Tangled Hearts (2 page)

Granted, he'd never been as demonstrative as she. In his line of work, trust and frivolity came rarely. He'd seen things she’d never even dreamed about. But there'd been a spark between them, a growing closeness that she'd cherished.

Where had it gone wrong?

“Nothing appears to be missing from here,” Brianna said as she put the last pillow in place on her bed.

The police officer dogged her footsteps through every inch of her place, asked her again to verify nothing had been taken.

“Nothing?” He sounded baffled.

“I can’t find my backup diskettes, but nothing else is missing. Not that I can see. And the only things really damaged were my computer and the two books where the spines were broken.” It could have been so much worse.

“Hello?” A male voice called from the front door.

Brianna followed the policeman to the living room, peering around him. For a second, she thought Jake had returned. Instead, a locksmith stood in the open door.

“I got a call that you needed emergency repairs tonight,” he said genially, his hand already running down the damaged door near the broken lock.

“Yes, I do, as you can see. Who called?” Brianna rubbed her forehead. She would have to get the lock fixed before she’d feel safe again. Thank goodness the man was already here.

“Some cop called.” The man shrugged, examining the splintered wood where the lock had given way. “I can fix this right up for you. Won’t take more than half an hour.” With that he set to work.

“That’s it for me, then, Miss Hart,” Officer Winston told her some time later. “I’ll call you if I find out anything or have any more questions. If you discover anything else missing, let me know.”

“Thank you.” Brianna sank down on the sofa while she waited for the locksmith to repair her door. The policeman had checked all the other doors and windows for her; nothing else had been tampered with.

She felt violated. Her home, her sanctuary had been invaded. It would be a long time before she would feel comfortable here, knowing some stranger had been through her things. Knowing the lock on the door could so easily be broken. She'd never had to worry about such a thing on the ranch. The door was left unlocked so no need to break in. But with cowboys and cattle dogs and all the activity, a burglar would have a hard time breaching that house.

When the door had been repaired and the locksmith left, Brianna continued to ramble around her place. She hated to turn out the lights—which was stupid. The house was secured, and whoever had trashed her place was long gone with no reason to return. All the damage had been done.

The phone rang, sounding unnaturally loud in the stillness of the night.

“Hello,” she said, snatching it up. Anything to postpone going to bed.

“You all right?” The familiar voice seeped through her like fine whiskey, deep and dark and a bit rough. How many other nights had he called late, when he’d gotten off a shift and wanted to talk? She closed her eyes and let the bittersweet memories flow through her.

She swallowed, old longings rising fast and hot.

“Yes. Thank you for checking,” she said politely.

“The locksmith finish?”

“Are you the one who called him?” A warmth flooded through her at his thoughtfulness, even as tears pricked behind her lids.

“No big deal. You have a lot on your mind with this, I’m sure. It’s not your normal welcome home.”

“No. Thank you. I wouldn’t have thought about it until I was ready to lock up. This way, the police officer was still here when he arrived so I had someone with me the whole time until the door was secure again.”

“Anything missing?”

“No.” She couldn’t let it end there. In only seconds he’d hang up. And it would probably be at least another two years before she saw him again or talked to him. Or maybe there’d never be a next time.

“I didn’t expect to see you tonight,” she said, longing to keep the lines of communication open if only for a few moments longer. She wanted to lap up his deep voice, to relish the shimmers of excitement from hearing it. If nothing else, it chased away some of the fear.

“I didn’t know you moved. Last I knew, you still lived over on Sheridan Avenue.”

“I moved about eighteen months ago.”

Had he known, would he have ignored the call? Let the other cop be the first on the scene? She was afraid to ask him, afraid of his answer. “Are you still at the same place?”

“Yeah. Listen, I’m glad your door got fixed. Chances are the guy broke in the first night you were away and has been long gone since then. You’ll be fine.” His tone became more impersonal, more distant.

“Yes.” He was reassuring them both she’d be safe, then he’d pull away like before. And she still didn’t know why.

