“I can’t.”
“Well, I said I’d go with her.” She spoke softly, probably hoping he’d miss that last part.
His hearing was better than she’d hoped. “The hell you are. You two have no business handling a blackmailing bastard by yourselves.”
Gabrielle drew a deep breath. “Listen, friends don’t let friends get blackmailed alone. But you’re right. We shouldn’t go by ourselves. That’s why I’d like you to come for backup.” She patted his cheek with her palm.
“You’re just trying to stroke my ego so I’ll forget I’m upset with this whole situation.”
“Maybe I am.” She grinned. “And you’re much more astute than I gave you credit for. You have to know I can’t let her handle this alone.” She paused and arched her brows at him. “But I have another idea, though.”
He kicked at the sand with his heel. “I’m listening.”
“I thought you and I could do some investigating tomorrow, look up her old boyfriend. Maybe we can head this off. What do you say?” Her eyes were wide and imploring, yet excited at the prospect of doing some digging.
“My cousin Mike’s a cop in Boston. I’ll ask him to see what he can find out about Tony DeCarlo.”
“Excellent idea!” She wrapped him in her arms. “Thank you!” She tipped her head back and met his gaze.
Her eyes darkened immediately.
His thoughts turned to long hot kisses. But now he was preoccupied with her safety, as well. The fact that Sharon was being blackmailed was bad enough. But Derek hadn’t forgotten about Gabrielle’s two threatening incidents, either. He wanted to get to the bottom of everything going on, but since Sharon’s threat was more imminent, he’d start there.
“I really appreciate your help.” Gabrielle released her hold and settled back onto the blanket.
“Not a problem.”
“Hey.” She reached out and smoothed his forehead with her hand. “Relax, okay? I didn’t want to put you in a bad mood and ruin the whole night, but it was important enough to tell you about.”
He nodded. “I’m glad you trusted me,” he said gruffly.
She smiled. “I do. Now, let’s change the subject.”
He exhaled hard. “That’s a good idea.”
“So how much of a grilling did Holly give you about us?” Gabrielle asked, doing a one-eighty.
Reminded of his precocious daughter, he laughed. “Grilling is a good word for it. She’s a master interrogator. I told her we dated in high school and broke up before college.”
“And she accepted that without asking anything else?” Gabrielle stretched her legs out in front of her and wiggled her toenails, which were painted a hot pink.
“Oh, she asked for details, all right. She asked if I was going to marry you the way her mother had married John.”
Gabrielle jerked her head toward him, her eyes open wide.
Now, whatever had possessed him to admit such a thing?
“What did you tell her?” she asked.
“Nothing. She got distracted before I had to answer.”
“Derek?”
“Hmm?”
“What would you have told her? If she hadn’t been distracted?”
He propped his hands behind him and leaned back, settling in for an honest discussion. “I would have told her that I left you, but it hadn’t been easy.”