“Okay,” Case said, “but please tell me you know that this all seems really weird.”
“Oh, I know,” Declan assured him. “That’s why it’s so frustrating. I’m notusedto sounding weird. I’m not used to dealing with—” He waved his hand. “Blue sticker clients. But if it helps, I think I can find a ... less bizarre way of phrasing things that will sate your curiosity a little bit before my client arrives.”
It wasn’t much, but he’d take it. “Shoot.”
“My client—Lydia, I should say, since you obviously know her—needs some assistance in a high-stakes situation. Think of it as a kind of local election, where everyone’s quality of life is on the line and the consequences of her opponent winning could be disastrous.”
Okay, Case could understand the gist of that. It resonated with him, too, especially after his run-in with Guthrie. But it was impossible to miss that “think of it as an election” meant that itwasn’tan election.
What were they really talking about here? Why did it have to be such a big secret? He had a hard time believing that the woman he’d met last night was mixed up in anything shady. Even though Lydia had been tense and worried, she’d still gotten genuinely outraged at him getting thrown in jail and a dog almost getting kicked by some drunken asshole. She had a good heart.
That gelled with what Declan had told him, too. Lydia wanted to protect her community. It made sense. But fromwhat?
Case reminded himself that Lydia was on her way. She’d explain what was going on.
To his surprise, Declan was studying him.
“The fact is, Lydia believes—and I think I agree with her—that you might be uniquely qualified to help her when no one else can.”
Case had to laugh at that. “That’s really flattering, but I’m pretty sure I’m not uniquely qualified to help anyone with anything.”
“That’s a bit too self-deprecating, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. I have some good skill sets, and I’ve worked hard to hone them. I’m just saying they’re not unique. It’s not like I can cure cancer or singlehandedly build a space station.”
“Well, Lydia and I have gone through a fairly exhaustive list of potential candidates for this particular, ah,role, and you’re one of the few names we have left. And you’re the only one she should trust with this level of responsibility, frankly. The others might help her win, but they would wreak their own kind of havoc.”
Interesting. Well, if the job was legitimate, there was no reason he shouldn’t take it. He wasn’t on his own way to anywhere in particular, and all he was doing was working on his next novel. It was going slowly enough that a distraction was just what he needed. His life was pretty much commitment-free, so he wouldn’t be letting anyone down if he made a sudden detour into ... whatever the hell this was.
Most people’s lives couldn’t be interrupted that way. Was that why he was a good fit for the job?
Like building a sex room, he thought wryly.Every now and then, who I am comes in handy to someone else. They just need me to help and move on.
He didn’t know why that idea left him feeling hollow.
*
Lydia hated how her palms kept sweating.
She hadn’t even been this nervous when she’d faced down Reeve out in the woods. Her pulse had been hammering awayduring that little showdown, but at least she hadn’t felt like someone was playing her nerves like a fiddle.
Her grandmother hadn’t exactly been a calming, reassuring presence this morning, either.
“That’swhat you’re wearing to go meet the man you’re going to marry?”
It was true that Lydia hadn’t glammed herself up for the occasion. She wasn’tde-glammed—she was neat, freshly showered, and in clean clothes—but she was in jeans, old boots, and a flannel shirt worn loose over a faded Henley. In a small mountain town, this basically qualified as a uniform. It was certainly what she wore most of the time.
“He’s already seen me. And I don’t want to mislead him.”
Ruth had tsked at her. “Our pack’s future’s at stake. At least put on some makeup.”
“I’m wearing makeup!”
“Put on a little more, then.”
Lydia had balked at that, but now, seconds away from proposing to the man who could make or break Mountainview’s whole way of life, she wondered if she should have listened.
No,she told herself as firmly as she could.You’re not trying to trick him into thinking you’re prettier than you are. You’re being honest about what you need and honest about what you have to offer. I’ll do a lot for my pack, but I won’t trick a good guy into making a bargain he’s going to regret.
