Exhibit A
Maddox
Holy fuck. I replayed our last conversation in my head.
Hounding.
Following.
Stalking.
She'd threatened to call the authorities. At the time, she'd sounded unhinged. But with what I'd just learned, could I actually blame her?
Hell no.
Turns out, she'd been trying to make sense of a stranger flashing around her picture and handing out a business card that didn't match the name I'd given her.
No wonder she'd gone ballistic.
She was right. I owed her an explanation – and one hell of an apology, too.
But for a long moment, I simply drank in the sight of her.
Her eyes were as green as I remembered, made even brighter by the forest-green button-down she wore untucked over fitted black slacks.
When she tilted her head, her small emerald earrings caught the afternoon light, drawing my attention back to her face. If she was wearing makeup, I couldn't even tell. It didn't matter. She didn't need it.
Delaney was beautiful – not in the carefully curated way I'd spent years surrounded by, but in a way that was impossible to fake.
I'd been an ass. I hadn't meant to be. But now, looking at it from her side, I realized just how thoughtless I'd been.
I wasn't good at saying I was sorry. But I wasn't above it either – not when an apology was truly deserved.
I had no intention of putting it off. And yet, as I circled my desk to close the distance between us, what came out of my mouth was, "But what about the woman in the elevator?"
Delaney glanced toward my office door. "Who?"
"Not today," I clarified. "What I meant was—"
"Hang on." Delaney held up a hand. "I don't mean to be rude, but I think we're doing this backward."
"Backward how?"
"Honestly? It doesn't seem fair that you're asking questions at all without answering some of mine. Like…right from the start, you had my photo on your phone. And apparently, you were showing it around the lobby."
I held up a finger. "To one person."
"So?"
"So I wasn't showing it to everyone."
She stared. "So that's your defense?"
I wasn't trying to defend myself. I was trying to reassure her. "That's not what I meant."
"So what did you mean?"
"I just don't want you thinking half the building saw your photo. It was just the one guy who worked there. And I only showed it to him because we happened to cross paths."
She looked far from reassured. "Yeah, well...maybe that's one person too many."
I understood what she meant, but I couldn't agree. I moved closer and stopped just within arm's reach. "Look, I owe you an apology, but not for showing a guy your photo."
Her mouth tightened. "Are you serious?"
"Completely." I held her gaze. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I'm sorry I let you believe I'd lied about my name. I'm sorry I never told you about the photo or the business card." I shook my head. "But I don't regret trying to find you."
She frowned. "So…why were you trying to find me?
"Because Ryder asked me to."
She looked thunderstruck. "Ryder Vaughn? You mean the guy who paid my sister's rent?"
The rent thing was news to me. "He did?"
"Yes, actually."
"I didn't know about the rent. But yeah, your sister was worried, so Ryder asked me to help out."
Delaney's brow creased in confusion. "But…Tessa never mentioned it."
"I'm not surprised. The way she talks, you've been pretty hard to reach."
"Not that hard. Or at least, not recently."
"But this wasn't recent. It was back in the spring, before you and I met. She ran into some problems with a client, and she was worried about you getting caught up in the middle."
"She was worried? Really?"
"Really."
In a stunned, quiet voice, Delaney asked, "So she asked Ryder Vaughn to find me?"
I nodded. "And I owed him a favor, so…" I let the words trail off without finishing.
"But why would he ask you? Do you play private detective in your free time or something?"
I almost laughed. "Hell no. Like I said, it was a favor for a friend. I was having my people do it."
She gave me an expectant look. "But…?"
"But I had this meeting near Tessa's building, and I popped in afterward to take a look."
She motioned for me to continue. "And?"
"And right away, I run into the janitor—"
"Walt."
I shrugged. "Apparently."
"But he's the building manager, not the janitor."
"So you say. Except I didn't know that at the time.
But I give him some beer money and ask him to keep an eye out.
After he leaves, I stick around to make a phone call.
It was supposed to be quick, except it wasn't. And I'm just finishing up when I happen to look out the front windows, and guess who I see, dragging a suitcase outside. "
Understanding dawned on her face. "Me?"
"Yeah, you." I almost smiled at the memory. "Do you remember stopping to check your reflection?"
She grimaced. "Yeah, I was a total mess."
I knew what she meant. Her shirt had been dirty, her hair had been windblown, and her skin had been flushed from the sun. And yet, there'd been something about her, right from the start, that had made me sit up and notice – and not because of the favor.
Now I did smile. "Nah. You were the girl in the photo."
She hesitated. "Wait a minute…"
"What?"
"Oh, my God," she groaned. "Admit it. You did run into me on purpose."
Busted. "Maybe."
Okay, so I hadn't planned on the collision. But I had arrived at the door at precisely the same time. And I hadn't jumped back when her suitcase had snagged, sending her stumbling into me.
Instead, I'd held firm, letting the collision happen, thinking it would give me a good excuse to stop and talk.