“Call 9-1-1 if you hear anything or get scared.”

“Yes. I—” There was nothing else to say. “Goodbye, Jake. Thanks for calling.”

Brianna woke the next morning after a restless night’s sleep. It wasn’t only the break-in that had kept her awake; it was seeing Jake again. She dressed warmly in dark wool slacks and a bright blue sweater, then brushed her long hair until it crackled with static electricity. Toast was all she wanted for breakfast. And coffee. She didn’t feel much like eating.

As she sipped her second cup, she wandered back to her living room and stood almost where she had last night. She could picture Jake there, prowling around, looking for clues to assist in apprehending the person who had broken into her place. Curiously, she wondered what he’d thought of her home. Had he connected it to her at all in any personal way? Or was it just another crime scene to him?

And who was Diane? How serious were they? Would he stop seeing Diane as suddenly as he had stopped seeing her, or was he more involved this time?

Shaking her head impatiently, Brianna finished her coffee and briskly began to make plans to contact her insurance company, replace her computer and clean her house from top to bottom to get rid of all the fingerprint powder. She’d put Jake Morgan behind her two years ago. Seeing him briefly last night wasn’t going to miraculously change anything.

The house shone when Brianna finished and she was pleasantly tired. Surely tonight she’d sleep.

Tomorrow she’d have to begin her lesson plans. After destroying her computer hard drive, the vandals had then absconded with her backup floppies. As the newest assistant professor of mathematics at the community college in town, she prided herself on being prepared. She had mapped out her courses during the past summer and had thought herself on top of things. Now she was back to square one. Or square two anyway. Some of her preliminary notes were in her office at the college. Tomorrow she’d go pick them up. At least she had a starting point.

She had told the police what was on her computer. Would they start looking at students? Who else would care about lesson plans and grades for college classes?

The knock on the door was unexpected. Nervous, she used the peephole for the first time. Recognition was instant.

“Jake?” She opened the door, startled to see him again. After two years of silence, twice in two days?

“Hi, Brie. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” She stepped back, her eyes fastened on him. There was no way she could stop the spontaneous curl of heat that seeing him ignited, but she could control her reactions around him. Pasting a polite smile on her face, she took a deep breath and held it, trying desperately to look as remote and detached as he did.

“Everything’s back to normal, I see,” he said, standing near the sofa. He dominated the room, his very presence seeming to fill it with excitement and masculine power.

Brianna nodded, afraid to step too close lest she be scorched by his heat.

“Anything missing?”

She shrugged. “They broke the computer and stole my diskettes. Other than that, nothing. And it’s such a pain. I had all my lesson plans on the computer. I have to start over and classes begin again next week.”

“Tough break. But it could have been worse. Does Don suspect it was kids looking for exams or grades or something?”

She shook her head, wishing she could step away. His eyes were dark, seeking. She hoped he didn’t see more than she wanted him to see. “I don’t keep exams grades here. I’ve already turned in the grades from last semester. I don’t keep anything important from work here, just lesson plans. The college's computer security is high, so of course I use that.”

He shrugged, his eyes never leaving hers. “Students don’t necessarily know that.”

“Maybe at the beginning of each school year I should announce that to all my classes,” she said lightly, suddenly wishing she could bring a hint of amusement to those assessing eyes, a hint of softness to the hard glare that never deviated an inch.

Instead, he merely nodded. “Might be a good idea.”

She shook her head and relaxed as much as her racing heart would allow. “Do you want come coffee?”

He hesitated a long moment, as if weighing the pros and cons before finally nodding slightly.

“I’ll get it. You could take off your coat if you’re staying awhile.” She hurried to the kitchen, feeling as fluttery as a freshman dating a senior. What was the matter with her? He was an old friend.

Friend?

Well, more than that, but if she didn’t want to set herself up for future heartache, she’d better remember he hadn’t wanted it that way and had ended it. Nothing had changed since the last time she'd seen him.

So why was he here?

