Love Loyal and True (Must Love Diamonds 2)

Her guilt eased, and she arched her brows with a smile. “So, you could say a psychic helped you out.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he scoffed. “Those people are still con-artists, and if I found them, I’d do everything I could to make them pay.”

Her stomach pitched. They were having a real conversation for the first time ever. Even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong, what would he say if he knew she’d worked with the scammers? That one of them was her mother? Would it matter to him that she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the woman since the thief cleaned out her own daughter’s bank account and skipped town, or would he still want to make her pay?

Loyal flipped his mask end over end on the bench a couple times. “Here’s the thing. Nothing personal, but I still don’t believe in what you claim to do. It’s just…” His shoulders lifted beneath his cape. “I won’t be an ass about it anymore. And I’m sorry if what I’ve said in the past has hurt you or…I don’t know…made you feel bad.”

So, he was done being a jerk but still thought she was a fraud?

That apology didn’t make her feel any better.

However, she couldn’t control what he believed, and he was being honest. Honest, not mean. Could she really fault him for that?

Probably not.

Definitely not if she was keeping her mouth shut about the hotline.

She forced a slight smile with her nod. “I appreciate the honesty. In that spirit, I need to apologize as well.”

“For that shot about Grayson, or the one about both my fiancés leaving me?”

“Oh, no.” She covered her mouth as if she could keep in whatever it was she’d said a week ago. “What did I say about your fiancés?”

“That if I wasn’t so…gimmie a sec—let me make sure I get it right…” He glanced skyward, one eye squinted a tad more than the other. “Uptight and judgmental, a woman might actually like me.”

The self-mocking humor in his voice let her relax as she lowered her hand. “Well, that is true, so I guess I’m not all that sorry.”

His slight grin faded. “And the other?”

She winced. “Yeah. I am sorry for that. I’ve felt bad about it all week.”

“For pretending I was him, or for saying it?”

She knew what that question was really asking, and the memory of his voice echoed in her head.

Numbers don’t lie like people do.

She couldn’t lie again. “For saying it. I wasn’t really pretending you were Grayson.”

Relief flashed in his eyes, though it was gone so quickly, she wondered if she’d read it correctly or only imagined it. And then he gave her a cocky grin that made her stomach flip over.

“I knew you wanted me.”

No sense denying it when she’d let the cat out of the bag while she was stupid drunk. “I want plenty of things that aren’t good for me.”

“I might not be good for you, but I could be very good to you.”

Good Lord, her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.

“Stop it.” Her laugh came out high and breathless, and his grin was way too knowing. “We’ve only just called a truce. Don’t push it.”

He lifted his hands, palms up. “You’re right.” He scooted back a good six inches as he scooped up his mask. “It’s not like we could have more than one night anyway.”

I’ll take it!

No. That idea was way too hazardous to her heart. She already knew from Asher that his brother hadn’t been in a single serious relationship since his last fiancé. He didn’t want to be, and he was being completely honest with her again, so she needed to heed the warning.

Moving on, remember?