I didn't regret it.
Looking half amused, half outraged, she said, "So you let me ruin your shirt?"
I grinned. "Totally worth it."
Delaney gave me a sheepish smile. "I still have it, by the way, the hydrangea."
"Yeah?"
She nodded. "But it's looking a little rough. I think it needs a permanent home."
That word – home – sounded way too good on Delaney's lips. I'd be smart to change the subject. "Speaking of flowers…you remember the woman who looked mad about the mess?"
"In the lobby? You mean Mrs. Stelter, right? The same one who almost caught us kissing?" As she said, her cheeks reddened, as if we'd been caught naked between floors.
I liked that about her.
She wasn't hard or jaded. She was nothing like Sloane, who'd once asked if we could recreate a kiss because the cameras had missed it.
I nodded. "Yeah. Her."
Delaney gave me a funny look. "What about her?"
Even now, I could see the disgust on the woman's face when she'd spotted me with Delaney. "When you came back angry, I thought she told you who I was."
Delaney blinked. "Really?"
"So, she didn't?"
Delaney shook her head. "She just said you were trouble – and that we deserved each other."
Huh. Maybe the woman wasn't all bad.
But then Delaney added, "What I remember most is that she thought I was turning tricks in the building."
I felt myself go very still. "What?"
"I wasn't, if that's what you're thinking."
The idea was ridiculous, but I didn't smile. "I know you weren't. But why would she say that?"
Delaney shrugged like it was no big deal. "Apparently, because her husband was gone, and she was bored."
"You're joking."
"I wish," Delaney said. "But Herb goes fly-fishing every summer, and apparently, Mrs. Stelter goes full mall-cop on the whole building. According to Walt, it happens every year."
I didn't care about fly-fishing. Or the building. Or mall cops of any variety. What I cared about was Delaney.
I resisted the urge to reach for her hand. "Listen, I've got a confession."
She snorted. "Only one?"
"Hell no." I smiled in spite of myself. "But I want to explain something."
"Oh, yeah? What?"
"That lady – Mrs. Stelter – I figured she told you who I was – and that's why you suddenly hated me."
Her expression softened. "I never said I hated you."
"You sure acted like it."
Delaney was quiet for a long moment before softly saying, "Maybe. But not because of her. Why would you even think that?"
"Because you were gone an hour longer than you said. I figured she gave you an earful."
"Well, she did – but not about you. Okay, not all about you. But the reason I was gone so long was because I dropped by Walt's place and he told me you were flashing my picture and handing out business cards with somebody else's name. And I guess I freaked out."
Unable to resist, I held up the same finger as before. "One business card."
Delaney scoffed. "Do you realize I had to dig that stupid card out of the trash?"
Holy hell. So that's why she'd changed her clothes. I asked, "But why?"
"Because Walt threw it out, and he couldn't remember the last name."
"Smith."
"Right." She rolled her eyes. "Which was a huge help, by the way. Do you know, there's only a million Cal Smiths?"
"I know. You wanna hear something funny?"
"What?"
"That's not his last name."
"Seriously? So, what is it?"
I smiled. "Kowalski."
"But…why does the card say Smith?"
"For the reason you just mentioned. A name like Smith is harder to run down."
Her lips twitched. "I swear you have an answer for everything."
I shook my head. "Not everything."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, I've got questions, too." My gaze locked on hers. "But first, I owe you one hell of an apology."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you already did – and more than once, too. So maybe it's my turn to apologize – for flipping out, I mean."
"Nope."
"Sorry, what?"
"You were smart to flip out. And me? I was a dumbass for not realizing it."
When she started to object, I cut her off. "I'm serious. I wanna do this right." I reached out and took her hand in mine as I quietly said, "Listen. I am so sorry for giving you reason to worry – and for assuming the worst."
She shook her head. "The worst?"
"Yeah. When you came back so angry, I thought it was because of Sloane."
Her hand stiffened. "You mean Sloane Hayworth? Who you almost married? But…why would I be mad about her?"
I scoffed. "Only because half the country hated me for walking out of that wedding."
"Not my mom," Delaney said. "I bet she loved it. I mean, I don't know for sure, but I can definitely guess."
"Yeah, well…that would put your mom in the minority – even before Sloane went missing."
She glanced down. "If you want the truth, I feel a little guilty. It really is awful what happened to her."
I would've agreed, except I still didn't believe it. The whole thing was too convenient to be real. "Forget Sloane for a minute, okay? Let's talk about you."
"Me?"
I nodded. "You remember the last time we talked?"
With a shaky laugh, she asked, "You mean when I completely flipped out?"
"I wouldn't go that far." I gave her a wry smile. "Trust me, I've seen 'flipping out'. Considering what you believed, I'm surprised you didn't call the police."
"Well…if I didn't call the police on the other guy, why would I call them on you?"
My hand froze in hers. "Wait…the other guy?"