No matter how personal and private his reasons were for
needing the time off, he opted to stick with the truth. Hopefully, when his real identity was revealed in a few days, she’d remember how honest he’d been with her from the moment she’d taken him into custody. Besides, he had no reason to lie.
“I haven’t had a real vacation in years and I needed time away from work and life in general to think about an important decision I need to make. So, yes, I suppose on some level stress does come into play.” He turned his attention back to his mousse cake for another bite, then continued. “When my father passed away from a heart attack three years ago, the responsibility of Colter Traffic Control became mine, whether I wanted it or not. And every bit of my time and energy since then has been spent making sure the business remained profitable and successful, to the point that I’ve sacrificed a personal life, among other things.”
“You don’t sound like you were too thrilled about taking on the reins of the family business,” she commented lightly.
Did she believe his story? He searched her carefully composed expression for some kind of sign, found none, and guessed that she was just catering to what she no doubt assumed was a big, elaborate tale. “I’m not sure how I felt at the time, honestly. After graduating college I went to work at CTC because that’s what my father wanted and it seemed like the right thing to do. But I can’t say that it would have been the choice I would have made if I hadn’t felt pressured into it.”
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, which drew his gaze to her shapely breasts and the enticing way they pushed against her cotton tank top. “Why did you feel pressured?”
He ignored the stirring of desire making itself known and finished the last of his cold soda with a loud slurp. In that moment, it dawned on him that he was on the receiving end of a subtle interrogation. She was bombarding him with questions, waiting for him to crack or reveal an inconsistent thread in his story. Hard to do when everything was the bottom-line truth.
“I’m an only child, and spent most of my life listening to my father tell me that the sacrifices he’d made, all the late hours and weekends he spent at work, and all the Little League games and even my high school graduation he’d missed, were all for me, because he wanted to make sure he left me with a legacy, unlike his own dad who’d skipped out on him when he was ten and left him and his family with nothing.” Unfortunately, that pressure and guilt his father had instilled in him at such an early age had lain heavy on his conscience as an adult.
“So, when Dad died, I had this misguided notion that I had this family legacy to carry on. Not only that, but one of the biggest lessons my old man ever taught me was that you don’t shirk your responsibilities, and this was a huge obligation for me. There was no other person to take over the business, and my first concern and priority was making sure that my mother was taken care of financially so she wouldn’t ever have to worry about money. She received a nice pay-out for my father’s life insurance that she used to pay off the house they’d bought a few months before Dad’s heart failed, but she was also accustomed to the steady income that came in from the business. It was only logical, for so many reasons, that I keep the company and make the best of an unwanted situation.”
It was a choice that had caused a whole lot of dissension between him and his fiancée at the time, until Lora finally came to the conclusion one night, when he’d had to cancel dinner plans once again for work, that she couldn’t handle being second to a business that was absorbing more and more of his time. Their breakup had been painful and hard on both of them, yet Dean hadn’t been able to slow down long enough to make amends. And eventually, he’d found himself sucked into the same vicious cycle that had consumed his father—working late, spending weekends in the office, bidding on every job available and gaining contract after contract until his days and nights became one big blur of paperwork centered around the company.
“All things considered, that was a very selfless choice you made.” Her voice was quiet, without the sarcasm he would have expected if she still believed he was trying to deceive her. Despite that small concession, ingrained caution and realistic uncertainties still lingered in the depths of her blue eyes.
“At the time, it was the only choice I could make,” he told her, stretching his long legs beneath the small table. His calf accidentally brushed hers, and he could have sworn her breath hitched before she scooted back about two feet, moving her own legs out of his reach. “Three years later, things have changed. I’ve changed, and I don’t want to make the wrong choice this time out of obligation to anyone but myself.”
She digested that, silent and contemplating, staring at him in a way that made him feel as though she was scrutinizing him from the inside out. Her long, slender fingers fluttered against her cheek, then absently pushed wispy strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail away from her face. Which made him envision that thick mass of blonde hair loose and spread around her shoulders, draped like silk over a pillow, wrapped tight around his long, seeking fingers as he moved over her…
“So,” she finally said, bringing him back to the present with a jolt that made him aware that he was undeniably turned on by his private, tantalizing fantasy. “This important decision you claim you need to make, does it have anything to do with your company?”
