Clearly, she had some emotional blockages and triggers to work on.
Ray must have picked up on her no-bullshit attitude because his expression changed to indignation.“It’s twenty-five hundred dollars, Desiree.That’s all.Hell, I’ll take two thousand.Then I’m gone for good.I’ll even leave Charlene alone.I just need a hand up.I’ve only got the money in the bank that I had when I was arrested, and it won’t last long.”
“Not with your drinking and spending habits it won’t,” she shot back.
The bell of the café dinged and she looked over Ray’s shoulder at the newcomer.Aiden’s big, broad shoulders filled the doorway, and then he stormed into the café.He yanked his shades off and his eyes blazed a line of fire toward the man in front of her.
He looked pissed.Uber, uber pissed and ready to kill.
“Oh, shit,” she mouthed.
Ray tensed and swiveled in his seat.“What the—”
Aiden’s hand clamped down on Ray’s shoulder.“Raymond Lester?We need to have a chat.”He yanked Ray out of his seat.
“Aiden, wait.”Dez scooped up Louise’s takeout coffee cup and followed the men out of the café.
“Get your hands off me,” Ray hissed, yanking his arm out of Aiden’s hold.“What’s this about?I’m trying to catch up with my daughter—”
“Stepdaughter,” she said, stopping on the sidewalk next to Aiden.
Aiden’s eyebrows sunk low over his eyes, and he looked as if he wanted to put his fist through Ray’s face.
She placed her hand on Aiden’s vibrating forearm.“Um, so this is Ray.”A tremor shook her voice as she stated the obvious.“He’s just here—”
“I know why he’s here.”Aiden didn’t take his laser focus off Ray.“Mr.Lester, I’d like to have a word with you at the station.”His tone now held a hint of professionalism dipped in rage.
“’Bout what?Like I said, I’m having a visit with my”—he shot an annoyed glare her way—“Stepdaughter.Have I done something wrong, Officer?”
“Ms.Zimmerman has had some threats made toward her.I’d like to verify your whereabouts on certain dates, and that information is at the station.If there’s a reason you’re unable to prove yourself—”
Ray chortled.“Of course not.I’ve got nothin’ to hide.”
“Great.”He opened the back door of his car and Ray reluctantly slid inside.Shutting the door, Aiden turned to her.His expression softened, but his body language revealed he was on high alert.“Are you okay?”
She rocked on her heels.“I’m fine.He wants money.”
He nodded slowly.“Doesn’t surprise me, but I still need to rule him out.”
She lifted her hand in acknowledgment.
Some of the tension left his body, and his fingers twitched at his side as if he wanted to touch her.“Are you still good for me to pick you up around five?”
She tilted her head and squinted up at him.The sunlight caught the green depths of his eyes, making her loins clench.“Yeah.I need to pick up some clothes though.”
“We can stop on the way to my place.”
“Great.”She kept her tone even.It would be more efficient for her to take her car, which was still in the back parking lot of her shop, and run to her house, but if she’d learned anything in the last two days it was that being alone wasn’t a good idea.
She moved her attention to Ray, who was scowling in the back of the cop car.If she had a dollar for every time she’d witnessed his arrest...
Only this time, his scowl was deep and unapproving because he blamed her.Her esophagus burned with warning.Maybe she’d been wrong about Ray.Maybe he did want to cause her harm.
“All right.I’ll see you in a few hours.If you need anything, just give me a call.”
After Aiden drove away, Dez swung her gaze to the café and her cheeks warmed.Several wide-eyed stares met her through the glass.So much for keeping her relationship—could she even call it that?—with Aiden on the downlow.The way he’d looked at her, the boyish grin and the heated stares, hadn’t escaped her notice and sure as heck wouldn’t escape that of the townsfolk.
By morning, there’d be rumors.
