Chapter 11
“Your aunt okay?” Anna asked as Owen sat back down.
“As okay as she gets.”
Anna knew loss, but she’d never lost someone who was still alive. That had to be hard. Then she caught sight of Caitlin across the restaurant. Don’t ask. “Do you miss her?” Damn, her mouth had a big mouth.
Owen followed her gaze. “Caitlin? No, because we’re still friends.”
She nodded like she understood. But she didn’t, not really. “And it didn’t work out because...?”
Owen lifted a shoulder.
“You don’t know?”
He met her gaze, a wry humor there. “Oh, I know. It’s just not very flattering to me.”
Okay, that made her smile. “This I have to hear.”
He grimaced. “You want to feel better about yourself through my own idiocy?”
“Yes.”
He tipped his head back and laughed, and frankly, she was dazzled. Which was really annoying. “Hey, I told you my stories.”
“Not all of them.”
True.
His eyes held hers, letting her in. “Caitlin and I broke up because she said she couldn’t reach me. Said that when it came to the deep stuff, I was an island of one. I was everything she wanted in a man except for that.”
“I love him so much,” Wendy said. “Please let’s keep him.”
Anna gave Owen a small smile. “We’re quite the pair.”
“This is all I’m saying!” Wendy said.
“Yes.” Owen’s eyes were still intense. “We are. And again, I’m really sorry I was late. We had an emergency on the water. A family was out kayaking and one flipped over. Of course it was the teenager, who’d taken off her life vest.”
“Oh my God. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” he said. “I got to her in time, but she scared the shit out of me. I hate it when people don’t follow the guidelines, which are in place for a reason.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
She shook her head. “That’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said.”
“Really? I thought maybe it would’ve been when I said you tasted sweet.”
Wendy choked, and Anna reached into her pocket and turned down the volume.
“Is Wendy in your ear?” Owen asked. “Hi, Wendy.”
“Tell him hi!”
Anna ignored her. She fanned her hot face and searched for Will. No sighting yet. Then she searched for something else—a safe topic. “I also wanted to say something about yesterday. Sometimes I get so caught up in the job, I forget myself. I didn’t mean to just dismiss you like that.”
In her ear, Wendy snorted. “Sometimes?”
Anna kept her gaze on Owen. “It was rude. And I’m sorry for that.”
He studied her for a beat. “Anything else?”
She swallowed hard and hoped her sudden nerves weren’t showing. “What else would there be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re freaked out because you have burgeoning feelings for me.”
Wendy cackled.
Anna did her best to keep her expression even because of course he could tell she had feelings for him. Not that she had any intention of admitting them out loud.
He was smiling, but not a mocking smile. It was gentle, almost... tender. “It’s not the worst thing that could happen,” he said. “Us liking each other.”
It was for her. She was done with heartache. Done. Done. Done. “We said this wasn’t happening. We’re wrong for each other.” She didn’t like the desperation in her voice. “And that’s still true.”
“Is there a reason we couldn’t explore this to make sure? Or, if you need an expiration date, we could say we try until the case is over.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Ohmigod, say yes,” Wendy said. “Hey, Owen! She says yes!”
Owen smiled. “I could kiss you again if that would help.”
“Not necessary,” Anna said quickly, then paused at the odd crunching in her ear. “Are you eating popcorn?”
Owen didn’t even blink. He was clearly getting used to Wendy being their third wheel.
“Are you kidding?” Wendy asked. “This is better than when I used to watch Days of Our Lives. Yes, I’m eating popcorn. And why are you talking to me instead of answering him? Say yes, you’re going to explore this!”
Did she want to? Her body was begging yes, please. But her brain was flashing warning signals, all while Owen sat there calm, sure.
“Do you need a murder board to work this out?” he asked.
She pointed at him and opened her mouth to answer, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Will coming onto the floor from the back. Thank God. No time to make a bad decision. “Showtime.”
Will headed their way, head down, tying on his apron. As he got closer, Anna said his name and he looked up. Blinked. “Anna? Wow, talk about a blast from my past. You look great.” His gaze ran over her. “Really great. Like smoking-hot great.”
