Tara Randel - Orange Blossom Brides

Lilli looked back and forth between Max and the woman, not sure how much to give away.

“Hey, Jewel. Um, yeah, it is.”

Max groaned. Just shoot me now and get it over with.

Jewel frowned, sizing Max up. “I thought you were kidding about his clothes. He’s—”

“Working.” Lilli spoke the word with emphasis. Okay, she might not like his clothes but at least she didn’t give him up.

“Leaving,” Max corrected, looking at Lilli to relate his secret thanks. “We’ll talk later.”

Lilli opened her mouth to respond, but not before a uniformed police officer approached them. Max watched Bart’s eyes flare in panic. Had the officer caught Bart in the act before Max?

“Excuse me,” the officer spoke to Lilli. He thumbed in Max’s direction. “Is this guy giving you a hard time?”

She stared at the officer for a moment, stunned. “No. We were talking.”

“We received a call that you might need help.”

“A call?” She glanced up at Max, confusion knitting her brow.

The woman from Milly’s Gifts and Things appeared at her door and pointed at Max. “That’s the man, officer.”

Great. Max couldn’t nab Bart if the police wanted to question him.

“He’s been skulking around,” the woman continued. “He came into my store, casing it. I just knew he was going to rob me until this young lady stopped him.”

“That’s not true,” Max told the officer.

“Then, clear as day, I saw him grab that woman’s purse,” the shop lady added, on a roll of accusations.

Max read a guilty verdict in the eyes of the people who stopped to watch the unfolding drama. He sure looked the part of a shady character. If he was a cop—and he had been—he’d believe the store owner in a heartbeat.

“No,” Lilli assured the officer. “He stopped to help me.”

“Help himself to your belongings,” the store owner countered. “I saw him grab on to her purse strap not five minutes ago.”

Lilli tried to defend Max, but the store owner didn’t believe her.

Max scrubbed his hand over his face, wondering how his simple surveillance had gone haywire. Trying to make his case to the officer, who tried to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, Max pleaded innocence. No one listened. The store owner started yelling about a bad element plaguing their town. By the time Max realized his stakeout was a lost cause, he’d taken his attention from his suspect for too long. Bart had disappeared.

“Where’d he go?” Max asked no one in particular. He turned in a circle on his bootheel, running a hand through his hair, frustrated no end.

He turned to face the crowd gathered around him. The officer frowned at him.

Max held his hands up. “I can explain everything.”

“Sir, let me see some ID,” the officer said, unimpressed with Max’s urgent declaration.

Max groaned. He went to pull his wallet from his back pocket. Only it wasn’t there. Stunned, his eyes locked with the pesky woman who’d disrupted his world twice today.

“Bart took my wallet.”

CHAPTER FOUR

STANDING IN AN OFFICE at the police station, Lilli watched Max as he paced in front of the police chief. The chief had suggested they all move from the sidewalk to the station to straighten out the misunderstanding. Especially when the crowd grew bigger.

Every so often Max cast a frown in her direction. While that should’ve bothered her, instead, her heart beat rapidly. If anything, Max had caused her nothing but trouble today. First, by refusing to be a volunteer groom, then when she’d inadvertently got caught in his stakeout. Shouldn’t she be upset with him? Her stomach flip-flopped. From all the excitement, she reasoned, not because of totally gorgeous Max. His dark, unruly hair kept falling over his forehead after he unsuccessfully brushed it back. Could he be any more adorable?

No. He’s making your job more difficult, remember? Because of him, she’d have to find another suitable volunteer groom. Her mother would not be happy that Max hadn’t jumped on board with her idea, which meant an earful for Lilli.

Yep, Max Sanders had made her life complicated. Again. But she did feel bad that he’d lost his wallet.

When they’d arrived at the station, Max had removed his sunglasses and glanced at her. She’d gotten up close and personal with those stormy gray eyes. For a fleeting moment his annoyance had vanished, replaced with...what? Curiosity? Interest in her, perhaps?

She’d tried not to react, but how could she not? He was seriously good-looking. Throw in the broad shoulders, six feet of muscular build—obviously the man worked out—and long denim-clad legs and...well, she noticed.

Yet she had to ignore his undeniable appeal and how it affected her. Even if she had wanted this tug of awareness to go somewhere, the unresolved past between them would make that impossible.

“I can’t believe he’s been spying on Bart,” Jewel fumed as she shot the hunky Max another glare. “Why would anyone want Bart tailed?”

Bart came across as a nice enough guy, but had trouble with his “confusion of ownership” issues. Amused by Jewel’s passionate defense, Lilli listened, letting her friend vent. She’d never seen Jewel this charged up before.

The chief, a tall bear of a man, with distinguished gray hair and a ready smile, moved their way to join the tail end of the conversation. He hadn’t changed much since the night he sat her in the squad car while he called her parents. At least this time she wasn’t in trouble. “Max was doing his job,” the chief explained.

Jewel simmered down, but her lips pursed in mulish displeasure.

“This is all just a misunderstandin’,” he assured them.

“Bart would never hurt anyone,” Jewel insisted. “Sure, he’s a little different, but that’s his appeal. Not everyone follows their inner voice.”

Not everyone’s inner voice told them to pick pockets, either. Lilli glanced over at her friend. “Since when did you become so interested in Bart?”

Pink covered Jewels cheeks. “I’ve run into him around town a few times. We went to high school together,” she explained. “Recently we reconnected. I even invited him to join us for lunch today...before we were interrupted. But he turned me down.”

Interrupted by Max. Lilli peeked over at him again, her stomach fluttering. For the second time in her life, Max Sanders caught and held her attention, but she resisted the lure. She had a lot on her plate, which didn’t include getting tangled up with Max again.

“The officer has your statements, ladies, so if you’ll excuse me, I should probably get back to Max.” The chief excused himself.

“Isn’t that peachy,” Jewel grumbled.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Lilli told her friend.

“Bart’s not even here to defend himself.”

Lilli decided not to point out the fact that his disappearing act looked suspicious. While Jewel complained, her attention went back to Max.

He stood only a few feet away, so she couldn’t help but hear the chief laughing while Max spoke in a low tone. He frowned and seemed put out, while the chief enjoyed the entire situation, especially when he handed Max a square brown object that could only have been the pilfered wallet. Max’s neck grew red as he shoved the billfold into his back pocket. Lilli chuckled at his disgruntled expression.

He headed in her direction. Uh-oh.

“Look, things got out of hand. Thanks for not blowing my cover.”

“Are you appreciative enough to be a groom?”

“No way.”

“You know, I could have told the officer you were causing trouble.”

“I still would have ended up here. Like the last time the police brought us both in.” His eyes narrowed. “You seem to have a special ability for getting me in hot water.”