Cindy Dees - Colton Under Fire

“What about you? Did you grow up into a workaholic like them? You were one in high school, as I recall.”

“I just wanted to get into a good college so I could get away and be on my own.”

“Did you escape whatever you were running from?” he asked quietly.

She glanced up at him, her big hazel eyes dark and troubled. “You must be a heck of an interrogator, Liam. You cut right to the heart of the matter. You’re like a laser.”

“That’s me. Laser Man,” he quipped. “I cut away the lies and obfuscations to expose the naked truth. It’s my superpower. What’s yours?”

“These days, it’s making grilled cheese sandwiches and knowing the lyrics to every single princess musical ever made.”

“What about before Chloe came along?”

“There was life before Chloe?” she asked wryly.

He laughed. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Don’t get me wrong. She’s the light of my life. I didn’t know it was possible to love anyone the way I love her.”

“That’s obvious at a single glance. The way you look at her...” He searched for words. “It’s magical.”

Sloane shrugged. “I’m just a mom.”

“You’re a great mom.”

Sloane snorted. “And yet, my baby is in a hospital room fighting some awful illness that I should have seen coming. I had to have missed something—”

“You can’t control every situation every time. Sometimes life sneaks up on you.”

She snorted like a prizefighter who’d just been told she couldn’t use her fists in a fight.

He frowned and turned the corner into the cafeteria. “How were you supposed to know she would catch a nasty bug? Psychic powers? You’re being too hard on yourself. Chloe got sick and you got her to medical care in a timely fashion. There was nothing else you could have done.”

“Keep telling me that. Maybe I’ll believe you someday.”

He stopped and turned to face her. “I’m serious, Sloane. Cut yourself a break. Your little girl needs you to be calm and confident, not wracked by unnecessary guilt and distraction.”

Sloane took a deep breath. Exhaled it slowly. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“No problem. I just call it as I see it.”

She glanced up at him shyly and smiled. And lit up the whole darned cafeteria. Her smile transformed her heart-shaped face from pretty to radiant. Her gorgeous hazel eyes filled with warmth and gratitude.

“There it is,” he murmured. “The old Sloane Colton sparkle. Thought I’d lost you there for a while.”

“I’m still plain old me. Just a little older and hopefully a little wiser.”

He chuckled. “You were never plain. Do you have any idea how many guys Fox and I had to chase away from you?”

Her voice took on a stern tone. “No. I don’t. Do enlighten me.”

He grinned. “I’ll never tell. Just trust me...none of them were worthy of you.”

She planted her hands on her hips in what looked like indignation. “I thought I was a completely unattractive dork in high school because no guy would even look at me, let alone talk to me, or heaven forbid, ask me out. And you’re telling me that was your and Fox’s doing?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“I’ll kill him. Next time I see him, I’m doing him in.”

Liam grinned. “Cut him a little slack. He loves you a lot. Thinks you walk on water.”

“That, I definitely don’t do.”

Sadness overtook her entire demeanor. What had happened to leave so much pain in her soul? Just how big a jerk had the ex-husband been?

“Tell me about how you acquired wisdom en route to becoming older and wiser,” Liam asked, resuming their walk down a hallway lined on one side with windows that looked out on a garden. Right now, it was bare beds of dirt covered in patches of snow. Sloane shivered a little, probably from the cold radiating off the windows.

An urge to put his arm around her shoulders, to draw her close to his side, nearly overcame him. Nope, nope, nope. Not going there with her.

“I married a charming man who turned out to be a bastard.”

“How so?”

“Let’s just say he was honesty-challenged.”

“Example?”

She thought for a second. “Well, he said he liked kids. Wanted a family. Turned out he liked the idea of a family Christmas card in matching bad sweaters but not much more.”

“That sucks.”

“Oh, that’s not the worst of it. Turns out he can’t resist any hot female who looks at him twice, and he’s a compulsive gambler. Real winner I picked, huh?”

Liam shrugged. “I’m sure he had a few redeeming qualities that drew you to him.”

“You’re far too optimistic about mankind in general.”

It was his turn to snort. “I’m a cop. I see all the worst mankind has to offer. In fact, I find that most people harbor at least one good, ugly secret about themselves.”

“Oh, yeah?” Slone asked. “What’s yours?”

“I’m actually a superhero, but I can’t reveal my true identity to anyone. I keep my cape hidden under my street clothes.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re Laser Man. I forgot.”

“That’s me, all right.”

Sloane winced a little. “Where were you when I started dating Ivan? I was completely fooled by him.”

“Sorry. I would’ve come to Denver and chased him off if Fox had let me know you were dating a jerk. Just like in high school.”

“Is that why you tormented the boys who flirted with me?” she exclaimed. “Fox put you up to it? I’m seriously going to have to have a word with him—”

He interrupted, laughing. “I swear, we had your best interests at heart. We heard them talking in the locker room and knew they wouldn’t treat you well.”

“What gave you the right to be my personal dating police?”

She didn’t sound angry, but he sensed danger in the lightly worded question. She wasn’t a defense attorney for nothing. He answered carefully, “You were my best friend’s little sister, and Fox had a bit of a temper back then. I was worried he would go too far protecting you and get himself into trouble.”

“Ahh. So you didn’t care about me. It was all about looking out for Fox. Got it.”

That wasn’t what he’d meant at all, but he wasn’t sure he ought to correct the misunderstanding. This Sloane was pricklier and quicker to jump on statements he made than the Sloane of old.

“Do you like being a lawyer?” he asked her, hoping to change the subject.

“I do.”

He could see how it fit her direct personality. “Are you going to hang out a shingle here in Roaring Springs?”

“I’ve actually just started up a nonprofit foundation with some of the proceeds of my divorce. I’m reviewing cases for prisoners who think they were wrongly convicted.” She warmed to her topic. “I can work from home and do some good while I’m at it.”

Her face glowed with excitement as she described having found a big mistake in a case she’d just reviewed. A wrongly convicted woman was due to be released from prison in a few days because of her discovery.

Sloane always had been softhearted. Loved to help people. Looked out for the downtrodden.

“And who looks out for you?” he mused aloud.

“I beg your pardon?”

Startled, he realized he’d voiced the thought aloud. “Nothing. Just random thoughts.” Badly in need of a distraction, he commented, “Mara must love having her first grandchild back in Roaring Springs.”

Sloane shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, sure, Mara loves Chloe, but she’s not exactly the most maternal person I’ve ever met.”

“True.” Not like his mother, who was warm and nurturing. Fox always had preferred to hang out at the modest Kastor bungalow rather than at his own family’s luxurious estate. As for him, he’d liked the Colton mansion for its elegance and proximity to the ski slopes. And to Sloane.