Owen cleared his throat, and Anna turned to him. “Owen, this is Will. Will, Owen.”
Will absently shook Owen’s hand while still smiling at Anna. “It’s sure been a long time.” He crouched at her side. “How’s Wendy? How’s your dad?”
Her throat closed. Even though she’d told this story a thousand times, whenever anyone asked about her dad, it was still like a fresh stab to the heart. “I guess you haven’t heard. He passed away a year ago.”
Will made a pained sound. “I just moved back to town.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to lose someone.”
She’d done research on Joe now and knew he’d gone to jail once before, back when she’d been in middle school. At the time, Will had been in school with her one day and gone the next. When she’d asked her dad about it, he hadn’t known where they’d gone. Or so he’d said. But she knew from her deep dive on Joe that Will had ended up in foster care.
When Anna’s mom died, she’d had her dad to raise her. Will hadn’t had anyone.
Will glanced at Owen before redirecting back to Anna. “Am I interrupting a date?”
“No,” she said.
“Yes,” Owen said.
Wendy snorted in Anna’s ear. “They’re checking to see who’s got the bigger dick. Might want to give them a minute.”
Anna disconnected her, then looked at Will. “Actually, I came here looking for you.”
Will seemed surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. I wanted to ask you some questions about your dad.”
Will’s smile vanished. “I haven’t talked to that son of a bitch in three years. What do you want with him anyway?”
“We’re investigating a missing necklace called the Ruby Red and a very rare coin collection.”
“The stolen Ruby Red and coin collection,” Owen said, showing Will pictures from his phone, watching his face as he studied the pics.
Will shook his head. “Never seen either or heard my dad talk about them. And he’s a bragger—which is why he’s serving time. He boasted about a big job he did and got caught.”
Anna felt Owen’s gaze on her, and she knew he was wondering why her dad, by all accounts an upstanding guy, would be associated with someone like Joe.
And the truth was, she didn’t know.
“Will, you knew my dad,” she said. “Do you think he could’ve had anything to do with this?”
Will thought about it. “I couldn’t really say, but I do know that he pulled off at least one heist with my dad back in the day.”
Anna sucked in a breath. It’d been bad enough to find out her dad had a police record. Worse to then have Sonya acknowledge he also had a dark past. But this. This was her biggest nightmare coming true, and it would absolutely kill Wendy. “This... this can’t be true.”
Will looked confused and possibly hurt. “Why would I lie to you? We’ve been friends since we were kids.”
True story.
Owen was still watching Will. “And you’re sure your dad never mentioned this particular job?”
Will shook his head. “Nope.” He rose to his feet, looking around at his section. “I need to get to work.”
“And you’ve got no intel or insight on any of this,” Owen said.
“Owen,” Anna said quietly, but he didn’t break eye contact with Will.
Will was staring right back at him. “You accusing me of something?”
“I’m sorry,” she said to Will, trying to break up the overwhelming testosterone overload. “We didn’t come here to accuse you of anything.”
Will dropped the stare down with Owen and looked at her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I can’t help, but I’ve really got to get a move on. Do you want to order something?”
“Sure. I’d love some apps. Maybe the sliders and fries.” She looked at Owen. “Want to share?”
When he nodded but didn’t speak, she gave an inward eye roll—men—then stood and gave Will a hug. “Thank you for the time.” She watched him walk off before turning to Owen.
“He was lying about not knowing if Joe was involved,” he said.
“And you know this how?”
“His body language. And how can you not know?”
Normally on a job, she had some mental distance and could judge a person’s behavior, including body language. But with this job, she had zero mental distance. It was embarrassing, as she’d never been anything less than professional. She remembered how the day before she’d straddled him in his truck. Yep, professionalism had gone out the window. “Will never got along with his dad. I don’t think he’d lie to me about him.”
Owen shook his head. “I feel like I’m missing some pieces of this puzzle. Were you two a thing?”
“No.” She sighed. “I feel sorry for him, okay? He’s had a pretty rough life.”
“Everyone’s had troubles at some point. It doesn’t excuse hurting other people.”
