Jennifer Morey - Armed and Famous

“Do you want me to fix your gate?” he asked.

“No. Maddie!” she snapped, in a hurry to get away.

The dog’s ears slumped, and her eyes drooped. Getting Maddie out of his house worked better when Remy waited on the front porch and he brought the dog to her.

“Come here, girl,” Lincoln coaxed.

Maddie’s ears perked, and the smile returned to her face as she trotted over to him.

Remy gaped at him with the hint of a smile. “What have you done to my dog?”

Seeing her begin to relax, he patted Maddie. “She’s a great dog.”

Remy crouched, and Maddie went to her, sitting before her with that tiny wiggle of her tail and going in for a few licks. Remy sank her fingers into the fur of her chest.

“Yeah, she is.” The soft smile that shaped her lips captivated Lincoln.

When she looked up from Maddie’s love-drunk eyes, she caught him staring at her. As her gaze took in his chest and arms and then returned to his eyes, he burned.

“Ah...” She stood. “I should probably get going.”

Lincoln was a little disconcerted over his reaction, as well. A familiar, old pain overtook him for a few seconds before he could control it, hide it away where he always did, safely out of mind.

Remy didn’t move for the door. She seemed on the verge of saying something that was hard for her to say. “I’ve...I’ve been meaning to...apologize for the way we met.”

Finally. He waited for her to go on.

“Wade... That whole...thing...”

“Is he your boyfriend?” he asked.

“No!” she answered instantly and adamantly. “He’s...sort of a friend.”

“Sort of?”

She waved her hands and then let them hang at her sides. “I thought he was a friend when I first met him. He turned out to be something else.”

Lincoln nodded. “Why did he hit you?”

“It’s complicated,” she said. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

How could he when she wasn’t telling him anything? Did she have something to hide? Or was she just embarrassed? The man wasn’t her boyfriend. “Who is he?”

She waved her hands again, a poor disguise for her inner turmoil. “Nobody. I just wanted to apologize, and also to thank you for what you did. Even though it didn’t seem like I was appreciative, I was, okay?”

“Okay.” Had fear compelled her to retaliate against Lincoln that day? She may have been afraid of what the man would have done had she not taken his side. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know. I’m right next door.”

She smiled. “Yeah. I know.” She met his gaze awhile longer.

This was a lot different than the first time they’d met. And the most they’d ever spoken.

An uncomfortable silence passed. She glanced down his body, checking him out, and then grew serious.

Maddie nudged Lincoln’s hand, and he pet her head.

“Your leg is better,” Remy said.

The first time he’d met her he’d been on crutches. “Yes.”

“Did you break it?”

She hadn’t taken the time to ask before. She hadn’t taken the time to make conversation at all. “No.” He hesitated, wondering if he should say. “Actually, I was shot.”

She went a little still and then asked, “How? Why?”

He contemplated not telling her. But he wondered if he told her, would she open up to him about the man named Wade? “A friend of mine got into some trouble, and I got in the way.” He grinned. “I can’t seem to stay away from trouble.”

She caught his meaning, that he’d gotten into her trouble. “Must be some trouble.”

“At the risk of sounding like I played a role in an action movie, my friend came to me for help, and things fell apart. My sister was here at the time, and an arms dealer tried to kidnap her to use against my friend. I was shot, and my friend saved my sister. The dealer’s in prison now.” He didn’t get into the rest of the story, how Braden McCrae and Arizona had unraveled the mystery, which had included the kidnapping of Braden’s sister and stepsister and attempts to steal weapons technology from the company where Braden worked.

“An arms dealer, huh? What are you, some kind of Homeland Security agent?”

“No. I teach martial arts.” He left out the other detail that he was also a bail enforcement agent. He didn’t know why. It was just a feeling. It was also something he didn’t really share with many people.

“I have a tough guy for a neighbor,” she teased, but he could tell she liked it. He wasn’t a cop, but he wasn’t afraid of bad guys. He enjoyed solving the mystery of tracking the fugitives and, even more, the satisfaction of bringing them in.

“And who do I have for a neighbor?” he deliberately asked.

Between them, Maddie sat patiently, her head moving from one to the other as they spoke.

“I just got a job at a microchip corporation. I’m an HR assistant.”

A human-resources assistant? He’d recently learned the house next door was a rental. Where had she gotten the money to afford it? This wasn’t the most expensive neighborhood in Denver, but it was pushing the million-dollar mark. She may have gotten a deal on hers since it was in need of renovation, but still. How much did an HR assistant make? It couldn’t be that much. Plus she had a loaded Audi Q5 Prestige in her garage. Pricey for an HR assistant.

His curiosity grew. “Where did you move from?”

A flicker of reluctance crossed her pretty eyes. “California. Near L.A.”

Vague. “What brought you here?”

The reluctance he’d seen was gone now, and in its place was a brick wall. She shrugged. “I don’t have any family. It was time for a change. I’ve always liked it here.”

“No family?” Not even a sister or an aunt?

“No.” Her head lowered. “My mother raised me, and I never knew my dad. My mother died in a car accident a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You must have had a tough time.”

“I learned to take care of myself. Mom had life insurance. That helped. I used some of it to go to college.”

College? Her eyes flashed to his when she realized her slip. She hadn’t meant to tell him that. “I have an English degree. What can you do with that, right?” She half laughed.

Although she quipped, he could see she was lying. “When did you graduate?” He kept a light tone. People relaxed more when all they were doing was answering harmless questions.

“Six years ago. You?”

“I didn’t go to college.”

“Just martial arts school, huh?”

“Yes. And I love to read.”

A firecracker of a smile burst on her face. “Me, too. Biographies, mostly.”

Something in common. “Mysteries for me. Some nonfiction.”

“Do you have a family?”

She must know he did. She’d seen his mother stop by. The way she asked said it was important to her. Family.

“I have a huge family,” he stated hesitantly. “There are eight of us, and our parents live in California. Most of the time.”

“I see a limo drive up every once in a while.”

“That’s my mom. Dad sometimes comes with her.” He watched her process that. His parents had money.

“Ivy.” She nodded. “I didn’t piece it together until now.” She glanced around his house. “You live modestly for someone who has such wealthy and well-known parents.”

She was completely guileless as she made the observation. Nothing changed other than the wonder of discovery. She didn’t become flirtatious as most women did, thinking they’d struck gold. He could recognize the shift immediately. Flirting went into overdrive. Efforts to impress, to latch on to him became nauseating. But not with this woman.

“What’s it like being the son of a famous movie producer?”