Page 104 of Family Jewels

He glanced up. “The waitress at the diner in town.”

“She knew you when you were growing up,” I said. He’d brought me to that diner back in February, when we were planning how to take down J.R. Simmons. Sandra’s warmth for James had helped me see a new side of him. “Considerin’ how much she adores you, I’m sure she loves cleaning your house.”

“She doesn’t know it’s mine,” he said, then took the last bite of his sandwich.

I stopped, my own half-eaten sandwich in midair. “How could she not know it’s yours?”

“I had a service arrange it. I never talk to her directly and always pay cash. I got her a smart phone as a Christmas bonus a couple of years ago—she was wantin’ to video chat with her son and grandkids in Louisiana—and I text her when I want something specific done.”

“Why?”

“Why ask her to do specific things?”

“No, why the secrecy?”

“This is my refuge. I only come here a few days a week, but I can’t afford for the wrong people to know about it. And I’d never put Sandra in the position of keeping it a secret.”

“So how many people know you own this place?”

“Two. Jed and now you.”

I let that sink in. So this wasn’t where he brought women after all. “Why did you bringmehere?”

He took a breath and started to say something. Then he closed his mouth like a steel trap and slid off his stool. Grabbing his plate, he set it in the sink and looked out the window into the darkness. “There are two bedrooms upstairs. The one on the left is mine, but the one on the right is the guest room. It has a private bathroom and towels.”

“Why do you need a guest room if no one ever comes here?”

He turned and gave me a look that suggested it wouldn’t be wise to push it.

Too bad I wasn’t good with orders. I stood next to the island. “Why didn’t you take me to a safe house?”

“Would you rather be in one of those dumps?”

I took a step toward him. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Because most of them aren’t fit for dogs. You know that. Plus, no one’s going to be looking for you here.”

I stopped in front of him, my heart beating furiously against my ribcage. My head told me to let it go, but something wouldn’t let me. “Why did youreallybring me here?”

The look he gave me was so conflicted, I almost backed down. Almost. “Don’t go there, Rose. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Doyou?”

“No. Not with you.” He started to walk past me, but then he wrapped an arm around me and hauled me to him so quickly I had to lift my hands to his chest to brace myself. His mouth lowered to mine and then he kissed me with a hunger that might have shocked me if I hadn’t shared it.

I slid my hands up his chest and looped them around the back of his head, clinging to him. There was nothing gentle about James Malcolm, and his kiss was possessive and demanding.

His hand slid under my shirt and found my breast. When his thumb brushed over my thin bra, I released a frustrated moan that tightened his hold around my back. But then he dragged his mouth from my lips and buried his face in the hair at the base of my neck. His chest heaved against mine. I waited for him to speak as confusion set in.

“Rose.” The regret in his voice was like a stab to my heart.

His hold on me tightened, but then he lifted his head again, dropped his arms, and backed away. My humiliation returned, even more intense than it had been that night in the barn.

He refused to look at me. “I’m never gonna be that man, Rose,” he finally said, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

I shook my head in frustration. “What man?”

“The respectable, law-abiding citizen you need. Even if I left this world behind me, I’ve lived in it too long to be free of the stench of it. But truth be told, I’m not the kind of guy to work a nine-to-five job. Or to have a wife with two-point-five kids.”

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