Chapter Ten #3
“Please know that he didn’t fill out any confidentiality agreements. It was an unsolicited call, so I’m not bound to keep anything secret.”
Roxie bobbed her head. “All right.”
Carol smoothed back her hair. “The caller was looking for information on adoptions that took place in about that same time frame.”
“For triplets?”
“He said three sisters. I didn’t let him get much further than that before I told him he’d need to fill out the proper paperwork.”
“He?”
“Yes, the voice was male.”
The wrench Billy was holding wasn’t moving. He was barely breathing. He didn’t even have to look to see if Roxie’s foot was rocked back on its heel. Her hair would be wild about now, her eyes big and bright.
“Did he give you a name? Did he sound old? Young? Did he say why he was looking?”
“I didn’t take a name. It’s not proper procedure. Please don’t get too excited.”
“I won’t,” Roxie promised. “It’s just that we’ve had so little to go on.”
“This is probably an entirely different case. The only reason I brought it up was because the caller did indicate that the sisters he was looking for had gone through separate adoptions. But didn’t you say you remained in foster care?
” Carol pulled her raincoat together around her throat.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. ”
“But you did, because you had a feeling.” Roxie’s energy was vibrating all around them, but Carol was acting more and more anxious. She kept looking at the fourth floor and trying to hide behind her car’s raised hood.
“How long ago was this?” Roxie pressed.
“A month. Maybe two.”
“Do you remember anything else? Did you give this guy any information?”
The clerk rubbed her forehead as if it was aching. “I typically refer callers to a website that reconnects people. That’s about all I can do without the right forms.”
With quick movements, Roxie pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her purse. “Write it down. Please, write down the website.”
Billy waited until the transfer was made before stepping in. “Could you try the engine again?”
“Oh!” Carol said, hopping back a step. She’d forgotten he was there. Flustered, she slid into the driver’s seat. When she turned the key, the engine growled, but then purred.
Billy nodded. That’s what he’d figured.
He closed the hood and put away the tools. He was wiping his hands as he walked back to the driver’s side of the car. “I cleaned the connections on your battery, but I think you have a low charge. You should get that checked out as soon as possible.”
Carol looked relieved. “A battery. I think we can afford that. Thank you.”
Billy glanced at Roxie. She was beaming. “No, thank you.”
The woman pulled out of the lot as he and Roxie made their way to the truck.
She was over the moon, hugging his arm and bouncing along in boots that had been too painful only minutes ago.
Billy tried to shake off the uneasiness he felt.
“Don’t get too excited about this,” he warned. “It’s a long shot.”
“Not as long as you think.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Since the new moon… Ingrid had her timing wrong. I hadn’t met Carol yet.”
Billy frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.” With a wide smile, she broke into a run. She clamored up into the truck and he followed along, his worry growing.
“Roxie,” he said as he climbed behind the steering wheel. “You can’t—”
“Oh, but I can,” she chuckled as she swung her leg over his lap and straddled him.
“God damn…” Billy struggled to find room and not set off the horn as a wiggling mass of hot woman settled over him.
The kiss she planted on him had him searching for ways to darken the windows. His fingers sank into her slim hips as her tongue swept across his.
“It’s the same website I’ve been visiting, the National Adoption Registry,” she whispered against his lips. “It’s all coming together.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t Maxie’s boyfriend that called? Isn’t he a cop?”
She hesitated, but then began pecking kisses along his jaw line. “He knows that all of us weren’t adopted.”
But she didn’t seem to care.
“Or that investigator Lexie’s guy hired?”
The nibble on his ear turned into a groan. “Could you not bring up Hatchet Man right now?”
She had a good point. The hell if he knew why he was trying to dissuade her—from the kissing and the snuggling, at least. He knew why he was trying to bring her down from the artificial high she was on.
He didn’t want her hurt. He knew all too well what it was like to get your hopes up and then have them dashed.
He fisted his hands in her hair and pulled her back into the kiss. It slowed down, getting hot and heavy. Slow and delicious.
Billy’s heart was thudding, and his cock was throbbing when he finally pulled back. “Want to go home and get online?”
He might have taken it personally the way she hopped off his lap if he hadn’t just felt how hard her nipples were rubbing against his chest.
“Yes!” she crowed, slapping her seatbelt into its holder.
He put the truck in gear. He hoped something good awaited her, whether it was from the clerk’s input or from Fenton finally getting his act in gear. She was more excited than he could ever remember seeing her—only it wasn’t because she was nearing answers.
She was happy because maybe, just maybe, someone was finally looking for her.