Naughty Stranger (Dangerous Love 1)

“Your very own shop in a small town,” Justin said proudly. “You talked about that so many times during school, and here you are, you’ve done it.”

Yeah, she had talked about it. But then Adam’s grandfather died, and he inherited the business before he even finished college. He couldn’t leave Seattle, and she wanted Adam. So those dreams of opening a little shop faded and a nursing career made more sense. “I know this place is a step out of what I used to do, but I think that’s kinda what makes it so great.”

“It is great, Peyton,” he said, warmth in his eyes. “So great.”

She smiled, thinking Adam would probably look just like Justin right now, bursting with pride if he were still there. She forced the emotion back with a deep swallow and realized Justin carried a file folder that must have been hidden by the flowers. “I also take it you didn’t fly all the way here just to bring me flowers.”

“Annual stuff needs to be signed.” He held up the folder.

“Oh, okay.” In Adam’s estate, he had written that it was her choice to sell his share of the company if he should pass away. But somehow, selling the last bit of Adam was like erasing him completely. Justin was in the business for the money. Adam hadn’t been. And she kept thinking that if she let go of the company and let Justin have full control, he’d turn the business into something Adam never wanted. Adam—and his grandfather—cared about their customers. Justin looked at the cash value. So she monitored things from a distance, and reached out to Adam’s father for advice when needed.

When she was ready, she’d sell. But not right now.

Peyton moved to the counter and opened the folder as pedestrians strode by her window. Twenty-four hours was all it took for the town to settle back into the busy, summer fun in the sun life, where murders didn’t happen to good people. Peyton skimmed the documents relating to the companies’ stocks, to board position changes. The items were all the boring things Adam used to talk about and she listened because she loved him.

After she signed the last page, she handed the folder back to Justin. “Thanks,” he said with a soft smile. “From now on, I’ll email you over the documents and you can sign and FedEx them back, but I wanted—”

Emotion held heavy in his voice. She moved toward him and hugged him again. “Thanks for coming and making sure I’m okay.”

“I feel like I owe it to Adam, you know?” He hugged her tight.

Her heart wanted to break so desperately, but she couldn’t allow that. Life had to move on. “You were a good friend to him,” she said, leaning away.

His smile was warm and tender and full of all the heartache she felt herself. “You were a good wife.”

“I was, wasn’t I?” She laughed softly to lighten the mood.

Justin laughed too, then moved to the door. She knew he wouldn’t stay longer, and she knew why she didn’t want him to. Because this was life in Seattle. She was the reminder to everyone of what they had lost. When they saw her face, they saw Adam’s face. And that reminder was too hard, too raw.

He opened the door, and before he left, he turned back to her. “You’re really doing okay out here, aren’t you?”

For the first time since she’d left Seattle, she realized an amazing truth. “Yeah, I really am.”

Chapter 5

Just before noon, Boone leaned back against the chair in the command center and stretched out his arms. The beginning of any case was hard, trudging through the evidence until something made sense and they caught a lead that took them in the right direction.

Feeling the tension along his shoulders, he rose, moving to the window, staring out at dogs playing in the park across the street. No matter how hard he tried, he kept circling back to Peyton. Nothing could turn a bad day around faster than a lithe warm woman to get his mind off a tough case. The difference now was that he wasn’t thinking about her body, he was thinking about all of her. She kept parts of herself tucked away, and he couldn’t ignore that he wanted to know those parts. Very intimately.

And wasn’t that just his luck. He didn’t want a woman in his life. Now he finally met one he felt something stronger for than a sexual connection, and she was 100 percent off-limits. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to edge her closer toward him, until she realized that was exactly where she wanted to be.

He turned his mind back onto the case. Lead after lead had them running in circles. For a robbery, the scene was too clean. Too organized. Which, of course, only brought forth more questions.

“I finally had that sit-down with Francis’s ex-boyfriend,” Rhett announced, entering the command center. “He’s a dead end.”

Not the news they wanted. Especially considering her ex-boyfriend had stood out as a suspect since they’d had trouble finding the guy. “Got nothing off him?” Boone asked.

“His alibi is tight,” Rhett reported, dropping down into the chair near the whiteboard. “He’s been crashing at his friend’s place since the breakup with Francis and working for that friend’s detail shop.”

That explained why they couldn’t find a home address. “What’s his reasoning for not retuning our calls?”

Rhett slouched in the chair, looking as tired as Boone felt. “He said he smashed the phone during a fight with Francis.”

“Seems a bit convenient,” Boone pointed out.

Rhett inclined his head in agreement. “Believe me, on the outside he looks like our guy. He’s got a temper and knows it. But he worked the night of the murder. On the security tape, he’s seen clocking in at seven o’clock at night and clocking out at seven in the morning. I’ve given the tape to the techs to see if it’s been tampered with, but my guess is that it hasn’t.” Rhett paused and grabbed his phone from his pocket—obviously a text had come through—before adding, “Besides, when I told him that Francis had been murdered, he lost it.”

“You believed him?”