it around.” He met her gaze, his own very serious. “I want you to trust me to do it.”

“But—”

“Look, I know that this is
your
life, and you like to handle things yourself. I get that. I respect that,” he said. “But say that you’re sleeping with a bunch of women who don’t know about each other. And then one of those women discovers that you’re also sticking it to half the town. What do you do?”

Ali stared at him. “Sneak into his office and take back a gift?” she joked weakly. But her humor faded fast. “Or…steal the cash in his possession to make him look really bad.” She sighed shakily. “Damn. I really walked right into this.”

“You got in the middle of someone’s plan,” Luke agreed. “And that someone has fifty big ones under their mattress and is feeling pretty damn safe right now—at least until you start stirring shit up, shifting the blame from you to them.” He met her gaze, his own very serious. “I’m going to let Sawyer know that the star isn’t your signature and the fingernail should be run through forensics with the other evidence. And you…”

“You want me to be careful,” she said softly.

He leaned in and gave her a kiss, right there on the sidewalk. “
Very
careful.”

She nodded and then smiled because she could see the fierce determination in his eyes. To get to the bottom of this mess. To protect her. And seeing it, she felt her own fierce determination too. Along with something new.

Hope.