Page 11 of Just One Look

In all the years that Devlin had picked Emily up for one event or other, never had he ever felt like swallowing his tongue. How could the two sisters be identical twins and yet look so very different. Not just the fashion, but the way they carried themselves. He’d always found Emily to be an attractive, well-dressed woman whom he was proud to have on his arm, but Liz? Liz made him feel like he’d fallen into a vat of peanut butter. His limbs too heavy to lift and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

“You’re right on time.” Even Liz’s smile was the same yet different. There was a twinkle in her eyes, almost mischievous, that made it hard to look away.

“Do my best.” For a fraction of a moment, he debated what to do next. This wasn’t really a date and yet it was. When in doubt, remember everything his grandmother and grandfather and parents ever taught him about being a gentleman. Which meant extending his elbow to her. “Shall we?”

The way Liz glanced down at his arm, for a few seconds, she seemed to be weighing whether or not it would bite her. In another beat, her gaze lifted to his, her smile broadened, and her hand curled around his elbow. “All set.”

There had barely been enough time to close the passenger door behind Liz when Devlin’s phone dinged. Scurrying around the hood of the car, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. In the front seat, he snapped his seat belt in place with one hand and scanned the text with his other. “Blast.”

A frown creased Liz’s brow.

“I hate to say this, but we have to make a quick stop.”

Lips pressed tightly together, her head bobbed. She was doing the same thing Emily did, studying him, measuring her words.

“It’s the alarm company on a new project.”

Her one brow shot up.

“There may have been a break in. The alarm sounded and the police are on their way.”

“Is it far?”

“No.” He shook his head. “About five minutes.” If he pushed the car and the lights cooperated.

Her gaze on the road, Liz didn’t say a word, which suited him just fine at the moment. His mind was reeling with possibilities of what he would, or would not, find. The city traffic lights were on his side tonight. Every one was green or yellow as he approached and they made it to the house in just a few minutes. Multiple police cars were already parked in front and his stomach did a momentary dive.

“Shall I wait here?”

He considered for a moment if she’d be safer here alone or inside with him. Since all the police seemed to be in the house, inside made more sense. “Lousy way to start a dinner date, but we might as well face whatever awaits together.”

“Safety in numbers,” she teased softly.

Despite the bird swooping in his stomach at the thought of the potential damage that might greet him, her words were exactly what he needed to relax a smidgeon and even drew a small smile from him.

The front door wide open, he sucked in a deep breath and without thinking, reached for Liz’s hand as if it had been his longtime friend with him and not her sister.

“Oh,” Liz spoke first. “This is lovely.”

His gaze quickly danced across the entry and view of the living room to spot an officer with a flashlight in hand coming toward them.

“Mr. Baron?”

Devlin nodded.

“We’ve checked the premises, upstairs and down. Whoever broke in isn’t here now. Can you tell if anything is missing?”

Another officer came from the kitchen, and Devlin could see a couple more officers in the backyard. “My assistant would know better than I would. Is there any damage?”

The officer shook his head. “If you’re asking me if your a/c unit is gone or holes in your walls, no.”

That was a relief.

“May I look around?”

Turning to face the officer, before Devlin could say anything, the policeman nodded at him. When he spun around to talk to Liz, he realized she was actually waiting for him to let go of her hand. Gently letting go and taking a step in retreat, he sighed. “Sorry, please feel free to walk around. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

It took all of five more minutes to get an update from the police and him to find Liz upstairs.

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