“As a matter of fact, it does.” She was sharp and perceptive, not that he’d expect anything less from her. “A few months ago I received a call from another traffic control company in San Francisco that expressed interest in buying out CTC so they can corner the traffic control market in Seattle, as well. That’s why I was heading off for a week in the mountains, to rest, relax, and consider my options and figure out if I want to keep the company because it’s all I know, or pursue another unknown career before I’m too old to do so.” And regain a personal, social life in the process, he added inwardly.
He stuffed his trash into the paper bag and pitched it into the nearby trash can, enjoying that he could talk so openly with Jo about the issues that had plagued him for months, even if she did doubt his sincerity. “The one thing I do know for certain is that I want to slow down this hectic pace I’ve been keeping for the past three years, because I don’t want to end up having a heart attack like my father. I’d also like a life of my own that doesn’t include eighty-hour workweeks. Last month I spent a week in San Francisco with this company hashing out details and legal and monetary issues, and they recently came back with a multimillion-dollar figure I’d be a fool not to at least consider….”
His voice trailed off as a glaring realization struck him hard. He sat there, momentarily stunned, unable to believe he hadn’t drawn such an obvious conclusion sooner to explain this entire misunderstanding he’d become a part of.
“I just thought of something,” he said, experiencing a bout of frustration that he couldn’t stand up when he wanted to pace off the sudden energy buzzing through him. “Something really important that could explain this mess I’m in.”
Her gaze narrowed on him, sharp and watchful. “And what’s that?”
She was offering him the benefit of any doubts she might harbor about him and his alleged arrest, and he jumped on the opportunity to reveal his theory. “During that last business trip to San Francisco, my laptop bag was stolen, which held my wallet and ID—my driver’s license, social security card, credit cards. All of it,” he said, waving his free hand in the air between them. “The theft happened in the hotel where I was staying, on the day that I was checking out to come home. It was a Friday afternoon, the lobby was packed with guests who were checking in, and I didn’t think twice about setting my stuff down beside me at the registration desk. When I was done with the transaction, my computer bag was gone and nobody in the general vicinity saw anyone take it.”
Silent and thoughtful, she chewed on her lush bottom lip, and the slender, jean-clad leg crossed over her opposite knee bounced restlessly. He took her contemplative mood as a sign that she was at least mulling over his story.
He continued on
while he still had her full attention, before she decided he was feeding her yet another well-crafted line. “At the time it happened, I thought I was just a victim of a random theft. But after seeing all that stuff you have on file for Dean Colter, including the driver’s license that was stolen, I’m not so sure.”
A slight frown turned down the corners of her mouth. “What, exactly, are you getting at?”
“Jo…someone used my ID to assume my identity,” he said, unable to mask the insistence in his tone, or the underlying plea for her to believe him. “Someone who looks very similar to me, with dark hair, green eyes and the same features. Except he’s a felon, and I’m not. It’s the only explanation that makes sense because the guy in that mug shot you have on file sure as hell isn’t me.”
She stood and cleaned up the remnants of her own dinner, a light, feminine sigh escaping her. “You know, I have to admit I’m finding it very difficult to argue your logic, mainly because I’ve been on the road for nearly ten hours, and I’m flat-out exhausted and my mind is feeling sluggish. However, even if what you say is true, you’re going to have to wait until we’re back in San Francisco and we can get you fingerprinted, so we can compare it to the one they have on file. There’s no other way around it.” She dumped her empty cup into the trash and looked back up at him, meeting his gaze. “I’m really sorry, Dean,” she said softly.
He held her stare, his cuffed hand curling into a tight fist beneath the table. “Do you believe me, Jo?”
She hesitated for a heartbeat. “I don’t know,” she said honestly, sounding confused and torn, which gave him a semblance of satisfaction. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what I believe, and I can’t let you go based on the evidence I have against you. Besides, in another day, we’ll both know the truth of who you really are, won’t we? And if this is a case of mistaken identity, you can sort it all out then with the authorities.”
Resignation wove through him, leaving him no choice but to accept the current circumstances, no matter how helpless they made him feel now that he’d figured out the hows and whys of this false arrest.
Back to Plan B: his seduction and her surrender.