Page 25 of The Pretender

“Debatable.”

“Second...” She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Two figures standing just off the path, right under the clump of oak trees. “Who is that?”

Harris kept his gaze on her. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m serious.” She wrapped her fingers around Harris’s upper arm and turned him. “There with Kramer.”

The guy towered over Kramer. If Harris was six-one, this guy looked to be a few inches taller than that. And lanky. He had blondish-brown hair and wore dark sunglasses. He gave off a too-cool-to-be-here vibe as he nodded in response to whatever Kramer was telling him.

“Ah, yes.” Harris nodded. “That’s the investigator.”

“He’s here?” She heard a thunking sound and was pretty sure it came from inside her brain.

This is happening. A new investigator. A new wave of law enforcement. More questions and allegations. Rounds of denials and that look... This man inevitably would wear the same look they all got. She could pinpoint to the second the moment in the conversation where every person looking into her sister’s death—all of them men—had stopped believing her. Some came in believing every rumor about her. Others took days of reading files.

She dreaded the minute when that doubt would move into Harris’s eyes.

“He arrived about an hour ago,” Harris said.

She turned on him. “Are you working for him, which would mean working for my uncle?”

“Gabby, listen to me.” Harris put his hands on her upper arms and leaned down until they stood face-to-face. “Your uncle did not hire me. I have nothing to do with him. After ten minutes with the guy I decided he was a dick with an endgame. His sole focus is to hurt you.”

Her breath hiccupped in her chest. “Would him being a jerk stop you from working with him?”

“No, because I like to eat. But the reality is still the same. I’m not working for him.”

Her shoulders fell as the tension ran out of her body. “Well, that’s honest.”

Harris nodded. “Speaking of which...”

“You expect me to, what, just tell you all my secrets after knowing you for less than two full days?” Did he really not understand how much he was asking? She hadn’t told anyone about the kidnapping or the map. It was a secret she’d shared only with Tabitha.

“You need to start trusting someone.”

She rested her palms against his chest, fought the urge to run her hands all over him. “Do I?”

“How is that lone-wolf thing working out for you?”

She could feel the vibrations against her fingertips as he spoke. His hands cradled her elbows in a gentle caress. That thumb rubbed back and forth over her in a light touch she found mesmerizing.

It took her a second to find her voice. When she did, it didn’t rise above a whisper. “Tonight.”

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You tell me something true and I’ll tell you.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “You’ll tell me what?”

The guy was not dumb. She appreciated that. “Now who has the trust issues?”

“Good morning.”

A deep male voice boomed through the solitude and both Harris and Gabby dropped their arms. Here she was, adult and independent and very consenting, and this new guy walking in made her feel like the time her father caught her and Roy Amicker making out in the back of a car. They hadn’t been old enough to drive, but they were old enough to get in.

The unwanted guest looked from Harris to Gabby. “Actually, I think we’ve officially slipped into afternoon.”

A slick grin. Those were the first words that passed through her mind. This guy wore the kind of empty smile that saidI’m comfortable judging you. And she knew that was exactly what he was doing. This look up and down her body may have been quick, but she caught it. Not sexual but appreciative and assessing.

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