Her stomach twirled with discomfort, but she ignored it.“I haven’t been on a date since my asshole ex posted those pictures.”The half-naked ones that had caught the eye of Tim Marinelli, the stalker who’d ultimately stabbed Ford.Just thinking about it made her queasy.
She and Ford had met in such a messed-up way.Both then and now.Their path was like a tapestry, woven with threads of good and bad she’d never be able to untangle.All of it had led them to this moment.She couldn’t change the past—wouldn’t want to now—but she could appreciate the good that had come from it, be grateful that anything good had.
Ford squeezed her hand gently.“I’m sorry so many men have let you down.Including me.If I could, I’d change all of it.Except for this.”He kissed her so gently, careful to avoid the cut on her lower lip, that she had to blink away another round of tears.
Seriously,what the hell?Sitting up, she watched with satisfaction as his gaze trailed down her naked body, his cool eyes sparking with heat.She lifted a brow, taunting.“I’d change one thing.”Miraculously, despite the early hour, she didn’t feel like going back to sleep.
“Oh, yeah?”He didn’t appear too worried.He was learning.“What’s that?”
“In a perfect world, you’d be naked under me right now.”
He grinned.“I think that can be arranged.”
Reese Accardi stood in the break room above Night Herons Used Books in Hermosa Beach and sipped an espresso.The machine here was much nicer than the little drip coffee maker in her apartment.
Her nerves thrummed with more than caffeine.Natalie was on her way over.
Through the open window a minute later, she heard the keypad beep several times and the back door from the alley squeak open.Her heart skipped.That had to be Natalie.Everyone else was already here.
Downing her drink, she bolted down the stairs.“Natalie!”
The woman who’d become like a sister to her looked up and smiled.“Hey, PBC.”Peanut butter cup.
Not very original, but Reese loved it.She pulled Nat into a long, hard hug.“I’m so glad you’re okay.”Her throat tightened, but she willed herself not to cry.“When we thought we lost you, it was horrible.”
“Aw.It’s really good to see you.”Nat gave a little extra squeeze and let go.“Thanks for finding my message on the forum.”She took the hand of the tall white man at her side.“Reese, this is Ford Beaumont.”
Wow.He was…very good looking.She nodded, her cheeks heating.“Hi.Reese Accardi.Laura and Gretchen’s daughter.”
He shook her hand.“Nice to meet you.”
His company had provided protection for her family after Parker’s death, but he hadn’t been on their detail.
“Well,” Reese said, “everyone is already in the vault.Ready to go up?”
Nat had done this hundreds of times, but she let Reese take the lead as they walked down the dim hallway to where it dead-ended at a tall shelf of discount books.
Reese dropped her cell phone into a narrow mail slot near shoulder level and waited for them to follow suit.Then, she pressed her palm to what looked like a blank outlet cover and tugged the entire bookshelf open.
“Whoa.”Ford joined them in the small vestibule and nodded appreciatively as the shelf slid closed behind them on silent hinges.“This is very cloak and dagger.I had no idea.”
“The vault is an artifact from when this was a newspaper building.”Reese started up the stairs.“They used it to protect printing plates, negatives, contracts, payroll cash, and important archives.Gretchen remodeled the space to serve as a team room, adding something to shield it from electronic signals.”
“Impressive,” he said.
And paranoid.But recent events suggested her moms’ paranoia had been warranted.
“Do you have a bat signal too?”
Nat hip-checked him, but a smile tugged at her lips.
Reese grinned.“Oh, we’re way more high tech than that.”
“I gathered,” he said as she led them into the windowless, white-walled vault.
Gretchen sat ramrod straight at the head of the table in a crisp button-down shirt.Mom sat next to her in one of her signature flowy dresses.They were opposites in every way, but they’d been together for most of Reese’s life.Somehow it worked.
Her moms and the rest of the team stood at the newcomers’ arrival and rushed to greet Natalie, giving her gentle hugs and welcoming her back, shaking hands with Ford.