Jake shrugged out of his heavy coat and tossed it across the back of her sofa. Prowling around the room, he loosened his tie as a further concession to comfort. He’d had a twelve-hour shift and was tired. But he wanted to make sure she was all right before he headed for home.

He paused by her desk and studied the wrecked laptop. Whoever had damaged it had wanted to make sure it would never work again. The screen had been bashed in. The base looked as if it had been hacked, the keys ripped off. Was there a particular reason, or was it just wanton vandalism? Had the guy been interrupted after damaging the computer? Why wasn't there more damage throughout the house?

Slowly he turned, his glance taking in the rest of the room. It was warm and welcoming. As Brie had been the entire time they dated, warm and welcoming—always happy to see him.

Moving on, he stopped by her bookshelves, smiling at all the mystery titles.

She’d always been a mystery buff. Once, a long time ago, he’d wondered if that was why she'd liked dating a cop. He hadn’t thought about that in a long time.

He spotted a group of photos. Her brother, Josh, he recognized instantly, his expression tightening as his gaze moved to the next photo. The man looked a bit like Brianna in a rugged way. He must be her brother, Jase. Was the petite woman with him his new wife? The faded picture to one side had to be her parents, the couple who had died when she’d been a little girl.

“So why did you come, Jake?” Brianna asked as she stepped into the room and deposited the tray of coffee carefully on the table in front of the sofa.

“I wanted to make sure you were all right,” he said, turning and crossing the room to sit on the chair near the table.

“You could have checked with Officer Winston. Isn’t he the one in charge? He could have told you I’m fine.” She handed him a cup, sweetened and black. She remembered how he liked it.

“There’s fine and there’s fine. I wanted to make sure,” he repeated, watching her over the rim of the cup as he took a sip. It was hot, but not as hot as she made him feel. Coming here had been a mistake.

“Actually, I’m more angry than anything right now. I’m incensed that someone had the nerve to break into my home. Furious that they touched my things, destroyed my work. And irate that I don’t have a clue as to who did it so I could hold them accountable,” she said, flaring up.

“Better anger than depression or fear,” he said. She was pretty when she was mad, her eyes like blue flames, her cheeks rosy and flushed.

“Fear? Oh, about staying here, you mean?”

He nodded.

“I guess.” She sighed heavily, calming slightly. “I'm not going to let some crook run me out of my home. There’s nothing to do but go on.”

As she had when he stopped calling.

She’d tried to call him a couple of times. But when she’d been given the runaround at his office, she’d known not to call again. Gripping her hands tightly around her mug, she sipped her coffee.

She ached to know what he had been doing these past two years, longed to know if he had missed her at all. But she refused to ask a single question lest she never be able to stop.

Jake stood abruptly. “Thanks for the coffee. I’m glad you’re doing okay after all.” He grabbed his coat when she stood.

“Thanks for stopping by.” She tilted her chin again, as she had the night before. She refused to break down and beg him to stay. He had made his decision two years ago. Why, she still didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. He was no longer hers. He never had been.

Despite her best attempts, however, when she opened the door, her hand brushed against him involuntarily. Her fingers skimmed his sleeve, feeling the rock-hard muscles bunch tightly. She closed her eyes briefly at the shock of sensation that flooded through her.

“Take care, Brie,” he said huskily as he passed by and out into the cold night. No kiss, no hug, no words of future meetings. Simply
take care.
Yet it was more than she had received last time.

Drifting off to sleep later, Brianna was vaguely pleased to acknowledge she’d not given any indication to Jake of how much his leaving had devastated her. She ignored the loneliness in the big bed that she had once thought to share with a hot, passionate male. She was over him. Or she would be one day soon. Very soon! She had lesson plans to worry about now, not some tall, rugged cop.

Brianna bought a new laptop first thing the next morning. She had another week before classes began and she needed to work flat out to make sure she was ready for the first day. Her job as associate professor in the mathematics department had been hard won. She worked hard to make sure she performed so well that there would never be any question that the decision had been the best the college had made. She had her eye on a full professorship before she reached thirty.