She knew Owen had been hurt when his dad had chosen not to be a part of his life, and also when he’d lost his mom and hadn’t had anyone else in his life except his great-aunt. Then hurt again when he’d been walked away from by a woman he’d loved. Abandonment issues, she understood. Holding his gaze, she took his hand in hers. “I hate how you were hurt.”
Turning his hand over to entwine their fingers, he shrugged. “I’m good now, and this isn’t about me. But for the record, I hate how you’ve been hurt too. Will you tell me about the one you kept to yourself?”
She took another sip of her wine but was pretty sure it wouldn’t be enough. “It wasn’t physically or anything like that.” Why was she doing this? But she knew why. He’d been honest with her about his heartbreaks, and she wanted to do the same. “About a year and a half ago, I was dating this guy. Michael was wildly exciting and a big risk taker, and I... wasn’t. After growing up with a free-spirit dad with few to no rules...” She broke off. Grimaced. “I don’t mean to give you the wrong idea of my dad. I loved him, so much, but I didn’t love the loose and fancy-free household with no guidelines, no expectations, no rules.”
“And those are the things that make you feel safe.”
However much she hated that that was true, she couldn’t argue with it. And when she couldn’t get those things from the people in her life, she’d gone without, burying herself in her work, the only place where she could control her world. But still, she’d struggled to find herself, had felt adrift, alone, feeling unable to connect with anyone, even with her sister at times. “Somehow Michael got past my barriers anyway.” She’d tried to forget, but apparently no one could forget how dumb being in love could make them. “It was the first time I’d ever really fallen for a guy, even though he couldn’t have been more different than me. He was a trust fund baby, and...” Fun. Sexy. But also... wild and reckless, always playing hard and fast with the rules of life. “When it came right down to it, we wanted different things from life.”
“Because he was wealthy?”
“Because he thought he was above pesky little things like the law. He ended up in jail, nailed for tax evasion.”
He winced. “Oh shit.”
She shrugged, like no big deal, when it had been a really big deal at the time. It’d been a complete shock, and she’d been devastated.
Beyond devastated.
Even worse, as attracted to Owen as she was, he was every bit the free spirit Michael was. Minus the being a criminal part, of course, but it was a good reminder of why she couldn’t fall for him. No way, no how, because Owen, out of anyone she’d ever met, he could detonate her careful control without even trying. And that careful control was the only thing that kept her from getting hurt.
She realized she was holding her breath and forced herself to let it go. Also, normally whenever she thought of Michael, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. But at the moment, all she felt was... nothing. Over herself, she shook her head. “You know way too much about me.”
He smiled. “If it helps, I like what I know.”
“Give it some time,” she quipped.
He didn’t smile. Instead, his eyes were dark and serious. “More time is just going to increase my problem.”
“Oh yeah? And what problem is that?”
“Falling. For you.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she felt her body react predictably, but the real surprise was how her heart skipped a beat.
“I can’t fall for you, Owen,” she whispered.
“Does that mean you are? Falling?”
Hard and fast. “Did you not just hear me?” she asked, hearing her own frustration and, dammit, sadness in her voice. She didn’t want to give herself away, didn’t want to let him know she already felt far too much for him as it was. Owen Harris, no matter what he believed about himself, was a true keeper.
She was not. “We’re a terrible idea. You should be running for the hills.”
“I don’t run.” His voice was thoughtful, his eyes focused on only her. “But also, as long as we’re honest with each other, what could go wrong?”
“Are you kidding? Only everything!”
He stared at her, then shook his head. “You don’t trust me.”
“Well, to be fair, I don’t trust anyone.”
“Anna, I’ve been honest with you from the start. That won’t change.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “But if you want to be honest, then let’s be honest. Guys like you aren’t into girls like me.”
Clearly stunned, he sat back in his chair. “What are you talking about, ‘guys like me’?”
Why did the question make her defensive and angry? “I’m just asking you to be straightforward with me about intentions. You’re playing nice because of your aunt. You’re here because of what happened to her, but also because of who my dad was—which means you don’t trust me to tell you everything I learn regarding this case. So please do me a favor and don’t pretend we’re on the same page, much less the same side.” And then with that, she dropped some money on the table and walked away.
Because that was what she did when the going got tough. She got going. She just wished she’d gotten a slider first.