Page 12 of Small Town Secrets

“Well, good luck with that.” She barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Though I guess it probably is time I learned to let my guard down more.”

He made a clicking sound with one corner of his mouth and shook his head. “Nah, that’s not it. I’ve worked enough investigation jobs to have seen a thing or two. Cheating husbands and much worse. Too many women are raised to be welcoming at all costs, but if I had a daughter, you better believe my advice would be that any guards she might have up are built on experience and intuition. That any defensive urges are most often right, and it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission, so you might as well put your needs and safety first. At least in the beginning, anyway.”

She raised a brow and put on a flat tone, even though his words melted a certain kind of hardness she hadn’t before noticed around her heart. “So, I shouldn’t be on this date with you?”

“Sure, you should, but I get that you have no reason to trust me. Just like you said, you shouldn’t have to persuade someone to love you. The same could apply to trust. Doubly so when you’ve got a kid to protect.” He jutted his chin to Whitney but held a clear levity in his expression. “The way I see it, trust comes from consistent good behavior. That means from both parties. I’m still sussing you out too, you know. Though count this conversation as your reminder to stop straight-up assuming it’s always you who’s the problem.”

He pressed his lips into a matter-of-fact line and shrugged, her pulse shifting from a thundering beat to a slow plod, her mouth parting while she worked through this man’s astute theories on relationships and women. Given that she was a woman he wanted to pursue, his honest opinion over manipulation was especially unexpected.

Don’t get ahead of yourself. This might all be part of his plan…

Still stunned, she grasped for something to say, or even just a firmer hold over her thoughts on this man, only for salvation to come in the form of Maureen Cooper charging across the gardens toward her.

“Maureen?” Laila’s question lashed free of her, though not wholly unjustified given Maureen’s flushed face. “Everything alright?”

“Yes, yes everything’s fine.” Maureen came to a stop, her breaths a fast pant and her gaze bouncing between Laila and Ramos, before her small scowl eased into a light smile. Already this woman reached her own conclusions about why these two stood here sipping coffee together. “I just came from a meeting with the out-of-town lawyer who stops by to offer legal advice at the council from time to time.”

Not wanting to think the worst, Laila suppressed a frown. “Lawyer?”

“Yah bet.” Maureen’s eyes lit with a thankfully excited gleam, which probably meant she wasn’t looking to divorce Frank or sue someone. “The General Store received a buy-out offer, so I’m doing some due-diligence before we make any decisions.”

“Wait! What?” Laila pressed a hand to her chest, her attention for some reason flicking to Ramos in search of support, before even that disconcerting action had her turning back to Maureen. “Buy-out? Maureen, you’re thinking of selling?”

Harlow’s one and only General Store had been a core part of this community since long before Laila’s birth, and right now, she couldn’t begin to imagine the place belonging to anyone other than the Coopers.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Maureen swatted a hand in a gesture both dramatic and dismissive. “We had no plans on selling, but then the amount of money on offer… Let’s just say, we’d be featherbrained not to at least entertain the idea.”

“Hang on a minute.” Adrian narrowed his stare on Maureen, the action slow like a prowling cat homing in on prey. “Is the offer from someone local?”

Maureen shrugged and shook her head. “People ‘round here don’t tend to have that sort of money. All I know is it’s from an LLC called Forrex Co. My guess is it’s no local. Even the lawyer just now seemed unable to offer much help on identifying our buyer.”

“Do me a favor”—Adrian held a momentary pause, which only highlighted the gentle warning in his lowered tone—“Don’t make any decisions until I look into this for you. It won’t take long. Can you do that for me?”

Maureen shrugged again, her face soon lighting up. “Sure thing, that’d be much appreciated. Yah know, despite the money, Frank and I don’t want to sell to just anyone.”

Though Maureen’s promise offered some relief, Laila’s stomach still churned.The general store sustained so many people in this town and anyone buying the place would hold the power to affect a lot of lives.

That said, Adrian’s questions concerned Laila too. Those questions came as a reminder of why he was in town. To protect everyone. To put himself between this town and the syndicate. And as much as being around him already offered her warm and easy feelings, this reminder woke her to the fact that not all was easy with this man.

He had a past, and his present was also seeped in danger. Then again, so was hers. Which only deepened the unsettling feeling that she would have to trust this man—this relative stranger—in more ways than she’d ever wanted to trust a man again.

Eight

The sky had darkened by the time Adrian sat in the passenger seat of Laila’s car, now parked in her driveway. He’d accepted her offer for a lift home and Whitney slept in the backseat, tuckered out from her playground adventure, followed with a stroll down Main Street for food and then ice cream. So, Ramos savored the silence and willed this date to linger a little longer. Even though Laila’s story about her ex gripped him with an oppressive kind of restlessness.

Despite all these years and his own absent father, he still couldn’t understand how someone could be so cold toward the mother of their child. Much less the child themselves. A part of him itched to unleash his skills and track down Mike. To figure out what his deal was and give the man a piece of his mind. An irrational overstep, sure, but he took some of what he’d learned today personally. That said, he had too much respect for Laila to find this man without her consent.

He turned to his right and caught her gaze, her inky blue stare dark against the night and sweeping about his face. Though his heart pounded in response, he held still, aware that the arrival home was where many dates ended with a kiss.

But her situation was more complicated than any woman he’d dated, and her child did still sleep just behind him.

“I should get Whitney inside.” Though she leveled a half-smile his way, her voice had fallen to a soft whisper and the edges of her eyes smoothed in a way that shifted something inside him. As if she didn’t want to wake Whitney. Or dare he hope that she wanted this date to continue?

But he didn’t know the general ground rules of dating a single mother. Didn’t want to rush things or intimidate this woman, especially since he still had to live next to her. So, he gave a decisive nod and pushed his door open, set to helping her and Whitney get inside their house.

The evening held the moon’s silver-blue tinge as he stepped outside and turned for Whitney’s door, assuming the task of some moderate lifting and carrying the child out.

Except, he didn’t make it too far before bumping into Laila powering toward the same door. He caught her forearms in time to save her from stumbling.

---