Page 60 of Wrecked With You

“I don’t know. A glimmer. A heat. It’s the thing between us, and it’s there. Am I insane? Do you really not see it? Is this all one-sided? Because tell me if it is and I’ll back off faster than you can say Temporary Restraining Order.”

He doesn’t laugh. On the contrary, he looks a little miserable. “No. It’s not one-sided.”

“Then why are we ignoring it?”

“To make it easier,” he says, and I burst out laughing. To his credit, he laughs, too, then drags his fingers through his hair, rumpling it so that it looks a bit like it does after sex.

I resist the urge to smooth it back down and concentrate on slowing my pulse.

“Look,” he finally says. “I’m not ignoring it. But I’m also not acting on it. I don’t know. Maybe I should never have parked this investigation at Stark Security.”

Now I feel like a heel. “No. You’ve been playing the lone wolf for long enough. You need the support. Manpower and hardware. This isn’t on you. It’s on me. I’m not like this. Not ever. You just…” I trail off with a shrug.

“What?”

“You were—well, you were unexpected.”

He nods slowly and we share a small smile. “Yeah, well, so were you.”

I sigh, wishing this were easier. But I really do understand. He’s made it clear that unless and until this case closes, he doesn’t want a relationship. And he doesn’t want to just be fuck buddies.

And for the first time, I don’t want that either. Not with him. With Tony, that would be like a slap in the face. Where Tony is concerned, I want the real deal or nothing.

I’m more frustrated with myself than I am with the situation. It’s not as if we were high school sweethearts ripped apart after years of dating. This whole thing is all brand new, and yet I’ve never felt like this before. And I know myself well enough to know that it’s real. And the not having him is driving me crazy. But I’m not going to push. I couldn’t live with myself if he caved because I pushed.

All of which is why I’m a mess. And why I’m having a hell of a time focusing at work whenever he’s around.

Then again, maybe Tony’s not really to blame on that front. Maybe it’s because we don’t seem to be getting anywhere. Thea, Dailey, Morgan. These are all people who seem to live off the grid. Because after two days of searching, the crack team at the Stark Security Agency is still mining. So far, none of us have struck gold.

“Any luck on the plastic surgery end?” I ask Tony, who’s been following the theory that for Morgan to disappear, he had to have a new appearance. And someone had to give it to him.

“I’ve got a lead on a doctor in Costa Rica who may have worked on him,” he says. “Waiting on some follow-up. How about you? Has Lorenzo gotten back to you about Thea?”

My former PI partner is a retired cop and one of the best at tracking people I’ve ever met, even people whose primary residence was an abandoned car or trash-strewn doorstep.

“Not yet. I was hoping to hear—”

The sharp chime of my phone interrupts me, and we both glance down at the name on the display. Lorenzo.

I meet Tony’s eyes, and he holds up crossed fingers. I’m grinning when I put the phone on speaker. “I’ve got Tony on the line, too,” I say right off the bat, because Eliza had told him a bit about Tony, and he’d called to give me a fatherly pep talk that basically came down to the fact that I needed to quit screwing around—literally—and settle down. And if my sister liked this guy, he must be a good one.

With anyone else, I would have told them to fuck off. But Lorenzo’s as close to a dad as I’ve ever had, and his paternal opinions are as much a part of him as his gruffness.

“What have you got for us?”

“She’s a tough one, but the puzzle’s startin’ to come together. I found an address from four years ago, but she’s long gone from there. But I can confirm her name. Theadora Dempsey. Goes by Thea. I managed to track down her agent from when she was trying to be an actress. That led me to a restaurant in Studio City where she used to wait tables, and the dishwasher there remembered her, and—”

“Lorenzo, I already know you’re amazing at this, but can you cut to the chase? Did she lead you to Dailey or Morgan?”

I hear him huff, and watch as Tony grins. “I’m getting there, aren’t I? I don’t have a specific address, not for her, not for her workplace. But I did get some hits on her credit card that are interesting. Girl drove a little Fiat. Filled it up about once a week. And always at a Chevron in Brentwood. I just texted you the address. I figure she’s either got a boyfriend or a job. And since most of the charges were in the morning before nine, I’m thinking job.”

“Lorenzo, it’s Tony. You’re a bad ass investigator, my man.”

“You think I don’t know it? You two owe me a pizza. You know what I like, young lady.”

“I’m ordering as soon as we hang up.”

“I’ll call if I get more. Give your sister a hug from me.”